THE FILIPINO IS WORTH DYING FOR…

Corazon C. Aquino (76) of the Philippines, who was swept into office on a wave of “people power” in 1986 and then faced down half a dozen coup attempts in six years as president, died today, Saturday at 3.18 am in Manila.

For many Filipinos, Tita Cory embodied a hope of becoming a better nation and a prouder people.

Four days after the uprising began, Mr. Marcos was flown on an American aircraft to exile in Guam and then to Hawaii, where he died in 1989. Tita Cory became the FIRST FEMALE PRESIDENT of the PHILIPPINES (and in Asia). The People Power was a high point in modern Philippine history, and it offered a model for nonviolent uprisings that has been repeated often in other countries. But it also set a difficult precedent in the Philippines, where people nostalgic for their shining moment continue to see mass movements as an acceptable, if unconstitutional, answer to the difficulties of a flawed democratic system.

I am quite sure that many of us remember it well. I know I did. I lived by the Malacanang Palace at the time and had the “privilege” to get teargas in our living room. Somehow, I thought my path would end there. When I lived in Hawaii, I found out that the house I was renting was across and neighbors with where Marcos lived. To top it all, I had the privilege of meeting this great lady in person and spent a few moments with her alone, sitting on a couch like the youngest daughter of a mother being imparted with life´s wisdom.

My only regret of that meeting is that I didn´t have a great camera at the time (and left it in Hawaii too) and I should have bought her painting that she brought from the Philippines. She loved painting flowers. I just didn´t know where to put a pink background and yellow flowers somewhere in my house. (My principled ways of not wanting to buy things that are not of use to me).

I thank you, Tita Cory for your legacy. YOU are the one who woke up my political consciousness. Your legacy taught me that as human beings (and FILIPINOS), we are sovereigns of our right. I will NEVER forget our intimate conversation, woman to woman, in politics and business. I hope I make you proud someday, because your example and your humility in tucked very deep in my heart. I have your wisdom embedded in my life–That yellow ribbon will always be tied in my heart and mind. 

YES, THE FILIPINOS ARE WORTH DYING FOR. I WILL NEVER FORGET. I PROMISE.

Fly, Tita, fly…we will take it from here, don´t worry.

The Oil and Gas Nigerian Wars

Dr. Howard Lawson from SaharaReporters.com gave a grim prognosis of the current oil and gas war in Nigeria:

1. After the expiration of the 60 cease fire the Niger Delta impasse will not be resolved.

2. The FG will try to attack militants relying on faulty intelligence reports from the inept intelligence agencies.

3. The military will attack more villages and kill innocent civilians in an attempt to dislodge militants. The military will further aggravate the situation by this attack.

4. Those who accepted amnesty will return to the creeks.

5. MEND will carry out more devastating attacks on Oil and Gas installations.

6. Destruction of oil and gas installations can never be stopped by military means because the network of pipes is wide and in difficult terrain.

7. SSS, NIA and DMI will continually offer inept intelligence reports because of the Northernization of these agencies.

8. Militant attacks will be upgraded to the killing of foreign investors in the oil and gas sector because anyone who does business with an unjust government is as guilty as that government.

9. Key Nigerian Military officers of Northern extraction will be assassinated in retaliation for the killing and raping of civilians by the military. Treacherous Niger Delta politicians will also be eliminated by sniper squads.

10. Foreign investors will flee from the country due to security concerns.

11. Revenue for the FG will drop considerably due to persistent attacks and security concerns.

12. Britain we attempt to assist the FG by campaigning for MEND to be classified as a terrorist organization.

13. The UN Security Council will be divided over this issue as China and Russia will veto such a classification.

14. Russia would want to have total control of the gas supply chain hence Russia will assist MEND in other to ensure they are in control of the Gas project linking Nigeria to Europe.

15. Britain will make a u-turn by abandoning the North and trying to assist the Niger Delta. Russia and Western Europe will battle for the Gas supply chain using the Niger Delta as their pivotal focus. When the Niger Delta snobs the overtures of Britain, British intelligence will attempt to sow seeds of disaffection amongst Niger Deltans.

16. The Niger Delta will align with Russia due to Britain’s past role. The seeds of disaffection planted by Britain amongst Niger Deltans will be overcome and the Niger Delta will emerge strong and powerful.

17. Nigeria will disintegrate or transform into a confederation.

Advent of One World Currency?

Money  embodies an indissoluble bond of both dreams and reality and the abstract distributor of hope; a concrete means of controlling the lives of human beings and nations: From King Croesus in the Near East; Alexander the Great´s a single monetary system implementation in Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, Babylonia and beyond, which was well organised into three metals (gold, silver and bronze) with coins of identical weight and type for people who were very different from one another, unification of Roman territories´systematic, profound well-organised central power control issuing denarii, aurei and sestertia in every corner of the vast Empire (Europe, Asia and Africa); Constantine´s Byzantine gold coins and under the Carolingian Empire, the European continent relaunch of a high Medieval European “single currency”, as we would label it today: the silver denier.

However, things changed as the geographical discoveries of the 15th century, influx of a large amount of precious metals to Europe, the opening of new mines, and more rational, modern exploitation of ancient metal veins, would soon lead to the radical transformation of the social and political fabric of Europe, whose financial and market centers attempted by all means possible to withstand the weight of competition that was increasingly tougher to face. To counter the lack of coins, existing credit systems were refined. Soon, bills of exchange became a safer instrument for bankers and merchants of the time. 

The world had changed dramatically issuance of the ducats by Italian cities (Florins, Genoese and gold zecchino coins, the undisputed lords of international trade). Charles V, produced a French gold currency, the écu au soleil or “Sun above the crown” during his reign. Consequently, seven nations united in an agreement of sorts which led them to issue “scudo” coins whose weight and alloy were very similar: France, Spain, Genoa, Venice, Florence, Rome and Naples. In essence, this heralded the first single international currency of the modern age. 

More than two centuries later, France again gave birth to a new currency, the Franco-Lira, with a centesimal subdivision, that would radically alter the monetary systems of the countries across Europe. From 1861 on, the Lira (divided into 100 cents) became the single currency of a unified Italy. Just a few years later, at a memorable session held on 23rd December 1865 in Paris, Italy, France, Switzerland and Belgium (later joined by Greece) signed an agreement which foresaw the adoption of a single currency, based on gold and silver divisions, which could circulate freely in the signatory countries, known as the Latin Monetary Union. 

This was considered to be the first step towards simplifying means of payment, something which could be delayed no longer in a world that was bound increasingly by common economic and trade interests. 

In 1871, the Confederation of Germanic States adopted the gold standard for its own monetary system. In 1873, Denmark signed a monetary agreement with Sweden which would later include Norway (in 1875). In 1892, Austria and Hungary also adopted a gold-standard monetary system.

Nonetheless, this too was abandoned in the 1930’s and 1940’s by all signatory countries: France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland and Italy, known as the “gold bar” countries. 

What modern nation states required was a new platform for exchange that respected national sovereignty. For today’s Europe, this platform is the Euro. 

History seems to repeat itself.

During the G8 meeting, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev illustrated his call for a supranational currency to replace the dollar by pulling from his pocket a sample coin of a ‘united future world currency.’ According to the Bloomberg news service

Medvedev has repeatedly called for creating a mix of regional reserve currencies as part of the drive to address the global financial crisis, while questioning the U.S. dollar’s future as a global reserve currency. Russia’s proposals for the G-20 meeting in London in April included the creation of a supranational currency.

Will the utopia of a universal currency become reality? Certainly, the world is much more accepting of this due to its regional cooperation. I still have not formed my opinion on this and while I can see its advantages economically, it also poses a big haul in how we conduct our financial systems. I am not sure if I want a supranatural currency, but I would seriously consider having other global reserve currencies other than the US dollar for global economic stability.

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Cover

 

 

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U.S. Stimulus Bill to be voted today in lieu of Pelosi´s Travel Plans

Rep. John Culberson, TX claims the “stimulus” bill must be urgently voted on today — because Speaker Nancy Pelosi is leaving at 6:00 PM for an 8 day trip to Europe! This outrageous American Political Soap Opera is really turning ugly. 

Pelosi is said to lead a delegation to Europe; there’s a meeting with the Pope and an award from an Italian legislative group. It is official that the Democrats have now broken their promise to have the public see the $790 billion bill for 48 hours before any vote.  Welcome to the new CHANGE that this Obama Administration has been promising. Empty and politics AS usual.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) predicted that none of his Senate colleagues would ‘have the chance’ to read the entire final version of the 1,071-page bill before it comes up for a final vote. Now we know why.

Pollster Scott Rasmussen reports that Democrats are currently ahead of Republicans by only 40 percent to 39 percent. Given that this generic ballot question over the years has tended to understate Republicans’ performances in actual elections,we can safely conclude that if the 2010 election for House seats were held today, Republicans would win or come close to winning a majority of seats—which is to say, they would gain about 40 seats. By way of comparison, they gained 52 seats when they won their majority in 1994. This result may just be a momentary blip, which will pass away as quickly as it appeared, and we are a long, long, long way from the November 2010 elections. *Sigh*

But any Democratic member of Congress in even a marginally marginal districtshould start worrying. Conservatives against this Obama/Pelosi stimulus package should concentrate less of lynching the three Republicans who supported the Senate version but  more on Democratic members of the House and (at least those who are up for reelection in 2010) the Senate. It will certainly be a very busy time for strategists and GOP state organizations to raise monies now to tackle this.

Must have in 2009: A Cyberterrorist Love Letter

 

I have been quiet the entire vacation time to put in some time doing content for our companies under MJS Global Group: MJS Strategies, MJS Commodities, MJS Capital, etc. I have been putting it off for quiet sometime so I decided to buckle down with the help of some associates. After countless hours back and forth sharing and working through them despite of the time zones, I got the news today that we got hacked by this guy and all the files got infected and therefore we have to work from scratch again. We have notified Hostmonster and they have not responded due to the holidays.

 

My Love Letter from a Cyberterrorist

This is my first experience on cyberterrorism. On the positive note I am glad we are still in the beginning stages, however, I already did 70 pages worth of content. What a way to start the year. 

Today is the 6th day of the airstrikes in Gaza so I know there are a lot of tensions. Many protests are going on and on the other end, I can understand why this cyberterrorist would do this. It forces people to look and listen, but to the extent of innocent casualties. 

This should be a huge concern for all of us especially when we are about to usher in the third evolution of the Internet: Semantic web, which will enable people to share content beyond the boundaries of applications and websites. So think about all your important information from Government to banks, etc and cyberterrorists like this suspends all activity. I know I cannot live without internet. I cannot even picture in my head how chaotic it would become when that is done on a global scale the way they hit 9-11 in New York just to make a statement. 

Al Qaeda are using this vehicle for fundraising and recruitment. Mumbai bombers were also quite high tech. These terrorists don´t need much to sacrifice to do destruction. They have calculated so well that all they need is a small rock to start the ripple effect. People have become so much smarter…and more evil towards each other.

The world has definitely changed. Happy New Year to us all!

The New Poster Child for Unqualified Candidates:”Senator” Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg?

Earlier today, I found out that Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, the 51-year-old environmental lawyer, daughter of President John F. Kennedy and Jackie Onassis (and sister of handsome John Kennedy, Jr.) who has shied away from the political arena for most of her life may be considered to replace Sen. Hillary Clinton for Senate seat. 

Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg with Obama during 2008 Campaign

The niece of Edward and Robert Kennedy. The powerful Kennedy clan is fully behind her rising to the office previously held by her uncle, Robert Kennedy who held the New York seat from 1965 until his assassination in 1968. 

Once Clinton is confirmed to President-elect Barack Obama’s cabinet, New York Gov. David Paterson will appoint someone to fill the seat for two years. Democratic officials say Caroline Kennedy has spoken to New York Gov. David Paterson about the Senate seat. Paterson’s office says that the governor had been approached by several candidates for the job but that he would not discuss private conversations.

Of course, since she took on a much more high-profile role during the presidential campaign and, if she does it, would be more than New York’s junior Senator; she’d have closer ties to the Obama White House than any of her colleagues, a direct line to the East Wing.

Ok, so she´s educated. But what are her qualifications, except being the daughter of a President as a child? She’ll probably last two years, to be replaced by future Senator Rudy Giuliani (he has started to schmooze to Obama with his praises). How hypocritical is the media praising Caroline´s interest, while trashing Gov. Sarah Palin´s credentials? Excuse me that many of us have not gone to the famous liberal Harvard University for the elites. 

I am not complaining. In fact, this is AWESOME NEWS. Give the seat to Caroline. If the Dems appoint Caroline to the Senate, Sarah Palin’s credibility will earn massive points! Palin ACTUALLY has experience! If this happens, anytime a liberal or a media rep (and SNL)  mock Sarah’s qualifications, intelligence, or any other quality, the other side can simply point to Caroline and say, “Yeah, well, let’s talk about Caroline.” I mean, let’s face it…if you’ve ever heard Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg speak (without a script–and most of these politicians who were hyped up…ehrm…), then you know she’s not a very bright woman. And if we’re being totally honest she’s really that attractive, either. So wouldn’t it be perfectly delicious if the Dems unconsciously replaced Sarah Palin as the next national laughingstock with the last surviving member of JFK’s family? *Let me start my childhood signing of the cross á la Catholic*

Sarah Palin is smarter than what the media gave her credit for. But then the media thought that Ronald Reagan was stupid, but Reagan outsmarted them every time. Let´s face it, the global financial crisis were  handled by Harvard and other Ivy League alums. We all know that classrooms and real world are VERY different. So pedigrees and grad school doesn´t really mean a lot when it comes to crisis. It is all about character.

Let us see how “fair” the media will treat her, I hope that they give her as much attention as they did to Sarah.

America, welcome to the  new poster child for unqualified and incompetence: Senator Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg!

Obama´s First 100 Days: Homage to Islam and Pander to the Jobless

I was watching Wolf Blitzer´s Situation Room on CNN briefly last night (sorry, no Fox news in Europe) and noticed for the first time that one of the “best political team on TV” made an honest unbiased comment. Campbell Brown (whom I enjoy watching during Elections coverage), made a remark about how Obama´s cautiousness during the Primaries is now reflected on the so-called 2.5 M jobs he promised to create. Now, Obama said 2.5M jobs to be “saved”. Like she said, it doesn´t really mean anything. In my world, it just meant, he pandered just like most politicians who say what the voter wants to hear. 

THE AUTO INDUSTRY BAILOUT

GM, Chrysler and Ford are now doing another run to convince U.S. Congress to give them a $34bn Bailout. Their argument is that if they don´t get the help, America will just throw $300bn development and investments made in the past. It is a very tough decision to make. If you help them, they are still going to be doing the same structure and if not…well, no one wants to know. But the reality is, with the global financial crisis, people are not buying cars. As of today, HONDA even pulls out of Formula One racing since it is a luxury item for them to spend $300M with 700 employees (snaps for them!). I personally have not seen what these Big Three Automakers are proposing on paper (yet), but there needs to be serious cutbacks. 

Clinton Appointed as Secretary of State

Then you have Obama switching from creation of jobs to saving jobs. The man has never made a decision in the Senate and just ticked a lot of PRESENT on bills. What do you expect?

THE APPOINTMENTS

He keeps saying he is bringing change to Washington, so far, he has put most Clintonistas and to top that cake, he selects Hillary Clinton to be his Secretary of State (with Bill tagging along). Smartly stupid, I´d say.  The saying, “Keep your enemies closer” is definitely taken into new heights.

SPEECH IN CAIRO, EGYPT…MAYBE?

In an effort to mend rifts between the U.S. and the Muslim world, Obama is seriously considering making a major foreign policy speech in an Islamic capital, CAIRO, Egypt. My initial reaction is WHO is paying for this? His campaign? How is delivering a speech somewhere mend deep-seated issues between countries? I find it quite naïve if he does this without a plan. This is not anymore campaigning. But this here sounds like a photo-op for me.

But the question really is that why Obama feels it necessary to give a speech so early in his new administration. During the presidential campaign Obama indicated U.S. foreign policy was too skewed in favor of Israel and that he would seek to balance that approach in his administration. But then when McCain painted him as naïve about the Middle East, he then strongly backed Israel in his first foreign policy speech when he addressed American Israel Public Affairs Committee. 

Using process of elimination, I find it hilarious how they chose this place. Obama’s foreign policy advisers ruled out Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and other capitals around the Persian Gulf. If he does the  speech in Baghdad, it would appear to validate the Iraq war (which he of course opposed).

Going to Damascus, the Syrian capital would be rewarding them (not a good idea to start with),  

Tehran in Iran? Haha, too soon for tea and urugula.

Amman, Jordan? They are not interested as they did the show their before.  

Ankara, Turkey? Too boring.

How about  Islamabad, Pakistan? Well, after his speeches about Pakistan during elections, I don´t think he will come out alive. 

Ramallah on the West Bank would be futile because Palestinians have been demanding Jerusalem as their capital.

Jakarta, Indonesia? Obama´s Childhood place? Good for him, not cool enough for the media.

A MUST REASON

Remember when he kept dodging he was a secret Muslim? (Take it easy, Ret. Gen. Colin Powell. I am not anti-Muslim. I got a cousin who is one and wonderful Muslim friends). The truth is, Obama had been raised a Muslim and converted to Christianity after meeting the Rev. Jeremiah Wright in his 20s after he moved to Chicago.

 

Obama was born to a Kenyan father who was a Muslim. His mother divorced this man and later remarried an Indonesian muslim who became Obama’s stepfather. The couple moved to Indonesia with the young Obama. There he was registered at two schools as a Muslim student, Barry Saetoro.

 

Obama´s Indonesian School Record

In his autobiography, “Dreams From My Father,” Obama mentions studying the Koran and describes the public school as “a Muslim school.” 

My own process of elimination? Obama wants to be pay homage to his roots. It´s perfectly fine for me, but it would be better to be upfront and honest to the American people what exactly he has in his head of his. As hired CEO of the Free World, he needs to be accountable.

2008 U.S. Presidential Elections Synopsis Part 2

The 2008 U.S. election proved that a new dawn for politics has arrived. We now have seen the power of web 2.0 and how it can shape a political landscape. We also saw how the Millenials are engaged. How did this all happen? The answer is two words: MARKETING and MONEY. The rule of the game (anywhere) is the one with the bigger war chest, wins. But there is something else about this election that was also not seen in a long time: STRONG MEDIA BIAS.

We can go on and on (which I will because there will be other things I will be ranting about this election), but for the sake of this page, I can safely say that Obama won because he vastly outspent McCain. Even Chris Cilizza of Washington Post (one of the newspapers who endorsed Obama) agrees with many of us who observed the political circus. 

According to Nielsen Company, from June through November, Obama ran 419,667 ads in local markets while McCain ran 269,992 ads — a difference of nearly 150,000 ads. In the final month of the election, the ad difference was even greater with Obama’s campaign running 210,425 local ads as compared to just more than 97,000 for McCain. Obama also had one-and-a-half times as many spot TV ads than John McCain during the general election season (6/08 to 11/08), double when he started running ads in January during the Primaries.

SPOT TV ADS: June-Nov 2008

Barack Obama	419,667
John McCain	269,992

 

Local Ad Spending by Both McCain and Obama

Other notable campaign facts from Nielsen’s research

• Obama’s ads were on the airwaves over twice as much as McCain’s in the final month before the election (210,245 vs. 97,023 ad buys).
• McCain took early advantage of Obama’s long primary battle with Hillary Clinton, which ended on June 3rd. McCain bought over three and a half times more spot TV ads than Obama in June (26,594 to 7,251), the only month that McCain beat his opponent in that category.
• McCain made a major push with national buys in September, out placing Obama 10 to 1 in cable and network ad buys.
• The two candidates alone combined for almost 850,000 total ad buys dating back to January.

 

Here are some statistics presented by ISU Statistical Graphics Working Group: 

 

Daily Tracking versus Actual Popular Vote From ISU Statistical Graphics Working Group

This figure show results of the daily tracking polls, and the actual popular vote (blue). Main pollsters are colored, so that relative bias can be seen. The trend line is a less smooth through all points. 

 

State tracking results from ISU Statistical Graphics Working Group

The result for each state (blue, red) and polls for each state over the week leading up to the election are shown as a dot plot. From top to bottom, the order of the states is from most Republican to most Democratic.

Median is represented as a black dot, all polls as large white dots, and median of last week’s as a grey dot. Vertical lines mark 5% points difference. 

 

Obama tracking results from ISU Statistical Graphics Working Group

 

McCain tracker from ISU Statistical Graphics Working Group

These figures show the daily tracking results separately for Obama and McCain, and the actual result. Tracking polls low-balled the McCain %.

So, how fair was U.S. Elections this time compared to the 2000 or 2004?

Lesson learned here is that politics still truly local and money greases the machines. It is a dirty world we live and work in.

2008 U.S. Presidential Elections Synopsis Part 1

Fourty-eight days to January 20, 2009, before the spectacular fanfare of the historic 44th United States Presidential Inauguration, when an African-American takes center-stage and recite the oath on first entering office specified in Article II, Section 1, of the U.S. Constitution:

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect,  and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

The theme for the 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama is “A New Birth of Freedom,” which honors the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. People scrambling to get the hottest “non-existent” tickets in town. Yes, “non-existent” because they are not issued yet and there are scammers selling them for $1000+ already. So if you contemplate of buying them through the web, STOP IT NOW.  These tickets are FREE and you get them from any U.S. Congress and Senate Officials and usually they are only allotted with a couple of hundred tickets depending on their constituents. Some public officials have even started doing lottery to be fair. You cannot get these if you are not American constituent in that district that the particular elected official (or ask your American friends).

Washington D.C. is expecting about 1M visitors and a massive planning is taking place to keep the city in order. All this hysteria because people want to hear the man who used a Kennedy-King-Lincoln-esque platform and echoed throughout his campaign:

“I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton’s Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I’ve gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world’s poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners – an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.” Excerpt from A More Perfect Union

 

Electoral Vote tally

We sat with astonishment to the meteoric rise of this obscured Arab-cheered Messiah 46-year-old political virgin to become the first African-American to capture DNC nomination. (Thanks to the Iowa Caucus and Obama´s brilliant grassroots strategy through David Axelrod´s brainchild, he surprisingly rose above Clinton) Weeks later, he wins an overwhelming mandate of 365 Electoral votes versus the 173 that McCain  got.  World Leaders like Merkel, Sarcozy, Brown (pro-Americans to Obama´s advantage) reacted warmly and  with expectations,  tests and warnings. 

2008 U.S. Presidential Elections County by County Results

The 2008 U.S. Elections cracked a lot of ceilings. Both GOP and DNC parties made historical marks with their two women, Sen. Hillary Clinton (NY) and Gov. Sarah Palin (AL). The former proving to be a formidable candidate with 18M behind her and the latter, a female maverick that became GOP´s first female for top ticket. Then you have the massive money that got poured in through Obama´s internet fundraising, garnering aroung $650M in total which afforded him to release a 30 minute infomercial in all major networks. 

The RESULT: The longest, historic, exciting, most expensive U.S. Election ever!

Media Bias Towards Obama

The mainstream media’s support for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign was so biased that even major insiders are now admitting they were shocked by its depth and depravity.

Last week, Time magazine’s Mark Halperin called the media’s performance during the campaign simply “disgusting.”

Halperin told a panel of media analysts at the Politico/USC conference on the 2008 election, “It’s the most disgusting failure of people in our business since the Iraq war.”

He added, “It was extreme bias, extreme pro-Obama coverage.”

According to the Web site Politico, Halperin, who edits Time’s political site “The Page,” zeroed in on two New York Times articles near the end of the campaign that profiled both Cindy McCain and Michelle Obama.

“The story about Cindy McCain was vicious,” Halperin said. “It looked for every negative thing they could find about her and it cast her in an extraordinarily negative light. It didn’t talk about her work, for instance, as a mother for her children, and they cherry-picked every negative thing that’s ever been written about her.”

But the Times gave Michelle Obama red carpet treatment, “like a front-page endorsement of what a great person Michelle Obama is.”

Halperin, a former ABC News political director, allowed that some of the press coverage simply reflected the extreme efficiency of Obama’s presidential campaign.

“You do have to take into account the fact that this was a remarkable candidacy,” Halperin said. “There were a lot of good stories. He was new.”

Obama also had a lot of money and outspent Republican John McCain by more than 2 to 1.

The press never bothered to hold Obama accountable for reneging on his promise to use public financing. McCain kept his promise to do so.

During the campaign, conservatives criticized the pro-Obama coverage, but it had little effect.

Columnist David Limbaugh noted: “Never has that been clearer than in the 2008 presidential election, during which they are covering up rather than covering Barack Obama’s shady past and alliances, his knee-deep involvement in corrupt practices threatening the very core of our democratic system, and his many policy misrepresentations.”

Limbaugh noted that the press went into a tizzy over Sarah Palin’s wardrobe, but ignored extravagances like Obama’s “obscenely idolatrous million-dollar Greek coliseum mirage.”

Now that the election is over, Halperin is not alone in admitting the bias. The Washington Post’s ombudsman recently conceded that the paper’s coverage was skewed strongly in favor of Obama and against the McCain-Palin ticket.

Obama’s ’Change’: Recycling Clintonistas

What’s with Obama’s choice of old-time Clinton cronies and recycled Washington insiders to run the transition to his new politics of change?

Can’t the anti-Washington-insiders and the president-elect find anyone who isn’t a Beltway has-been?

Judging by the appointments to his transition committee and leaks about possible top staff and Cabinet choices, Obama appears to be practicing the politics of status quo, not the politics of change.

Obama based his innovative campaign on an emphatic and convincing commitment to change the culture of Washington and bring in new people, new ideas, and new ways of doing business.

But now, Obama has definitely changed his tune. As president-elect, he’s brought back the old Washington hacks, party regulars, and Clinton sycophants that he so frequently disparaged. Like Jimmy Carter, the last president who ran as an outsider, Obama has reached out to the same old folks who dominate the Democratic Party and represent the status quo.

His transition committee looks like a reunion of the Clinton administration. No new ideas of how to reform the system there. The chairman, John Podesta, was Clinton’s chief of staff. He presided over outrageous last-minute pardons and his style is strictly inside-the-Beltway and make-no-waves.

Then there’s Carol Browner, Clinton’s competent former EPA administrator who became the consummate Washington insider. She’s Madeline Albright’s partner and recently married mega-lobbyist and former Congressman Tom Downey. During the uproar over Dubai taking over U.S. ports, Browner brought Downey to meet with Sen. Chuck Schumer to plead Dubai’s case. Downey was paid half a million dollars to push Dubai’s position. He’s also a lobbyist for Fannie Mae, paid half a million to try to cover their rears on the subprime mortgage mess. Is this change?

Federico Pena was Clinton’s secretary of transportation and of energy. The president felt he was unduly soft on Air Florida after a crash and lost confidence in him. Now he’s back as a transition committee member.

Bill Daley, Clinton’s former secretary of commerce and the brother of the mayor of Chicago, is the epitome of the old Democratic establishment. Clinton appointed him to the Fannie Mae board and his son worked as a lobbyist for the agency. Aren’t these the kind of folks that Obama ran against?

Larry Summers, president of Harvard and former Clinton secretary of the treasury is not exactly an outsider either. He’s also alienated more than a few with his bizarre suggestion that women may be genetically inferior to men in math and science.

Susan Rice, assistant secretary of state under Clinton advised John Kerry and Mike Dukakis. Does that tell you enough?

Obama has named one of his big bundlers — Michael Froman, an executive at Citigroup. Is this supposed to symbolize change?

Obama’s choice of a spokesperson for the transition is also surprising; she is definitely not the face of reason and new politics. Stephanie Cutter is the brash and combative former Clinton, Kerry, and Ted Kennedy mouthpiece. The liberal DailyKos.com once described Cutter as “a moron to the nth degree” when she tried unsuccessfully to force The New York Times’ Adam Nagourney to treat her unsolicited e-mail criticizing Howard Dean as “background” without mentioning her name.

Speaking of brash, Rahm Emanuel, the new White House chief of staff, makes Cutter look timid. Rahm is also a former Clinton White House staffer — and a very obnoxious one. He spent his White House years leaking to The Washington Post whenever he didn’t like what the president was doing. Even Bill Clinton stopped trusting him. Any hopes of Obama keeping his commitment to reach across the aisle would go right out the window with Rahm’s appointment. Instead of extending a hand to the opposition, it would be like raising just one finger. And Rahm’s strident demeanor laced with the ‘F’ word in every sentence will do little to elevate the bipartisan dialogue in Washington.

Christopher Edley, another member of the transition team, is dean of the Berkeley Law School. He was a member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission under Clinton, and his wife, Maria Echaveste was Clinton’s deputy chief of staff.

Transition committee staffer Christine Varney was a federal trade commissioner under Clinton and worked in the White House.

Throughout the early debates, Obama criticized Hillary Clinton as part of the inside-the Beltway establishment that needed to go. But now he’s reaching out to these exact same folks. Some change.

Republicans WILL Rise from the Ashes and Emerge Stronger

If ever there was an election that was not worth winning, it was the contest of 2008. While it was hard-fought on both sides, had McCain won, it might have spelled the end of the Republican Party. As it is, the party is well-situated to come back in 2010 and in 2012, if it learns the lessons of this year.

Simply put, all hell is about to break loose in the markets and the economy.

The mortgage crisis will likely be followed by defaults in credit card debt, student loans and car loans. We will probably be set for two years of zero growth, according to economists with whom I talk. And the federal efforts to protect the nation from the worst of the recession will probably lead to huge budget deficits and resulting inflation. We are in for stagflation that could last for years.

Had McCain won, he would be the latter-day Hoover, blamed for the disaster that unfolded on his watch. Now it is Obama’s problem. With the Republicans suffering a wipeout in congressional elections (although not as bad as they feared), the ball is now squarely in the Democratic court. Good luck!

If Obama raises taxes, the situation could get even worse. With a liberal Congress on his hands, he will be constrained to move to the left, if he needs any pushing.

When Clinton was elected in 1992, the Democrats in control of Congress gave him a clear message: Either you govern within the four walls of the Democratic Caucus or you won’t get our support. Crossing the aisle to get Republican votes, even including the GOP in negotiations, was a no-no for which the president would pay dearly if he transgressed.

The result was predictable. Moderate initiatives like welfare reform were scrapped, the Congress passed tax hikes and legislation became festooned with liberal amendments.

Faced with the need to round up every last vote in the Senate and House Democratic caucuses, Clinton had no choice but to load up conservative bills like an anti-crime measure with liberal pork (like a provision for midnight basketball courts in urban areas) to get unanimous caucus backing.

Obama will have to move left to appease his caucus. He will become their hostage, and they his jailers.

This dynamic will produce extreme-left-wing governance, which the Republicans can blame for the continuation of the recession and for any worsening. The party will recover, fed by anger at Obama’s policies, and will emerge from this defeat stronger than ever.

But the Republicans must learn the lesson of MoveOn.org. Founded in the bleak days of the Clinton impeachment, MoveOn developed a grass-roots Internet base. Building up its e-list of activists and contributors, MoveOn laid the basis for the incredible Internet appeal of the Obama campaign. At last count, Obama has 4.5 million donors, most online.

Conservatives cannot count on the Republican Party to fight their battles for them, and certainly cannot count on them to win. The right needs to develop cyber-roots conservative organizations to rival the power of groups like MoveOn.org.

The stellar efforts of Newsmax.com and its ally, GOPtrust.com, illustrate the power of such efforts. Together, these groups raised $10 million for an independent expenditure on media in swing states featuring the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s anti-American bombast.

And their efforts worked.

Virtually all the polls agreed that Obama would win 52 percent to 53 percent of the vote, but the surveys varied in the amount of undecideds they found.

On Election Day, virtually every undecided voter went to McCain, and Obama’s final vote share was no more and no less than the 52 percent to 53 percent the surveys had predicted. This unanimity among undecided voters is attributable to the endgame of groups like GOPtrust.com and Newsmax.com.

These groups have to lead the way in running media to battle against the leftist legislation that will undoubtedly emanate from the Obama administration and the liberal Congress America has just elected. Then they can become the basis for a Republican resurgence, just as MoveOn.org was this year for the Democrats.

MJ 2.0 Unleashed!

I guess it´s time to graduate from MySpace and grow up a bit. It is nice to have a dedicated blog to where I can be much more “professional” at the same time be myself.This year, I decided to reinvent myself. I am excited of what journey 2008 has in store for me. I believe that it is my launch year in so many aspects.So for my mantra this year which will also become the company´s: THINK BIG, DO BIG and DO IT WELL! I have purged and emptied every vessel in my life since 2005 that a definite outpouring is inevitable this year. I am ready to receive life´s blessings!My company is now completing its process of reorganizing its business model and structure. Going global is harder than I had thought. It´s all different when you imagined or envision than when you actually put it on paper and into action. On the other hand, I do think I got the THINK BIG part of the mantra. DO BIG is now the next step and I know we will DO IT WELL! I have formed a great team. Great potential. So watch out! But basically, I want to reflect my own values and principles in this company to walk the talk. I believe that if we got the foundations in the right principles and values, our growth will be steady and our clients will feel at home with us because we will be sincere in all our efforts, since we live and breathe it as well.I am excited about this blog. It has so much ranting possibilities about everything.So, let´s see where this ride takes us…here we go!