by svip at 18-03-2008 23:53
While everybody knows McCain is the sure winner for the Republican Nominee, it still appears wide open for the Democrats, and so, Obama and Clinton must battle on to win delegates and get the nomination. But the question that pundits have already asked (nothing new here people); will it destroy America the Democratic Party's chance of winning the presidential election?
Probably yes, but not by enough. In fact, it doesn't really matter. McCain has his own troubles, and Clinton and Obama doesn't really have any scandals that are really sour. But even on that issue, Obama is admittedly doing a lot better than Clinton. And even against McCain, Obama is doing better. Cause as you would assume, Clinton has history, which is - from Obama's point of view - a weakness. Because he is not tied to Washington (D.C.; not the state, the famous guy or that guy from Welcome Back, Kotter).
But this onward primary fighting may give one problem; lack of money. Since they have to continue campaigning, while usually by this time during primaries, candidates are not really campaigning any more to win the nomination, but rather the presidency (so against the other party, woo; two party system, one party from a one party system), they have to campaign for two things. Of course the primaries, so they can win those delicious delegates. But also the presidential election in November, because they have to win some of those weirdly distributed election colleges. I mean, what's up with that (I miss you too, Al Gore)?
But seriously, while Clinton have suggested for Obama and her to run together, I hardly doubt Obama would accept it or her as his running mate. It simply doesn't match. It's like McCain and Huckabee. The Republican party doesn't really like Mike Huckabee, but it is just the other side of the party compared to McCain.
So all there is left to say for now; don't fuck this up, America.
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by svip at 24-02-2008 12:48
As you probably have heard, Kosovo have declared independence. Good for them. In fact, good for them! Especially not good for the Serbs.
Cause... as you might expect, the Serbs are pissed. They are not going to watch 15% of their total area break off and become its own country.
Now, where it gets interesting is the rest of the world's response. While Russia, Spain and China are supporting Serbia in this matter -- Spain is doing it because they don't wish separatists within their own territory to get the same idea -- the U.S., UK, Germany, France among other countries, including mine and Estonia, are not.
It's funny, isn't it? If the rest of the world feels like they can have that territory, sure they can have it. Because when it comes down to it, Serbia needs the rest of the world, but the rest of the world doesn't need Serbia.
So basically most of the world have turned its back on Serbia, which is an area where Serbia itself should tread with caution. Cause if they upset the world too much, they may be the ones gaining nothing in the end. It would be simpler of Serbia just recognised Kosovo, but they are not going to do that. At least not now. And with EU and NATO support of Kosovo, they probably have to accept it sooner or later that Kosovo is lost.
Personally, I am not taking sides on this issue, I understand the Serbs' anger, but at the same time I also understand the Albanians in Kosovo's desire for their own state. Besides, Kosovo have hardly been part of Serbia for the past 5 years, with NATO governance and all.
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by svip at 15-02-2008 21:59
Congratulations, Denmark, we've done it again; made ourselves infamous world wide for something else than bacon, pastries and LEGO. Namely cartoon controversies. They tried with that film in the Netherlands, the director got shot, and that was the end of it. I hear some of the Dutch nationalists are going to make a film about how bad Islam is, sure that is going to release tensions. But get it now, Dutchies, you are no faster than us, you may speak of your fancy controversial coming film, we don't just talk about it, we publish!
No, in all seriousness, this deal is not to be controversial. And of course, you, as a person (probably not from Denmark, how would I know?), may wonder, why are they burning your flag again? Aren't American flags easier to get than Danish ones? You'd be right on the last part, but let me explain the first part. A week ago, there were some serious death threats towards one of the cartoonists who drew the original cartoons.
And these guys were dead serious, it was not one of those calling your teacher a paedophile sort of jokes gone wrong. So, as a tribute most Danish newspapers republished his cartoon as a tribute (I got to keep it down on those redundancies). I applaud that, but apparently Muslims who have nothing better to do than be angry at other people. I am not being anti-Islam, I just don't get what is wrong with shrugging and go on with your lives like the rest of us.
But apparently no, they cannot take a joke. So far however, it hasn't claimed the lives of anyone. However it have claimed several cars in Copenhagen. Young second generation immigrants in Denmark are using this new controversy as an excuse. Uh, guys, why didn't you last time? You realised you use it this time as an excuse to burn cars and throw rocks at the police? You figured that out all by yourself?!
I am amazed, now let us wonder how long this episode of amazement will blast on, and how many if any lives it will claim.
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by svip at 15-02-2008 16:13
Now personally, I know, there are lot of computer illiterate people out there. Fair enough, they probably know a lot about stuff I never imagined I couldn't care less about. But sometimes these so called "computer illiterate" are in control or charge of something computer related. Remember some time ago where the Danish ISP Tele2 A/S was forced by the court in Copenhagen to block allofmp3.com? Nah, you probably don't, you are probably confusing it with the case where they had to block thepiratebay.org.
Each of these two blocks were on so called DNS level. What does this mean? This means that they do not block access to the server itself, but redirects the IP the domain name point at. Knowing this, it was a simple matter of entering the correct IP address into my /etc/hosts file, which would mean that my system would not bother looking it up through an ISP, but just pick the IP from this file, and I was in.
Just for curiosity, I do not use Tele2, but my ISP (TDC) have decided to block allofmp3.com anyway.
Now of course, such a block seems fair, not many people realise they can just edit their hosts file to get around it. Now here is where the disturbing part comes in, allofmp3.com is a simple location HTTP redirect to allofmp3.ru, which is not blocked by the ISP. Now this is at least the case on TDC, but I can only assume the court ruled that allofmp3.com was to be blocked rather than .ru.
This proves the problem with computer related laws today, those in charge of making the laws have no idea what the fuck is going on.
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by svip at 11-02-2008 00:19
With Romney leaving and Paul probably doing the same, the Republican candidate primary is down to McCain, Huckabee and that third guy Keyes, whom everyone would go "who the fuck?" when you say he is running for the nomination for president. Interestingly, he is black.
But since McCain and Huckabee are the only serious candidates left - I mean, we don't think Mike Gravel from the Democrats is going to win, are we? - I will focus on these two. Current, McCain has 736 (30%) and Huckabee 213 (9%) (at the time of writing) delegates. Obviously, Huckabee is trailing behind. But Huckabee insists that he can win this thing. And he predicts that he can win Texas, which would award him 140 delegates if he win. And how is he doing in opinion polls in Texas? Not good... or is he?
Romney seems to be the clear winner in Texas, but he is out. And since a lot of right win Republicans do not feel comfortable voting for McCain because he is too moderate, they will most likely vote for Huckabee instead, which would give him 50% of the votes, winning that hands down.
But 140 delegates will only get him to 353, still far from McCain's 736 delegates. He must win more states, and more importantly, avoid McCain in doing the same.
Mike Huckabee will undoubtedly get more delegates. But the distance to McCain's is simply too far. I like you, Huckabee, despite I disagree with you on so many issues, but this game cannot be won. Which will (unfortunately for the Republicans) mean an easier election for the Democrats at the end. Cause the far right Christians in the Republican party do not like McCain for being moderate, and may even boycott the election, thus letting the Democrats win. But that is another topic of discussion.
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by svip at 06-02-2008 19:44
There are several things that keeps you entertained. TV, perhaps? Could be one of them. While I do not directly watch TV, I sure watch some of the shows that get broadcast there. And especially my good friends over at Comedy Central; Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.
However, recently, these two got into a dispute with Conan O'Brien from the Late Night show on NBC about whom made Republican candidate Mike Huckabee.
To summaries. Colbert claims to have made Huckabee because he gave Mike Huckabee the "Colbert Bump" with his appearances on his show. While O'Brien claims to have made Huckabee because he had Chuck Norris appearance on his show, whom in return endorsed Mike Huckabee. But when he was told of Colbert's claim, he thus claimed that due to the larger amount of viewers on Network TV (Comedy Central is Cable), he would give Colbert a boost in his career, and thus if Colbert made Huckabee and he made Colbert, ergo O'Brien made Huckabee.
But this is where my good friend Jon Stewart from the Daily Show steps in. He shows a clip from 1994 where he introduces Conan O'Brien on the Jon Stewart show, thus making O'Brien.
So let's recap, Jon Stewart made Conan O'Brien, whom made Stephen Colbert, whom made Mike Huckabee. Ergo, Jon Stewart made Mike Huckabee. But O'Brien was not going to let it slide. So when he claimed to have helped given birth to both Colbert and Stewart, Colbert appeared on the Daily Show Monday night informing Stewart of it. And during the talk, O'Brien walks in and it is time for ass kicking!
But Jon Stewart asks them to postpone it a bit, since he still has to do his show. Then when he is done, Colbert has to tape his show, whom ask Stewart and O'Brien to postpone it till he is done. And as you can expect, when he is done, O'Brien has gone to tape his show. But on O'Brien's show, Colbert and Stewart appears and now it is time for ass kicking! And this time we get it. For five to ten minutes, we see the three beating each other up in various fashions. Also Stephen and Jon hitting each other for some reason.
Who won? Who cares who won?! I certainly do not. This is entertainment that I enjoy. The writers may be gone, but the comedians' fantasy for how to waste time on their shows sure hasn't. I hope the strike ends soon, but keep up the improvisational till then, my friends.
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by svip at 06-02-2008 14:21
Yesterday was "Super Duper Tuesday," named so because it is similar to previous "Super Tuesdays," but this time have more states holding primaries in the US than ever before. 22 states at once! That is going to be quite a mess. So I will give you a service and help recap what the hell happened yesterday.
Something that is obvious right now is that McCain is winning the Republican side. Romney is miles (or preferably; kilometres) behind McCain. But on the Democratic side it is not as simple. Clinton and Obama are still going neck and neck. While Obama won most states yesterday, Clinton did win the bigger states like California. However, it should be noted that while in the Republican primary it is a Winner-Takes-All system and it is not for the Democrats. Update: Not all states for the Republicans use this system!
What does that mean? Remember when Al Gore won the popular vote in 2000, but didn't become President? Exactly the same thing. The US presidential election itself is a WTA system per state. The Republicans use the same method through the primaries. This will more clearly produce a winner, since if one candidate is just leading somewhat most places, he will fly ahead of the other. Simple fact.
And this is why Clinton and Obama are still going neck and neck, because during the previous months, the opinion polls have gone over to Obama's favour. And I am thinking that this retarded named day will not conclude the Democratic primary, but conclude the Republican one.
Read results at Wikipedia - your number one name in general information.
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by svip at 05-02-2008 15:29
Remember back in 2004 where John Kerry tried to beat George W. Bush? And he lost! You could wonder why though, cause Bush, let's face it, wasn't doing well, his opinion polls were only going one way, and that was down. But yet he won the election and got re-elected!?
Nah, it is not Bush's fault he won, it is Kerry's fault he lost. He used the old failure strategy "Anyone But..."
Let me explain how it works. A prime minister or president as made some somewhat controversial things during his time in office, but still have the change of getting re-elected. He is a divider of the country, some people strongly agree with him, some strongly disagree with him. It all makes sense. Real world examples: George W. Bush or the current prime minister of Denmark, Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
So what does the opposition do? They use the "Anyone But" strategy. They base their campaign as an alternative to current government. Yes, it is nice that you are an alternative. But don't say you are one, be one! The opposition in Denmark have failed the last two attempts (elections) to get Mr Rasmussen out of office, because their campaign was focused on their alternative, and for a long while, the largest party in the Opposition did not appear to be standing for anything.
In the USA, the Democrats used the same method, at the time the Bush administration had started two wars, and the one in Iraq had been especially criticised. It appear to be the obvious opportunity to throw him off the post. But when you continue to illustrate the leader as "bad", people are going to feel sorry for the man. In fact, the more you try to frame someone, the more likely it is people are going to sympathise with them.
Let me tell you the story of Castro and Cuba. Castro is a dictator, let's face that. Why don't his people revolt against him? Because his military is too powerful? Hardly, they actually like him. Let me rephrase that, they support him. They don't necessarily like him. The USA's constant mocking of Castro and Cuba is what have kept Castro in power. If there had been no trade embargo, he may not have led the country today.
But the problem with the strategy is what makes me think about the current election in the USA, and why McCain may be the president next year. Why? The Democrats are not able to use the situation fully. In fact, the Republicans have managed to mobilise despite the Bush administration giving the a bad reputation in general. The candidates of the Republicans appear exactly what the Democrats should appear as; alternatives. They don't say they are alternatives, but they are. Saying "time for a change" is not saying you're an alternative.
What must Clinton and Obama do? If I knew that, then perhaps they should hirer me as their strategist. But let us see what happens when Super Duper Tuesday ends in a matter of hours.
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by svip at 01-02-2008 13:11
There is a continent called South America, and no, Americans, it is not the Southern states I am talking about, it is a continent. Yes, there is a world outside yours. On this plate lies a country up North called Venezuela. Its official language is Spanish, and their official dance is the same as the rest of the continent; Latin. Trivia fact: South America is not part of the Vatican State.
Down here a man named Hugo Chávez has gained control of the country by being its president. While his intelligence is that of the current American president, he also dreams of power and especially more power. You can just imagine him as Palpatine from Star Wars: Episode III (I know, it sucked, but my point stands) screaming "POWER!" and frying Samuel Jackson... motherfucker.
And true enough, during his reign of terror he have tried to change the constitution of the country so he can become the president till his time is up. Which he predicts is 2050. As if his health and the world's will last that long. Anyway, while the man may appear funny, and could be the interest of many comedians, he also have a bad influence on his country. He is certainly a divider.
Chávez is largely supported by the poor people of Venezuela, because he promises them better uh... stuff? Dunno really what he does for them.
But what is worse is that the rest of the world is largely ignoring what is going down in Venezuela. Yeah, we hear it on the news, yeah, we read about it. But do we really care? Do we really have room for more caring? We already pretend to care about Afghanistan and Iraq. And North Korea and Pakistan. And Kenya and Sudan. And economics and terror. And so on and so on. Our caring usage is simply too much.
No excuse. Humans can care unlimited. That or you can simply revert your caring to other things. Such as Venezuela or how to optimise your code. A strongly recommend you visit hands on venezuela.org for more information about what is going down there.
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by svip at 01-02-2008 11:26
Oh yeah, the conservative commentators are back. And they are now predicting that McCain will become the next president. In fact, the other Republican candidates may as well give it up. They are not going to win.
And the democrats? No way are they going to win over McCain. A woman or a black man? Cause as you know, John Edwards has left the game. A true tragedy. But the good news is that Mr. 9/11 has also left the stage. After his lost in the Florida primary (9/11) where he came third, despite being the only state he really campaigned in.
How much percentage he got, I cannot say, but I am guessing somewhere between 9 or 11 per cent.
And so the Republicans have 4 candidates left; McCain, Romney, Huckabee and Paul. And the Democrats are down to two; Clinton and Obama.
But not only can McCain beat the sorry asses of his party members, not only is the Terminator giving him support together with Mr. 9/11, but he can also beat both Clinton and Obama in a presidential election.
At least that is what conservative commentators are predicting now. He stands good in the polls. And he is likely to win on Super Duper Tuesday - better known as my birthday - so obviously he is going to the republicans' candidate. Sorry, Huckabee, I would have loved to have seen Colbert as your running mate. And sorry, Ron Paul, but people don't like people who are interesting... apparently.
And of course these commentators are absolutely right. I guess they were the same who said that Giuliani was going to win as well back in autumn of 2007, where Mr. 9/11 was leading the republican vote. But then people started voting.
Point be that nothing is certain in this election. And the legacy of the Bush Administration will give the democrats a boost that I am afraid they are not using, and the republicans can come in on that.
Who is going to win? Who knows? Maybe Al Gore?!
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