LE STADIUM ASTON VILLA VS LFC

Obama - Biden vs McCain - Palin: Let the scrap begin!

So now we all know the complete line-up. In the red corner representing the Democrats we have Barack Obama and his running mate Joe Biden. In the blue corner representing the Republicans we have John McCain and his surprise choice, Sarah Palin.

Mr Obama, in Joe Biden, has opted for a safe candidate, one that will bridge the hole that many political commentators across the pond have remarked in Mr Obama’s campaign, and that is his relative weakness in the field of Foreign Affairs.

Mr Biden has plenty of experience in the US Senate having represented the small state of Delaware in the US Senate since 1972, but what is crucial is that he has chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee three times.

Although he voted to approve the Iraq war, he started warning of the costs of a long occupation of Iraq long before it began, and just like Sarah Palin, the Republican prospective VP, he has a personal attachment to the conflict. His son, Beau Biden, is a captain in the Army National Guard, and his unit is set to be deployed to Iraq shortly. Mr Biden apparently told US media sources recently that "He'll go… I don't want him going".

Mr Biden is also no stranger to presidential races, and all that they entail as he ran against Mr Obama for the 2008 nomination but dropped out in January. He also ran for presidency in 1988 but was forced to withdraw after it emerged that he had plagiarised a speech by the then leader of the British Labour Party, Neil Kinnock.

He also apparently has a reputation as a forceful speaker and can be prone to the occasional gaffe – BoJo anyone? In 2007, he described Mr Obama as "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy". Barack will be hoping he’ll be able to control his mouth, after all they are on the same side now…

Mrs Palin, on the other hand is a surprise selection. Following all the media hype that Mr Obama’s announcement generated I had expected John McCain, now 72, to select a surprise candidate.


Of course, we all knew it was going to have to be someone younger than him as age is currently one of main areas the Democratic camp are exploiting in their attack. I had a small inkling Mr McCain might opt for a female candidate to try to draw in the female vote that Hillary Clinton proved was so strong across the country. But realistically, I had never expected Sarah Palin to be the one chosen.

In truth, I like many I suppose, had never heard of her. A “devoted wife and mother-of-five”, at 44 she was the youngest to be elected to her post as Governor of Alaska, a role she has held since 2006. She has been credited with managing to bring about reforms in her first years in office but the point that stands out the most is that Mrs Palin is the first woman Republican to be put forward as a vice-presidential candidate.

In addition, she also has all the essential extras to appeal to the mass public. The governor, a former local beauty queen in her small town of Wasilla, near Anchorage, is keen on hunting and fishing and reportedly enjoys eating moose hamburgers. She has been married for 20 years, has five children, one of which has Downs Syndrome. Predictably perhaps, her oldest son joined the US Army on 11 September last year and is set to be deployed to Iraq next month.

Reacting to the selection, the Obama camp was predictably speculative. Mr Obama told reporters that Mrs Palin had a "terrific" personal story and would help make a case for the Republicans, but added: "Unfortunately, the case is more of the same."

However, could Mr McCain have inadvertently shot himself in the foot by choosing his prospective VP who herself only has two years experience in office when that was such a critical spear of McCain’s attack on Mr Obama?

The BBC’s North American correspondent, Justin Webb, believes so and added that: “The choice seems an audacious, perhaps slightly desperate, effort to bring youth and vigour to the Republican ticket.”

The two selections have battled for media publicity and each candidate has battled to make his stand out more. In rather an unprecedented act, Mr McCain issued a TV commercial message praising Mr Obama's achievement in becoming the first African American selected by a major party as presidential nominee (watch below).

Was this a genuine congratulatory message, or simply one to steal the spotlight? Only time will tell.

Overall when comparing the two candidates, you see that while Mr Obama has played safe, Mr McCain has been braver. He has shown how he can change and be bold, while Mr Obama will hope that Biden will fill the hole of his relative inexperience. The appointment of Mrs Palin will have accumulated the most newspaper column inches, but will she be enough to pull Mr McCain over the finish line into the White House.

Don’t expect a clean fight over the remaining 60 days or so, but also don’t expect a knock-out.

This will surely go to a point decision but at the moment I would put it at ‘advantage Republican’…

(08.29.08) Recommends:

Space Invader.

Invader is a street artist who forms the classic arcade game character using mosaic tiles. The art is cool because it is simple and at first glance seems to completely fit in with the landscape. It is only upon closer inspection that you are left scratching your head as to why there is a video game icon in the middle of a building or city street.

He recently hit Los Angeles to contribute to an exhibition at the World of Wonder Gallery (6650 Hollywood Blvd), which is itself putting on a computer game-inspired art show. Here are some pics:











Learn more about Space Invader here.

August 28, 2008 - The Gift in It

“If I hadn’t been on this journey, I wouldn’t have met some of the people that I have. I put all my faith in God, and every day you just keep going. Having cancer lets me live my life in a different way than I would’ve. There is a gift in it.”

These are the words of Betsy Poehler, a 42-year old breast cancer survivor who was quoted this morning in our local newspaper. Cancer as a gift-giver? It’s a statement that can be hard for someone who hasn’t faced a life-threatening illness to understand. This sort of outlook is more than a breezy, ephemeral optimism. For most people who say such a thing, it’s a costly, hard-won bit of wisdom.

The image that pops into my mind comes from a Greek myth: the well-known story of Pandora’s box. The only thing most people recall about this story is that Pandora, a young woman of insatiable curiosity, opened a box she'd been forbidden to open, whereupon all sorts of bad things came flying out, like bats fleeing a cave at sunset. “Opening Pandora’s box” has come to mean unleashing a cascade of unintended consequences.

Yet, there’s more to the myth than that. The name “Pandora” means “giver of all” (pan means “all,” dora means “gift”). The gods created Pandora, the first woman. They gave her the famous box (actually, a jar in the earliest versions), which they filled with greed, vanity, slander, envy, warfare and all manner of other evils. The cunningly-crafted box had been built strong enough to contain these horrors, but once opened, there was no getting them back. Pandora lifted the lid, and that was that.

Well, not quite. There was one other gift remaining; a bright, golden spirit called Hope. Pandora happened to see it before it could make its escape, and slammed the lid back down, keeping it eternally available to human beings. To this day, hope continues to be a remedy for all the evils and sufferings that continue to roam the world, wreaking misery.

Hope is the unexpected gift many of us discover in the midst of cancer treatment. It’s among our greatest allies in the long march towards healing.

(08.28.08) Recommends:

Anticipation.

Man, oh, man. Barack Obama's acceptance speech tonight. I can't remember the last time I was this excited/nervous to hear, you know, a speech by a politician. I think the excitement first started building this morning, when I got into the office and fired up Bill Clinton's speech from last night (view it here). I was really saddened and disappointment by his behavior during the primary season, but last night I thought he really came through. Then, the excitement continued to build, as I came across this NY Times piece, which basically says that some Democrats are concerned that Barack, speaking in front of 75,000 tonight, will look too much like a rock star and not somebody with whom we can relate. Note: Democrats have lost the last two presidential elections and they should have won them both. Therefore: I am so over -- and I presume many of you are with me on this -- what Democratic strategists have to say. They should probably just shut up now and listen to Barack.

In closing, I have been listening to the following OK Go cover of The Zombies all morning, and imagine I'll listen to it all afternoon in anticipation of the big speech tonight. You should do the same.



When you're done listening to that, may I suggest that you mind an anniversary by listening to this? Barack's speech is anticipated, but my god, this thing. I still can't get through it without literally crying and shaking. But they are tears and shakes that are needed.

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