The Politico reports:
McCain unsure how many houses he owns
By JONATHAN MARTIN & MIKE ALLEN | 8/21/08 6:34 AM EST
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in an interview Wednesday that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own.
"I think - I'll have my staff get to you," McCain told us in Las Cruces, N.M. "It's condominiums where - I'll have them get to you."
The correct answer is at least four, located in Arizona, California and Virginia, according to his staff. Newsweek estimated this summer that the couple owns at least seven properties.
In recent weeks, Democrats have stepped up their effort to caricature McCain as living an outlandishly rich lifestyle – a bit of payback to the GOP for portraying Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) as an elitist, and for turning the spotlight in 2004 on the five homes owned by Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry.
Pro-Obama labor groups have sent out mailers highlighting McCain’s wealth, and prominent Democrats have included references to it in comments to reporters.
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Twice in the past two weeks, those Democrats have focused on McCain’s houses.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) told Politico’s Ben Smith that it was McCain “who wears $500 shoes, has six houses, and comes from one of the richest families in his state."
And David Axelrod, Obama’s chief strategist, referred in an interview with Adam Nagourney of The New York Times to an imagined meeting of McCain strategists “on the portico of the McCain estate in Sedona — or maybe in one of his six other houses.”
McCain’s comments came four days after he initially told Pastor Rick Warren during a faith forum on Sunday his threshold for considering someone rich is $5 million — a careless comment he quickly corrected.
In the interview, McCain did not offer an alternative number, but had a new answer ready.
“I define rich in other ways besides income,” he said. “Some people are wealthy and rich in their lives and their children and their ability to educate them. Others are poor if they’re billionaires.”
McCain, by anyone's measure, is well off if you include his wife's fortune. Cindy McCain inherited control of her father’s beer distributorship, the largest in Arizona, and has an estimated worth of over $100 million.
Read More Here.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Condi's Surprise Visit to Baghdad
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Baghdad to discuss the future of American forces deployed in Iraq.
Ms Rice is holding talks with Iraqi leaders including Prime Minister Nouri Maliki during the unannounced visit.
It comes after 10 months of difficult negotiations between Washington and Baghdad about the status of US troops on Iraqi soil.
Reports suggest a compromise draft agreement is being considered by both governments.
Negotiations have been held up by disagreement over the timing of the final withdrawal of US forces from the country and the immunity of US soldiers from prosecution under Iraqi law, says the BBC's Crispin Thorold in Baghdad.
'No agreement yet'
Read More Here.
Ms Rice is holding talks with Iraqi leaders including Prime Minister Nouri Maliki during the unannounced visit.
It comes after 10 months of difficult negotiations between Washington and Baghdad about the status of US troops on Iraqi soil.
Reports suggest a compromise draft agreement is being considered by both governments.
Negotiations have been held up by disagreement over the timing of the final withdrawal of US forces from the country and the immunity of US soldiers from prosecution under Iraqi law, says the BBC's Crispin Thorold in Baghdad.
'No agreement yet'
Read More Here.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Mapping a path to the White House
By MARK J. PENN | 8/19/08 4:42 AM EST
During the Super Bowl, the seventh game of the World Series and the “American Idol” finale, Americans can be counted on to sit in front of their television sets. The same is true of the quadrennial political conventions. America is a country that tunes in for a good contest.
This year, the party that wins the battle of the conventions will likely win the election. In the past 60 years, few presidential candidates have overcome negative poll numbers taken after the conventions. While races have gotten closer and debates have had an effect, nothing in the months between convention and election has swayed the voters’ preferences.
In modern times, conventions have become infomercials: They are valuable opportunities to consolidate the parties’ bases, reach out to swing voters, outline the parties’ substantive agendas and burn into the minds of voters the biographies of the nominees. Television producers, moviemakers, consultants and speechwriters carefully hone every scene and every word to deliver a message to the country.
In recent cycles, the convention battleground has determined whether the election will be about the economy or about national security. With few exceptions, the Republicans fight for security while the Democrats fight for the economy. The winner of that battle usually wins. Barack Obama’s campaign has, in my view, two main objectives for its convention: It must end the question of any remaining Clinton-Obama delegate tensions and close the sale with the voters. The party is blessed with few divisive issues, a motivated and growing electorate, and an easy target in President Bush, who has far lower ratings than President Bill Clinton ever did, even in the worst days of his eight years in office.
In current polls, Obama is getting just over 75 percent of the Democratic vote. He needs to increase that to 85 percent or more to put the election away, and that means bringing home Hillary Rodham Clinton’s voters. Women and seniors — two core groups that supported Clinton in the primaries — are waiting for the conventions to make up their minds and will likely be a huge part of the swing electorate watching the conventions. They are core television watchers and also have the highest economic anxiety. Read More About It Here.
By MARK J. PENN | 8/19/08 4:42 AM EST
During the Super Bowl, the seventh game of the World Series and the “American Idol” finale, Americans can be counted on to sit in front of their television sets. The same is true of the quadrennial political conventions. America is a country that tunes in for a good contest.
This year, the party that wins the battle of the conventions will likely win the election. In the past 60 years, few presidential candidates have overcome negative poll numbers taken after the conventions. While races have gotten closer and debates have had an effect, nothing in the months between convention and election has swayed the voters’ preferences.
In modern times, conventions have become infomercials: They are valuable opportunities to consolidate the parties’ bases, reach out to swing voters, outline the parties’ substantive agendas and burn into the minds of voters the biographies of the nominees. Television producers, moviemakers, consultants and speechwriters carefully hone every scene and every word to deliver a message to the country.
In recent cycles, the convention battleground has determined whether the election will be about the economy or about national security. With few exceptions, the Republicans fight for security while the Democrats fight for the economy. The winner of that battle usually wins. Barack Obama’s campaign has, in my view, two main objectives for its convention: It must end the question of any remaining Clinton-Obama delegate tensions and close the sale with the voters. The party is blessed with few divisive issues, a motivated and growing electorate, and an easy target in President Bush, who has far lower ratings than President Bill Clinton ever did, even in the worst days of his eight years in office.
In current polls, Obama is getting just over 75 percent of the Democratic vote. He needs to increase that to 85 percent or more to put the election away, and that means bringing home Hillary Rodham Clinton’s voters. Women and seniors — two core groups that supported Clinton in the primaries — are waiting for the conventions to make up their minds and will likely be a huge part of the swing electorate watching the conventions. They are core television watchers and also have the highest economic anxiety. Read More About It Here.
Who's Number 2 for Obama
Who's No. 2? Obama Keeps Everybody Guessing.
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
This is Veep Week. That, in reality, is about all that anyone outside Sen. Barack Obama's inner, inner circle knows -- that sometime before next week the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee will announce his running mate. Beyond that, the political world is in a zone of fevered speculation.
Nothing is certain, and one sign of how jittery everyone is about the timing and the choice came yesterday afternoon, when the gossipy Drudge Report posted an item that said, "Paper: Obama may announce VP in AM." That set off alarms in newsrooms across the country until Obama advisers shot it down -- although it was not clear exactly what they were shooting down, other than that the announcement would come early this morning.
Read More About it.
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
This is Veep Week. That, in reality, is about all that anyone outside Sen. Barack Obama's inner, inner circle knows -- that sometime before next week the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee will announce his running mate. Beyond that, the political world is in a zone of fevered speculation.
Nothing is certain, and one sign of how jittery everyone is about the timing and the choice came yesterday afternoon, when the gossipy Drudge Report posted an item that said, "Paper: Obama may announce VP in AM." That set off alarms in newsrooms across the country until Obama advisers shot it down -- although it was not clear exactly what they were shooting down, other than that the announcement would come early this morning.
Read More About it.
Conversation with A New Earth, by Eckhart Tolle
Tolle writes, "We are all conditioned to see ourselves in a role." I ask, "How does one breakthrough or break out of one's conditioning?" In many cases, happiness is a role people play behind the facade of smiles. Behind the mask, there is pain and depression. So Tolle tells us, not to say I Am unhappy, but rather say, there is unhappiness within me. The primary cause of unhappiness is not the situation but your thoughts about the situation. Rather than being your thoughts and emotions be the awareness behind them.
This is where many people misunderstand Tolle. Tolle is not merely advocating achieving traditional enlightenment and an awakening moment of nonduality. Tolle is seeking a continuous awareness of the moment which comes from a desire to be aware not a desire to be awakened. If we just say to ourselves, "what is the awareness I need now in this moment," we will experience it.
As long as I can remain in a state of mind aware of my I Am-ness and the Isness of others I can be aware of the ego and its thoughts (false as they may be) at least I am aware of the roles I am playing at any given moment and not play the role if I choose to.
Our goal in life according to Tolle, is to bring the power of the transforming Presence of the Moment to transform my self, my relationships and my world.
This is where many people misunderstand Tolle. Tolle is not merely advocating achieving traditional enlightenment and an awakening moment of nonduality. Tolle is seeking a continuous awareness of the moment which comes from a desire to be aware not a desire to be awakened. If we just say to ourselves, "what is the awareness I need now in this moment," we will experience it.
As long as I can remain in a state of mind aware of my I Am-ness and the Isness of others I can be aware of the ego and its thoughts (false as they may be) at least I am aware of the roles I am playing at any given moment and not play the role if I choose to.
Our goal in life according to Tolle, is to bring the power of the transforming Presence of the Moment to transform my self, my relationships and my world.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Be The First to Know Barack's Running Mate
Barack Obama is about to make one of the most important decisions of this campaign -- You have helped build this movement from the bottom up, and Barack wants you to be the first to know his choice.
Sign up today to be the first to know:
http://my.barackobama.com/vp
You will receive an email the moment Barack makes his decision, or you can text VP to 62262 to receive a text message on your mobile phone.
Once you've signed up, please forward this email to your friends, family, and coworkers to let them know about this special opportunity.
No other campaign has done this before. You can be part of this important moment.
Be the first to know who Barack selects as his running mate.
Sign up today to be the first to know:
http://my.barackobama.com/vp
You will receive an email the moment Barack makes his decision, or you can text VP to 62262 to receive a text message on your mobile phone.
Once you've signed up, please forward this email to your friends, family, and coworkers to let them know about this special opportunity.
No other campaign has done this before. You can be part of this important moment.
Be the first to know who Barack selects as his running mate.
Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth
In Role-Playing:The Many Faces of the Ego, Tolle writes, we do what we feel will get our needs met--some gratification, physical or psychological. Some roles we play to get attention, villian, victim, lover. Some romantic relationships are designed to get others to make us feel special and meet our needs. There are some pre-established roles or social archetypes we play, such as--middle class housewife, rough macho male, female seductress, the "non-conformist", artist, performer or person of culture. We take our roles seriously. Awareness helps us detect the role playing. The more we identify with the role, the more inauthentic we are. The more inauthentic our relationships become. How do we break out of this conditioning?
As I understand this paragraph, not all roles are bad, some might be necessary. However, to be inauthentic in our roles is not healthy. Can we risk being ourselves? Can we be true to ourselves and still receive the love we hunger for? Isn't that the real issue?
As I understand this paragraph, not all roles are bad, some might be necessary. However, to be inauthentic in our roles is not healthy. Can we risk being ourselves? Can we be true to ourselves and still receive the love we hunger for? Isn't that the real issue?
More Conversations with the Mega Hit A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
Tolle tells this story.
"As I was walking with a friend through a beautiful nature reserve near Malibu in California, we came upon the ruins of what had been once a country house, destroyed by fire several decades ago. As we approached the property, long overgrown with trees and all kinds of magnificent plants, there was a sign by the side of the trail put there by the park authorities. It read: Danger All Structures Are Unstable." I said to my friend, "That's a profound sutra [sacred scripture]." And we stood there in awe." (p. 81)
What do we trust in? Unstable structures or God? As a Christian believer, our faith is in the living God, not ourselves. Tolle would say, that divinity is inside of us. Whether immanent or transcendent, our trust is in the Power greater than ourselves, right?
"As I was walking with a friend through a beautiful nature reserve near Malibu in California, we came upon the ruins of what had been once a country house, destroyed by fire several decades ago. As we approached the property, long overgrown with trees and all kinds of magnificent plants, there was a sign by the side of the trail put there by the park authorities. It read: Danger All Structures Are Unstable." I said to my friend, "That's a profound sutra [sacred scripture]." And we stood there in awe." (p. 81)
What do we trust in? Unstable structures or God? As a Christian believer, our faith is in the living God, not ourselves. Tolle would say, that divinity is inside of us. Whether immanent or transcendent, our trust is in the Power greater than ourselves, right?
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Is Something Sinister In McCain Attacks On Obama?
There was never any chance that it would be a placid affair, a presidential race free of mud-slinging and shabby attack ads. It will surprise only the political naif that Sen. John McCain’s promised campaign of high-mindedness is entirely dependent on favorable polling data, or that Sen. Barack Obama’s platitudinous calls for “hope” and “change,” his admonition that we must knock down “walls” and erect “bridges,” are tactfully short on specifics.
But it is with a certain amount of puzzlement that many observers have watched the issue of race injected into the campaign. Last week, after the McCain team released two seemingly innocuous, though pointed, advertisements — one accusing their opponent of vapidity, the other of messianism — a steady stream of mainstream, Obama-friendly commentators and bloggers cried foul. In a video titled “Celeb,” McCain juxtaposed Obama with famous paparazzi quarry Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. To most, the message was clear, if a little ham-handed: Like Hilton and Spears, Obama is famous for being famous; he's more flash than substance.
But was there a deeper message? In the past week and a half, the liberal blogosphere has become a virtual Bletchley Park of racial cryptographers teasing out the sinister motives and subtexts of McCain’s campaign advertising.
Find it at the Politico.
But it is with a certain amount of puzzlement that many observers have watched the issue of race injected into the campaign. Last week, after the McCain team released two seemingly innocuous, though pointed, advertisements — one accusing their opponent of vapidity, the other of messianism — a steady stream of mainstream, Obama-friendly commentators and bloggers cried foul. In a video titled “Celeb,” McCain juxtaposed Obama with famous paparazzi quarry Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. To most, the message was clear, if a little ham-handed: Like Hilton and Spears, Obama is famous for being famous; he's more flash than substance.
But was there a deeper message? In the past week and a half, the liberal blogosphere has become a virtual Bletchley Park of racial cryptographers teasing out the sinister motives and subtexts of McCain’s campaign advertising.
Find it at the Politico.
Victoria Osteen Sued in Airplane Incident
HOUSTON (AP) -- After questioning that touched on religious beliefs, celebrity and the public's perception of preachers and televangelists, a jury was seated Wednesday in a civil lawsuit alleging the wife of nationally known pastor Joel Osteen assaulted a flight attendant.
A jury panel of seven men and five women was set to hear opening statements in the trial on Thursday.
In the lawsuit, Continental Airlines flight attendant Sharon Brown accuses Victoria Osteen of assaulting her before the start of a 2005 flight from Houston to Vail, Colo. Brown alleges Victoria Osteen, co-pastor of Houston's popular Lakewood Church, threw her against a bathroom door and elbowed her in the left breast during an angry outburst over a stain on her first-class seat.
Read More Here.
A jury panel of seven men and five women was set to hear opening statements in the trial on Thursday.
In the lawsuit, Continental Airlines flight attendant Sharon Brown accuses Victoria Osteen of assaulting her before the start of a 2005 flight from Houston to Vail, Colo. Brown alleges Victoria Osteen, co-pastor of Houston's popular Lakewood Church, threw her against a bathroom door and elbowed her in the left breast during an angry outburst over a stain on her first-class seat.
Read More Here.
Conversation with Eckhart Tolle's Megahit A New Earth Part 2
Tolle asks the question, “Do you want peace or drama?” p. 77. “Can you feel that there is something in you that is at war, something that feels threatened and wants to survive at all cost, that needs the drama in order to assert its identity as the victorious character within that theatrical production?” p.77. I realize that within me—I would rather be right than have peace.
For Tolle, awareness is the power of the present moment! “And so a power comes into your life that is far greater than the ego, greater than the mind.”p.78. “Awareness is the power that is concealed within the present moment.” p.78. He calls it Presence.
“The ultimate purpose of human existence, which is to say, your purpose, is to bring that power into this world.” P. 78. The power of Presence.
As a Christian, I see this power as the presence of God. In the Old Testament literature, it is the Shecainah. The glorious presence of God that transforms the atmosphere and changes all that it touches.
Tolle says only Presence can free you of the ego. Only Presence can undo your past and transform your awareness. The western mind has remade Jesus Christ into a western spiritual figure. Jesus has an Eastern approach to spirituality. We must reapproach Jesus from an Eastern perspective. What did Jesus mean when he said, “Deny Thyself”? For Tolle, it is the ego—deny the illusion of self in order to discover the true self behind the mask of ego.
Can we discover the truest essence of our selves? Can I sense the I AM-ness at each present moment? Or do I lose My Self to the world?
For Tolle, awareness is the power of the present moment! “And so a power comes into your life that is far greater than the ego, greater than the mind.”p.78. “Awareness is the power that is concealed within the present moment.” p.78. He calls it Presence.
“The ultimate purpose of human existence, which is to say, your purpose, is to bring that power into this world.” P. 78. The power of Presence.
As a Christian, I see this power as the presence of God. In the Old Testament literature, it is the Shecainah. The glorious presence of God that transforms the atmosphere and changes all that it touches.
Tolle says only Presence can free you of the ego. Only Presence can undo your past and transform your awareness. The western mind has remade Jesus Christ into a western spiritual figure. Jesus has an Eastern approach to spirituality. We must reapproach Jesus from an Eastern perspective. What did Jesus mean when he said, “Deny Thyself”? For Tolle, it is the ego—deny the illusion of self in order to discover the true self behind the mask of ego.
Can we discover the truest essence of our selves? Can I sense the I AM-ness at each present moment? Or do I lose My Self to the world?
Conversation with A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle's Megahit
The ego’s sense of self worth in most cases is bound up in the worth we have in other people’s eyes. “…if you cannot look through this collective delusion, you will be condemned to chasing after things for the rest of your life…” (p. 45)
You cannot calculate your self worth by what you have on the ledger sheet. When we strip away all the stuff and roles and identifications, what we have left is the true self. This is the peace of God that passes understanding for Tolle. “The ultimate truth of who you are is not I am this or I am that, but I am”. (p. 57) As I understand him—I am—because I am aware.
When we accept this truth according to Eckhart we can rest in it, we can flow in it and it will cooperate with us. We are able to rest in the peace and inner stillness that comes from surrender.
You cannot calculate your self worth by what you have on the ledger sheet. When we strip away all the stuff and roles and identifications, what we have left is the true self. This is the peace of God that passes understanding for Tolle. “The ultimate truth of who you are is not I am this or I am that, but I am”. (p. 57) As I understand him—I am—because I am aware.
When we accept this truth according to Eckhart we can rest in it, we can flow in it and it will cooperate with us. We are able to rest in the peace and inner stillness that comes from surrender.
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