Clipmarks | BobbyDelray's 'barack obama' clips

Your brain lies to you

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:28:19 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: This phenomenon, known as source amnesia, can also lead people to forget whether a statement is true. Even when a lie is presented with a disclaimer, people often later remember it as true.

Clip Source: www.iht.com

False beliefs are everywhere. Eighteen percent of Americans think the sun revolves around the earth, one poll has found. Thus it seems slightly less egregious that, according to another poll, 10 percent of us think that Senator Barack Obama, a Christian, is instead a Muslim. The Obama campaign has created a Web site to dispel misinformation. But this effort may be more difficult than it seems, thanks to the quirky way in which our brains store memories - and mislead us along the way.

The brain does not simply gather and stockpile information as a computer's hard drive does. Facts are stored first in the hippocampus, a structure deep in the brain about the size and shape of a fat man's curled pinkie finger. But the information does not rest there. Every time we recall it, our brain writes it down again, and during this re-storage, it is also reprocessed. In time, the fact is gradually transferred to the cerebral cortex and is separated from the context in which it was originally learned

Tags: brain, misleading, false beliefs

Barack Obama on Iraq - 2002

Tue, 06 Feb 2007 18:14:33 GMT

clipped by: jmk432
clipper's remarks: I love this quote! And it was in 2002!

Clip Source: en.wikisource.org

Barack Obama's Iraq Speech

Delivered on 26 October 2002.

That’s what I’m opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics.

Now let me be clear – I suffer no illusions about Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power. He has repeatedly defied UN resolutions, thwarted UN inspection teams, developed chemical and biological weapons, and coveted nuclear capacity.

He’s a bad guy. The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him.

But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history.

I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the middle east, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.

I am not opposed to all wars. I’m opposed to dumb wars.

Tags: barack, obama, iraq

Barack Obama: Faith Has Been “Hijacked”

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 16:34:07 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.cbsnews.com

(AP) Sen. Barack Obama told a church convention Saturday that some right-wing evangelical leaders have exploited and politicized religious beliefs in an effort to sow division.

“But somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and faith started being used to drive us apart. Faith got hijacked, partly because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, all too eager to exploit what divides us,”

“At every opportunity, they've told evangelical Christians that Democrats disrespect their values and dislike their church, while suggesting to the rest of the country that religious Americans care only about issues like abortion and gay marriage, school prayer and intelligent design,” he said.

“There was even a time when the Christian Coalition determined that its No. 1 legislative priority was tax cuts for the rich,” Obama said. “I don't know what Bible they're reading, but it doesn't jibe with my version.”

Tags: religion, politics, faith, barack obama, church, americans, abortion, gay marriage

How to Become President with Clipmarks

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 18:47:20 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks: You heard it here first. In 2008, you just won't get elected without reaching out to the coveted Clipmarks community. And you can bet we'll be checking candidates' sign-up dates.

The publicity for Clipmarks 2.0 rolls on....

Clip Source: www.appscout.com

I was on some news program a few weeks ago talking about Barack Obama's YouTube videos and Hillary's online live chats, and at the end of the segment I said that the Internet empowers Regular-Joe candidates by giving them free access to a huge chunk of potential voters. The thing is, Obama and Hillary have tons of cash to run "real" political campaigns with slick TV spots and so on. They're taking the free route not to save cash but to reach YOU instead of the oldsters who watch the nightly news. If you're online, you're engaged, and politicians dig that.

Step 2: Keep a blog, but make it good. Link-baity lists like "17 Reasons to Enforce Anti-Spam Legislation" are good; "10 Reasons Mac Users Should Vote for Me" is better. Make sure you have a credible (yet hip) blogroll. And use ClipMarks to post snippets and ideas from around the Web and other blogs, to show that you can both talk and listen.

Tags: clipmarks, president, politician, candidates, election, vote, campaign, usa, politics, web 2.0, web

When being the Best is Wrong

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 07:42:39 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Clip Source: www.newstatesman.com

In a semantic mess, wanting the best has become "elitist"

"Elite" and "elitism" as terms have transformed into political slurs in Britain and the United States. Simply defined, elitism is a belief in government by the few, while elite means "the best". But the conflation of their meanings, born of not a little ignorance and slovenly language, has produced somewhat different strains of anti-rational toxin in the past few decades.

The political definitions of both elite and elitism in the US are now being broadened to include knowledge itself.

To escape the charge of elitism, a US candidate may now be required to display not only a beer belly, but also a preference for ignorance over expertise.

Republicans are slapping the elitist bullseye on Barack Obama, though his is a story of earned privilege through scholarships, hard work and brains.

Tags: elite, elitism, language, mediocrity

OBAMA TAKES ON FOX NEWS

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 14:09:22 GMT

clipped by: schreibe
clipper's remarks: FOX News......UGH! They are going down the slippery slope of slimy sh--, .......something like "hell in a hand basket" Whoever turns on that trash is xxxxxx..... sorry, I'm just getting too emotional. It's just a political game right. The truth doesn't matter any more right! Just make it up as you go along....RIGHT! UGHHHHHHHHHHH!

Clip Source: www.talkingpointsmemo.com

OBAMA TAKES ON FOX NEWS. If this is a sign of how Barack Obama intends to deal with the right-wing media during his Presidential campaign, then I'm all for it.

Obama is aggressively going after Fox News today for pushing that smear-job report claiming that he went to an Islamic “madrassa” school as a child. The report has already been completely debunked by CNN, but Obama isn't letting up. The Senator's office has just emailed out a blistering memo targeting Fox that says the following:

All of the claims about Senator Obama raised in the Insight Magazine piece were thoroughly debunked by CNN, which, instead of relying on unnamed sources, sent a reporter to Obama’s former school in Jakarta to check the facts.

These malicious, irresponsible charges are precisely the kind of politics the American people have grown tired of, and that Senator Obama is trying to change by focusing on bringing people together to solve our common problems.

Clip Source: thinkprogress.org

On his radio show this week, Gibson refused to back down. He claimed the CNN reporter who debunked the false report “probably went to the very madrassa” as Obama. Gibson implied that CNN’s report had covered up religious extremism at the school:

GIBSON [W]hat did they see when they went to the madrassa where Barack Obama went to school?

HOST: Kids playing volleyball.

GIBSON: Playing volleyball, right. They didn’t see them in any terrorist training camps?

HOST: No.

GIBSON: No. Um, but they probably didn’t show them in their little lessons where they’re bobbing their heads and memorizing the Koran.

HOST: I didn’t see any tape of that, no.

Listen:

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE AUDIO

Gibson is a member of the KKK…..fact? who cares? let’s report it anyway.

Comment by nigel — January 24, 2007 @ 6:33 pm

Of course, FOX Gnus probably won’t show Gibson in his little padded pouch mini-briefs dancing and bobbing his head and reciting from Bill O’Reilly’s book for all his colleagues’ pleasure after each of their shows’ tapings, will they?

Tags: fox news, politics, fear

Your brain lies to you

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:15:41 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: This phenomenon, known as source amnesia, can also lead people to forget whether a statement is true. Even when a lie is presented with a disclaimer, people often later remember it as true.

With time, this misremembering gets worse. A false statement from a noncredible source that is at first not believed can gain credibility during the months it takes to reprocess memories from short-term hippocampal storage to longer-term cortical storage. As the source is forgotten, the message and its implications gain strength.

Clip Source: www.iht.com

False beliefs are everywhere.

Eighteen percent of Americans think the sun revolves around the earth, one poll has found.

Thus it seems slightly less egregious that, according to another poll, 10 percent of us think that Senator Barack Obama, a Christian, is instead a Muslim. The Obama campaign has created a Web site to dispel misinformation.

But this effort may be more difficult than it seems, thanks to the quirky way in which our brains store memories - and mislead us along the way.

The brain does not simply gather and stockpile information as a computer's hard drive does.

Facts are stored first in the hippocampus, a structure deep in the brain about the size and shape of a fat man's curled pinkie finger. But the information does not rest there.

Every time we recall it, our brain writes it down again, and during this re-storage, it is also reprocessed. In time, the fact is gradually transferred to the cerebral cortex and is separated from the context in which it was originally learned.

Tags: brain, behavioral science

Iraq’s Interior Minister Thanks U.S. Troops for Liberating Iraq

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 03:25:40 GMT

clipped by: Smoke TNT

Clip Source: www.cnsnews.com

July 30

Washington (CNSNews.com) – A top Iraqi official visited wounded American troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Tuesday to thank them for their part in ending Saddam Hussein’s rule in his country.

“We have come … to express our gratitude and appreciation for the sacrifices made by these great warriors, soldiers, in freeing the Iraqi people and in helping us in Iraq recover from tyranny and dictatorship,” Jawad Karim al-Bolani, Iraq’s minister of the interior, said through a translator to a handful of journalists in the lobby of the medical center.

Jawad Karim al-Bolani

“We also want to express our gratitude to the families of all these great men and women and express how important their sacrifices are for our nation,” he added.

Bolani’s visit with troops comes on the heels of Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) recent trip to the Middle East, where the Democratic presidential candidate caused a stir when he canceled a planned visit to wounded American soldiers.

Tags: iraq, soldiers, iraq war

Obama: Yes, I inhaled—that was the point

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 20:04:21 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com

Earlier this week in New Hampshire Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama spoke candidly about his past experimentation with drugs and alcohol in high school, and on Saturday—after a question on medicinal marijuana—Obama was prodded a bit further and asked whether or not he had ever inhaled.

"I did," the senator from Illinois said to light applause. "It's not something I'm proud of. It was a mistake as a young man."

The question was a reference to a line made famous by former President Bill Clinton who, while admitting to trying marijuana, said he did not inhale.

"I never understood that line," Obama continued. "The point was to inhale. That was the point."

On the issue of medicinal marijuana, Obama said that if the "best way to relieve pain and suffering is through medicinal marijuana," then it's something he's open to.

Tags: medical, marijuana, barack obama, politics, health

McCain tax plan: $1B to each of 8 corporations

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 07:33:06 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: A billions dollars! For Exxon! For Wal-Mart! You've got to be kidding!

Clip Source: sage

Eight companies — Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips Co., Bank of America Corp., AT&T, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Microsoft Corp. — would each receive over $1 billion a year.

McCain would deliver about $4 billion in tax cuts to the five largest oil companies. He would also hand over $2 billion to the top 10 health insurance companies. Unlike the highest-rung of the corporate ladder, much of the rest of Wall Street refuses to be bought off. Those employees are giving more to Obama than to McCain.

While McCain caters to the rich, Barack Obama’s tax plan “offers three times the break for middle class families” than the proposals of John McCain. To clarify the contrast in the two candidates’ plans, consider this fact: John and Cindy McCain would reap over $300,000 from McCain’s own tax plan. By contrast, both the Obamas and McCains would receive a substantial, albeit much smaller, savings under Obama’s plan (see a comparison here).

Tags: mccain

Women Are Never Front Runners

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 13:26:55 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: "If the lawyer described above had been just as charismatic but named, say, Achola Obama instead of Barack Obama, her goose would have been cooked long ago"

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

THE woman in question became a lawyer after some years as a community organizer, married a corporate lawyer and is the mother of two little girls, ages 9 and 6. Herself the daughter of a white American mother and a black African father — in this race-conscious country, she is considered black — she served as a state legislator for eight years, and became an inspirational voice for national unity.

Be honest: Do you think this is the biography of someone who could be elected to the United States Senate? After less than one term there, do you believe she could be a viable candidate to head the most powerful nation on earth?

If you answered no to either question, you’re not alone. Gender is probably the most restricting force in American life, whether the question is who must be in the kitchen or who could be in the White House. This country is way down the list of countries electing women and, according to one study, it polarizes gender roles more than the average democracy.

Tags: the, truth, hurts

Why Too Much Praying Is A Bad idea

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 04:25:29 GMT

clipped by: Jorjor
clipper's remarks: It seems to me that a lot of praying, instead of achieving its intended purpose of praise and glorification instead reduces a deity to a petty servant.

Internet evangelist Stuart Shepard issued a call to pray that Barack Obama's planned speech in a stadium in Denver gets rained out. That goes beyond petty into the realm of the ridiculous and juvenile.

Clip Source: members.comics.com

Tags: religion, humor

Wilhelm backs Obama, "He can bring CHANGE!"

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 19:19:37 GMT

clipped by: BobbyRutan
clipper's remarks: A Wilhelm with common sense and logic.

Who knew Wilhelm ran Clinton's White House bid in 1992 and became head of the DNC?

Who knew?

Clip Source: www.breitbart.com

An aide to Barack Obama says the man who led former President Clinton's 1992 bid plans to endorse the Illinois senator.

Obama's campaign plans a 1 p.m. conference call Wednesday to announce the endorsement by David Wilhelm, who later became chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Clip Source: www.usatoday.com

Enlarge DNC

Clip Source: www.breitbart.com

The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement would be made public later in the day.

Wilhelm plans to tell reporters that Obama can build a coalition of Democrats, independents and Republicans needed to win the general election. He also says Obama can bring the change he promises—improving the economy and ending the war in Iraq.

Wilhelm is a superdelegate from Illinois who was previously uncommitted in the race.


Clinton Ex-Campaign Manager Backs Obama

Tags: wilhelm, a wilhelm who knows something others don't

Barack Obama hits the nail on the head

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 21:35:41 GMT

clipped by: egoldstein
clipper's remarks: I just don't see how anyone can disagree with this sentiment from Obama. His vision for a new way of dealing with issues and people - and his apparent ability to carry it out - is truly inspiring!! I feel like he is the right medicine for the Bush Flu this country has caught.

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

"In four days you can say that the time has come to move beyond the bitterness and the partisanship and the pettiness and the anger that's consumed Washington for so long; to end the political strategy that's about division instead of addition; to build a coalition that stretches between red states and blue states, because that's how we will win in November and that's how we will finally meet the challenges that we face as a nation."

Tags: barack obama, politics, election, president

Facebook Never Forgets

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:43:17 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: "The Internet's anonymity, long memory and free-for-all gossip culture may yet prove a poisonous cocktail. But as our generation grows older and enters public life -- thankfully, we have some time -- we'll find ourselves in a political culture that increasingly views these "gotcha" moments in context and with an eye toward forgiveness. After all, the incriminating photo, the offensive blog post, that drunken 3 a.m. e-mail -- it could have been any of us."

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

Imagine if the current crop of public figures had grown up during the Facebook era. We might have photos of John McCain in Florida slurping body shots off his stripper girlfriend. Barack Obama rolling a joint on a beach in Hawaii. George W. Bush passed out at a Yale frat party, 40-ounce beer bottles duct-taped to his hands. Hillary Rodham Clinton at a Wellesley peace rally, locking lips with her husband's future secretary of Labor, Robert Reich.

It's one thing to hear that your elected representative had a wild time in college. It's entirely different to have pictorial proof. Would you still vote for someone after viewing a photograph of him passed out in his own vomit?

This isn't just a thought experiment. The next generation of political leaders is coming of age right now -- and it's unlikely that any one of them will escape digital documentation of their college-era foibles.