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Biggest turnout of <30 yr Old in 20 yr

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 05:38:15 GMT

clipped by: ejcram
clipper's remarks: Its about time considering they inherit the debt

BOSTON (Reuters) - Young Americans voted in the largest numbers in at least 20 years in congressional elections, energized by the Iraq war and giving a boost to Democrats, pollsters said on Wednesday.

About 24 percent of Americans under the age of 30, or at least 10 million young voters, cast ballots in Tuesday's elections that saw Democrats make big gains in Congress. That was up 4 percentage points from the last mid-term elections in 2002.

But despite the big turnout, it may not be a record.

In the 1982 mid-term election during the Reagan administration, youth turnout reached 27 percent, but that was among voters aged between 18 to 24 instead of under 30 as measured by Wednesday's exit poll estimates.

Clip Source: today.reuters.com

At the University of Iowa, some students doubled as "Human Vote Billboards" with messages exhorting students to vote in the battleground state where Democrats won several races.

Forty-six percent favored a total troop withdrawal from Iraq within a year, while a third said troops should be withdrawn after the Iraqis take full control.

Future elections could also be at stake. The "Generation Y" of Americans born from 1977 to 1994 -- shaped by the September 11 attacks, the Iraq war and Hurricane Katrina -- in nine years will make up a third of the electorate.

Tags: politics young voters

Buchanan: More Christians Disatisfied with GOP

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 12:21:18 GMT

clipped by: ejcram
clipper's remarks: Echo of Kuo's "Tempting Faith"?

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

Nov. 7, 2006 — As conservative Christians get ready to vote, Pat Buchanan, an advisor to three American presidents who himself ran twice for the Republican presidential nomination, said the Ted Haggard scandal will not shake their convictions.

However, Buchanan said, Christians around the country are more dissatisfied and disillusioned with the Republican Party than ever before. While they won't change their vote over Haggard, there's a sense that core Republicans have been let down and there are a lot of problems with the Republican party, Buchanan told "Exclusiva," the ABC News Now's Hispanic news program.

"There's the spending orgy, the arrogance of power, for me," he said. "The war in Iraq, failure to protect our border, hurting the working class in Ohio, for example, the list goes on and on. We're more dissatisfied with the Republican Party than we've ever been."

Buchanan said there's some validity to the belief some conservative Christians feel that they have come to close too power and that power corrupts.

Some Evangelicals, Buchanan said, may even consider withdrawing from the political arena, as they were before the 1970s and 80s, and take an example from the Catholic Church, where priests stay out of politics.

Tags: politics, religion, christian, war, economics

Koppel on Bush Admin's War Tactics

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 18:45:52 GMT

clipped by: ejcram
clipper's remarks: Excellent & free this week on NYTimes.com

Clip Source: select.nytimes.com

The Long, Cost-Free War

TED KOPPEL

One can share the Bush administration’s perception that the United States confronts real threats that will not be eliminated easily or soon, but still find it impractical and immoral to get on with life as usual while placing the burden solely on the shoulders of the young men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, their families and friends.

We are left with the impression that the grown-ups in Washington would prefer to make the difficult decisions for us without involving the courts, Congress or the press. That is precisely the wrong way to go about winning this war. Back when the United States was widely admired, it was for all that was most cumbersome about our democratic process.

America’s efforts to transplant democracy elicit none of that admiration. How can they, when we appear to have lost confidence in fundamental aspects of democracy here at home? What has historically impressed our allies and adversaries has been our often flawed, but ultimately sincere, determination to operate within the law — if not always abroad, then at least within the United States.

Tags: politics, war, democracy, legal process, policy

US Episcopalians Installs 1st Woman Head

Sat, 04 Nov 2006 22:50:18 GMT

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clipper's remarks: Evolution moves so slowly.....

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Jefferts Schori has spent her life tackling outsized challenges.

She is an oceanographer who graduated from Stanford University, a rock climber and a pilot who flew her plane to visit parishes around the sprawling Nevada Diocese.

Her husband of more than 25 years, Richard Schori, is a retired mathematician. Their daughter, 25-year-old Katharine Johanna, is a pilot in the U.S. Air Force.

Jefferts Schori decided to pursue full-time ministry after federal funding for her scientific research dried up. She was ordained in 1994.

Seven U.S. conservative dioceses have already rejected her authority and have asked Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the Anglican spiritual leader, to assign them another national leader. Three of the dioceses do not support ordaining women.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Katharine Jefferts Schori took office Saturday as the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States -- a first not only for her country but also for the global Anglican Communion, which has never before had a female priest leading one of its provinces.

Jefferts Schori, 52, was bishop of Nevada when she was the surprise winner of the election for presiding bishop at the Episcopal General Convention in June.

She will now represent the American denomination and faces many Anglican leaders angered by the 2003 consecration of the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, and some that oppose ordination of women.

The majority of Anglicans worldwide have conservative views on sexuality, but they are a minority in the Episcopal Church. Still, by withholding money and building alliances with like-minded Anglicans overseas, they have chipped away at the authority of the 2.3-million-member denomination.

Tags: christian church christianity episcopal anglican

Gay marriage - "Trusty Distractinator"

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 20:49:46 GMT

clipped by: ejcram
clipper's remarks: This old dog don't hunt no more...

Clip Source: www.cbsnews.com

(CBS/AP) President Bush has tried for months to define the Nov. 7 congressional elections as a choice about two issues: taxes and terrorism. Now, with polls predicting bleak results for Republicans, he is trying to fire up his party by decrying gay marriage.

"For decades, activist judges have tried to redefine America by court order," Mr. Bush said Monday in Statesboro. "Just this last week in New Jersey, another activist court issued a ruling that raises doubt about the institution of marriage. We believe marriage is a union between a man and a woman and should be defended."

The line earned Mr. Bush by far his most sustained applause at a rally of 5,000 people aimed at boosting Republican former Congressman Max Burns' effort to unseat a Democratic incumbent. In this conservative rural corner of eastern Georgia, even children jumped to their feet alongside their parents to cheer and clap for nearly 30 seconds — an eternity in political speechmaking.

"I believe I should continue to appoint judges who strictly interpret the law and not legislate from the bench," the president said, earning more applause in the sweltering basketball arena at Georgia Southern University.

Tags: politics

Halloween Spending

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 17:26:04 GMT

clipped by: ejcram
clipper's remarks: Consumers are out of control! It is insane to spend this much on junk, most of which is made in China who owns 2/3rds of our national debt.

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

"Halloween spending is expected to grow to 5 billion this year. … That's up from about 3.3 billion last year," said Scott Krugman, spokesman for the National Retail Federation.

The average Halloween consumer will spend roughly $60 this year, as compared to $48 last year.

Tags: halloween, consumers, china