Clipmarks | Mandate Clips

Hawaii Church Looks at Obama and McCain

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:12:47 GMT

clipped by: Kelika
clipper's remarks: The National Council of Churches urges churches to look at politicians, government policies and civic leaders through a wider lens and to ask how they measure up to biblical teaching about peace, justice, protection of the weak and the poor, and stewardship of Creation.

A Kailua church will use the National Council of Churches' "Christian Principles in an Election Year" for an eight-week course of study that will bring Scripture to bear on speeches and platforms of presidential contenders Barack Obama and John McCain."

Clip Source: starbulletin.com

"We'll be doing what churches know how to do: ask faith questions about real life," Summers said.

Among the 10 "Christian principles" in the National Council of Churches' guide to listening to politicians are:

» "God created us for each other, and thus our security depends on the well-being of our global neighbors." Translation: Shape foreign policy based on cooperation.

» "Those who follow Christ are called to heal the sick." Translation: Provide health care for all.

» "Christians have a biblical mandate to welcome strangers." Translation: How does that look as an immigration policy?

The national organization provided a list of Old and New Testament passages to use in examining what politicians propose to do when they are in power. Jesus' command to "Love your neighbor as yourself" tops that yardstick.

Tags: politics, religion

The Balfour Declaration and the Mandate Under the League of Nations

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 07:00:10 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: ........The Jewish Connection To The Land......
We consider Palestine as part of Arab Syria, as it has never been separated from it at any time. We are connected with it by national, religious, linguistic, natural, economic, and geographical bonds."[10]

The purpose of post-World War I's League of Nations was to prepare those liberated from the Turks for independence. Once the indigenous populations demonstrated their ability to assume control, the mandates given to the war's victorious superpowers were supposed to be self-terminating. For the international community, justice for the Arabs meant guaranteeing their economic, civil, and religious rights. Awarding the Arabs any form of self-government within Palestine was precluded by British commitments to the Jews under the Balfour Declaration, which had been incorporated in the mandate of the League of Nations.[11]

Clip Source: globalpolitician.com

At this point in history, post-World War I, political pressure caused the international community to endorse the Jewish desire for national self-determination and acc epted that the Jewish people had a justifiable claim to return to their homeland. Significantly, in this recognition, the Balfour Declaration and the Mandate under the League of Nations make no mention of Palestinians as a separate and distinct people with their own national rights. The indigenous people were regarded as residents whose political identity was connected to the larger Arab nation.[9]

For the British, the matter was quite clear: Palestine was not a state but the name of a geographical area. This had been reinforced by the indigenous Arabs themselves.

When the First Congress of Muslim-Christian Associations met in Jerusalem in February 1919 to select Palestinian Arab representatives for the Paris Peace Conference, they adopted the following resolution:

Arthur Balfour
British Foreign Secretary

Tags: israel, league of nations, balfour declaration, palestinians

SciFoo 2008

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 19:45:22 GMT

clipped by: pascual
clipper's remarks: edge

Clip Source: edge.org

SciFoo begins with a round of stylized introductions. Since 200 or so people are involved, brevity is a primary virtue. The stated mandate is: name, affiliation, three word self-presentation. Most people interpreted "word" very liberally, in the spirit of the days of Genesis, to encompass "phrase" or "topic". I was among the happy few who literally presented themselves in three words, sat down and shut up. In the process, I discovered both a philosophy of life, an algorithm for creativity, and the title of my fictitious autobiography:

Tags: science, conference

The New Politics of Obama

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:34:25 GMT

clipped by: bmeuppls
clipper's remarks: By any means necessary... he is certainly fulfilling the marxist mandate with these coordinated attacks...

Clip Source: www.ace.mu.nu

122. What many here don't understand. It doesn't matter if it's true or not. RUMOR IS TRUTH.
The modern laws of media hype and political warfare have a useful tenet:
Repeat ANYTHING or raise false concern over ANYTHING and it is likely to be planted in the conscious/subconscious of many voters.
If people start to think that there might be something fishy with Palin's last kid (if hers), then that's FINE. One more doubt (whether tied to reality or not) is another hesitation at the ballot box.
GET WITH THE PROGRAM PEOPLE. The "rising above it" bullshit has served us so well in the past, hasn't it?
If you have problems with the story, then STFU and get out of the way of Dems who are engaged in MODERN POLITICAL WARFARE. Go tend your garden or some other pedestrian task, because the "concern trolls" are not helping shape the message.
J

No news isn't good news

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:39:30 GMT

clipped by: Maureen Farrell
clipper's remarks: For small businesses = getting candidates attention or getting them to speak up about how they'll help the small business community hasn't been easy. One reason - despite the large number of small businesses, oftentimes, they don't have a clear stance on the issues. The NFIB, typically more conservative though definitely not in all respect, represents one of the US's largest lobbying groups and it reaches a wide group at very much a grassroots level. Still there even on issues like health care, it's difficult to suss out exactly what all small businesses want. Same goes for taxes... The NFIB has a position and a huge membership base but it's unclear how much its membership votes the "NFIB" line.

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

At the same time, lobbyists and business owners are frustrated at the scarcity of details from the candidates on many small-business policies.

One area where nearly all small-business owners agree is health care: Three small-business lobbies -- the National Federation of Independent Business, the National Association for the Self Employed and the National Small Business Administration -- oppose a mandate that requires employers to cover their workers' health-insurance costs.

Send a history-making message to Congress:

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 06:36:27 GMT

clipped by: shankargallery
clipper's remarks: http://kucinich.us/

Clip Source: kucinich.us

On September 10, 2008, we want to deliver ONE MILLION signatures to
Congress urging them to exercise their Constitutional authority and mandate to

hold this President - and all future Presidents - accountable.

Please sign NOW! And ask everyone you know to sign.
The power to change the world is in your hands!

Message from Dennis

Tags: kucinich.us

Iraq says U.S. sought troop presence to 2015

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:16:34 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

BAGHDAD - The United States asked Iraq for permission to keep its troops there to 2015, but U.S. and Iraqi negotiators agreed to limit their authorization to 2011, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said.

"It was a U.S. proposal for the date which is 2015, and an Iraqi one which is 2010, then we agreed to make it 2011. Iraq has the right, if necessary, to extend the presence of these troops," Talabani said in a transcript of an interview with al-Hurra television.

The agreement will provide a legal basis for the U.S. troop presence after a United Nations mandate expires at the end of this year.

Growing assertiveness
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said that, while overall negotiations continued, the two sides had accepted the end of 2011 as a deadline for the withdrawal of the approximately 145,000 U.S. troops stationed in Iraq.

They also reflect the political pressures that Maliki faces at home more than five years after the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.

Tags: iraq, war, occupation, troops, out

Huckabee: Romney responsible for implementing gay marriage in Massachusetts

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:36:50 GMT

clipped by: queah

Clip Source: chinoblanco.blogspot.com

Huckabee: … You know, it’s interesting, the California decision as well as the Massachusetts decision, I don’t think should ever have been implemented by the governors, Schwarzenegger and Romney. They were both decisions that the governors simply could have said the court has said that we have to do it, but let them enforce it. Because those were administrative decisions that had to put that in place and there was no mandate.

Jeffrey: Right, but Governor Romney actually went ahead and certified same-sex marriages without an act of his state legislature.

Huckabee: It should never have happened. It should never have happened. And while we want to blame the courts—

Jeffrey: Does that disqualify him as a vice presidential nominee for the Republican Party?

faith vs science in florida high schools

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 08:25:14 GMT

clipped by: kroqben

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

in a nation where evangelical Protestantism and other religious traditions stress a literal reading of the biblical description of God’s individually creating each species, students often arrive at school fearing that evolution, and perhaps science itself, is hostile to their faith.

Some come armed with “Ten questions to ask your biology teacher about evolution,” a document circulated on the Internet that highlights supposed weaknesses in evolutionary theory. Others scrawl their opposition on homework assignments. Many just tune out.

With a mandate to teach evolution but little guidance as to how, science teachers are contriving their own ways to turn a culture war into a lesson plan. How they fare may bear on whether a new generation of Americans embraces scientific evidence alongside religious belief.

A possible US troop withdrawlment from Iraq?!

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:08:47 GMT

clipped by: kris_tea
clipper's remarks: I'm wondering why this didn't make a bigger splash in the news. Or was I just out of touch that day? This seems like a pretty big deal, if you ask me. I'm not really for or against time lines or withdrawalment because I'm not privy to all the info & far from being a war expert but still, this seems like it would be a pretty big deal to most Americans.

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Officials say US, Iraq finish draft security deal

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer Wed Aug 20, 2:54 PM ET

BAGHDAD - Iraqi and U.S. negotiators have finished work on a draft security agreement that would see all American troops leave Iraqi cities by June 30 and the rest of the country by the end of 2011, Iraqi officials said Wednesday.

The deal still needs approval by both governments — and some members of Iraq's Cabinet oppose some of its provisions.

The security deal is to govern the status of the more than 140,000-strong U.S. military force after the U.N. Security Council mandate for its mission expires at the end of this year.

Iraq's Cabinet must sign off on the deal and then refer it to parliament for final approval. The Shiite-led government has been pressing for some sort of timeline for the departure of U.S. troops, saying that is essential to win legislators' approval.

Tags: iraq, america, iraq war, war

Obama and Iowa

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:23:57 GMT

clipped by: Andrew Gillies
clipper's remarks: In this week's National Journal, the magazine's regular "Insider's Poll" asks Democratic and Republican luminaries (pollsters, strategists, and so on) which state is Obama's top pickup opportunity. Iowa ranks at the top for both groups. In the clip, James Barnes fleshes out a bit why. Note the importance of ethanol.

Clip Source: www.nationaljournal.com

Iowa: Where Politics Is Personal

by James A. Barnes

As Obama begins trying to flip Iowa--the only state other than New Mexico that switched from the Democratic to the Republican column in the 2004 presidential election--his personal connection to the state and the surge in Democratic voter registration fueled by the record-breaking attendance at the party's presidential caucuses are two key factors in his favor.

In May, McCain was one of 11 co-sponsors of legislation introduced by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, calling for a freeze in the corn-based ethanol mandate in the renewable-fuels standard, which requires that refiners use 15 billion gallons of ethanol a year by 2015. Proponents of the Hutchison bill contend that increased ethanol production is raising food prices. But Iowa produces about one-quarter of the nation's ethanol, and the development of that industry is viewed as almost a godsend in a state seeking to diversify its economy and keep its young workers.

Russians Defy Cease-Fire: Troops In Georgia Digging In

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 12:30:37 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Elsewhere in Georgia, it appeared very clear that Russian troops were staying put, building ramparts around tanks and posting sentries on a hill near Igoeti, a central Georgia town only 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of Tbilisi.

Russian troops still effectively control the main artery running through the western half of Georgia because they surround the strategic central city of Gori and additionally the city and air base of Senaki in the west. Both cities are on the main east-west highway that slices through two Georgian mountain ranges. Russia also confirmed Sunday that it had taken over a major power plant in western Georgia.

Rice noted that the text of the cease-fire, negotiated by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the current leader of the European Union, outlined a very limited mandate for the soldiers that Russia calls peacekeepers who were in Georgia when hostilities escalated. She said these soldiers can go on limited patrols within the two separatist areas but in Georgia

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

August 16: Russian armored vehicles move in Orjosani, between the capital Tbilisi and strategic town of Gori, Georgia.

MOSCOW — Russian military authorities issued a flurry of conflicting reports Sunday about whether Russian troops had begun to pull out of South Ossetia, one of Georgia's two separatist provinces.

Western pressure has been increasing on Moscow to withdraw its forces under a cease-fire deal signed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The United States and France have already charged that Russia is defying the truce, as Russian tanks and troops continue to roam freely across a wide swath of Georgian territory.

• Click here to view photos of the conflict in Georgia.

• Click here to view a video report of the conflict.

• Bush Accuses Russia of 'Bullying and Intimidation' in Georgia Conflict

• U.N. Reports Over 118,000 Georgians Have Fled Fighting

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was flying into the Georgian capital of Tbilisi for more talks Sunday

Tags: tbilisi georgia, cease-fire, medvedev, u.s./france, chancellor merkel

Largest solar power plants ever

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 04:28:58 GMT

clipped by: djbobbydrake
clipper's remarks: We're gettin there

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Companies will build two solar power plants in California that together will put out more than 12 times as much electricity as the largest such plant today, the latest indication that solar energy is starting to achieve significant scale.

The plants will cover 12.5 square miles of central California with solar panels, and in the middle of a sunny day will generate about 800 megawatts of power, roughly equal to the size of a large coal-burning power plant or a small nuclear plant. A megawatt is enough power to run a large Wal-Mart store.

The power will be sold to Pacific Gas & Electric, which is under a state mandate to get 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2010. The utility said that it expected the new plants, which will use photovoltaic technology to turn sunlight directly into electricity, to be competitive with other renewable energy sources, including wind turbines and solar thermal plants, which use the sun’s heat to boil water.

Tags: energy, solar power

President for Internationalization of Peacemaking Process in Georgia

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 10:27:16 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Speaking about scheduled meeting of the leaders in Tbilisi Presiden stressed that its aim is forming basis for talks with regard to all the conditions and positions of the sides. “It is clear that for Georgia a question of territorial integrity is very topical”, - he added.

Another question important for Georgia, as President Yushchenko noted, is participation of peacemakers with good reputation in the process of regulation of the conflict.

“It is clear that the peacekeepers who started shooting people do not deserve confidence. Today we must internationalize the peacemaking format and to make it open for other countries … I am sure that such countries as Ukraine could send their peacemakers within the framework of international mandate to demonstrate clear-cut guarantees of the obligations that may appear in the nearest future”, - he said.

Clip Source: www.president.gov.ua

	21 JULY 2008 12:50Victor Yushchenko welcomes Angela Merkel in UkraineThe welcoming ceremony took part in Kyiv, in front of the Presidential Secretariat.Press office of President Victor Yushchenko

	21 JULY 2008 15:23President Yushchenko, Chancellor Merkel hold joint press conferenceIn his statement President Yushchenko told the media that he is pleased with both today’s talks and overall relations development between Ukraine and Germany.Press office of President Victor Yushchenko

	21 JULY 2008 15:34President: Ukraine is a reliable energy resources transit partnerPress office of President Victor Yushchenko

	21 JULY 2008 15:57President sure that next Ukraine-EU Summit will fruit in political part of Ukraine-EU agreementPress office of President Victor Yushchenko

Clip Source: www.president.gov.ua

After taking part in anti-war protest demonstration in Tbilisi, President Victor Yushchenko talked to Ukrainian and foreign media.

“The most important thing we see is that the process of situation normalization has begun”,

Tags: president victor yushchenko, south ossetia settlement, ukraine, angela merkel

Obama Fails First 3 AM Call

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 22:11:20 GMT

clipped by: bmeuppls
clipper's remarks: His newest position is closer to McCain's, but he wants the UN to be the solution to the problem. Unfortunately, Russia has veto power of the Security council meaning the UN is powerless in this situation. He should have realized this before he opened his mouth...

Clip Source: www.powerlineblog.com

Maybe Obama located Georgia on a map. I would note, though, that even his new, supposedly more aggressive statement calls on the U.N.'s Security Council to "try to help bring about a peaceful resolution." He also said that the cause of the conflict is "the lack of a neutral and effective peacekeeping force operating under an appropriate UN mandate." These references to the U.N. as the solution to the problem in Georgia are foolish, since Russia exercises veto power over any United Nations action through its permanent seat on the Security Council.