Fausta’s Blog

I’m tied up with some work, but here are a few afternoon links:
James Pethokoukis rips to shreds the NYT’s puff piece: The ‘New York Times’ Votes Big for Obama Economics. Arthur Laffer said Obamanomics “should be a fascinating economic experiment,” but I should add, fascinating in the same way of a six-alarm fire in a high rise building.

Fannie and Freddy being sold out??? asks The Freedomist, after reading Barrons’ The Endgame Nears For Fannie and Freddie
The almost inevitable government recapitalization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will likely wipe out investors—and management.

The mullahs moola: London’s terror bank

Michael Bloomber’s energy policy: The Windmills Of His Mind

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Today’s 15 minutes on Cuba trades giraffes for medical equipment.

You can listen to the podcast here

but now the McCain campaign is asking for their contents to be made public:

“…if Barack Obama wants to have a discussion about truly questionable associations, let’s start with his relationship with the unrepentant terrorist William Ayers, at whose home Obama’s political career was reportedly launched. Mr. Ayers was a leader of the Weather Underground, a terrorist group responsible for countless bombings against targets including the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon and numerous police stations, courthouses and banks. In recent years, Mr. Ayers has stated, ‘I don’t regret setting bombs … I feel we didn’t do enough.’

“The question now is, will Barack Obama immediately call on the University of Illinois to release all of the records they are currently withholding to shed further light on Senator Obama’s relationship with this unrepentant terrorist?” —McCain spokesman Brian Rogers

Steve Diamond has been looking at what’s behind the Obama-Ayers relationship and its left-wing politics. He was more here, updating his information with the documents he’s been able to obtain.

Just One Minute is on this Chicago story like rice on white. Doug Ross gets the picture.

Chicago mayor Richard Daley thinks Ayers moved on, but as Hugh Hewitt points out

This won’t fly because as recently as last fall Ayers was filmed ranting about the fascist America of today. Ayers is an unrepentant terrorist, and Obama’s friendship with him calls the nominee’s judgment into question, no matter what “contribution” the terrorist has made to his community.

Hewitt has the video of Ayers speaking at SDS last fall about how cool it is to be an anarchist:

Why do Obama’s lost Annenberg years matter?

The four plus years (1995-1999) Barack Obama spent as founding chairman of the board of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC) represent his track record as reformer, as someone who reached out in a public-private collaboration and had the audacity to believe his effort would make things better. At the time he became leader of this ambitious project to remake the public schools of Chicago, he was 33 years old and a third year associate at a small Chicago law firm, Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland.

This was a big test for him, his chance to cut his teeth on bringing hope and change to the mostly minority inner city school children trapped in Chicago schools. And he flopped big time, squandering lots of money and the time of many public employees in the process.

Given Senator Obama’s lack of any other posts as leader of an organization, someone unschooled in the ways of the American media might expect that for months reporters have been poring over the records of the project to get an idea of how it managed to fail so badly. Examining the track record of the guy who wants to lead the federal government would seem to be part of the campaign beat for media organizations.

It’s not the crime, it’s the cover-up.

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The folks at Obama took my dollars write,

We are professionals in our mid-20s frustrated at how easily Obama has captured our demographic. Fooled by Obama’s use of the word “change,” our coworkers and former classmates believe he offers America something other than tried and failed big government.

Do you want a top marginal tax rate (not including state property taxes) of 62.3%? Because that’s what Obama is proposing.

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Simon Owens of Blogasm has an article related to the Google party facilities at the Dem convention where he asks, Will the Big Tent in Denver Help Bloggers Break Through?

As it turns out, the promised Google oasis for bloggers will happen in a building outside the Pepsi Center, since only 50 credentialed bloggers will be allowed at the Pepsi Center itself.

Hosted by Daily Kos, Progress Now, and the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado, the Big Tent will be a 9,000-square foot, two-story erected structure a few blocks away from the Pepsi Center where the convention will be held. It will be specifically geared toward new media — bloggers, podcasters, vloggers— and its sponsors include both Google and Digg.
…
The organization received over 3,000 applications for those who wanted to attend the Big Tent, but because of spacing restrictions and fire codes, only a fraction of those were accepted. Though the final count is a “moving target,” as he put it, there will likely be around 300 bloggers and other new media journalists who will participate.

They’ll be half a block outside the security line. Understandably, there’s a fair amount of skepticism.

Or, as Simon asks,

I asked Nelson what benefit the bloggers would have at the tent, given that they wouldn’t get access to the building where the convention is actually being held. The bloggers, for instance, wouldn’t be able to walk among the convention-goers and use that atmosphere to provide context to their reporting. Why wouldn’t a blogger just stay home and watch the event on his television?

There have been complaints about

the lack of communications from the DNCC when it comes to what access credentialed bloggers will have, including what kind of Internet will be offered and how the final night at Invesco Field will affect them.

In contrast, the Republicans will have their credentialed bloggers at the Excel Center, and have video podcasts every Friday at noon showing the work being done in preparation to the event, where bloggers are welcome to ask any question at all.

We’ll see how it all plays out.

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Barack Obama’s ‘lost’ brother found in Kenya
Senator Barack Obama’s long lost brother has been tracked down for the first time living in a shanty town in Kenya, reports claimed.

The Italian edition of Vanity Fair said that it had found George Hussein Onyango Obama living in a hut in a ramshackle town of Huruma on the outskirts of Nairobi.

Mr Obama, 26, the youngest of the presidential candidate’s half-brothers, spoke for the first time about his life, which could not be more different than that of the Democratic contender.
…
He has only met his famous older brother twice - once when he was just five and the last time in 2006 when Senator Obama was on a tour of East Africa and visited Nairobi.

I must disagree with Jammie Wearing Fool and Gateway Pundit, who said,

You would think Barack could spare a couple bucks to lift his brother out of this horrid place considering George’s “rent” is only $1 a month.

Considering that Obama’s mother and father were estranged from each other for decades, and that his only contact with this stepbrother was very brief, I would not be surprised if Obama didn’t know at all about his stepbrother’s present circumstances, and that the stepbrother may not have welcome any contact at all from Obama over the years.

I know that from personal experience (I have two stepbrothers).

So, before we rush to damn Obama over his indifference to his brother’s plight, we should keep in mind that family relations between adult stepsiblings are difficult and complicated. Add to that their difference in ages, and the fact that they were raised continents apart. We also do not know of what other factors enter into the picture, such as other problems George may be dealing with.

However, Jawa correctly points out the real issue:

Interesting that an intrepid reporter managed to find this guy in the middle of nowhere in a shanty town in Africa, but the intrepid reporters with all of the resources in the world in the US and elsewhere can’t seem to gain access (or are being blocked by a shadowy “someone”) to the stash of 947 public files containing information about what Obama and terrorist Bill Ayers did in Chicago with their “Annenberg Challenge” during Obama’s tenure as chairman.

Stanley Kurtz and others are trying, but they’re being stonewalled. Maybe if CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, MSDNC, the NYT, the LAT, USA Today, etc. got on it, it would be a little clearer. But alas, that is asking the media to investigate one of their own. I’m guessing the mainstream press will be using the “John Edwards” defense. That is, they’re not going to bother because what they fear they might find about this time in Obama’s vaunted political career may hurt the Liberal Jesus and by extension the Democrat Party.

Now, THAT would be worth finding, wouldn’t it?

PS
You can, however, help sponsor Obama School, which Juliette Ochieng has taken under her wing.

UDPATE
More from Richard Fernandez.

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Talk about audacity! Taranto has it,

Of course, if Obama were to accuse McCain of picking his positions on national security based on politics or personal ambition, everyone would laugh, because it obviously is not true. By contrast, there is quite a bit of evidence that Obama has placed political expediency above national security (for an excellent example, see our item yesterday on his shifting explanations for his original opposition to the liberation of Iraq).

In politics one often hears the charge of hypocrisy: My opponent criticizes me for X, but he has done Y, which is just as bad or worse. Obama’s argument here, though, is roughly opposite in form. He concedes that McCain is above reproach on this particular subject and therefore demands that McCain treat him as if he were beyond reproach. Obama’s acknowledgment of a McCain virtue is well and good, but it does not mitigate or excuse his own shortcoming.

Also via Taranto, a contradiction in terms: Petite, leggy women with big busts are the most sexually attractive, study reveals. I’m not sure how one is leggy if one’s petite, but what about tall women with really long legs (34″ inseam)?

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The Georgian ambassador spoke at the Heritage Foundation, and his country is “More dedicated than ever to being part of the free world”.
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Speaking of Georgia, here’s some grand theft auto:

You gotta love the AP reporter saying “it raises serious questions as to whether Russia’s backing down”.

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No on Joe (And Tom Ridge, Too)

Macker’s got an open thread on VP picks for either party.

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Hip Hop Republican makes the Washington Post
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Obama’s Tax Plan Is Really a Welfare Plan

Oh look, Obama changed his mind: Obama’s Curious Capital Gains Tax Epiphany.

Ace wrote an excellent post that you should read: Tom Maguire Demolishes Andrew Sullivan’s “Sand-Crossing” of McCain

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Today at 11AM Eastern I’ll talk about Puerto Rico’s governor, Anibal Acevedo Vila, who was indicted last March on 19 counts stemming from financial dealings in three political campaign but remains in office. Four Philadelphians were also charged at that time. After surrending to the FBI and being charged, Acevedo was released and remains in office. Marc Ambinder posted the Department of Justice’s press release announcing the indictement.

Now Acevedo’s facing new charges along with a senior aide and his former campaign director who also had been charged last March. He’s the first Puerto Rican governor to face federal charges. Breitbart has more.

In more edifying news, via Siggy, another Puerto Rican stood out recently.

The call-in number is 646 652-2639. Chat will be open by 10:45AM. Join us!

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Tango in the Crimea:

In Asturias Spain:

At the Argentinian senate:

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Does this qualify as a campaign contribution?

Via Breitbart, Fishbowl LA says, Google Knows How to Treat Bloggers

Google is setting up an oasis filing room for bloggers at the Democratic National Convention next week.

But it’s not just at the DNC; it’s also at the Republican National Convention:

Not only will bloggers have Internet access, workspaces and couches for napping

Napping!

in the “Big Tent” headquarters, they will be provided food and beverages,

Food, and beverages!

Google-sponsored massages,

Back rubs!

smoothies and a candy buffet.

Unfortunately not for me. I’m sugar-free. Will have to ask about unsweetened smoothies, though.

On the final night of the convention, Google is co-sponsoring a bash with Vanity Fair magazine for convention-goers and journalists that has become one of the hottest party invites.

That’s probably for the Dem convention only, I expect. If Google sponsors a party for Republicans it’ll probably more in the likes of Real Simple rather than Vanity Fair.

But I’ll bring my red shoes just in case.

At the RNC,

Google will offer similar amenities for bloggers and new-media reporters who attend the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minn., company officials say. It will demo a variety of new political tools next week, including a search function on YouTube that will offer almost real-time keyword searches of convention speech videos.

Heck, if they have that, I might even take time from my napping, snacking, drinking and partying to actually blog.

Now excuse me while I go pack my little black dress…

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