Clipmarks | merrie's Comments

Congratulations Senator Obama

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:15:14 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

[Video]

Tags: obama, mccain, election, campaign, politics

A pop limit

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:47:45 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners
clipper's remarks: I got this after about 15 pops in about 5-10 minutes. Is this new, because i have never run into it before? If so, I don't think I like it.

Clip Source: clipmarks.com

Hold your pops

To try to maintain balance on the Clipmarks site, there are some limits on the number of clips each user can pop within certain time periods.

You will be able to pop again in 52 minutes.

Tags: clipmarks, pop, limit

The Price of Putin

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:33:19 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: when Russia defaulted, and the amount of cash leaving the country in the second week of August was the highest on record.

Russia's central bank, which reported the $16.5 billion decline last week, still reckons to have $581 billion in reserves, money being stored away when the oil runs out and the gas flow starts to falter. This may come somewhat sooner than many think.

Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin spoke after the Cabinet approved the draft federal budget for the next three years, which assumes that Russia's main oil blend, Urals, will sell for at least $95 a barrel. (Russian government's own budget estimates, oil is expected to drop to $90 in 2010 and $88 in 2011.)

At current rates of extraction combined with rising national consumption, Russia's known oil reserves will start to run out in the 2020s, and a lack of investment in maintenance and development means the two main gas fields expected to maintain Russia's export income are falling ominously behind schedule.

Clip Source: www.metimes.com

But there are intriguing signs in Russia that those whose jobs and markets and investments are most integrated with Europe and the global economy are starting to count the cost of Vladimir Putin

Russian officials have sought to explain away the $16.4 billion outflow in foreign reserves in the week of the invasion of Georgia and also the 32 percent drop in Moscow's stock market since Putin began expressing his displeasure with the Mechel coal group in May. Mechel shares alone lost $8 billion after Putin's first remarks.

But Russian debt and equity markets also have gone into decline since the conflict with Georgia began Aug. 8, with yields on domestic ruble bonds increasing by up to 150 basis points over the last month. That is the equivalent of a 1.5-point jump in interest rates, the kind of panic measure that few central banks would risk taking except in extreme circumstances.

The pace of capital flight from Russia has been the highest since the 1998 collapse of the ruble,

Tags: putin, georgia, 32% drop in moscow's stock market, decline in debt/equity markets, capital flight

Barakopolis

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:55:59 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: www.nypost.com

Democrats will kneel before the "Temple of Obama" tonight.

As if a Rocky Mountain coronation were not lofty enough, Barack Obama will aim for Mount Olympus when he accepts his party's nomination atop an enormous, Greek-columned stage - built by the same cheesy set team that put together Britney Spears' last tour.

Some Republicans have dubbed it the "Barackopolis," while others suggested the delegates should wear togas

It's only appropriate that Barack Obama would descend down from the heavens and spend a little time with us mere mortals

Temple of Obama

We would have expected to read something like this in The Onion. Fortunately for us, it's true. Unfortunately for Obama, it's true

"We've done Britney's sets and a whole bunch of rock shows, but this was far more elaborate and complicated and we had to do it in far less time,"

Asked who is harder to sat isfy - the Democrats or Britney - Allen replied: "I better not answer that."

Tags: obama, democrats, election, campaign, convention, politics

On generosity

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:18:57 GMT

clipped by: bignosemousie

Clip Source: thinkexist.com

“The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”

Mitch Albom quotes

“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.”

Albert Pike quotes

“Be an opener of doors for such as come after thee.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”

Buddha quotes

Clip Source: thinkexist.com

“The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving.”

Albert Einstein quotes

“Be generous with kindly words, especially about those who are absent.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe quotes

Redneck Limo

Sat, 24 Feb 2007 03:06:24 GMT

clipped by: sparlingphoto

Clip Source: boortz.com

Tags: humor

Get To Know Tim Pawlenty

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:24:37 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners
clipper's remarks: Speculation is that he's the man for McCain. Looks to be a solid but not very exciting pick. He does have more experience that Obama, and would be the only candidate in the race that isn't a US senator and who has executive experience.

From what I can tell, this guy would help more than hurt McCain, but I don't think he would have a major impact either way right away. Looks like he would be a safe pick that could put Minnesota into play, but not an exciting pick like Alaska's Sarah Palin or Oklahoma's Dr. No Tom Coburn or even Joe Lieberman (not that I think he would be a good pick, but he would be exciting).

Clip Source: www.redstate.com

Governor Pawlenty grew up in South St. Paul, Minnesota. The only child in his family to graduate from college, he attended the University of Minnesota (B.A., J.D.) and practiced law in the private sector. His public service career includes serving as a city councilmember and ten-year member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, including four years as House Majority Leader.

As Governor, he has balanced Minnesota's budget three times without raising taxes

accomplishments include

new benefits for veterans and members of the military

a property tax cap

eliminating the marriage penalty and cutting taxes

toughening the state's education standards

reforming the way teachers are paid through a nation-leading performance pay plan

free-market health care reforms that increase accountability and provide tax credits to encourage the use of health savings accounts

a plan to Americanize our energy sources by generating 25% of the state's electricity from renewable sources by 2025

Tags: mccain, pawlenty, minnesota, politics

Barack Obama: Leap of Faith

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:51:39 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: but because they're confused about the roots of his politics.

Sen. Obama accumulated his victorious lead early with a liberal coalition willing to vote for him mainly for reasons of faith – upper-middle-class whites, black voters and young idealists -- all attempting to complete the civil-rights promise, answer the post-partisan appeal, or vote against the war and George Bush.

His coalition's limitations hit the wall in Ohio. Here Sen. Clinton discovered her Rosie-the-Riveter persona, and it worked. I watched her sell bread-and-butter policy before blue-collar crowds in Youngstown, Akron and Cleveland. She was tremendously good at it. He just wasn't. The Sunday before the Ohio vote, Sen. Obama abandoned Ohio. The way Hillary won in these crucial November swing states may have fatally damaged his candidacy.

His problem is that there is nothing in it (biography) to suggest he has spent any significant time thinking about these people other than as a political abstraction.

Clip Source: www.realclearpolitics.com

The U.S. presidency is a political office, and nearly all nominees for it had a record in politics to offer a basis for shaping a view of how they might conduct the nation's highest office.

By this most traditional of measures, the Obama candidacy is a leap of faith.

A New York Times article on his years at Harvard Law, where he was editor of the law review, said, "In dozens of interviews, his friends said they could not remember his specific views from that era, beyond a general emphasis on diversity and social and economic justice." A similar piece on his years teaching at the University of Chicago Law School said he notably did not participate in its intellectual debates.

Yet amid a universally described lack of clarity about Sen. Obama's experience and core political beliefs, it is now being said that if the people in blue-collar counties don't vote for him, they, and their nation, remain racist.

This is false. If they don't vote for Barack Obama, it won't be over his personal roots,

Tags: obama, political beliefs, experience, diversity, social/economic justice,

Beyond Priceless

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:35:59 GMT

clipped by: The REAL Napster
clipper's remarks: heh... not a very smart move when cops are everywhere

Clip Source: s395.photobucket.com

Tags: mccain08, democrats, oops

Only Rhetorical Extravagance by George Will

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:20:05 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Obama thinks government is not getting a "reasonable share" of oil companies' profits, which in 2007 were, as a percentage of revenues (8.3 percent), below those of U.S. manufacturing generally (8.9 percent). Exxon Mobil pays almost as much in corporate taxes to various governments as the bottom 50 percent of American earners pay in income taxes. Exxon Mobil does make $1,400 a second in profits -- hear the sharp intakes of breath from liberals with pursed lips -- but pays $4,000 a second in taxes and $15,000 a second in operating costs.

Obama's rhetorical extravagances are inversely proportional to his details, as when he promises "nothing less than a complete transformation of our economy" in order to "end the age of oil." The diminished enthusiasm of some voters hitherto receptive to his appeals might have something to do with the seepage of reality from his rhetoric.

Clip Source: townhall.com

One more inspirational oration, one general enough to please Berliners or even his fellow "citizens of the world," will confirm Pascal's point that "continuous eloquence wearies." That is so because it is not really eloquent.

But the fact that Obama lost nine of the final 14 primaries might have something to do with the fact that when he descends from the ether to practicalities, he reprises liberalism's most shopworn nostrums.

Russia, a third-world nation with first-world missiles, is rampant; Iran is developing a missile inventory capable of delivering nuclear weapons the development of which will not be halted by Obama's promised "aggressive personal diplomacy." Yet Obama has vowed to "cut investments in unproven missile defense systems." Steamboats, railroads, airplanes and vaccines were "unproven" until farsighted people made investments.

George McGovern's 1972 "Demogrant" notion, Obama promises a $1,000 check for every family, financed by a "windfall profits" tax on oil companies.

Tags: obama, rhetoric, liberalism's nostrums, russia, iran's missile inventory, "windfall profits" tax on oil companies, "transform our economy"

the movie 'Elegy'

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 12:01:22 GMT

clipped by: silvanaraihane

Clip Source: www.chron.com

Elegy makes strange bedfellows

In Elegy, philosopher-historian David Kepesh (Ben Kingsley) falls in love with Consuela (Penelope Cruz), who is a Cuban-American student.

Movie adaptations of the works of famous authors can serve as a form of literary criticism.

The new film, Elegy, taken from another Roth work, puts Ben Kingsley in bed with the stunning Penelope Cruz. It's a lot less jarring than Human Stain, at least in the sense that a gorgeous, unsure-of-herself Cuban-American student could fall for her brilliant, celebrated and ever-on-the-make professor. But it lacks both the sexual heat and romantic warmth to really work.

Occasionally touching, always interesting, Elegy may capture the essence of Roth, but it never lets him off the hook for being the eternal dirty old man, playing out some dirty old man's wish-fulfillment fantasy.

Sad News for Alaska's Wolves

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:12:39 GMT

clipped by: pitim

Clip Source: newsblaze.com

Alaska voters defeated a ballot initiative yesterday that would have ended the state's brutal aerial hunting program.

Thousands of Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund supporters gave invaluable support to this important campaign, but in the end, deep-pocketed special interests carried the day.

As we prepare for another bloody season of aerial hunting in Alaska, we are redoubling our efforts to pass the Protect America's Wildlife (PAW) Act in Washington, DC to bring an end to Alaska's aerial hunting program -- and prevent programs like it from spreading to places like the Greater Yellowstone region.

This bill already has strong bipartisan support in the House of Representatives -- now we must ensure that this important bill gets passed.

Please take a moment to write to your Representative in Washington, DC and urge him or her to support this important wildlife-saving legislation today.

James Franco’s New Gucci Ads

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:59:24 GMT

clipped by: pitim

Clip Source: myitthings.com

[Video]

Where isn’t James Franco these days? From a stoner in Pineapple Express to Harvey Milk’s boyfriend in Milk, the face of Gucci by Gucci Pour Homme, he’s everywhere! Here’s his new ad for the cologne. What do you think? Does Franco rock the David Lynch-esque art house feel of this spot, or does he just come across as silly? Do you like Róisín Murphy’s cover of Bryan Ferry’s classic Slave to Love? Does it all make you want to smell like James Franco?

Thieves leave money, don't steal car

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:17:31 GMT

clipped by: tommy2balmy
clipper's remarks: Humorous yet sad story.

Clip Source: www.ananova.com

Thieves left money instead of taking car

A Brazilian woman says car thieves left her money instead of taking her car when they realised its poor condition.

Flavia Alcantara from Belo Horizonte, had left a note on the windscreen warning thieves that the car was not worth stealing.

Her note read: "Mr Robber, please do not steal this car. It has no batteries, no spare tyre. It is in bad shape. Thank you for your attention."

Mrs Alcantara says someone later tried to steal the car but ended up leaving it - along with a one reai banknote, worth the equivalent of 40p.

"The robber must have felt sorry for me," she told Terra Noticias Populares..

"I put the note to attract the robbers' attention. I wanted to stop them taking a car which wasn't worth stealing anyway."

Tags: odd

Render Unto Obama...

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:37:55 GMT

clipped by: bmeuppls
clipper's remarks: Your hope, your desires, your money, your lives....

Clip Source: www.powerlineblog.com