Is it to soon to resume speculating who Obama's running mate will be? Though I'm not much of a Carville fan these days, I see the Ragin' Cajun mentions one of my favs, Gen. Wesley Clark. Bill Richardson of course would still be a great choice too.

I'm not crazy about Hillary as a pick, mostly because I don't think that would be the best strategy to win required non-Dems, though it would help bridge the two Dem camps back together. Carville also mentioned two others that I would call strategic choices in Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Michael Bloomberg.

A win would be good.

If polls are correct, Senator Clinton will win the West Virginia primary today by a hefty margin. Such an outcome would be in line with a larger trend that bloggers such as DHinMI have noted: Senator Obama has failed to gain any traction whatsoever in Appalachia.

Why is this? A common theory being tossed about is "racism." Is it that simple? Or is there a more complex explanation?

is what Obama said true?

At a time when we're facing the largest homecoming since the Second World War," Obama said of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, "the true test of our patriotism is whether we will serve our returning heroes as well as they've served us."

Just a quick Google search on the Vietnam war:

1968. U.S. strength in South Vietnam totaled more than 500,000 by early 1968.

January, February, March, 1972. U.S. troop strength in Vietnam dropped to 136,500 by 31 January 1972, to 119,600 by 29 February, and then to 95,500 by the end of March.

What if I Googled the Korean War?

Etc., etc., etc....

• Margaret Truman, Eliot Roosevelt, Steve Allen - mystery writers? Did they really take the time out of their celebrityhood to craft, write and rewrite those mystery novels you see on the bookshelf?

We all know that politicians don't write their own speeches.

But novelists? Mystery novelists, in particular?

Surely no "novelist" would lend a name to a book that he or she hadn't written. Well, if you think that (as I did for a long time), you are most naive. This kind of intellectual dishonesty goes on more than you would think.

If you conduct a google search for the phrase “university twit,” what pops up is a photo of me in a T-shirt and mortarboard. It’s a long story involving a fellow Knox County commissioner and the day he called me a university twit, but the incident gives me some “street cred” to write about the difficult task of using one’s intelligence without being dismissed as a wonk (Michael Dukakis), nerd (Al Gore), or elitist (John Kerry).

Thanks to the mythologies built up around Ronald Reagan, Republicans get a pass on these things. All they have to do is munch on some pork rinds, don a cowboy hat, or raise a beer and the matter is settled. If your first reaction is a retort about their prep schools, Ivy League legacy admissions, wealthy contributors, or millionaire-coddling policies, you’ve disqualified yourself from this debate.

More after the break.

The talking heads of the TV babblerati certified it to be true -- this is the first time in 40 years the Democratic primary election in Indiana has been important. That would be 1968, and Robert Kennedy had just jumped into the race for the Democratic nomination after Lyndon Johnson had just bowed out.

I know. I was alive. And I was there -- in Indiana, the weekend before the primary election.

At the time, I was a sophomore at the University of Tennessee and news editor of the UT Daily Beacon. As news editor, I was running a staff of reporters, editing copy and having the time of my life. The war in Vietnam

So, my brother emails me cra..er, stuff from his favorite conservative blogs every other day, and I spend about 5 minutes doing the quick research necessary to humiliate him (and then my other brother 'piles on' for the fun of it). Today's email cited an American Enterprise (ahem Oil) Institute study showing that non-Kyoto countries had smaller increases in greenhouse gases (GHGs) than Kyoto signatories (21% to 18% for 1997-2004), with the U.S. alone only having increases of 6.6% over that period.

First, I called out the unusual choice of years, since Kyoto always refers to 1990 baselines. If you start with 1990, the U.S. had a 16% overall increase in GHGs, compared to the European Union's 2% ddecrease.

So what about this AEI report? You see, China and India are technically signatories to Kyoto, but without obligation other than monitoring and reporting emisions (no reductions). oth have increases of about 50% over the 1990-2004 period, hence the huge disparity.

The decision was made to allow them growth based on their lower per-capita emissions (e.g., giving them a chance to 'catch up' economically). If you want to look at it as a per capita increase over the time period 1990-2004:

United States: +2600 lbs/person (up to about 40 lbs/person)
China: + 2500 lbs/person (up to about 7.7 lbs/person)
India: + 800 lbs/person (up to only 2.4 lbs/person)
EU: - 300 lbs/person (12.5 lbs/person)

So, China's on a growth curve- so is India (who seems to be managing the growth better), but how do we explain such a huge footprint increase in the United States, especially with the offshoring of manufacturing in the US? It's not like we all started driving cars or just got refrigerators.

What happened? It has to be more vehicle driver miles and/or less efficient cars. Adding 20% vehicle miles on a passenger car alone would net you a 4,000 lb increase. Combining trips and alternate transportation seems like a very effective efficient way to reduce GHG's.

Cutting 250 miles/month off your car trips would bring you on an individual basis back to the 1990 Kyoto baseline!

So, a relative of mine messed up her knee a few weeks ago, possibly a ligament tear. She goes to see one of the "feed lot" orthopedists here in town. I think she's in the office for 2 minutes before he starts handing her brochures about recovering from her surgery. She of course, rebels and demands to discuss other options (physical therapy, cortisone, etc) because the injury doesn't appear to be that bad.

Knee improvement has been slow, and now her shoulder has been acting up, so she decides she'll go ahead and have a follow-up appointment to discuss the knee and the shoulder together, and maybe even have the MRI for both.

"Oh no," the doctor says. "We only see one joint at a time. You have to make two appointments." HUH?

After all, why give up all that additional insurance money?

I used to think that a 'hybrid' government-private approach would be a good solution. Now I think that single payer is the only way to eliminate this kind of greedy double-dipping.

"At the beginning of the 21st century, the typical American suburb is just about the safest place that has ever existed in the history of the world - yet it's full of terrified people.

Statistics have little power in the face of a media environment in which extraordinarily rare events, such as strangers kidnapping children, are presented as commonplace by profit-hungry "news" outlets, for whom the bottom line is that fear sells.

Politicians realize this too. The ongoing overreaction to the 9/11 terrorist attacks is only the most vivid example of how our leaders cynically exploit our fears by making wildly exaggerated claims, such as that Islamic terrorism poses an "existential threat" to America."

A fanatic preacher...who had been taught to read and write, and permitted to go about preaching in the country, was at the bottom of this infernal brigandage. He was artful, impudent and vindicative, without any cause or provocation that could be assigned.

Check local listings.

Fortunately, the reverend will likely not meet the same fate as Nat X when the NCGOP attempts to divine his motives. We've come a long way, baby.

Jimmy Duncan shows why he is a Repugnicant representing East Tennessee. Via Crooks and Liars:

...the evidence is overwhelming — abstinence-only doesn’t reduce teen pregnancies, doesn’t reduce sexually transmitted diseases, and doesn’t even lead minors to abstain from sex.

Rep. John Duncan, a Tennessee Republican, said that it seems “rather elitist” that people with academic degrees in health think they know better than parents what type of sex education is appropriate. “I don’t think it’s something we should abandon,” he said of abstinence-only funding.

More on this boondoggle from the "borrow and spend" GOP.

I love a man who's not scared of getting his ass whooped by a woman.

Link...

Can the news about the Iraqi War be believed? Apparently not!

Since most of you Knoxviewians probably already knew this, you can ignore this post and go on to other things, but for those of you who lurk here from the other party, please remove your rose colored glasses and follow this link. Then come back when you see the light.

Too funny - a new Roy Edroso feature in the Village Voice profiles various right-wing blowhards, just in time for the 2008 election season.

Glenn Reynolds profile here.

Heh. Indeed.

(VRWC = vast right wing conspiracy)

I'm glad Edroso reads this stuff... so I don't have to.

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is likely to move its research on one of the most contagious animal diseases from an isolated island laboratory to the U.S. mainland near herds of livestock, raising concerns about a catastrophic outbreak.

A new facility at Plum Island is technically a possibility. Signs point to a mainland site, however, after the administration spent considerable time and money scouting new locations. Also, there are financial concerns about operating from a location accessible only by ferry or helicopter.

Somehow this doesnt surprise me. The goverment is worried about "substantial money" (nevermind the fact that the administration has supported a soon to be trillion dollar war in Iraq) already spent scouting out different mainland locations for the new facility, so it is a 'done deal'? Being told that they can now control the virus/sterilization etc...much better than they could when the Plum Island facility was originally built doesnt instill confidence in me or the thousands of farmers who could see their herds destroyed.

To paraphrase Lynne Cheney, these are not good people.

Via Red no more.

The Museum's Annual Benefit Auctions will be held on Wednesday, April 23; Thursday, April 24; and Friday, April 25. The SILENT AUCTION will be held from 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday and 9 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. on Friday in the Newsstand on the 2nd floor of the Executive Inn Convention Center. Different items including fabrics, notions, textile items and quilts will be available each day! Auction details on the National Quilt Museum page on Art Museum Touring.com (Link...)

For the third consecutive year, the Museum will be selling Artcards for Acquisitions! Artcards ranging from bright hues to muted tones in a variety of appliqué, embroidery and assorted designs have been created and donated by quilters from all over the world. These 4" x 6" cards will be sold in the Museum Shop. Proceeds will go to the Acquisitions Fund to help obtain new quilts for the permanent collection.

Support Your Local Galleries and Museums! They are economic engines for your community.

Sherrie

Super delegate Gov. Bill Richardson has chosen to not endorse the presidential candidate chosen by the majority of voters in his state of New Mexico.

Gov. Bill Richardson has chosen to endorse Sen. Barak Obama.

That is why, out of loyalty to my country, I endorse him for president.

The majority of voters in New Mexico chose Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Super delegates are not bound to vote how the people they represent vote. As with Sen. Edward Kennedy from Massachusetts who has also endorsed Obama when the voters from Massachusetts overwhelmingly selected Clinton. The super delegate math should get very interesting in that it appears the 2008 Democratic presidential candidate will not be determined by the state primaries and caucuses.

I am proud to be an American, but I am ashamed of what the government is doing in my name. We are living in a country that openly discusses torture as acceptable government policy, which debates whether or not to grant immunity to corporations that spy on Americans, that invades foreign countries in violation of international law and that grants huge profits to private corporations which hire mercenaries to kill innocent women and children with immunity in foreign countries. How did we end up on this path of secrecy, torture, foreign invasion and war profiteering?

I suppose it's not too early to start figuring how we want to commemorate our president.

Tennessee Guerilla Women has a very nice Hillary Rodham Clinton video with the Dixie Chicks song, Not Ready to Make Nice, as the background music. I love the song and I do think Clinton is an amazing person.

The Clinton Camp is trying to change the Goal Posts again:

Link...

Change the rules, change the metrics, change whatever is needed to win. It's time to give it up. This is getting dumb, if it hasn't gotten that way already.

Take Care, Be Good and don't play in the street!

SteveMule

Oh boy.

I can see few good things happening if this primary fight drags on for several more months.

It was mentioned in the comments of another thread that Sen. Obama's recent speech on Race hadn't been posted so ... here it is (please forgive any formating issues - this was pure cut n' paste):

Transcript of Obama's speech - CNN.com

Link...

The following is a transcript of Sen. Barack Obama's speech, as provided by Obama's campaign.

We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.
Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America's improbable experiment in democracy.
Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.
The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation's original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least 20 more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations.
Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution -- a Constitution that had at its very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.

In Pennsylvania,

Clinton now leads Barack Obama 51 percent to 35 percent among likely Democratic primary voters, according to the Franklin and Marshall College Poll.

In West Virginia,

Clinton attracts 55% of the Likely Democratic Primary Voters while Obama is supported by 27%.

Overall, in

The March 14-18 national survey of 1,209 Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters gave Clinton, a New York senator, a 49 percent to 42 percent edge over Obama, an Illinois senator.

Next.

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson will appear with Barack Obama in Oregon Friday and provide his endorsement to him.
...
John Edwards didn't endorse either candidate, or more accurately, he endorsed both on the Tonight Show last night. He said Barack was inspirational and could bring out the youth vote, and Hillary was tenacious, a fighter and had the experience. He said both would make great presidents.

Indeed.

Nearly 4,000 Americans killed.

Unknown thousands of Iraqis killed.

Millions of Iraqis displaced.

Hundreds of billions of dollars spent.

Have we found that yellowcake yet?

In an op-ed in the New York Times, Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen says the Democrat Superdelegates have all the information they need and should meet in June to pick the Democratic nominee for President. He proposes a two-day public meeting. I'm guessing most of the 'work' would not be accomplished in public and maybe not even at this meeting. I'm also guessing there will be a lot of mad people whoever the 'supers' pick. As for me, I'm ok with the Democrats fighting it out all Summer. Story here:

Link...

I want to show you a neat picture from India about the Chaturshringi Temple in Pune, India in an exhibition in the Francis Land House in Virginia Beach, VA.

Chaturshringi Temple in Pune, India. The Hindu temple was built for the goddess Chaturshringi. Within the temple grounds there are three smaller temples dedicated to the goddess Durga in various forms.

The exhibition was about the Samgam World Center of the World Assocoation Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in Pune, India. The picture were shot by a lifelong Girl Scout, Kaylen Hopkins . The Girl Scout Museum of Tanasi Council (Link...) has a sari and several other Guide uniforms also. The sari was donated by Oak Ridge Senior Troop 69 after the graduating seniors went to the Sangam World Center.

Art Museum Touring.com has several pictures relating to Kaylen's trip to Sangam and the Francis Land exhibition by the Colonial Coast Girl Scout Council. This link will take you directly to the pages on the site: Link...

Sherrie

Jim Cramer, last week: