Regardless of the confident assurances from the supporters of Barack Obama that the controversy over Reverend Jeremiah Wright is nothing to worry about, the candidate himself today signaled that he is very worried, indeed. He has thrown Wright under the wheels of his campaign bus, hoping to gain a bit of traction. Obama today called Wright's remarks "stupid."
Obama gave a sweeping speech on race last week in which he condemned incendiary remarks by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, but the words of the former pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago continue to dog the candidate. Reflecting the campaign's concern about the fallout, Obama used a question about religion at a town hall forum as an opportunity to address the issue.
"This is somebody that was preaching three sermons at least a week for 30 years and it got boiled down … into a half-minute sound clip and just played it over and over and over again, partly because it spoke to some of the racial divisions we have in this country," Obama told an audience in this central North Carolina city.
"There are misunderstandings on both sides," the Illinois senator said. "We cannot solve the problems of America if every time somebody somewhere does something stupid, that everybody gets up in arms and forgets about the war in Iraq and we forget about the economy."
Short translation: "If I can't get the media off this and onto my chosen campaign themes, I have a lot of trouble." Wright now joins Obama's grandmother under the bus as the candidate lurches through the crisis. The bad news? The report also restates Wright's anti-America rhetoric. Obama has a real problem.
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission has taken a rather dim view of the entrepreneurial adventure of a Texas rattlesnake rancher. It seems his "ancient Asian elixir" - a rattlesnake in a bottle of cheap vodka - has drawn their attention - and the rancher's arrest.
SANTO, Texas - A rattlesnake rancher who calls himself Bayou Bob found a new way to make money: Stick a rattler inside a bottle of vodka and market the concoction as an "ancient Asian elixir." But Bayou Bob Popplewell's bright idea appears to have landed him on the wrong side of the law, because he has no liquor license.
Popplewell, who has raised rattlesnakes and turtles at Bayou Bob's Brazos River Rattlesnake Ranch for more than two decades, surrendered to authorities Monday. He spent about 10 minutes in jail after the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission obtained arrest warrants on misdemeanor charges of selling alcohol without a license and possessing alcohol with intent to sell.
Personally, we here at Blue Crab Boulevard prefer our vodka be snake-free. However, our enterprising side also sees a business opportunity. After all, the natural remedy market - formerly known as 'voodooism' - is growing rapidly. So we have begun researching several all-natural products that we might be willing to invest in. We've rejected Baby Seal Oil and Snail Darter Syrup, however. We are very interested in the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Tonic, though.
Space shuttle Endeavour has fired its main engines and is inbound for a landing at the Kennedy Space Center at 8:39 PM EDT.
Space shuttle Endeavour has fired its engines, slowing it enough to drop out of orbit. Commander Dominic Gorie and Pilot Gregory H. Johnson are guiding the shuttle on its descent to Kennedy Space Center, Fla., where it is scheduled to land at 8:39 p.m. EDT.
STS-123 arrived at the station March 12, delivering the Japanese Logistics Module - Pressurized Section, the first pressurized component of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory, to the station. The crew of Endeavour also delivered the final element of the station’s Mobile Servicing System, the Canadian-built Dextre, also known as the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator.
Safe landing, Endeavour. Well done.
As down and dirty as the Democratic nomination race has gotten to date, it still has not reached epic proportions. One candidate or the other is going to have the party step in and take away their chance before this is over. (Harry Reid hinted just the other day that something would be done along those lines - in answer to a question about Hillary Clinton.) That's when real bitterness sets in. But even in today's atmosphere, there is distressing news for the Democrats from a Gallup poll. Some 19% of Obama's backers would vote for McCain if Hillary gets the nod. Worse yet, if Obama is anointed, 28% of Clinton's backers would jump ship. Can you say 'disaster'? I knew that you could.
These conclusions are based on an analysis of Democratic voters' responses to separate voting questions in March 7-22 Gallup Poll Daily election tracking. In each day's survey, respondents are asked for their general election preferences in McCain-Clinton and McCain-Obama pairings. Democratic voters are then asked whom they support for their party's nomination.
The accompanying graph displays the results of the relationship between support for the Democratic Party's nomination and the general election vote between Obama and McCain.
That would be enough to destroy either candidate in the general election. And it really has not gotten ugly yet. What happens when the party rips the nomination away from one or the other in a rather public spectacle and the candidate's supporters take it very, very personally? Gallup's numbers could well be low. And that doesn't even count the voters who might be discouraged and just stay home on election day.
Two teenage Bulgarian sisters have been rescued by Italian police from a circus in which one of them is said to have been forced to swim with piranhas.
Police say that while the 19-year-old sister had to swim in a transparent tank, the 16-year-old had snakes draped across her body and suffered bites.
Four members of the family have been freed from what has been described as a "circus of horrors" south of Naples.
Three men have been arrested and charged with holding them in slavery.
The women were paid 100 euros (£78) a week, forbidden to leave the camp and forced to work 15- and 20-hour shifts, according to police.
I'd say this reminds me of my days working in grad school as a T.A., only we weren't payed nearly so well.
Children playing in southwest Washington state found what appears to be a parachute buried in the ground in an area that the FBI once considered a likely area for hijacker "Dan Cooper" to have jumped near. The FBI has recovered the parachute and is asking the public for help in determining whether it is of the same type as Cooper is known to have been using when he jumped from the hijacked aircraft.
SEATTLE - The FBI is analyzing a torn, tangled parachute found buried by children in southwest Washington to determine whether it might have been used by famed plane hijacker D.B. Cooper, the agency said.
Children playing outside their home near Amboy found the chute's fabric sticking up from the ground in an area where their father had been grading a road, agent Larry Carr said Tuesday. They pulled it out as far as they could, then cut the parachute's ropes with scissors.
The children had seen recent media coverage of the case — the FBI launched a publicity campaign last fall, hoping to generate tips to solve the 36-year-old mystery — and they urged their dad to call the agency.
"When we went to the public, the whole idea was that the public is going to bring the answers to us," Carr said. "This is exactly what we were hoping for."
It seemed a bit odd when the FBI reopened the old case, dating from 1971, but this is an unusual find. One cannot think of too many reasons why a parachute would be buried for legitimate reasons. This may be important or just another dead end. But something has turned up after all these years. Interesting.
Politics | Gaius Wednesday, 26 March , 2008 | 
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