Kentucky Fried Politics: A Colonel Sanders Timeline

PNWKing

Banned
The Herring Network? I feel like Ramsey doesn't deserve the "lowest-common denominator" of THN. He should get started with the US House in 2006, and then maybe Governor in 2010 or 2014, which would set him up well for 2012 or 2016.
 
Chapter 91: January 2006 – October 2006
Chapter 91: January 2006 – October 2006

“There comes a time when the jewels no longer sparkle, when the gold loses its luster, and the throne-room becomes a prison. And the only thing left is a father’s love for his child.”

– King Osric, Conan the Barbarian (1982 film), 57-minute mark (OTL/TTL)



As the aughts came to a close, the continent of Africa was a land of growth and of decline, of stability and of chaos. Nations like Ghana and Senegal were utilizing their national resources while just nearby, nations like Sierra Leone were in shambles. While Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Zambia were signing onto the Free And Democratic Federation of Africa (of FADFA), a loose federation of independent countries aiming “synchronize economies” and work as a united “bloc” on the world stage to benefit all within FADFA, D-R-Congolan politician Moise Katumbi of Katanga was evacuating ethnic minorities being targeted by Maj. Gen. Gabriel Amisi Kumba, the blood-hungry Chief of Staff of the DRCongo Army overseeing government-sanctioned human rights violations and mass executions across the central African nation.

“You know, warfare is becoming increasingly automated,” said the Secretary of Defense. Sitting down across from her boss at a White House meeting in early January 2006, she continued “most aerial bombardments in the DRC could be delivered by drone. Remotely-controlled. No chance of our men getting shot down.”

“The future is now, isn’t it?” The President mulled over his options. With each passing week, more UN forces and various sides of the war were seeing casualty after casualty, and the refugee crisis kept threatening to destabilize neighboring nations.

The Secretary of Defense continued, “By 2016, half of all Army and Air Force procedures will be easily replaceable with ‘killdog’ robots and sky drones. Warfare will become far less deadly for our soldiers.”

“And so warfare will become much more acceptable,” countered the Vice President. “It'll become an easy go-to solution, dehumanized, heartless, and merciless to the innocent. And are you going to note that more traditional forms of organized murder will still plague most nations? Because only for first-world armies will have this kind of technology.”

“Paul, I think in this case, we might have to send in ground troops,” the President said.

“What?!” The Vice President was shocked.

“We both agreed to seek out peace before war. But we’ve have negotiators down there. Hell, even you went down to the border to meet with some of the guerilla leaders. And I’ve teleconferenced with them, too!”

“Yes, so why don’t we continue that?”

“Because we’ve been trying to bring them to the negotiation tables for months now and all we’ve got to show for it is spilled blood. We have to face reality, Paul – these people do not want peace! These despots want to see death envelop their own country, to see only more of their own fellow countrymen lie dead in the streets, their homes burned, their women raped and their children either indoctrinated into their child armies or left to starve to death. You and I have negotiated with people before, but these are no longer people – they’re monsters.”

“I haven’t lost faith in the peace process, Jesse.”

The President snapped, “Don’t try to preach to me about faith, Paul. We’ve tried and tried, but faith and faith alone is not saving these people.” He turned to the Secretary of Defense, “The only thing left for us to do is to use the one thing these monsters run amok understand – firepower.”

– author A’Lelia Bundles’ Consequential: The Presidency of Jesse Jackson, Random House, 2015



…Alright, we can now confirm that a major development has unfolded in the political world, as the Tennessee legislature has signed off on the proposed DC statehood amendment. The legislature’s official vote of approval makes Tennessee the 38th state to approve DC statehood amendment, thus ratifying it…

– KNN Breaking News, 1/11/2006 broadcast



Mother-Post: D.C. STATEHOOD QUERY: Do We Now Have Three Washingtons?
So, I have a query...we now have three Washingtons, right? Washington the state, Washington DC the state, and Washington DC the capital?

>REPLY 1:
No, DC’s city council’s planning on adopting a new name for the new state, possibly with the word Washington in it somewhere, while the capital going to become known as just “D.C.” Because the DC in Washington DC stands for District of Columbia, which is the official seat of government. When Washington the city/state splits from the district, the name “Washington, District of Columbia” won’t work/make sense anymore. As the seat of the federal government, the federal district will retain the “DC part” while the new state will likely edit or reject the Washington part they get to keep because there’s already a Washington state, and it’d just be too confusing to have two states with the same name.

>REPLY 2:
Yeah, I’m also confused by all of this. Which amendment will this be anyway? In fact, how many do we already have?

>REPLY 1 to REPLY 2:
We have 29, and that count includes ones that have since been repealed. The 23rd Amendment was ratified in 1961, and granted “the seat of the federal government,” a.k.a., D.C., three votes in the Electoral College. The 24th amendment was ratified a year later, and prohibits the revocation of voting rights due to non-payment of a poll tax or any other kind of tax. The 25th amendment was ratified in 1967 and lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. The 26th amendment was ratified during Colonel Sanders’ second term, and it adjusted the Presidential line of succession to place the congress leaders ahead of the cabinet members. The 27th amendment was the ERA, which was ratified in 1975, and the 28th was the BBA, which was ratified in 1990. The 29th Amendment was some small thing that had been on the books for two hundred years; it delays laws effecting congress’s salaries from taking effect until after the next election occurs or something like that, and it was finally ratified in 1992. This means that the DC Statehood Amendment will be the 30th, and Mike Gravel’s NIA will probably become the 31st.

>REPLY 1 to REPLY 1 to REPLY 2:
Maybe for the 32nd amendment we can extend representation to the remaining US territories like Guam, the Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands by passing another amendment similar to #23. Only it’s a group/collective thing, with 3 electoral votes for all of them, because of their small populations. Or maybe 1 E.V., or 1 representative, each, for each territory?

>REPLY 1 to REPLY 1 to REPLY 1 to REPLY 2:
That could work, Maybe

>REPLY 2 to REPLY 1 to REPLY 1 to REPLY 2:
I’m surprised they didn’t attach the Virgin Islands to Puerto Rico jurisdiction and have both territories join as one state.

>REPLY 3 (mother-post maker):
So…When will it become a state?

>REPLY 1 to REPLY 3:
Probably at the same time the last several states have entered the union in the past – on Independence Day, ironically…

– ahdiscussionboard.co.usa/chat, thread opened 1/12/2006



JACKSON DOUBLES NUMBER OF U.S. “ADVISORY PERSONNEL” IN THE D.R.C. HOURS AHEAD OF U.N. VISIT

…responding assertively to the armed civil conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is being informally dubbed “The Second African World War” due to several countries outside of Africa becoming involved in the conflict in some form or another, Jackson plans to address the international concern at the UN early tomorrow…

The Washington Post, 1/13/2006



“…Earlier today at the United Nations, President Jackson formally requested a multinational military-based alliance, containing the U.S., France, the UK, Canada, and other countries, to defend ethnic Tutsi minorities being ethnically cleansed in eastern provinces of the DRC. Such a collection of countries is being compared to the Alliance of American and South Korean forces that toppled the Kim Dynasty in what once was North Korea, but possibly of a much smaller scale…”

– CBS Evening News, 1/14/2006 broadcast



CONGRESS NARROWLY AUTHORIZES THE USE OF “RESTRAINED FORCE” IN THE D.R.C.

The New York Times, 1/17/2006



“I do consider myself an internationalist, but that’s different from being an interventionist. I don’t like it when I see the body bags coming back. An air strike is maybe something a little different, to project U.S. military power, and libertarians do believe in a very strong defense, so rattling the saber from time to time is not a bad thing. But U.S. land wars, it’ll be a cold day in July before I could think of a U.S. land war that was worth starting.” [1]

– US Senator William Floyd “Bill” Weld (R-MA), opposing the notion of sending US ground forces to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1/18/2006




“I understand why Jesse’s doing this, but that doesn’t make me any less disappointed in him.”

– US Senator Mike Gravel (D-CA), 1/19/2006



“He couldn’t even go for five full years before turning to warfare! Jesse’s corrupt and in bed with the military-industrial complex like all the rest of them!”

– Former US Senator Peter Diamondstone (LU-VT), 1/20/2006



SENATOR TO D.C.: “Let Them Get Their Own Name!”

…Conservative US Senator Spencer Bachus (R-AL) took to the Senate chamber floor today to publicly announce his opposition to the increasingly-discussed proposal of “Washington, D.C.” going from being the name of the official capital territory to being the name of a new state. “This new state, a special city-state you could call it, should not deprive the federal district of its own label, which is a major part of its two centuries of history. If DC Washingtonians want independence from federal protection and the benefits of its current political situation, they should prove it by choosing a new name for themselves and letting the rest of the US states still have a national capital named ‘Washington, D.C.’”…

The San Francisco Chronicle, 1/21/2006


LET THEM HAVE WASHINGTON: Why We Should Change Our Own State’s Name

…Washington state’s founders originally wanted to name the new state “Columbia” after the Columbia River, only for Congress to deny the proposed name over concerns that too many people would confuse it with the District of Columbia. Their argument was rendered moot, though, with their own name pick of Washington, after President George Washington, which has led to too many people confusing us for “Washington, D.C.”… Personally, I like the idea of creating a sense of transnational unity by us adopting the name “West Washington (State)” and them adopting the name “East Washington (State)”… Other possible new names for ourselves: “Evergreen,” “Nova,” “New Albion,” “Nueva Galicia,” and “Tahoma,” which have all been proposed in the past... A more “hipster” selection would be “Ecotopia,” which is a reference to a 1970s book about an eco-friendly utopia established in the American northwest… However, the name that would catch on more than any other would most likely be “Cascadia.” Already a fairly popular name for describing our corner of the continent, the name already has its own a flag, a tricolor of blue, white and green with a Douglas fir in the middle. …Nothing says “Washington,” and regional independence and identity, like “Ol’ Doug”!

– journalist and political analyst Knute Berger [2], The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 1/23/2006 op-ed



…In January 2006, the Mexican stock market saw its biggest expansion in 12 years, signaling a return of economic prosperity. “A glimmer of hope of something thought to be long-since dead in Mexico: genuine economic stability,” as then-President Moctezuma later put it, seemed to be on the horizon…

– Lynnette Sánchez-Foster’s A Brief History of Modern Mexico, Santa Fe Publishing, 2019



JACKSON SIGNS CONTROVERSIAL STEM CELL RESEARCH ENHANCEMENT BILL INTO LAW [3]

...multiple religious groups oppose the granting of federal funding for stem cell research on the grounds of it being sacrilegious and offensive to human dignity. More prominent reasons for the bill passing so narrowly were medical and financial in nature. For example, the US House Financial Chair expressed concern that the economic recovery could not cover the additional funds without turning the US’s current (and slim) national surplus into a national deficit. The risk of experimental therapies being harmful to human subjects, at a time when scientists are still working on a SARS vaccine in similar manners, led to scientific groups either supporting or opposing the bill for similar reasons…

The Washington Post, 1/27/2006



LOUISVILLE MAYOR ANNOUNCES RUN FOR CONGRESS

…Jerry Abramson (D), the Mayor of Louisville since 1994, is foregoing re-election in 2007 to instead run for a US Congressional seat being vacated this year. Abramson, who has been commended by Democrats like Governor Galbraith and Republicans like Congressman Massie for improving his city’s standards of living and employment conditions, is running on a diverse platform. The issues his candidacy is focusing on match the accomplishments of his time in office. Abramson credits his four “Rs” (research, risk-taking, regionalism and revitalization) for bringing more high-tech, high-wage jobs to Louisville, especially biomedical and healthcare fields that already make up a large part of the region’s economy and employment base. As Mayor, Abramson has also expanded “regional involvement” by working “with city communities on economic development, transportation, land use and workforce training,” according to his netsite “to build up homegrown businesses and back entrepreneurship”...

The Advocate-Messenger, Kentucky newspaper, 1/29/2006



“Humanitarianism is not a state of mind, but a real and functional part of the American society that is only growing as the years go by. Throughout the history of the United States, there have always been supporters of policies meant to bring stability and prosperity to all Americans instead of just those at the top. To shorten the divide between those at the top and those at the bottom. There was the Free Soilers, the Homestead Acts, Huey Long’s Share The Wealth movement, Jack Kemp’s ZEDs, Bellamycare, and the civil rights and equal rights reforms of the past sixty years. But there is still more that can be done to help all Americans everywhere not just obtain stability and prosperity, but keep that stability and prosperity as well, and to help it grow to give this generation a better standard of living, and to give the next generations of Americans an even brighter future ahead of them. With that in mind, with the three years left of this administration, our goal must be to improve upon these humanitarian movements and actions of the present and of yesteryear.”

– President Jesse Jackson’s State of the Union Address, 1/31/2006



…In international news, Canadian Prime Minister Maureen McTeer was won a second term, carrying the Progressive Liberal Alliance to victory over Belinda Stronach of the anemic Progressive Conservative Party, Pauline Marois of the Quebec Party, and Michaelle Jean of the descending Maple party, in a race that saw the top four parties all be led by women…

– CBS Evening News, 2/2/2006 broadcast



CHAMPIONS! Cleveland Browns Win Super Bowl XL!

The Columbus Dispatch, 2/5/2006



JACKSON SIGNS ENERGY POLICY BILL INTO LAW

…The new Energy Policy Act of 2006 aims to combat recent renewable energy investment shortcomings by providing tax incentives and federal loan guarantees for energy production of various types. The generous legislation also increases regulation policies for major companies via a “damage possibility” bracket system. Essentially, the bigger the company, the bigger the regulation, especially when it comes to utility companies. …Two Democratic members of the Congressional Budget Office opposed an earlier version of the bill, leading to several aspects of the legislation being scaled back in order to avoid inhibiting “small business innovation”…

The Washington Post, 2/9/2006



…The GOP push for stronger immigration restrictions in response to congress’s massive immigration detail reform bill proposal only gained momentum and support among a plurality of Republican Congresspersons. The movement’s hard-c conservative roots put it at odds with moderate RNC chair John Dinger. C.C.s in the party were angry not only at Dinger for opposing the move, but also at moderate and libertarian GOP legislators who sought to bargain with the Democrats rather than to simply oppose them. However, discussions across the aisle was what led to the simplifying of state-to-state car/transportation insurance transfers, a win for libertarians in the GOP. This support from libertarians in exchange for their bill made for there being enough people (lobbyists, state governments, and lawmakers, mostly) backing the immigration bill for it to receive majority approval in the House before the committee review process had even fully begun…

– Julian E. Zelizer and David F. Emery’s Burning Down The House, Penguin Publishing Group, 2020



U.S. PEACEKEEPING FORCES ARRIVE IN UGANDA, THE BASE OF ANTI-GENOCIDE U.N. OPERATIONS IN THE D.R.C.

…The people of the war-torn African country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo struggle to live as rebel guerillas detonate cam bombs and government-allied militias slaughter ethnic minorities. …American President Jesse Jackson’s Secretary of Defense Claudia Kennedy, who urges “productive, efficient and constructive intervention” in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, played a role in convincing Jackson to enter the US into a UN-led peacekeeping force alliance focused on combating the atrocities of the DRC’s ruling regime…

The Guardian, UK newspaper, 13/2/2006



RED, WHITE AND GOLD: Shaun White Victorious As U.S.A. Contest Sweep Continues

…The Winter Olympics in Budapest, Hungary began on the tenth and will conclude on the 26th…

The San Diego Union-Tribune, 2/14/2006



“…Today, in the nation’s capital, the Washington, D.C. City Council has announced two major decisions. After private voting was unanimous on both counts, the council has announced that a citywide referendum [4] will be held this November to determine what the federal district’s new name will be when it becomes a state. Until then, the council has voted on a placeholder name. Between D.C. becoming a state in July and its citizens choosing a name in November, the unique political entity will be known as, quote, ‘The State of Washington, Douglass Community’…”

– TON News, 2/15/2006 broadcast



“I should have talked to someone about how I was feeling. I was feeling hopeless, I was withdrawn and moody to Michelle and to my children, and I felt tired all the time. After the mental health reforms of the mid-1990s, I should have recognized the symptoms. I am to blame for that.

I don’t remember it the way it actually happened. But that’s not surprising, given the circumstances, however known or unknown they were at the time. All I can say with certainty was that I didn’t feel like myself in those days. I was having trouble at work; I was exhausted and hostile. Just a few days before, Yusef had tried to get me out of my “funk,” as he called it. He wanted me to go salmon fishing. I said no. “But you love salmon fishing!” I remember him exclaiming. And this was true; I’ve been fishing for years, and never before had I turned down an opportunity to partake in the pastime without having any good reason for doing so.

And then later that month, on that infamous day, well, I was in even worse shape. It was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, for each of us. I was just trying to get back to my car so I could go home and sleep, the time of day be damned. And this paparazzi fellow, this Hollywood Reporter-like employee of some garbage Chicago tabloid, without consideration for other people’s personal space, as if the SARS pandemic had not occurred merely two years ago, descended upon me. Whether or not his flurry of questions were as intense as I remember them being, the fact is that he was bothering me, and I made it known – verbally, at first. I told him “no comment” again and again, but he would not let up, following me to my car with his recorder, jabbing me with queries and inquiries, interrogating me like I was on trial. I know now what he was asking, but at the time I saw as him being invasive; I remember him being negative and hostile.

According to the recording, he never asked me “Why are you such a loser?” He never even said something phonetically similar to it. But in my state of mind I thought he did. And at the comment, I snapped. I had a public meltdown of sorts. With blind rage I turned around and I tackled the man, and before I realized it my fists were going up and down, dancing on his face. I’m a former college football running back and I was weighing in at just over 230 pounds at the time. I’m also a martial arts enthusiast – I’ve practiced karate, tae kwon do and kung fu in the past during my spare time. With those skills combined with the state of my psyche, it’s no wonder I broke so much of his face - two black eyes and broken nose and a dislocated jaw - and cracked a rib bone. But at the time, when the ambulance arrived, I thought it was for me; and when the police arrived, I thought they had come for the paparazzo. But the opposite was true. I had committed assault and battery, and I needed to go to jail.

It did not matter who I was. But apparently, what I shouted as they put me in the back of the car was “Don’t you know who I am? I’m the President’s son.” I don’t remember saying that, but it’s right there on the thankfully-still-not-released-to-the-public body cam footage. Much to my shame.”

– Jesse Jackson Jr., 2016 interview



The President received word of his son’s arrest within the hour, and was positively outraged. Initially believing it to be a “frame-job” or some sort, the Commander-in-Chief phoned the Chicago precinct and was soon in contact with his son.

According to his Vice President, Junior told Senior “don’t worry about me, you have bigger problems on your plate,” or something to this affect. Junior then hung up the phone.

“Junior!” the President bellowed into the dead receiver.

White House Communications Director Betty Magness was the first of the President’s inner circle to speak up. “Alright, damage control time. Nobody leak a word of this to the press until we have enough facts to explain what just went down, got it?”

Press Secretary Pam Watkins nodded, “And I’ll work on what to say when the press catch wind of this on their own.”

“Christ, a f*cking tabloid reporter,” Counselor to the President Kevin Alexander Gray thought aloud.

“Mr. President,” Chief of Staff Ron Daniels poked his head into the room. “The cabinet’s ready and waiting for you, sir.”

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Above: President Jackson, deep in thought; photograph undated.

“Mr. President?” Daniels repeated.

Jackson broke his thousand-mile-type stare at the phone and looked over at the door, then around the room. For the first time in years, the President seemed completely irresolute. Confused and at a loss for what to do or even what to say, he looked at his adviser, Kevin Gray.

“Jesse,” Gray asked. “What do you want to do?”

“I…I don’t –”

“Don’t think about what’s best to do, Jesse. Put the PR spin, imaging, everything, put it all aside. Just think about your son.”

“We’ve got a lot of subjects to cover in this cabinet meeting, sir,” Daniels reminded his boss, somewhat interrupting Gray.

“Jesse,” Gray continued. “Just think about your son.” He paused. “What do you want to do?”

The President answered. “I want to see my son. I need to see him.”

“Alright, Mr. President,” said Gray. “Ron, reschedule the cabinet meeting and get Air Force One ready.”

[snip]

Upon Jesse Junior’s wife Michelle posting bail, Jesse Junior immediately volunteered for a complete physical and mental health checkup. That is how his bipolar disorder was finally diagnosed.

Studies report that some victims of bipolar disorder have expressed concern over memory impairment during mood shifts. Swinging between two emotional poles, depression and mania, bipolar II disorder is much milder than disorder I disorder. The two Jesses sighed in relief at that. But the good news did not outweigh the bad news.

The reporter (later identified as Kevin Parker, b. 1967, who, ironically, had his own history of abrasive behavior and the occasional violent outburst) was suing for a host of damages, ranging from actual to fabricated. Jesse was willing to settle out of court, but the reporter was not. As a result, the litigation began…

– Nancy Skelton and Bob Faw’s Thunder In America: A Chronology of The Jesse Jackson White House, Texas Monthly Press, 2016



…American media initially covered the incident with neutral curiosity as the pieces of the story slowly became available. At first, there was condemnation for Junior’s assault putting a reporter in the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries from most outlets. But after the revelation of Junior’s bipolar depression diagnosis, news outlets were split, with many sources being sympathetic to Junior and/or the reporter, while other sources such as The Herring Network promoted a technet-born rumor that the bipolar diagnosis was false; that the White House was perpetrating a cover-up in a way that was illegal…

– author A’Lelia Bundles’ Consequential: The Presidency of Jesse Jackson, Random House, 2015



…Is Jesse Jackson Junior using White House funds to keep witnesses of his assault silent? More on this after an interview with the brave news reporter who survived Junior’s onslaught and after a word from our sponsor…

– The Herring Network, 2/25/2006



“If we have to open investigations into the matter to ensure that the White House did not assist Jesse Jackson Junior or his legal team in any way, shape or form, then we will do just that when we reclaim the House this November.”

– House Minority Leader H. Dargan McMaster (R-SC), 2/26/2006



“I feel for Triple-J, you know. I kind of know what he’s going through. He's suffering right now, and he needs support and understanding. Republicans can go f*ck themselves for being so sick and hostile about it. Talking up the violence, downplaying the reason behind it. The only problems they should have, if any, is on how hush-hush the White House, you know, downplayed the incident at the beginning, you know, at first. But, see, the thing is, though, that very behavior is the result of the highly powerful stigma that mental illness has in this country, and it’s only worsened since Iacocca got shot by an unwellian. Now anyone unwell’s given that look. That stare. People have got to stop that. It doesn’t f*cking help, you know?”

– Kurt Cobain, radio interview, 2/27/2006



JESSE JUNIOR BEGINS STAY AT MAYO CLINIC

Jesse Jr. “is suffering from ‘serious depression – deep, deep depression,” a longtime friend of Jesse Junior told KNN a day after meeting with Jackson at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “Jesse is getting the help he needs, and he needs to make that his priority.” The President’s son today began undergoing inpatient treatment for bipolar depression at the famed facility. [5]

Bipolar depression – or in Jesse Junior’s case, bipolar disorder – is a deep, broad, and long-lasting medical condition and a type of mood disorder. According to another source close to the President’s son, exhaustion was initially suspected in Jesse Junior’s case. “He is suffering from a behavioral symptom, and that is depression, which doesn’t allow him to really work to his maximum capacity,” said source explained.

Expecting a long-term recovery and noting that mental illness tends to carry a stigma in the United States, especially due to the assassin of President Iacocca suffering from it to a debatable extent, “it is understandable why Jesse Junior did not initially address the matter in a public forum,” according to a lead doctor at the Mayo Clinic. “In fact, most sufferers of this mental illness don’t want to talk about it, which is unfortunate given that talking significantly helps them get the help and care they need.”

It is currently unclear how Jesse Junior’s stay at the Mayo Clinic will effect courtroom proceedings in Illinois, where the President’s son is expected to stand trial for assault and battery…

The Baltimore Sun, 3/1/2006



…While his Treasury and Commerce Departments worked with other federal and federal-level officials to try and end off-shore banking, Jackson went after the Federal Reserve: “From now on, under this administration, in order to receive financial assistance from the Federal Reserve, large banks must commit to improving their habits when it comes to lending to creditworthy customers, especially those wanting to open a small business or enterprise”...

– author A’Lelia Bundles’ Consequential: The Presidency of Jesse Jackson, Random House, 2015



IMMIGRATION REQUIREMENTS REFORM BILL PASSES IN HOUSE

…the far-left-leaning legislation will likely pass in the US Senate after the Fourth of July break…

The Washington Post, 3/5/2006



“…big news coming out of Russia today, as Russian’s space agency has announced that their space probe ‘Curiosity’ has discovered, quote, ‘geysers of a liquid substance,’ unquote, on Saturn’s moon Enceladus, suggesting that water is present there...”

– KNN Breaking News, 3/9/2006 broadcast



JUNIOR: “I remember having to break the news to Michelle and to my siblings. I remember saying to them, ‘Please forget me. I don’t want to be a burden. Let me be.’ I was so humiliated. I wanted no contact from my family during my time at that facility.”

INTERVIEWER: “How did you explain the situation to your children?”

JUNIOR: “I couldn’t; Michelle did. I was too embarrassed. I was ashamed; I was catatonic during that period. I didn’t want to be remembered. I didn’t want to be a burden to my children.[6]

INTERVIEWER: “But your family refused to abandon you.”

MICHELLE: “We could tell that he was in a very dark place, and keeping to yourself only worsens it. You need to talk about what ails you.”

JUNIOR: “I remember the cakes sent over on my birthday. It was March 10, I was turning 41, and this angel here sent me this, like, caravan of cakes for everyone at the facility. Each one had the words ‘You are loved’ written on it in frosting. It was repeated acts of kindness that helped me out at the start. I had wanted to forget them so I could also forget the painful thought of disgracing them. But Michelle and my parents and sibling were certain to remind me of not what I was missing, but of why I wanted to get better, of why I had entered that facility in the first place.”

– Jesse Jackson Jr. and Michelle Robinson Jackson, ABC Morning News, 5/5/2010 broadcast



...in other news, a former co-worker of the reporter that Jesse Jackson Jr. assaulted last month has accused said reporter of sexual pestering…

– CBS Evening News, 3/12/2006



In the ten years that have passed since The Fall of The North, more things had changed for the Korean peninsula than for the members of Kim family. With the people of the Former North no longer believing the Kim family to be living gods, the Kims have very little influence on Korean politics and those who were not put on trial for corruption have maintained low visibility, with nearly all United Koreans wishing to “move on” rather than wonder what they are doing nowadays. So this passage is for those who do wonder.

Kim Yong-ju (b. 1920), the brother of Kim Il-Sung, is living in quiet retirement in Beijing. Kim Jung-Il’s half-brother, Kim Pyong-Il (b. 1954), still lives in Russia, along with Kim Kyong-hui (b. 1946), the only sister of Kim Jung-Il; her husband, former party operative Jang Song-thaek (b. 1946) was inevitably extradited from Moscow back to Korea, where he is a quarter of the way through serving out his sentences for corruption and war crimes. Kim Song-ae (b. 1924), the ex-wife of Kim Il-Sung and the mother of Kim Pyong-Il, reportedly tried to promote her son as the rightful successor to Kim Jung-Il during the final days of the war before fleeing to the Singapore Embassy; in 1999, she was extradited to the Korean peninsula and his halfway through spending ten years in prison for corruption.

Kim Young-sook (b. 1947), the final First Lady of North Korea, was estranged from her husband and had fled to Fiji two weeks before Kim Jung-Il’s demise; she is still there, as the government of United Korea has declined to charge her for corruption in light of merely circumstantial evidence of wrongdoing, her quiet support for reunification, and her denouncing of her ex-husband’s “monstrosity;” instead, she received less serious charges and was instead fined for misuse of funds. Other relatives of the Kim family took up this narrative to avoid prosecution as well. Kim Sol-song (b. 1974), though, was not so fortunate due to her adamant support of the North. As Kim Jung-Il’s daughter and a favorite of her father, Sol-song was overseeing security and scheduling for her father at the start of the war. She was ordered to flee to Beijing to wait and later meet up with her father in Manchuria to continue fighting via a government-in-exile. Instead, shortly after Kim’s death, Sol-song was killed in a friendly fire accident (she was disguised as a Manchurian local and was not initially recognized by fleeing DPRK forces) while she was attempting to re-enter the North in order to proclaim herself the rightful heir. Like the remains of her father and several other DPRK soldiers, she is buried in a mass grave “somewhere near the Chinese border.”

The fallen dictator’s children’s lives had have more interesting developments. Kim Jong-un (b. 1983) continued his education in Switzerland until he was 18, then began living in southern China; he was actually staying at one of the Hainan hotels that were the first hotels to be hit by the SARS pandemic in late 2001. Jong-un recovered, but died from complications from a second infection in 2003, aged 20. Kim Jong-chul (b. 1981) reportedly graduated from an unnamed French university in 2003 with a degree in international law, and aspires to be a legal consultant at the UN. Kim Yo-jong (b. 1987) is still in school, aspiring to become an editor or journalist upon graduating in 2009.

Finally, the former “heir,” Kim Jong-nam (b. 1971) has distanced himself greatly from his father and grandfather, calling for harmony between the Southers and former Northers, but otherwise maintaining a low profile. Jong-nam is currently living with his wife, children, and other family relatives under an alias in an undisclosed location in the PRC. In a 2005 interview, he reported being happy, raising a family while working on his memoirs and serving as a technical supervisor for the PRC’s state-run media; he is also reportedly working on a film franchise that will be “a regional alternative” to Star Wars. His children, including his son Han-sol (b. 1995) are reportedly doing well in school; all they know about their grandfather is that he was “a bad man.”…

– Ken Armstrong’s 1996: The Second Korean War, Simon & Schuster, 2006 edition



…In a major twist in the story of Jesse Jackson Jr.’s mental health crisis, the tabloid reporter that the President’s son assaulted has suddenly announced that he will no longer be pressing charges against Jesse Junior. The move of voluntary nolle prosequi is a surprising turn given the weight of the high-profile potential case…

– KNN Breaking News, 3/18/2006



...According to one story, allegedly told by former Counselor to the President William Antholis to a close confidant of his, the President’s son’s legal team discovered that the reporter had three arrest warrants in Florida for an outstanding contempt of court charge and for unpaid child support payments to two ex-wives. Additionally, they discovered several more of his former co-workers who were willing to testify that he had sexually pestered them and had even raped them. Upon approaching the reporter with this information, a deal was cut – if the reporter withdrew his lawsuit, the President’s son’s legal team would not bring to light the reporter’s own illegal activities.

However, there is no evidence that this meeting ever occurred. In fact, the story only began to spread on technet chat forums in 2014, a few months after the reporter’s Florida arrest warrants became public knowledge and said reporter committed suicide a few weeks later, before he could be brought to trial. Nevertheless, the story is aided by the fact that said reporter’s only public explanation for the lawsuit withdrawal was that he felt that Jesse Junior “is suffering worse than I did,” an explanation that, apparently, remains unsatisfactory to a certain percentage of the on-tech population, given the level of wealth, fortune, fame and notoriety he could have received - and political damage he could have done to the Jackson White House - from the court case…

– Nancy Skelton and Bob Faw’s Thunder In America: A Chronology of The Jesse Jackson White House, Texas Monthly Press, 2016



…Prior to the might of the United Kingdom’s military branches entering the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2006, the UK had experienced a lengthy military buildup; under Prime Minister Lennon, the country’s government had not participated militarily in any major war campaigns since 1992 – not even in “popular” wars such as the Second Korean War…

– John J. Polonko Jr.’s All’s Fair: What War Makes Necessary, Hachette Book Group USA, 2017 edition



“I think [PM Harriet] Harman really must approach the Congo situation very carefully, because there are a lot of local feuds. It is not at all like what the US did with North Korea or even like what the UK did during the Falklands. Those areas were fairly or entirely homogenous. The DRC, however, is split into a multitude of ethnic groups, with alliances frequently changing as each guerilla group takes or loses more ground. Bringing stability to the region will require bringing all of them, or at least most of them, to agree to form a united front regardless of their internal divisions. On the end of the conflict, I think people like President Jesse Jackson and our current Home Secretary could help bring about a temporarily alliance among them. I hear Jesse Jackson say that the avenue of the peace process has been exhausted, but that’s only true at the top level, the national level. I think Jackson should follow his own advice and keep the faith alive. In the meantime, the men under my command are going to do our best to fight for peace.”

– UK Royal Navy Admiral Sir George Michael Zambellas, BBC interview 3/28/2006



IT’S OFFICIAL: KFC’S CHICKEN POT PIE IS COMING TO KFC-UK!

…our British friends across the pond will finally be able to purchase and sample KFC’s delicious chicken pot pie, a menu option we Americans take for granted, in January 2007, when it finally becomes a menu option in KFC locations in the United Kingdom…

– thefoodhistorian.co.usa/blog/2006_news_updates/




– A KFC-US chicken pot pie commercial, featuring the Cartoon Colonel, c. summer 1998



CONGRESS REVERSES DENTON-ERA MEDIA POLICY

The Los Angeles Times, side article, 4/4/2006



…Another example of [House Speaker] Michel’s powerful influence was the deregulation of radio programming that occurred in 1981. The FCC ceased enforcing the Fairness Doctrine, devolving it into a guideline of sorts, allowing one-sided radio stations to form as the years went by. However, the Fairness Doctrine was re-implemented under President Jesse Jackson, sparking political backlash in the 2006 midterms that was much more prominent than what the Denton administration had experienced in the 1982 midterms…

– Paul Kengor and Peter Schweizer’s The Denton Presidency: Assessing the Man and His Actions, Simon & Schuster, 2005



…One change in America’s media industry that did not catch the eye of most Americans at the time was the re-introduction of the Fairness Doctrine, which proved to be another pivotal moment in the history of US media. Expanding from the “equal-time rule” established in 1927 for political candidates which was superseded by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Communications Act of 1934, the Fairness Doctrine was introduced in 1949 and stipulates that holders of broadcast licenses must essentially present both sides of controversial issues [7]. President Jeremiah Denton deregulated the radio industry in 1981 by suspending said doctrine. By the start of the Jesse Jackson administration, most researchers and analysts linked the repealing of the rule with the rise of political extremism and political polarization, and so, in 2006, the Democrats in control of the Senate and House managed to pass law re-establishing the FD and its airing conditions, essentially forcing anti-administration news outlets such as THN to present both sides of political arguments. This rule, however, never applied to netsites, nor did it specify how much time must be spent on opposing viewpoints, merely demanding a “respectable amount.” As a result, political polarization continued on the technet, while biased news outlets and programs on both the far left and far right of the political spectrum either sought to adjust as best they could to the new regulation, or take the matter to court…

– author A’Lelia Bundles’ Consequential: The Presidency of Jesse Jackson, Random House, 2015



“…We are pleased to announce that this network is suing the federal government. Their most result legislation is a clear and obvious violation of US constitutional law. It is an attack on the First Amendment that violates our freedom of speech and we will fight them on this all the way up to the Supreme Court of we have to…”

– The Herring Network, 4/13/2006 broadcast



…On former aide to Wellstone recounted another moment that occurred in 2006, shortly after Easter, April 16. A cabinet meeting had concluded and Wellstone stayed behind to inform Jackson on a decision of his.

“With yurt permission, I’m going to travel to Uganda to see if I can’t get the peace process rolling again. I’ve got a hunch I can bring this war to an end.”

“I’m not going to pull out our ground forces over a hunch,” the President informed him.

“I’m not telling you to. But I want to see if I can talk some sense into somebody over there! You know I’m good at persuading people to compromise.”

Jackson replied in a dismissive manner, “Oh, you and your lot are naturally persuasive.”

Wellstone took a deep breath, and continued with a polite smile. “I just need to know for certain that we can’t do more. Some non-military. The crisis over there has me worried for future of that country. Can it even survive a civil war this staggering?”

The President sighed, “You can do whatever you want, short of saying on TV or talking to a reporter and, basically, denounce my decision and try to besmirch the administration.”

“I’d never do that.”

“I know. And I thank you for it. You’re a good friend and ally,” replied Jackson. “But you really shouldn’t stress yourself out so much.” As he patted Wellstone’s shoulder as the President exited the room, Jackson added “You and your kind worry too much, ol’ boy. Peace will come to the Congo. Well, one way or another, that is...” [8]

– Billie Lofi’s The Wellstone Way: The Life of a Passionate Progressive, University of Minnesota Press, first edition, 2017



“Alright, we’ve got the cast, we’ve got those new cameras you wanted. What next?”

“I wrote here filming locations: this place here, Trump Stadium in N.Y.C., and for the second act the Trump Hotel and Casino in Boston.”

“Ah that’s great, I love my Boston outfit. So beautiful. Did you know non-Indian commercial casinos are only allowed in I think a handful of states, and only in some areas?”

“Uh, no I did not know that. I did not.”

“Yeah, and New Jersey residents keep voting down those referendum things to get casinos built there. My sister said she couldn’t do anything about it, because they want them because they have those flat welfare dividend things instead of any tourists. That’s why Jersey folks are so lazy, you know.”

“Good to know.”

“And you know something, after we make these pictures, I was thinking of opening up two more casinos, one in Nevada and another in Louisiana, because those are the only two states in all of the US where casino gambling is legal statewide. One of my lawyers told me that. I can’t remember which one. He has a face, I think. I’ll remember.”

“Riverboat casino, ha! That is sounding fun.”

“Yeah, I think I could be a riverboat captain…”

“You can see how you like it in the sequel then, ha. I’ll write in a scene of it, between the shootout and the third lovemaking scene.”

“Hey, good idea; I’m glad I thought of it!”

– transcript of audio recording of office meeting at Trump Sunrise Tower, Santa Monica, CA; recorded 4/19/2006 and leaked 12/17/2018



POPE PATRICK SAYS BLUTAG SASH WEARERS “DISQUALIFY THEMSELVES” FROM COMMUNION

…The leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Patrick I, said today that “Blue Rainbow Sash wearers disqualify themselves from receiving Holy Communion because they are demonstrating their opposition to church teachings on homosexuality."
The Blue Rainbow Sash, which describes itself as an organization of gay and lesbian Catholics and their families and friends, has criticized the Catholic Church’s recent and past statements on homosexuality, including the church's teaching that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered” and that homosexual orientation is “objectively disordered.”
To underline their point, the group's members sometimes attend Mass and receive Communion wearing the sash
of a rainbow of six or seven shades of blue.
Asked about his position by Catholic News Service, the Pope said: “Blue Rainbow Sash wearers are showing their opposition to church teaching on a major issue of natural law and so disqualify themselves from being given holy Communion.” Pope Patrick did not elaborate, and he declined a request for an interview on the subject.
In December, Archbishop Harry J. Flynn of St. Paul-Minneapolis spoke with Cardinal Arinze about the Rainbow Sash question. Archbishop Flynn allows members wearing the sash to receive Communion, while some other bishops do not.
In an interview afterward, Archbishop Flynn said that
Pope Patrick did not ask for a change in the archbishop’s archdiocesan policy, but did express concern about the clarity of church teaching on the issue. In a statement issued in January, Archbishop Flynn said that the Pope also indicated that “ideally, all of the bishops who have pastoral care for the members of this movement should seek to adopt a uniform approach.”
The church teaching that homosexual acts are contrary to natural law and that the homosexual inclination is "objectively disordered" is contained in the "Catechism of the Catholic Church," which was revised and corrected in
1991. [9] However, the church also teaches that homosexuals must be accepted with love and respect and that they should not be discriminated against. Some bishops have denied the Eucharist to Blue Rainbow Sash members on the grounds that they were using the Eucharist to manifest opposition to church teaching. Some members of the Blue Rainbow Sash organization have said that they consider their wearing of the sash an act of celebration, not protest. [10]

– The Boston Globe, 4/22/2006




SENATOR MCGOVERN INTRODUCES MENTAL HEALTH EDUCATION BILL

The Washington Post, 4/28/2006



…Fire is raging across an oil field in Wyoming after a freak truck-driving accident set off a huge petroleum gas explosion. Wyoming Governor Mary Mead is meeting with fire department officials as firefighters seek to keep the flames at bay until more water bombers can arrive…

– KNN Breaking News, 5/1/2006



…McTeer’s personality was ferocious on the campaign trail, but behind closed doors, she knew how to be docile in order to reach out and win over supporters on other political parties. McTeer reportedly began a friendship with the much-more-conservative MP Michaelle Jean in early-to-mid 2006, and was on very good terms with Environment Minister Jane Sterk, left-of-center moderate MP Jennifer Granholm, and even Louis Plamandon…

– Richard Johnston’s The Canadian Party System: An Analytic History, UBC Press, 2017



“CLIMATE JUSTICE”: Jackson Signs Car Fuel Emission Standards Bill Into Law

…aggravating small-government advocates and undoubtedly infuriating car manufacturers, the new law raises national requirements for new cars to be deemed “environmentally safe” enough both to be sold and driven in the United States. US Senator Ralph Nadler (I-CT) was visibly ebullient at the signing ceremony, which he attended because he was a co-writer of the Senate version of the bill…

The Washington Post, 5/3/2006



KUBRICK, CAPES, AND THE POISON OF OVEREXPOSURE

Earlier this week, MGM released “2061: The Year of The Lucifer Sun.” Starring Tom Hanks as astronaut Frank Poole, the film is a 2006 adaptation of the 1987 novel 2061: Odyssey Three. Said novel is a sequel to 2010: Odyssey Two, which is a sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey; this movie is a sequel to the film 2010: The Year We Make Contact, and that film is a sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Understand?

You don’t have to. Because, while the film is unique in that it closely follows the event of the book, its special effects are impressive, and once again shows why Tom Hanks really deserves an Oscar and honestly should have gotten one by now, the fact remains that audiences are turning away from this critically-acclaimed movie. Why? Because several of these kinds of movies are hitting theaters every few months now!

Astronaut movies are everywhere nowadays. Ever since the Milestone 1 plan was launched, space exploration has returned to the front row of pop culture, almost eclipsing superhero films in popularity during the past several years and dominating films, TV, and merchandise paraphernalia in a way that only a nostalgic 1960s/1970s callback can. Hollywood has gone back into their archives and have greenlit reboots of various old products and projects from “the first space age,” with some, like the Lost in Space reboot, being letdowns, while others, like last year’s Flash Gordon movie, were serviceable. But it has been over two years since the Marstronauts returned with only circumstantial evidence that life likely once slithered around in Mars’ once-flourishing waterways. And it seems that many moviegoers, myself included, are growing tired of the repetitiveness of films featuring astronauts encountering crises in space, often showing the universe filled to the metaphorical brim with diverse alien creatures, while real-life space remains a lifeless void in our telescopes. The clichés – paranoia, alien infiltration, loneliness, perilous spacewalks, crash landings, battles that have sound, humanoid alien species – are so abundant now that they are becoming overwhelming.

Like the works of the waning superhero film subgenre, the constant exposure to space films is beginning to bug some viewers. Films like these should be able to use its setting to develop characters and their arcs, and provide unique and original world building, or at least use a familiar-but-remote setting to reflect a relatable issue. But for every good space film – such as “2061” – there are at least ten tiring retreads of space staples that suck worse than a black hole, and with them may come the end of this latest fad in our popular culture.

Essentially, what I mean to stay is the following: if you still find great joy and inspiration in space films, than “2061” this is one of the better ones for you to view. If not, then heed the following warning – Avoid 2061; Attempt No Viewing Here…

– Variety magazine, TV/film review/editorial section, 5/11/2006 op-ed



MILITARIST ELECTED PRESIDENT OF BELARUS

…With incumbent President Zianon Pazniak of the Conservative Christian party retiring after roughly ten years in office, the race to succeed him was wide open. With 56% of the vote, nationalist strongman Sergei Gaidukevich, of the Liberal Democratic Party, defeated former Presidential Chief of Staff Aleksandar Milinkievich of the Unity Party, who received 41% of the vote. Gaidukevich criticized Milinkievich’s pro-west views on the campaign trail, claiming that the Liberal Democratic Party’s right-wing populism would better “protect Byelorussian interests from outsider interference.” Gaidukevich won the support of both military leaders and veterans of the Russian-Turkistani War of the early 1980s, while the more charismatic Milinkievich appealed to younger voters…

The Guardian, UK newspaper, side article, 15/5/2006



JUDGE DISMISSES SEXUAL PESTERING CHARGES MADE AGAINST REPORTER ASSAULTED BY JESSE JACKSON JR.

The Chicago Tribune, 5/18/2006



SENATOR ENDS “CEREMONIAL FILIBUSTER” OUTSIDE THE CAPITAL BUILDING AFTER 19 HOURS

Washington, D.C. – US Senator Bo Gritz (R-ID) yesterday and today stood at a podium set at the foot of the stairs leading up to the US Capitol Building to deliver a “protest speech” in opposition to US Senators moving to pass a new immigration requirements reform bill. Gritz gave the speech on the Senate floor to protest the fact that the Democratic share of the Senate is filibuster-proof.

During the subsequent 19 hours, 17 minutes and 31 seconds, Gritz described the bill in detail before describing his war experiences in Southeast Asia, his attempts to locate supposedly forgotten POWs in several former conflict zones, and his career in the state senate and US Senate. Gritz is a populist who accuses both major political parted of “not doing enough to support real Americans, gladly bending over backwards to wipe the assed of those who show up hear unable to speak English and expecting handout after handout, while people born and raised inside the states go hungry as they and their rights are ignored.” Gritz finally “yielded the floor” when his voice gave out.

Earlier this month, Gritz had attempted to halt the bill by calling for a Senate Judiciary Review of it, claiming it was unconstitutional and authoritative. When the Senate Judiciary committee, chaired by a Democrat, ruled in favor of the proposed law, Gritz tried additional Senate maneuvers to kill the bill before railing against the law on public radio, claiming it would “make the USA… a borderless state.”…

– thenewyorktimes.co.usa, 5/28/2006 e-article



SENATE PASSES IMMIGRATION BILL!

…another landmark work of legislation, President Jackson is expected to sign the bill within the month, while the railway reform bill is expected to be debated on in the fall, after the Senate breaks for the summer…

The Washington Post, 6/2/2006



UK-LED UN FORCES “WIPE OUT” BEMBA-ALLIED GUERILLA CAMP NEAR BASOKO

– The Guardian, UK newspaper, 6/6/2006



KENTUCKY-FRIED CENTURIONS: KFC Aims To Win Over Younger Americans

…hoping to improve upon the more positive aspects of Herman Cain’s legacy at Finger Lickin’ Good, Inc., FLG Inc. CEO Mary Lolita Starnes Hannon is turning to up-and-comers within the corporation’s talent pool to bring in a new generation of KFC customers. With the permission of Peter Herman and the urging of Harley Sanders and Millie Sanders, plus several of The Colonel’s grandchildren involved in the company, KFC aims to launch another media campaign to appeal to Americans focused on getting healthy fast food “on-the-go”...

Business Weekly, early June 2006 issue



…The quality of KFC’s quality control was raised under Hannon, with the money spent on investments in sanitation being made back in rising sales, a reversal of Cain’s method of cutting back on “excessive” expenditures.

To this end, technicians in the KFC R&D department were instructed to work on creating a less expensive pressure fryer design that yielded results “indistinguishable from the chicken we make now,” as KFC CEO David Novak explained Hannon’s decision to the head of R&D, Adrien McNaughton.

“It’ll be expensive,” McNaughton replied.

“Yes it will be,” Novak rebutted, “But it’s an investment. If this company succeeds, we will all have thicker wallets.” In showing of dedication to the company, Novak pulled out his checkbook. “Here,” he tore of the check he’d scribbled a large sum onto.

“Woah. You’re putting some of own money into this?” McNaughton was surprised and perplexed.

“Just to show how much faith I have in you, Adrien. You’re the best in your line of work.”

Indeed, McNaughton was a self-described “expert tinkerer.” Starting out as a mechanic in Ontario, Canada before making it big with a tool he designed to improve transmission repair techniques, the head of R&D found his way into the KFC family quite serendipitously in 1994, by meeting then-CEO leader Jim Collins when both were visiting the Saunders Café in North Corbin, Kentucky, the official birthplace of The Colonel’s signature culinary concoction. “Besides, we’re investing funds in this project in order to make more funds out of it. So don’t disappoint me, Adrien.”

– Marlona Ruggles Ice’s A Kentucky-Fried Phoenix: The Post-Colonel History of Most Famous Birds In The World, Hawkins E-Publications, 2020



2bJHlM9.png


– A modern KFC outlet operates across the street from the “birthplace” of KFC, c. 2006



…Unfortunately, the rise in revenue and the improvement of their reputation led to the company higher-ups being confident enough in the company’s earnings and stocks to unveil, release and promote KFC’s R&D department’s latest creation, “KFC Fried Fries” – as in doubled-fried potato strips, similar in shape to Wendy’s thick-cut potato pieces, and then generously covered in the Colonel’s Secret Recipe. The introduction of the product in the summer of 2006 was met with polarizing views, but the differing attitudes led to it garnering the kind of media attention that KFC wanted to have…

– Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, Mariner Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012



“As we begin recess and members of congress begin returning home to their constituents for the summer, I want to remind my fellow Senators to hear their constituents, listen to what they have to say, and understand their needs for us to work together, even across the aisle when necessary, to give the American people a hand when they need help and independence when they don’t.”

– US Senator Jim Edgar (R-IL), 6/30/2006



MEXICO ELECTS ITS FIRST FEMALE PRESIDENT!

Mexico City, MEXICO – With incumbent President Estaban Moctezuma (of the political party PRI) being term-limited, Mexican citizens took to the polls to vote for his successor; in a four-way split of the vote, Senator Marcela Guerra Castillo won a plurality.

Moctezuma’s Presidency has been increasingly popular in recent years as the government’s organized crackdowns on money laundering and embezzlement has helped to lower the extent of recreadrug cartel power and influence, with such drugs becoming legal or decriminalized in some Mexican states contributing to their decline of cartel control over parts of Mexico. As a result, the PRI lead in most polls conducted ahead of the general election.

The new President-elected of Mexico, Marcela Guerra, age 45, is a legislator from Nuevo Leon of the big-tent PRI; in the primary for the ruling party’s nomination, she defeated initial frontrunner Jorge Carpizo McGregor, a former minister chief justice, former Attorney General, diplomat and former UN Ambassador; and Jesus Casillas Romero, a largely unknown legislator from Jalisco.

In tonight’s general election, Guerra won roughly 41.2% of the vote. Her main opponent was Vicente Fox, former Governor of Guanajuato, of PAN, the nation’s largest conservative party, who won roughly 36.5% of the vote. Rosario Robles, the former mayor of Mexico City, of the social democratic/progressive PRD party, came in third place with roughly 14.3% of the vote, while Homero Aridjis, a writer, journalist, teacher, environmentalist and diplomat from Michoacan, an Independent, came in fourth place with roughly 7.9% of the vote...

The Los Angeles Times, 7/2/2006



WASHINGTON, D.C. OFICIALLY BEGINS STATEHOOD! Official Name To Be Chosen In November Referendum [4]

…Temporarily using the “interim” name of “The State of Washington, Douglass Community,” this and several other proposed names are of a total of twenty options listed on the November referendum. “D.C.” is now short for The District of Columbia, which is now the official name of the federal capital district itself, a.k.a. the nation’s capital. Some US Senators such as Bobby Scott (D-VA) are referring to it as “The federal Washington” until the State of Washington, D.C. selects a new name for itself.

The trouble concerning our 52nd state’s name arises from the fact that the District of Columbia is the federal district contained within the city of Washington, D.C., hence why “D.C.” is now the name of the capital, unless congress votes to change it (again) at some point. This makes for two Washingtons that are state, and so the unique political entity formerly known as Washington, DC will be changing its name. The Washington, D.C. City Council, which is now a state legislature, originally was going to keep the name “Washington,” or use “The Former Federal District of Washington” but residents of this newer Washington state opposed these titles. However, a proposed double renaming of Washington state as “West Washington” and the former Washington, DC as “East Washington” made it onto the November ballot [4]

– The New York Times, 7/4/2006



fCJexXZ.png

[snip]
Notes:
A.: ^ Interim name; a permanent, official name will be chosen via referendum on November 7, 2006. [4]

– clickopedia.co.usa, July 2006




…McCain’s views on abortion shifted to closer to the center after his wife suffered a difficult pregnancy in 2006. With three “military brats” born in 1999 and 2001, McCain considered the birth of his third child as “miraculous” given his wife being 47 years old at the time. In an early 2012 speech, he explained “We as a nation, and the soul of our nation, cannot afford to accept the immoral idea of encouraging people to snuff out life if it is a temporarily inconvenient life. If an abortion is medically necessary, because of rape, incest, or danger to the mother’s health, that is understandable and women in those positions must have access to the proper facilities. But if you are not ready to be a driver you do not blow up the new car you got as a gift; you give the car away.” To support his belief that adoption was a better choice than abortion, the McCains adopted three more children during the mid-2010s. “The money that we spend on actively supporting unnecessary abortion should instead be spent on providing the best medicine, technology and techniques possible for all expectant mothers...”

– clickopedia.co.usa/Barack_“Rocky”_McCain



DOC PUTS UP HER DUKES!: City Hall Fights Mayor Hamburg Over Loophole-Closing Efforts

The New York Post, 7/15/2006



YUGOSLAVIAN GOVERNMENT SIGNS TRADE DEAL WITH ITALY, STRENGTHENING WESTERN TIES

…hoping to open up their markets to Italian consumers and improve western relations overall, recent Yugoslavian trade deal talks with Italy have now proven to have been productive after all, despite initial diplomatic fumbles at the start of said talks, with the Yugoslavian approving of the final version of a binational trade deal...

The Guardian, UK newspaper, side article, 18/7/2006



…Take, for instance, the 2006 health scare over toxoplasma gondii that had the nation of France on edge for several tense weeks. One of the most common parasites to be found in first-world countries, T.G. was known for its flu-like symptoms and for its supposed altering of the personalities and behavioral tendencies of its infected human hosts. This neurological side affect was later rumored to have been considered when US President Jesse Jackson’s son, Jesse Jr., was diagnosed earlier in the year with having bipolar disorder.

The scare began in late July after an infected cat transmitted T.G. to its order, an elderly Parisian, who soon passed away. Because cats are the definitive host of T. gondii, and news media outlets covering T.G.’s ability to spread through felines unfortunately did not focus much on other forms of transmission – undercooked meat, soil contaminated by cat feces, fish contaminated by sewage, and several other animals – cat owners quickly began putting their feline pets up for adoption or simply abandoning them. It was only after several weeks passed without any new additonal cases of T.G. being reported that the sense of dread and panic passed over the general public… [11]

– Tim Brookes’ SARS, Governance, And The Globalization of Disease, Borders Books, 2014




NADER: “I’ve always been sort of germ-a-phobic kind of person. That’s why I try not to wear earpieces during interviews, because of the chance of infection, even if they’re wiped down after someone else used them. It’s also why I decline dining in the home of anyone with pets. Which, as you might know now, is a smart move in regards to cats. Did you see this, in the news? Cats carry a parasite called toxoplasma gondii, and it can neurologically damage human brains, and people in France are concerned that they have an epidemic on their hands.”

HOST: “Yeah, I think I heard of that, yeah. But because of what they went through with SARS, the government over there’s shutting everything down preemptively. Pretty smart; you can’t be too careful these days.”

NADER: “Exactly, that’s why I’m supportive of the President’s sanitation policies. And why I’ll continue to fight for consumer protection and citizen safety long after I’m out of office – which, actually, is right around the cover.”

HOST: “Yeah, I’m surprised you’re not seeking a third term, given your high approval ratings. I mean, if you ran, you’d easily win re-election.”

NADER: “I’m retiring from the US Senate because I promised my constituents that I’d only serve two terms, so my time’s up. But to be honest, I’m not too sure what I’ll do next.”

HOST: “Are you considering running for president in 2008?”

NADER: “Um, that option is still viable, it’s, uh, it’s still on the table at this point in time, but at this moment, I honestly don’t know. But I’ll make up my mind after I see what kind of campaign platform the Vice President is going to run on before I make a decision.”

– retiring U.S. Senator Ralph Nader (I-CT) and host, WEDW-FM, 88.5 FM, Connecticut radio interview, 7/28/2006



“A NEW GENERATION OF SINNERS?” The Catholic Church And The Centurions

…recent reports show that church attendance rates among Americans who came of age at the start of the century. Dubbed Centurions, a generation grouping typically defined as those borne between 1983 (the Libyan War) and 1996 (the Second Korean War), many of these young Americans are left-leaning and anti-religious, causing many Catholic leaders to fear that these reports suggest that this generation is turning away from church. If true, they are only harming themselves and the children they raise…

National Review, July 2006 issue



JACKSON MEETS WITH LAWMAKERS, BUSINESS LEADERS TO DISCUSS PUBLIC WORKS PRIVATIZATION PROPOSALS

…A possible public-private partnership to provide police or police-like protection services for populated areas in Pennsylvania such as Pittsburgh proceeded proficiently today. However, concerns that the public’s return on investment being lower than returns for private funders remain… …As some cities looking to reform their police precincts are being less successful than others, many communities are turning to alternative forms of maintaining law and order. So far, the President is opposed to “private security guards not being held accountable for their actions,” and instead is continuing to urges police precinct to demilitarize and become more engaged in their communities. “Their ranks should be reflective of the people they are sworn to protect, not harass.” …A police-community “cooperative arrangement” in Pittsburg, for example, is still in development…

The Washington Post, 8/3/2006



AND THEN THERE WERE NONE (2006)

Premiered: August 7, 2006

[snip]

97BjXtH.png

Above: a poster for the film

[snip]

Trivia Facts:

Trivia Fact No. 1: The Director Wanted To “Modernize” The Classic Murder-Mystery

After the failure of his attempt to make a serious film with “Genevieve’s Pearls,” a romantic drama film that was a bomb upon its 2004 release, director Michael Bay decided to “create a modern retelling of a beloved classic,” but “want[ed] to add more thrills to this murder-mystery thriller.” …Despite overwhelmingly negative reviews, the film developing a cult following convinced Bay that the movie was “a success”…

– mediarchives.co.usa



DOJ CRACKS DOWN ON SHELL COMPANIES

…US Attorney General Harry T. Edwards is supporting several members of the Jackson Cabinet in their calls for the imposing of financial and banking sanctions on nations that provide tax havens of America’s top billionaires. US Secretary of Commerce Robert Reich adds that “billions of American dollars are being kept away in tax havens, away from taxation, and away from the markets that have led to these people having billions to begin with. This elitist form of hoarding undermines the fair markets on which national and international economies depend, thus harming the very capitalist systems that they claims they avidly support. This action is shameful, it is immoral, and it should be illegal. But for now, we’ll work with what we have.”…

The Washington Post, 8/8/2006



…The goal of “placing a Quran on the moon” was a goal both Saudi Arabia and Iran could unite behind. The need for the former’s space agency to use the latter’s superior launch sites led to tentative détente being established, cooling down the decades-long “cold war” between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Prepping for “Moonshot ’08,” Saudi Arabia’s version of NASA worked with the Iranian government on tests and projects in Shahrud and Qom, in the northern half of the country, in order to better ensure success for the mission…

– David Tal’s US Strategic Arms Policy After the Cold War: Globalization & Technological Modernization, Routledge, 2020



…Korea’s development plans for the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Area in The Former North are expected to create thousands of more jobs for the peninsular nation. Hotels and beachfront cottages are being constructed across a five-mile stretch of a small peninsula in an attempt to being in more tourists as the nation continues to shed away its remaining reminders of warfare and division…

– ABC World News Tonight, 8/11/2006 report



>MOTHER-POST: Question: Why is Spongebob’s Undersea Cuisine Still Around?
When I first learned about this franchise in ’96, I thought it was this kitchy gimmicky thing that spun off into a cartoon show. Ten years later, and its still around and if anything there’s MORE outlets. A new one’s opening up in my hometown. What’s going on?

>REPLY 1:
Dude, it’s supply and demand. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean others won’t.

>REPLY 1 to REPLY 2:
I think he’s asking why it’s so popular. Personally, I think it’s because they keep their standards high regardless of their proximity to the fish. SBUC spots can be found in coastal places and even out west. I went to one in Wichita, Kansas a few months back and I was surprised by how fresh the fish tasted. Apparently, the company’s utilizing the new “supertrain” rail that opened between St. Louis and Chicago to haul in fresh fish from the Great Lakes, but don’t quote me on that.

>REPLY 2:
Both the family-friendly restaurant and the cartoon are still popular because kids like the goofiness and adults are, like, charmed by the main character’s relentless sense of optimism, you know? Both young and old people can laugh at the kind of humor found in both the commercials and in the TV show, which, amazingly, doesn’t feel like a cash-grab even though it kind of is!

>REPLY 3:
It’s more than just a meal and a cartoon, it’s an entire experience. There’s a surprising amount of depth to the characters whenever they’re not promoting the restaurant, practically shoving the cartoon versions of their menu offerings into your face. That depth lures in the young adults.

>REPLY 1 to REPLY 3:
Don’t forget the recent food trend – omega-3 fatty acid or whatever its called. It’s found in fish, so a lot of parents are taking their kids to SBUC to give them a healthier version of fast food.

>REPLY 4:
Personally, I think it’s because of how quickly they adapted to delivery-only during the SARS pandemic. It showed responsibility and care.

>REPLY 1 to REPLY 4:
Eh, I guess, but that’s probably not the main reason. You can be responsible but if your food sucks, people won’t order it. And Krabby Patties definitely don’t suck.

>REPLY 1 to REPLY 1 to REPLY 4:
Yeah, Krabby Patties are awesome! I never liked seafood before trying out SpongeBob’s!

– conspiracytheoryforum.co.can/search_by_subject/SpongeBob’s, 8/19/2006 posting thread



…By late summer 2006, more state governors were working with the White House to establish stronger transparency measures in police precincts, and to open larger channels of communication between the police and the communities that they serve. One sticking point for police officers opposed to these new procedures was the rise in hand-held recording technology. Increasingly, cellular phone footage capturing incidents of police brutality and police hostility were being posted ontech, exposing precinct abuse and justifying the reforms.

“It is such a delicious ironic twist that the technology that many people once feared turned out to be one of our best tools for social progress,” notes activist Eric Fidelis Alva, currently a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “After decades of police surveillance being this element of state oppression depicted in dystopian works such as ‘1984,’ the technology that finally made such surveillance possible had become so cheap, that anyone who can afford a cellular phone, so pretty much anyone, can now use that technology to monitor the establishment. So now, both the government and the people keep tabs on one another. Both try to hold the other accountable; it is not at all as lopsided as Orwell feared it would be.”…

– Nancy Skelton and Bob Faw’s Thunder In America: A Chronology of The Jesse Jackson White House, Texas Monthly Press, 2016



…On August 29, 2006, the scientific journal The New England Journal of Medicine published a peer-reviewed study that “suggested a correlation, but not necessarily a causation” between the marijuana use during pregnancy and autism in babies [12]. Despite researchers pointing out that the study’s results were based on birth records and not a “controlled study,” the possible link between MJ use and autism nevertheless became “a very prominent scare tactic” for anti-recreadrug politicians ahead of the 2006 midterms. “The publication, however accurate, fueled anti-MJ sentiment in the party,” former House Speaker David Emery explained in a 2020 book. “The possibility that people were harming their unborn children was enough of a PR disaster for MJ advocates for Democrats to take notice and quickly begin to clam up about the study or distance themselves from the legalization movement.” Conservative commentators such as Deroy Murdock went after President Jackson, “comdemn[ing him] for harming a generation of Americans” via the nationwide decriminalization law passed last year.

As the link between recreadrug use and autistic children became a major talking point for anti-MJ Republicans, the ruling party’s approval ratings began to slip, most prominently among suburban women. Democrats braced for the “six-year itch” to cost them an even larger number of seats in the House of Representatives than originally anticipated…

– Gary C. Jacobson’s The Power and the Politics of Congressional Elections, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2015



“I am appalled by this administration’s trampling of our national borders and national defenses. The President’s latest law dramatically lowered requirements needed for entering America. We need secure, protected and defended borders, and you can help by voting the Democrats out of power. Please vote Republican this November, and return majority control of the House and the Senate back to the Grand Old Party.”

– US Rep. Tommy Tancredo (R-CO), 9/2/2006



AFRICA’S TUTSI REFUGEE CRISIS: Reactions Vary As Groups, Nations Embrace, Reject Displaced Masses

The Daily Telegraph, UK newspaper, 5/9/2006



MONTANA GOVERNOR TOM JUDGE DIES AT 71; Lt. Gov. Michael Cooney Sworn In

The Washington Post, side article, 9/8/2006



JESSE JR. RESPONDING WELL TO TREATMENT FOR BIPOLAR II DISORDER

…This mental illness is a treatable condition that affects parts of the brain controlling emotion, thought and drive and is most likely caused by a complex set of genetic and environment factors [5]

With stress precipitating the President’s son’s violent public incident, Jesse Jackson Jr. hopes that his “embarrassment” will not discourage people from seeking out mental health help. “See me as a warning of what happens if you keep your problems to yourself.”

…Many of us are hardwired with genetic predispositions, but environmental factors can play a role in how they develop. In patients with mental illness, the environmental factors such as stress may not be as noticeable as others. Left unchecked, the condition can lead to the development or worsening of bipolar disorder and other afflictions…

The Baltimore Sun, 9/10/2006



PETROLEUM COMPANY CLEARED OF WRONGDOING

…a Wyoming court has found that a company that owned an oil rig that exploded in April to have been following state and federal regulations. With no deaths but seven hospitalizations, the ruling seems to confirm that the incident was not the result of corrupt business practices as early reporting of the fire had suggested…

The Denver Post, 9/12/2006



IF WE’RE GOING TO INTERFERE WITH AFRICAN AFFAIRS, HOW ABOUT WE START WITH SIERRA LEONE?

…While other western African countries like Senegal, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea-Bissau work to build up the region’s economy, there is one spot on the map going ignored. For years now, Sierra Leone has effectively been a stateless hellhole, an anarchist landscape of guerilla warlords and child soldier-slaves running rampant. After decades of internal fighting, coups, assassinations, ethnic genocide and civil wars, the nation’s unstable official government collapsed in the mid-1990s, when western powers were too busy responding to the former North Korea’s attempt to develop nuclear weapons to send help to Sierra Leone. Granted, Jackson sent diplomatic advisors in 2001, but he recalled them after two of them were shot and killed in January 2002, and the government has not taken action on the situation since then. The country is essentially a “dead zone,” a lawless wasteland deemed by nearly all nations as being too unsafe to travel into. Violent recreadrug lords, gun runners, cult leaders, and other mortal devils and their gangs are enslaving or killing whatever locals can’t escape in time. It is a huge refugee crisis, as they pour into the neighboring countries of Liberia and Guinea, and so far, only the President of France has discussed leading the UN in some form of intervention. But if we could topple the Kim regime and have enough faith in our military to intervene in the DRC, then surely the US could and could afford to restore civility to Sierra Leone.

– tumbleweedmagazine.co.usa/editorial, 9/15/2006



JON HUNTSMAN JR. DIES IN MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT, AGE 46

…the businessman, born March 26 in 1960, was an avid motorcyclist and often participated in extreme sports. …Huntsman served and worked on his father’s successful gubernatorial campaigns in 1988, 1992 and 1996, and on his father’s unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2004. A diplomat who spoke Mandarin Chinese fluently, Huntsman had also served as the US Ambassador to China from 1999 to 2001. …“The Huntsman family is absolutely devastated by this tragedy,” says one source close to the family. “The world just lost a great man, father, husband, son and respected diplomat and business leader. His father is especially shocked and despondent over this.” …Huntsman Jr. is survived by eight siblings, seven children, his wife and both parents…

The Salt Lake Tribune, 9/18/2006



MAJOR CATHOLIC LEADER CALLS POPE PATRICK’S STANCE ON GAY RIGHTS “UNFORTUNATE”

– The Baltimore Sun, 9/21/2006



NASSIB LAHOUD ELECTED PRESIDENT OF LEBANON

The Guardian, side article, 23/9/2006



“I think [NYC] Mayor [Margaret Ann “Peg”] Hamburg is doing a good job. She’s appointed highly-qualified champions of progressive progress to be her deputies, commissioners, and board members. Already, she’s made several accomplishments outside of improving the city’s health and sanitation, such as making it easier for NYC residents to join or form to unions. That is something that I am very glad to see!”

– Bern Sanders, NYC radio discussion, 9/24/2006



WHITNEY YOUNG, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST AND POLICY ADVISOR TO PRESIDENT SANDERS, DIES AT 85

…Young, b. July 31, 1921, served as the White House Chief Domestic Policy Advisor from 1965 to 1973, a position that he used to combat employment discrimination. …After several years of poor health that included diabetes, poor blood circulation and several heart issues, Young passed away in sleep from heart failure…

The Lexington Herald-Leader, Kentucky newspaper, 9/26/2006



…A rise in new railway projects was popular due to federally-regulated safety features preventing any major disasters from casting maglevs and bullet trains in negative light, allowing commuters and blue-collar workers to approve of further rail-line systems being implemented to cut down both commuter time and unemployment levels. With these arguments, Republicans (uneasy about this apparent expansion of the federal government’s control on the railroads) risked lowering their own approval ratings by voting against the 2006 railway bill that expanded and reformed the US rail transportation infrastructure system. With the bill being one of the last bills on which Senator Ralph Nader (I-CT) worked before his retirement, he was visibly proud on the day his fellow Senators passed the bill, 30-to-72…

– Nancy Skelton and Bob Faw’s Thunder In America: A Chronology of The Jesse Jackson White House, Texas Monthly Press, 2016



JACKSON SIGNS RAILWAY REFORM BILL INTO LAW

The Washington Post, 10/1/2006



“Hello everyone, and thanks to everyone who helped to put this debate together. People, my name is Harley Davidson Brown and I want to be your next governor. I’m the Mayor of Boise, Idaho, I’m a former US Congressman, and a retired US Marine Commander. I was born in 1954 in Waterbury, Connecticut – a.k.a., Brass City USA – to working class Irish Catholics...”

“During the SARS pandemic, a lot of people lost their jobs and things were bad. I know what it’s like to not be able to find work. In 1972, I graduated from Holy Cross (Roman Catholic) High School in the top 10% of my class. I then attended the University of Connecticut, graduating in May 1974 with a degree in structural (civil) Engineering. But then, for all the summer of 1976, I looked for a job but no one would hire me. It was the most miserable and depressing time of my life. I decided that if I could not land a civil engineering job by September, I would join the military. At least they were hiring.”

I was once stationed at a weapons support center in North Carolina, where I was a public works officer in charge of 450 civilian workers in the transportation, utilities, and shops divisions. The base was 63000 acres, larger than Washington D.C., and we manufactured and sorted 750 thousand tons of conventional ammunition for the Army, Navy, Air force and Marine Corps. So I have the experience needed to become governor, because I know how to organize hundreds of workers so that the work that need to get done gets done.”
“After leaving Civil Service I worked at a number of occupations including President of my Engineering Consulting firm, and I drove 18 wheelers from Sea to Shining Sea. But my favorite jobs were ones where I got to help people exercise their freedoms. That’s why I was such an active congressman – you can look it up, I had a 100% voting attendance record – and that’s why I will be an active governor. I’ve never been some stuffed shirt sitting idly behind a desk. I’m a worker, I’m a doer, and I’m the candidate on this stage that will be the most pragmatic governor this state’s seen in a long time if you elect me.”

“I once worked as both a Taxicab driver and evangelist in Boise, Idaho, where I led approximately 1,000 lost souls to the Lord Jesus Christ: Drunks and Winos, Hookers and Strippers, Bums, and Homeless; Hippies and Rainbow people, Bikers, and Villains, Truckers and Construction workers, Businessmen and Proletarians, psychos and weirdo's, homos and lesbians; even some people who looked normal and smelled nice.”

“As a Congressman, I had an intense burning desire to destroy all the works of those progressive liberal Politicians in Washington D.C. whom I brand as vile domestic enemies to the country and Constitution we’re sworn to defend! I will bring that kind of energy and patriotic loyalty to Boise, and use it to reverse the worst aspects of the past eight years of Governor Larry Echo-Hawk. Thank you.” [13]

– Harley Brown (R-ID) at the sole Harley Brown-Jerry Brady Idaho governor debate, 10/4/2006




POLL: Grammer Considered The Winner Of Last Night’s Gubernatorial Debate

The Los Angeles Times, 10/8/2006



9 October 2006: On this day in history, The Republic of Vevcani, a self-declared independent micro-nation surrounded by Yugoslavia, rescinded its 3 September 1991 declaration of independence, as the publicity stunt was deemed by the Mayor and city council to no longer be necessary as the regional economy had improved significantly since the initial declaration. Since then, the city has held two festivals every year to commemorate its “independence day” and their “repatriation day.”

– onthisdayinhistory.co.uk



VP WELLSTONE SECURES PEACE DEAL; Rival Left-Wing Guerilla Leaders Nkunda And Katumbi Sign Truce To Mount United Effort Against Bemba Regime

– The Guardian, UK newspaper, 13/10/2006



“Yeah, I am feeling better.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“And I’m getting better, I really think that. Oh! And congratulations on the, uh, that development over in the Congo.”

“No, that was all Wellstone’s idea. Bringing the internal divisions together to defeat Bemba kind of slipped past my mind.”

“Because of me?”

“No! No, of course not.”

“Because I don’t want you to lose your faith in people, dad. You’re better than that, you’re stronger than me.”

“Don’t talk like that, son. I should have noticed you were having trouble. I’m not strong if I can’t be there for my family.”

“But this wasn’t your fault, Dad. I’m learned a lot about depression here, dad, and, you know something? The disease itself is only as powerful as you let it be. I didn’t watch out and it got the best of me, and I disgraced you, but I’m getting better –”

“You never disgraced me, Jesse.”

“I let you down and I almost took down your entire administration. If that reporter hadn’t done the merciful thing and dropped those charges I don’t know what, I –”

“No, Jesse. Jesse. Jesse, look at me, look at me. Listen. You did not let me down, you hear me? I am proud of you for doing the right thing and getting the help you need instead of keeping it to yourself. When you got arrested, you agreed to a health checkup instead of doubling down and giving in to the disease. You didn’t keep it yourself. You did the right thing. I’m proud of you because of that. And, Jesse, Jesse, you will always have this family to support you. You are not alone in this fight of yours. Understand?”

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks, Dad.”

“I may have lost my faith in the Congo people making peace, but I never lost my faith in you.”

“Then I have faith that you’ll find your faith in the Congo people again.”

– A White House teleconference call, security camera audio recording, c. October 2006; leaked in 2018



7pXfXSo.png


– Jesse Jackson Sr. and Jesse Jackson Jr. at the 2004 DNC



“I think it’s amazing how little attention the other news outlets pay to Ireland’s tax schemes. We at Tumbleweed Magazine just published another expose about how that country has unofficially become another tax haven for American investors. After the end of the Troubles, their government sought to make themselves more prosperous through underhand-but-legal practices. It’s not as bad as the Swiss and their anonymous bank accounts, but it is a story worthy of more coverage. But does CBS care? Does Mr. Overmyer or the Teds at KNN cover it? Does NYT even write about it? Of course not! Everyone is so focused right now on THN’s efforts to stay an echo chamber and the media coverage of President Jackson’s son not going to court for assault and conservative backlash to our first Black Presidency, that they are failing to notice the richest of the richest jumping through hoops to protect their fortunes from taxation.”

– Bern Sanders, NYC radio discussion, 10/20/2006



…In the southern states, Congressman Ben Lewis Jones (R-GA) enthusiastically endorsed Dave Ramsey, a radio show host and finance lecturer running for a congressional seat in Tennessee that polling suggesting could go in either direction. Barbara Coe, an anti-immigration activist nominated for California’s most conservative district, joined Jones at a rally in late October as Republicans amped up their attacks on the incumbent administration.

The primary talking points that Republicans launch against the Democrats hinged on digital media, churning out dozens of attack ads. At the congressional level, these ads criticized the specific candidates. Nationwide, though, the focus was on only a handful of topics – primarily, a supposed link between autism and marijuana use, unfounded allegations of corruption concerning the President’s son’s mental health treatments, and claims that the reinstating of the 1949 FCC Fairness Doctrine was actually an unfair action that infringed on the American citizens’ First Amendment Rights via enforcing the censorship of one-sided news sources.

…With the Senate likely to stay blue, the main focus of both parties was almost entirely on the control of the House of Representatives…

– Gary C. Jacobson’s The Power and the Politics of Congressional Elections, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2015



SOURCE(S)/NOTE(S):
[1] OTL quote
[2] Author is from OTL, as are his talking points, which were pulled from his OTL article “D.C. Wants to Steal Our State’s Name. They Can Have It!” (11/7/2016 publication, crosscut.com)
[3] Similar to the OTL Act vetoed under GWB in OTL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_Cell_Research_Enhancement_Act
[4] Speaking of which: https://www.strawpoll.me/21207999 (please vote!)
[5] Italicized parts are pulled from here: https://www.cnn.com/2012/08/17/politics/jackson-kennedy-visit/index.html
[6] OTL quote found in the YouTube video “Jacqueline and Jesse Jackson Jr. talk ‘Letters to My Son in Prison,’” CBS This Morning, 2/6/2019.
[7] See here for details: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FCC_fairness_doctrine
[8] Jackson’s way of speaking here is based on anecdotes found in this article: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-10-19-tm-5850-story.html
[9] Six years earlier than OTL due to the same-sex marriage movement gaining momentum faster in this TL than in OTL.
[10] All italicized passages are from here: http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20050210071148/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0500678.htm
[11] Information on this parasite was pulled from (and more can be found) here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasma_gondii
[12] Real: https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/researchers-urge-caution-over-study-linking-marijuana-to-autism/
[13] All italicized segments are from the man’s ourcampaigns page (which for some reason states his middle name is Delano when every other source I’ve come across shows his middle name is Davidson; odd).

[14] Also, in case you missed it before:
Here’s the poll for determining Washington, D.C.’s new name: “When Washington, D.C. becomes a state, what new name should it adopt?”: https://www.strawpoll.me/21207999
There’s 20 options:
Anacostia
The Capital State
Democracy Central
The Democratic Community
Douglass
The Douglass Community
East Virginia
East Washington (with the current Washington State becoming “West Washington” either officially or informally)
Iacocca
Jackson
Lower Maryland
New Maryland
New Virginia
New Washington
Potomac
Washington State (thus making the current Washington State change their name, too)
The Washington City-State/The City-State of Washington
The Washington-Douglass Community
Washington, The D.C. (with “D.C.” being short for “Democratic City-state”)
Washington, Distinguished Citizenry

Please vote!: https://www.strawpoll.me/21207999

The next update’s E.T.A.: November 19!

And how are there twelve cast members instead of 10?
Two have smaller roles, most prominently at the start and end of the movie, as detectives piecing together what went down on the island, similar to the book's ending!
 
Last edited:
Great update! I’m glad peace returned in Congo. Also having Kim Jong-nam working on a “regional Star Wars” and calling his son Han-sol is really fun.
PS can you make a list of Italian leaders in this TL? Unfortunately I lost the count. Thanks in advance!
 
Great update was shocked about what happened to President Jackson's son but I'm glad he's doing better. Also glad peace has come to to the Congo. Can't wait for the next update
 
East Washington gets my vote, though I’d prefer for Washington state to keep their name. Seems like a nice counterpart to West Virginia in states with directions in their names. And no doubt, legions of comedians are going to have a field day with East/West Germany/Washington comparisons and run the joke into the ground.

And good on Sanders for calling out our shady tax issues. Earlier this year, Ireland fought to overturn an EU ruling to prevent Apple from paying several billion euros in back taxes, partially on the grounds of sovereignty but also extremely likely a fear that more serious enforcement of taxes could cause a flight of corporations to alternate low-tax countries. Hopefully some of those loopholes get closed in TTL and the Irish left can spin it into better election success
 
My god, an adaptation of And Then There Were None directed by Michael Bay? With that cast? What evil have you unleashed upon this timeline.

I like East Washington mostly because it's the only cardinal direction that isn't used in a state's name already.
 
My god, an adaptation of And Then There Were None directed by Michael Bay? With that cast? What evil have you unleashed upon this timeline.

I like East Washington mostly because it's the only cardinal direction that isn't used in a state's name already.
And how are there twelve cast members instead of 10?
 
Went with "Potomac." Historically important, geographical, well-recognized, and unlikely to draw any political opposition- plus it has a ring to it.
 
Chapter 92: November 2006 – March 2007
Chapter 92: November 2006 – March 2007

“I was always a friend of southern rights but an enemy of southern wrongs.”

– US politician Benjamin Butler (R-MA)



November United States Senate election results, 2006
Date: November 7, 2006

Seats: 35 of 104
Seats needed for majority: 53
New Senate majority leader: Gary Locke (D-WI)
New Senate minority leader: Webb Franklin (R-MS)
Seats before election: 65 (D), 37 (R), 2 (I)
Seats after election: 57 (D), 46 (R), 1 (I)
Seat change: D v 8, R ^ 9, I v 1

Full List:

Arizona: incumbent Harry Braun (D) over David F. Nolan (R/Liberty) and Richard Mack (Country)

California: incumbent George Deukmejian (R) over Tony West (D) and Meredith “Murdock” Hunter (Green/Natural Mind)

Connecticut: Warren Mosler (D) over Lowell Palmer Weicker Jr. (I) and Alan Schlesinger (R); incumbent Ralph Nader (I) retired

Delaware: incumbent Daniel S. Frawley (D) over Jan Ting (R)

Florida: incumbent Alexander Penelas (D) over Daniel Webster (R)

Hawaii: Mazie Hirono (D) over Cynthia Thielen (R); incumbent Patsy Mink (D) retired

Indiana: incumbent Katie Hall (D) over John Herman Cox (R)

Maine: incumbent Olympia Snowe (R) over Harlan Baker (D)

Maryland: Michael Steele (R) over Ben Cardin (D) and Kevin Zeese (G); incumbent Paul Sarbanes (D) retired

Massachusetts: incumbent Kathleen Hartington Kennedy-Roosevelt (D) over Kenneth Chase (R)

Michigan: Andrew “Rocky” Raczkowski (R) over incumbent Barbara-Rose Collins (D)

Minnesota: incumbent Hubert Horatio “Skip” Humphrey III (D) over Mark Kennedy (R)

Mississippi: incumbent William Webster “Webb” Franklin (R) over Erik Fleming (D)

Missouri: incumbent Alan Wheat (D) over Jim Talent (R)

Montana: Stan Jones (R) over incumbent Jack Mudd (D)

Nebraska: Don Stenberg (R) over Maxine Moul (D); incumbent Ted Sorensen (D) retired

Nevada: Patricia Anne “Patty” Cafferata (R) over incumbent Anna Nevenic (D)

New Jersey: Thomas Kean Jr. (R) over Gina Rose Genovese (D); incumbent Frank X. McDermott (R) retired

New Mexico: Gloria Tristani (D) over Joseph J. Carraro (R); incumbent Pedro Jimenez (D) retired

New York: Tom Suozzi (D) over Edward Ridley Finch Cox (R); incumbent Gabriel “Gabe” Kaplan (D) retired

North Dakota: John Hoeven (R) over incumbent Eliot Glassheim (D)

Ohio: Sherrod Brown (D) over David Smith (R); incumbent Terry A. Anderson (D) retired

Pennsylvania: H. John Heinz III (R) over incumbent Paul Kanjorski (D)

Potomac: incumbent appointee Eleanor Norton (D) over Carol Schwartz (R)

Puerto Rico: incumbent appointee Luis Fortuno (R/New Progressive) over Rafael Hernandez Colon (D/Popular Democratic)

Rhode Island: incumbent Myrth York (D) over Ellerton Pratt “Mark” Whitney III (“Liberty” Republican) and Steve Laffey (Independent Republican)

Tennessee: incumbent Bob Clement Jr. (D) over Van Hilleary (R)

Texas: Kay Granger (R) over incumbent Mickey Leland (D)

Utah: incumbent David D. Marriott (R) over Pete Ashdown (D)

Vermont: incumbent Charles Dean (D) over Greg Parke (R)

Virginia: Ben Lewis Jones (R) over incumbent Bobby Scott (D)

Washington: Norm Rice (D) over Linda Smith (R); incumbent Jolene Unsoeld (D) retired

West Virginia: incumbent Robert C. Byrd (D) over Hiram Lewis (R)

Wisconsin: incumbent Russ Feingold (D) over Robert Lorge (R)

Wyoming: incumbent John S. Wold (R) over Dale Groutage (D)

– knowledgepolitics.co.usa



United States House of Representatives results, 2006
Date: November 7, 2006

Seats: All 441
Seats needed for majority: 221
New House majority leader: H. Dargan McMaster (R-SC)
New House minority leader: Barbara B. Kennelly (D-CT)
Last election: 199 (R), 236 (D)
Seats won: 224 (R), 217 (D)
Seat change: R ^ 22, D v 22

– knowledgepolitics.co.usa



United States Governor election results, 2006
Date: November 7, 2006

Number of state gubernatorial elections held: 37
Seats before: 35 (D), 15 (R), 1 (G), 1 (I)
Seats after: 32 (D), 20 (R), 0 (G), 0 (I)
Seat change: D v 3, R ^ 5, G v 1, I v 1

Full list:

Alabama: Lucy Baxley (D) over Roy Moore (R) and Tony Petelos (Integrity); incumbent Ryan DeGraffenried Jr. (D) was term-limited

Alaska: incumbent Niilo Emil Koponen (Democratic-Green-Union) over Loren Leman (Libertarian-Republican Alliance) and Daniel DeNardo (Independent)

Arizona: Debbie McCune Davis (D) over Brenda Burns (R); incumbent David Fraser Nolan (R) retired

Arkansas: incumbent Winthrop Paul Rockefeller (R) over Mike Ross (D)

California: Kelsey Grammer (R) over incumbent Debbie Cook (G), Laura Wells (D) and Leonard Padilla (Liberty)

Colorado: Jane E. Norton (R) over Gail Schoettler (D) over; incumbent Wellington Webb (D) retired

Connecticut: incumbent Phyllis Busansky (D) over Bill Curry (D) and Roberta Scaglione (I)

Florida: incumbent Antoinette “Toni” Jennings (R) over Bill McBride (D)

Georgia: incumbent Karen Christine Walker (R) over Connie Stokes (D)

Hawaii: Muliufi Francis “Frank” Hannemann (D) over incumbent John Carroll (R)

Idaho: Harley Davidson Brown (R) over Jerry Brady (D); incumbent Larry J. Echo Hawk (D) retired

Illinois: incumbent Corrine J. Wood (R) over Edwin Eisendrath (D)

Iowa: Fred Grandy (R) over Mike Blouin (D); incumbent Sally Pederson (D) retired

Kansas: Lynn Jenkins (R) over incumbent Nancy Boyda (D)

Maine: Peter E. Cianchette (R) over incumbent Matthew Dunlap (D/DSA) and Jonathan Carter (G)

Maryland: John Peter Sarbanes (D) over Bob Ehrlich (R); incumbent Eileen M. Rehrmann (D) retired

Massachusetts: incumbent Michael Dukakis (D) over Christy Mihos (R)

Michigan: incumbent Ronna Romney (R) over David Bonior (D)

Minnesota: incumbent Nancy Elizabeth Lee Johnson (DFL) over Tom Emmer (IRL)

Nebraska: incumbent Lowen Kruse (D) over Dave Nabity (R)

Nevada: Dennis Hof (R) over James B. Gibson (D); incumbent Doug Swanson (R) retired

New Hampshire: incumbent Kelley Ashby (R) over John Lynch (D)

New Mexico: Martin Chavez (D) over John A. Sanchez (R); incumbent Gary Johnson (R/Liberty) was term-limited

New York: incumbent Andrew Cuomo (D/Working Families) over James Bacalles (R)

Ohio: Maureen O’Connor (R) over Michael B. Coleman (D); incumbent Sherrod Brown (D) retired

Oklahoma: incumbent Gary Richardson (R) over Constance Johnson (D)

Oregon: Mary Starrett (R) over Harry Lonsdale (D); incumbent John Elwood “Bud” Clark (I) retired

Pennsylvania: incumbent Lynn Swann (R) over Marjorie Margolies (D)

Potomac: Vincent Bernard Orange Sr. (D) over Michael Kevin Powell (R); incumbent Charlene Drew Jarvis (D) retired

Rhode Island: Lincoln Davenport Chafee (R) over incumbent Sheldon Whitehouse (D)

South Carolina: incumbent Lindsey Graham (R) over Tommy Moore (D)

South Dakota: incumbent George S. Mickelson (R) over Scott Heidepriem (D)

Tennessee: Jim Bryson (R) over Mike McWherter (D) and Carl Two Feathers Whitaker (I; wikiless); incumbent Bart Gordon (D) was term-limited

Texas: Bill Owens (R) over incumbent Kinky Friedman (D), Jim Hightower (Green), Guadalupe Valdez (LRU) and Larry Kilgore (Liberty)

Vermont: incumbent Deborah L. “Deb” Markowitz (D) over Benjamin Clarke (R) and Robert Skold (LU)

Wisconsin: incumbent Kathleen Falk (D) over Mark Green (R)

Wyoming: W. Richard West (D) over incumbent Mary Mead (R)

– knowledgepolitics.co.usa



THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN: DC’s New Name Is “Potomac”

…while the official name of US capitol is now “The District of Columbia,” many Potomacites (Potomacans?) and, most noticeably, Republican lawmakers, are still referring to it as “Washington, D.C.,” either in protest or out of habit. …Senator Bachus believes that “Washington D.C.” should return to being the capitol’s official name, given that the nation’s 52nd state is not using the word “Washington” in its name. “It’s also very telling that ‘Lincoln’ was not an option on the referendum. That shows that the Democrats don’t want to remind Black people that it was a Republican who freed the slaves”…

The Washington Post, 11/7/2006 (the WP ultimately decided to not rebrand and instead kept their name)



HOST: “Well, tell us about it the way you experienced it.”

GUEST: “It was on November 7 at O’Hare International. I was flying back to West Virginia after some last-minute, 11th-hour campaigning for Edwin Eisendrath, the Democratic nominee for Governor of Illinois. Our plane was on the runway but was waiting for others to take off before we could. When we were slowly passing by what I later found out was Gate C-17 of O’Hare. I looked out the window, and there’s where I saw. This silvery disc-like thing, hovering completely still over the airport. First I thought it was some odd scratch on the window, like a strip of duct tape, but it wasn’t. It was out there, hovering.”

HOST: “You say it was silvery and saucer-shaped?”

GUEST: “Yes!”

HOST: “Sounds like a UFO to me.”

GUEST: “It was a UFO, and I wasn’t the only one who saw it! The pilots of our plane and the pilots of several other planes nearby all saw it, as did ramp employees and mechanics on the ground! The saucer or whatever it was hovered in place for a few minutes, and then zoomed right up into the clouds. It was the craziest, most sublime, most eye-catching and eye-opening thing I’ve ever seen before.” [1]

– Host George Noory and then-Gov. Bob Wise (D-WV), KDWN’s late night political/paranormal call-in talk radio program Coast to Coast AM, 2/2/2008




…Two more states have approved of the National Initiative Amendment via state referendums earlier tonight, bringing the total number of states to 39 and thus ratifying this landmark piece of legislation it into the United States Constitution…

– TON Nighttime News, 11/8/2006



“Well, it’s about time that got passed! I can consider retiring now. …I said consider retiring now.”

– US Senator Mike Gravel (D-CA), 11/8/2006



…The blowback to the 2006 immigration bill and the health scare over the possibility that MJ causes autism were much more influential on the decisions made by undecided voters than Junior’s mental health crisis. Nevertheless, post-election polling also showed that negative opinions on Jackson himself were more prevalent than negative opinions on his administration. This attitude was reflected in gubernatorial races as well, where Tennessee’s new governor-elect had run on a pledge to block “federal rulings” from “invading” his home state “under the false banner of ‘home state rights.’”…

– Gary C. Jacobson’s The Power and the Politics of Congressional Elections, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2015



ANTI-IMMIGRANT CONGRESSWOMAN-ELECT MEETS WITH “S.O.S.” HOUSE CAUCUS TO DISCUSS OBJECTIVES, GOALS

…Elected from California’s most conservative US Congressional district, activist Barbara Coe has spent most of the past two decades opposing federal and state governments providing federal services to illegal immigrants. Coe, who was born on a Sioux reservation in South Dakota on Dec. 6, 1933, was a crime analyst for the Anaheim Police Department until the early 1990s, when her superiors in the Police Department disapproved of her activism and demoted her, and then fired her in 1995 over her alleged misuse of department equipment. After this, Coe increased her political activism, saying she was motivated to “stope the flow of anarchy” in the wake of Korean immigrants relocating to the US after the fall of North Korea in 1996, and of Mexican citizens seeking refuge in the US at the height of the Cartel Wars (the late 1990s).

After meeting with Congressmen Tommy Tancredo and Sonny Bono in Washington, D.C., Representative-Elect Coe told reporters that as a Congressperosn she will be calling for measures “to ban unauthorized immigrants from public schools and universities and block them from receiving social or welfare services and UHC except for emergency treatments.” Coe argues that these actions would save taxpayers money and discourage illegal immigration. She says Tancredo and the other members of the anti-immigration “S.O.S.,” or “Save Our States” House Caucus will assist her introduce such legislation early next year.

It is my position [sic] that we are on the verge of losing the sovereignty of our nation, and we need to fight that.” [2]

The Houston Chronicle, 11/12/2006




“WHAT AN UPSET!” HESELTINE BESTS HARMAN AS LENNON COALITION COLLAPSES

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…Labour MPs were divided over the UK intervention still ongoing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (with former PM John Lennon suggesting intervention there “should be South Africa’s job” just over a week ago), and Harman failed to keep the party united in the face of a strong Conservative challenger ready and willing to end – and, as tonight proved, capable of ending – what has been nearly 15 years of Labour rule…

The Guardian, UK newspaper, 11/17/2006



US SENATE PASSES MENTAL HEALTH EDUCATION BILL; House Plans To Vote On It Next Month, Ahead Of The New House Session

The Washington Post, 11/21/2006



…We now have confirmation that Alabama’s governor-elect, Lieutenant Governor Lucy Baxley, has died from a sudden massive stroke… Two people close to the state politician have made the claim that she was showing signs of exhaustion and of being in poor health in recent weeks, possibly due to the stress and strain of running for Governor…

– NBC Breaking News, 11/23/2006 broadcast



…The sociopolitical experiment of a single united Central Asian political entity was tested time and again, by radioactive disaster, droughts, recreadrugs, border skirmishes, and a global pandemic. The greatest threat to the stability of the diverse nation, however, came with the simple and sudden of one man, and the ascension of another.

On December 6, 2006, the third President of United Turkmenistan, Han Ahmedowic Ahmedow of Turkmenistan and of the Unity Party, in office since January 5, 1999, suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 70. Elected in 1998 over Avdi Kuliyev of Turkmenistan, and re-elected in 2001 and 2004, each time over lmazbek Atambayev of Kyrgyzstan, his death left a fateful vacancy in the UT government. The UT Constitution stipulated that the Head of the National Gathering was next in line for the Presidency, with the NG Head being the UT equivalent of the US Speaker of the House.

And at the time, the holder of that position was the controversial and polarizing Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan and of the National Party…

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Above: Islam Karimov, the fourth President of United Turkestan

– Ke Wang’s Turkestanis Unite!: The Rise And Execution of An Idea, Cambridge University Press, 2013



ALABAMA GOVERNOR’S DEATH CREATES UNPRECEDENTED SUCCESSION CRISIS

…Ryan DeGraffenreod, Jr., age 56, has passed away unexpectedly from “undisclosed natural causes,” a representative of his family and city officials jointly announced on December 7th, with the outgoing Governor dead, and the office of Lieutenant Governor vacant since the recent death of Lucy Baxley, who had been elected to succeed DeGraffenreid, president pro tempore of the state senate Lowell Barron will serve as governor for the rest of DeGraffenreid’s term. According to the state’s constitution, “If the governor-elect fail or refuse from any cause to qualify, the lieutenant governor-elect shall qualify and exercise the duties of governor until the governor-elect qualifies.[3] This wording of the constitution, however, does not cover what it to be done is the governor-elect dies and thus cannot qualify. As a result, the runner-up of last month’s governor’s race announcing today that he is suing the state government, challenging the legitimacy of the current Lieutenant-governor-elect, Jim Folsom Jr., of being sworn in to the governorship next month. Moore argues that because it specifies “until the governor-elect can serve,” an impossible situation, than either the second-place finisher of November’s gubernatorial election should become governor-elect by default, or a new gubernatorial election must be held, as there are more than sixty days until the next regularly-scheduled election. …The state supreme court are reportedly looking into the matter in order to determine the validity of Moore’s argument…

The Washington Post, 12/9/2006



WHAT’S NEXT FOR GARY JOHNSON?

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[pic: imgur.com/oP8mxyV.png ]

...the term-limited governor is leaving office with high approval ratings and an impressive collection of fiscal accomplishments under his belt…

The Silver City Daily Press and Independent, New Mexico newspaper, 12/10/2006



…With only a few weeks left to go before Republicans gain back majority control of the House, Congress has passed the Mental Health Education bill. The legislation has been described as an ‘addition’ to the mental health laws passed in the wake of the assassination of President Iacocca, and encourages the teaching of the subject of mental health in high school health classes in order to curb social stigma concerning conditions such as but not limited to depression, addiction, senility and bipolar disorders…

– CBS Evening News, 12/11/2006 broadcast



TU YOUYOU WINS NOBEL PRIZE IN MEDICINE

…the Chinese pharmaceutical chemist, who turns 77 on the thirtieth, discovered one of the most effective treatments for malaria in the late 1960s, while she was working on a secret military project for the People’s Republic of China. Her discovery was artemisinin, a drug that was a great improvement on chloroquine solutions of the time that were becoming less effective due to malaria parasites developing resistance to them. Her unsung work helped doctors in China, and then the world, fight malaria and infections caused by roundworm parasites…

– scientificamerican.co.usa, 10/10/2007 news e-article



…A brain hemorrhage can be like a stroke, when the victim suddenly losses feeling in their face and cannot speak; in other cases, it can be the opposite, with a sudden and severe headache followed by nausea and vomiting. Both ways are painful and tragic. In the case of Tim Johnson, the US Secretary of the Treasury, when his brain began bleeding on December 13, 2006 while he was reviewing the numbers for the next quarterly budget, he suffered a cerebral arteriovenous malformation, which is a congenital defect that creates enlarged and tangled blood vessels in the brain, resulting in pressure from these vessels as they are too close together. Johnson was discovered by his secretary when it was the end of her shift. He was immediately rushed to George Washington University Hospital in critical condition, and underwent surgery at to drain the blood and stop further bleeding. Unfortunately, the extent of the tangled vessels bursting proved too great, and he passed away hours later, on the 14th. Johnson was born with the condition [4], and he died with it.

The President had just signed Senator McGovern’s mental health education bill into law when he heard the news. Naturally, he was shocked and saddened by the sudden departure of the 60-year-old larger-than-life workaholic South Dakota who had been instrumental in the White House’s financial efforts. At the next cabinet meeting, the room reportedly seemed darker and colder…

– Nancy Skelton and Bob Faw’s Thunder In America: A Chronology of The Jesse Jackson White House, Texas Monthly Press, 2016



LIST OF NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LAUREATES

[snip]

1966: Ruth Briggs of the US – for overseeing successful and attempted peace talks in several countries as the US’s Chief National Security Advisor

1967: Dang Thuy Tram of United Vietnam and the International Council of Nurses – for treating the wounded survivors of the concluded Vietnam War

1968: Rene Cassin of France – for his successes as President of the European Court for Human Rights

1969: The UN International Labour Organization – for its advancing of social and economic justice through the setting of international labour standards

1970: Norman E. Borlaug of the US – for his contributions to food production via his involvement in the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center

1971: Willy Brandt of West Germany – for normalizing relations between East Germany and West Germany, as President of the latter

1972: Max Jakobson of Finland – for his contributions to political stabilization efforts worldwide as UN Secretary-General

1973: Francois Mitterrand of France – for his involvement, as France’s President, in ceasefire agreements ending internal hostilities in Algeria and elsewhere

1974: Eisaku Sato of Japan – for his efforts as Japan’s Prime Minister to promote global denuclearization

1975: Andrei Sakharov of the USSR – for his struggle for human rights, nuclear disarmament, and international cooperation

1976: Betty Williams of the UK and Mairead Corrigan of the UK – for co-founding the influential Northern Ireland Peace Movement

1977: Amnesty International – for protecting the human rights of “prisoners of conscience”

1978: Jimmy Carter of the US, Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat of Egypt, and Menachem Begin of Israel – for the landmark Atlanta Peace Treaty of 1978

1979: Mother Teresa of India – for her anti-poverty work in Calcutta

1980: Adolfo Perez Esquivel of Argentina – for his fight for human rights during Argentina’s military dictatorship

1981: The UN Office of High Commissioner for Refugees – for organizing the aiding of the displaced in places such as Africa and Central America

1982: Alva Myrdal of Sweden and Alfonso Garcia Robles of Mexico – for their work in international disarmament negotiations

1983: Leszek Kolakowski and Jarek Kuron of Poland – for co-founding the non-violent “Solidarity,” a Self-Governing Trade Union in Poland

1984: Nelson Mandela, Steve Biko and P. W. Botha of South Africa – for their work to peacefully end apartheid in South Africa

1985: Alexander Yakovlev of Russia – for his leading role in supporting a peaceful change in government following the collapse of the USSR

1986: International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War – for raising awareness of the catastrophic consequences of atomic warfare

1987: Oscar Romero of El Salvador – for years of combating poverty and social injustice across Central America as a prelate of the Catholic Church

1988: Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama of India – for consistently advocating tolerance, peace, and mutual respect over use of violence and/or force

1989: Colonel Sanders of the US, Muhammad Zia-Ul-Haq of Pakistan and V.P. Singh of India – for signing a landmark peace treaty that suspended hostilities between India and Pakistan

1990: The UN Peace-Keeping Forces – for their contributions to the upholding of one of the UN’s most fundamental tenets

1991: Rev. Jerry Brown of the US – for organizing charity efforts and humanitarian services in post-war Nicaragua

1992: Rigoberta Menchu of Guatemala – for her defense of the rights of indigenous peoples

1993: Bread for the World of the US – for advocating, as a non-partisan Christian organization, for policy changes to end world hunger

1994: Sir John Lennon of the UK, and Selvarasa Pathmanathan and D. B. Wijetunga of Sri Lanka – for forging a peace deal, ending the Sri Lanka Civil War

1995: The UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda and Romeo Dallaire of Canada – for successfully ending the ethnic-based conflicts in Rwanda and Burundi

1996: Joseph Rotblat of Poland and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs of Canada – for efforts to diminish and eliminate nuclear arms

1997: The UN World Food Programme – for distributing nutritional relief worldwide, especially in the aftermath of the Second Korean War

1998: International Campaign to Ban Landmines of Switzerland – for clearing anti-personnel mines and calling for their ban worldwide

1999: Kim Dae-jung of United Korea – for his promotion, as President of Korea, of peace and reconciliation worldwide and in post-war Korea in particular

2000: Medecins Sans Frontieres of Switzerland – for the organization’s work in pioneering humanitarian efforts

2001: Mike Gravel of the US – for his calls for a global ban on chemical weapons

2002: The UN International Atomic Energy Agency – for their efforts to ensure nuclear energy is used safely and not for military purposes

2003: Carol Bellamy of the US – for her work, as Secretary-General of the UN, coordinating the global response to the 2001-2004 SARS pandemic

2004: Andres Pastrana Arango of Colombia – for leading and brokering the peace deal that ended the decades-long Colombian Civil War

2005: Wangari Muta Maathai of Kenya – for contributing to sustainable development projects, and for promoting democracy and peace worldwide

2006: Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank of Bangladesh – advancing economic and social opportunities for the poor, especially women

– clickopedia.co.usa



TIME MAGAZINE’S PERSON OF THE YEAR (called Man of the Year or Woman of the Year until 1989)

[snip]

1961: Lyndon B. Johnson – US President; pushed for Civil Rights legislation and sent US troops to Cuba

1962: Pope John XXIII – Head of the Roman Catholic Church; symbolized hope to Cuban refugees during the Cuban War; initiated the Second Vatican Council

1963: The Shoutnik – anti-war activist characterized as a new generation of Americans; style born out of the Beatnik Generation and Civil Rights movement

1964: Colonel Sanders – elected US President, after being a well-known chicken salesman just ten years prior in a stunning rise to power

1965: Martin Luther King Jr. – a leader of the Civil Rights Movement and a supporter of the Federal Aid Dividend

1966: The Inheritor – representing a generation of American men and women under the age of 26

1967: Creighton W. Abrams Jr. – the US Army General and the commander of US forces in Vietnam during the Fall of Hanoi

1968: Colonel Sanders (2nd time) – US President; re-elected in a landslide

1969: The Apollo 10 Astronauts – Gus Grissom, first man on the moon; Charles Bassett, second man on the moon; Ted Freeman, Command Module Pilot

1970: Ms. Arkansas – seen as the catalyst for the First Ark Wave, an international movement in which woman spoke out against sexual pestering and abuse

1971: Robert Stanfield – Prime Minister of Canada; sought to improve the national economy and resolve “the Quebec Query”

1972: Walter Mondale – elected US President at the age of 44 in a “generational shift”

1973: Robert Vincent Roosa – US Secretary of the Treasury; credited with leading the US economy through the 1973 Oil Crisis

1974: Alexei Kosygin – head of the USSR; maintained a stable détente with the US and Western Europe

1975: American Women – representing the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment

1976: The American Soldier – representing U.S. forces, especially the “Uganda Rough Riders,” a.k.a. those involved in the UK-led overthrow of Idi Amin

1977: Anwar Sadat – President of Egypt; opened diplomatic channels to Israel in a major geopolitical shakeup

1978: The Peacemakers – representing the groups and individuals who contributed to the Atlanta Peace Treaty that stabilized relations in the Middle East

1979: Ralph Nader – Director of the EPA; lead and coordinated clean-up efforts in the immediate aftermath of the Trojan Tower Nuclear Disaster

1980: Jeremiah Denton – elected US President on the promise of economic recovery

1981: Helmut Kohl – Chancellor of West Germany; improved relations between East Germany and West Germany

1982: The Computer – denoted “machine of the year” to mark the beginning of The Information Age

1983: Shah Reza Pahlavi – the Shah of Iran since 1978; finally defeated Khomeini-led anti-government terrorist forces, ending a years-long conflict

1984: Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev – the last head of the USSR; withdrew troops from United Turkestan as the Soviet Union collapsed

1985: The Silence Breakers – representing women who came forward with allegations of sexual pestering and abuse in what became the Second Ark Wave

1986: J. Mark Felt – FBI Director; a central figure in the investigations that led to President Denton’s resignation

1987: Janice R. Fine – 26-year-old activist; a major figure in the Second Ark Wave; legal consul to Anna and Sydney Mason, lawyer, and feminist

1988: The Woman Politician – representing such individuals worldwide in general and in the US in particular, such as President-elect Bellamy, and others

1989: The Endangered Earth – denoted “Planet of the year” to mark the rise in awareness of Global Climate Disruption

1990: Carol Bellamy – US President; pushed Universal Healthcare and other major reforms through congress

1991: Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan – Secretary-General of the UN

1992: John Lennon – elected Prime Minister of the UK in an election that saw high voter turnout

1993: Lee Iacocca – US President; engaged in trade wars with several nations, most prominently Japan

1994: Tim Berners-Lee – English computer scientist dubbed the “inventor” of the technet

1995: Jimi Hendrix – musician who legally and officially became a certified Prince, serving as the head of The Sanwi Kingdom until his retirement in 2012

1996: Larry Miles Dinger – US President; won a full term in a landslide after the “success” of the Second Korean War

1997: Dr. David Ho – Taiwanese-American physician who received praise for his pioneering AIDS research

1998: The Good Samaritan – representing those who contributed to anti-poverty and anti-hunger efforts worldwide, especially for “The Former North.”

1999: Carol Bellamy (2nd time) – UN Secretary-General; promoted relief for children in poverty

2000: Jesse Jackson – elected the first African-American US President

2001: Esteban Moctezuma – President of Mexico; praised for his handling of the Cartel Wars/Recreadrug Wars

2002: Healthcare Workers – representing the doctors, nurses and EMTs who worked tirelessly during the SARS Global Pandemic

2003: The Crew of The Milestone And Seeker – the international team of ten “marstronauts” who traveled to Mars and grew crops there for a few weeks

2004: Jesse Jackson (2nd time) – US President; re-elected in a landslide

2005: Pope Patrick I – born Francis Arinze in Nigeria; first Black Pope

2006: Moise Katumbi – Katangan community leader in the D.R.C.; aided fleeing ethnic minorities targeted during the Second African World War

– clickopedia.co.usa, c. 2014



“…the Alabama State Supreme court has released its opinions on Alabama’s line of succession controversy, and they have ruled in favor of Lieutenant-Governor-elect Jim Folsom Jr. being sworn into office in January. However, the court also upheld the stipulation that a special election must be held to determine who will serve the remainder to the 2007-to-2011 gubernatorial term…”

– CBS Evening News, 12/28/2006 broadcast



POTOMAC DELEGATION

Senators:

Class 1: Eleanor Holmes Norton (b. 1937, D)

Class 2: David Schwartzman (b. 1954, D)

Congressmen:

At-large: Charlene Drew Jarvis (b. 1941, D)

[snip]

PUERTO RICO DELEGATION

…The state’s New Progressive Party is left-of-center and its members are split almost evenly between Democratic and Republican affiliation at the national level. The state’s Popular Democratic Party is farther centrist and was less enthusiastic about US statehood, with many party members backing the “status quo” option on earlier referendums…

Senators:

Class 1: Luis Fortuno (b. 1960, R/New Progressive)

Class 2: Norma Burgos (b. 1942, R/New Progressive)

Congressmen:

District 1: Antonio J. Colorado (b. 1939, D/Popular Democratic)

District 2: Dr. Miriam J. Ramirez, M.D. (b. 1941, D/New Progressive)

District 3: Jenniffer Gonzalez (b. 1976, R/New Progressive)

District 4: Leonides “Leo” Diaz Urbina (b. 1962, R/New Progressive)

District 5: Baltasar Corrada del Rio (b. 1935, R/New Progressive)

– knowledgepolitics.co.usa/US_Congress/composition/date:_1_4_2007



NEW SENATE COMPOSITION (ALL 54 SENATORS; 46 Republicans, 57 Democrats and 1 Independent)

Class 1 (35) – Senators Elected In 1994, 2000, 2006, Etc.:

REPUBLICANS (16): George Deukmejian (CA), Olympia Snowe (ME), Mike Steel (MD), Rocky Raczkowski (MI), Webb Franklin (MS), Stan Jones (MT), Don Stenberg (NE), Patty Cafferata (NV), Thomas Kean Jr. (NJ), John Hoeven (ND), H. J. Heinz III (PA), Luis Fortuno (PR), Kay Granger (TX), David Marriott (UT), Ben Lewis Jones (VA), John Wold (WY)

DEMOCRATS (19): Harry Braun (AZ), Warren Mosler (CT), Daniel S. Frawley (DE), Alexander Penelas (FL), Mazie Hirono (HI), Katie Beatrice Hall (IN), Kathleen Kennedy-Roosevelt (MA), Skip Humphrey (MN), Alan Wheat (MO), Martin Chavez (NM), Tom Suozzi (NY), Sherrod Brown (OH), Eleanor Norton (PO), Myrth York (RI), Bob Clement Jr. (TN), Tony Pollina (VT), Norm Rice (WA), Bob Byrd (WV), Russ Feingold (WI)

Class 2 (35) – Senators Elected In 1990, 1996, 2002, Etc.:

REPUBLICANS (23): Spencer Bachus (AL), Jalmar Kerttula (AS), Bob Barr (GA), Helen Chenoweth (ID), Jim Edgar (IL), Terry Branstad (IA), Carla Stovall (KS), Clyde Holloway (LA), Bill Weld (MA), Jack Lousma (MI), Pete Johnson (MS), Larry R. Williams (MT), Orrin Hatch (NE), Mary Mochary (NJ), Steve Largent (OK), Norma Paulus (OR), Norma Burgos (PR), Larry Pressler (SD), Hillary Rodham-Clinton (TN), Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX), George Allen (VA), Jon McBride (WV), Barbara Cubin (WY)

DEMOCRATS (11): Jim Guy Tucker (AR), Josie Heath (CO), Marjorie “Midge” Osterlund (DE), Martha Layne Osborne (KY), Sharon Sayles Belton (MN), Bev Hollingworth (NH), Roberto Mondragon (NM), Dan Blue (NC), David Schwartzman (PO), Liz Roberts (RI), Mike Thurmond (SC)

INDEPENDENT (1): Angus King (ME)

Class 3 (34) – Senators Elected In 1992, 1998, 2004, Etc.:

REPUBLICANS (7): F. Winford Boozman III (AR), Michael Bilirakis (FL), Herman Cain (GA), Bo Gritz (ID), Bob Dole (KS), Patrick Downard (KY), Lyle Hillyard (UT)

DEMOCRATS (27): Doug Jones (AL), Kevin Danaher (AS), Eddie Najeeb Basha Jr. (AZ), Mike Gravel (CA), Mark Udall (CO), Chris Dodd (CT), Dan Inouye (HI), Paul Vallas (IL), Evan Bayh (IN), Patty Jean Poole (IA), Chris John (LA), Barbara Mikulski (MD), Wayne Cryts (MO), Dina Titus (NV), Lou D’Allesandro (NH), Allyson Schwartz (NY), Nick Galifianakis (NC), Kent Conrad (ND), Peter Lawson Jones (OH), Brad Carson (OK), Les AuCoin (OR), Bob Casey Jr. (PA), Fritz Hollings (SC), Teresa McGovern (SD), Bill Sorrell (VT), Gary Locke (WA), Bronson La Follette (WI)

– knowledgepolitics.co.usa



“This conservative agenda that we are putting forth will aim to hold the President and his administration accountable for their reckless fiscal spending.”

– US House Speaker H. Dargan McMaster (R-SC), 1/5/2007



CYBER ATTACK WIPES OUT BANKING SYSTEMS ACROSS THE EAST COAST!

The Washington Post, 1/6/2007



…from the data we had on file and based on our correspondents literally phoning in their reports, we’re estimating the January 6 cyber-attack hindered internet access – that is, shutting it down, or corrupting netsites, or at least damaging technet services – for at least seven million Americans for over 32 hours on average. According to the US Secretary of Energy and Technology, Barbara Radding Morgan, the cyber-attack came from somewhere in China, but it is currently unknown if it was some kind of government-sanctioned action or a powerful terrorist attack. The Premier of China, Bo Xilai, has denied accusations of cyber espionage…

– KNN, 1/9/2007 broadcast



…Operation Death Lotus [5] went as plans, causing chaos and sending a message to the Americans that Chairman Bo was not one to take criticism lightly. He had agreed with several generals in his inner circle that “a new kind of warfare” was to soon appear upon the horizon, and that it would be best if the People’s Republic readied for it. …Cyber hacking and data-stealing were new frontiers for new departments… Meanwhile, Chairman Bo increased the chaos by claiming the January 2007 cyber-attack was a self-inflicted incident instigated by the US government in order to continue its attacks on the PRC, attacks that Bo stated began with Iacocca and escalated after SARS broke out. These accusations were Bo’s way of trying to rebuild China’s reputation on the world stage and seek out more favorable trade deals with nations other than the US… These incidents, as the year 2007 continued on, raised tensions between the US and China significantly...

– Carl Krosinsky’s Modern China: A Complex Recent History, Borders Books, 2020



…Jesse Jr. left the Mayo Clinic in January; he was not a new man entirely, but he was deemed “safe” and “stable” (terms Jesse had reluctantly gotten used to) enough to leave. Junior still had to take medication, but he had responded very well to the therapies. Most importantly, Junior’s view on things had shifted. He was more thankful than ever of having such a supportive family. Especially his wife Michelle, whose patience and ability to forgive seemed to have no limitations as far as the President’s son hotel.

Junior spent noticeably less time around the White House, though. Believing republicans would use his presence against his father somehow, he opted to VidCall his father more often instead…

– Nancy Skelton and Bob Faw’s Thunder In America: A Chronology of The Jesse Jackson White House, Texas Monthly Press, 2016



In a coordinated effort, the now-combined Anti-Bemba forces outflanked and overwhelmed the Loyalists stationed at Lodja, near the center of the country, running them out by the twentieth. Growing Tutsi militant forces led by Laurent Nkunda attacked from the east, while Ernie Wamba led an assault from the north and Katangan Freedom Fighters swooped in from the South. Few Loyalists managed to flee west before the city was surrounded…

– John J. Polonko Jr.’s All’s Fair: What War Makes Necessary, Hachette Book Group USA, 2017 edition



NATIVE AMERICAN BANKER APPROVED FOR TREASURY POST

…After Treasury Secretary Tim Johnson’s tragic death in December, the Jackson administration has interviewed dozens of potential replacements… Elouise Pepion “Yellow Bird Woman” Cobell (D-CO), founded the Blackfeet National Bank, and won a MacArthur genius award in 1997 for her work in Native financial literacy. She received national attention that same year for leading a class-action lawsuit against the federal government for years of mismanaged trust funds and filed leasing fees. With a deep and detailed knowledge of budget techniques and a history of advocating for and practicing fiscal responsibility, Cobell, age 61, having been confirmed by the US Senate 81-23, will oversee the maintaining of the US’s recent budget and spending concerns…

The Washington Post, 1/30/2007



STATE SUPREME COURT APPROVES DEVELOPMENT ZONING LAWS REFORM MEASURE

…the state law sets strict regulations for how close certain businesses may operate to the proximity of schools, parks, and nature preserves…

The Arizona Republic, 2/2/2007



…To the company’s credit, KFC under Novak did begin to work on improving their selection of food offerings in order to increase their healthier menu items. Additionally, the company sought to try and raise awareness of health issues that existed both in and out of the outlets. For example, in early 2006, the franchise contributed to the charge against heart disease, a leading cause of death in the US, by removing trans fats from their products. Trans fats, or trans fatty acid, is a type of unsaturated far created by the hydrogenation process and is found in margarines and manufactured cooking oils. Trans fatty acids are linked to atherosclerosis, and consumption of them can raise cholesterol levels in the bloodstream, thus raising one’s chances of getting heart disease. Emulating the company’s funder’s noted generosity to various charities, KFC and its parent company ramped up its contributions to the American Heart Association and charities for children hospitals, hosting fundraisers, co-sponsoring events, and calling for an increase in use of antibiotics. Upon seeing their competitor’s sales numbers improve, Chick-fil-A followed suit in late 2006, and even tried to “one up” KFC by having their food items’ nutritional information printed on all product wrappers and other forms of packaging in February 2007. It really says something about American competitiveness when it manages to actually be relatively beneficial to the physical health of consumers...

– Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, Mariner Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012



The President fumed as he watched the new Speaker address the networks from the floor of the House chamber. “We are opening up these investigations into the over one-thousand, two-hundred American citizens killed by SARS in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004 in order to establish who and who exactly is responsible for the demises of these souls. It is also true that we are going to be calling on several cabinet members among other members of the Jackson White House, and request that they appear before several House committees for special hearings on the matter as well. Furthermore – ”

Jackson muted the screen. “1,200 deaths. It was 1,200 cases and less than a thousand deaths, the liar!”

“He’ll just say he misspoke, and that’s if they corner him,” replied political strategist Peter Daou. “If what we’ve gathered of McMaster is true, the sniveling little worm will just sneak away if there’s door nearby. Say he’s busy and just walk away.”

The President ranted, “That little snot. What’s his angle? The congress is split; he can’t get any house bills through the Senate without winning over Democrats. If he grills us like this, why should we even we humor him with talk of ‘cross-aisle compromise’?” He vented to his advisors.

“He doesn’t plan on compromising, Mr. President,” said the Senate’s new majority leader, Gary Locke (D-WA).

“Then nothing’s getting passed,” Jackson answered, “Nothing big anyway.”

“I think that’s the point. Congressional gridlock. A do-nothing congress. One that he’ll pin squarely on us,” Locke agreed.

“That’s ridiculous,” said House Minority Leader and former Speaker Barbara Kennelly (D-CT), “People will see right through that.”

“Will they?” Counselor to the President William Antholis suggested as he leaned forward in his chair. “Bellamy had a split congress after the 1990 midterms. Democrats lost two years later over perceived weak leadership. They think they can use that same playbook to take back the White House next year.”

“Well then,” Kennelly asked with a rather snarky attitude, “How do you suggest we avoid history repeat itself?”

Antholis answered, “Bellamy tried to ignore them. So I say we go at ’em head-on. Call their bluff. They want to scour every medical report, I say let ’em. Let ’em televise their hearings. It’ll be their own undoing.”

“I get it,” nodded White House Communications Director Betty Magness. “The broadcast footage will show us being professionals while Republican House leadership waste time on unimportant things like how many ventilators existed in Vermont in 2001, long before SARS became a major thing, instead of working to get sensible police reform done.”

“If they’re going to bother us with SARs, it’s only a matter of time before they go after Junior,” the President thought out loud.

“There’s nothing to inquire about, though,” Locke asked. He looked around the room at his inner circle that he had only been a part of since January, thanks to Robert C. Byrd retiring. “Right?”

“They’ll inquire anyway,” Jackson grit his teeth as he looked back at the screen, still showing McMaster’s polished and thinly-veiled diatribe of a spiel.

“Then we’ll address it whenever they do,” Antholis answered with a bit of confidence in his tone.

“Uh, maybe we should be a bit more pre-emptive about it?” Suggested Kennelly.

“First things first, Barbara,” Antholis explained. “We’ve first and foremost have got to get the American people to realize that McMaster and his lackeys are not doing their jobs. Instead of representing their constituents like they were elected to do, by doing something sensible like challenging us on the budget and tax distribution, they’re instead criticizing for us not being able to keep the SARS death count at zero.”

The President nodded in agreement.

– Nancy Skelton and Bob Faw’s Thunder In America: A Chronology of The Jesse Jackson White House, Texas Monthly Press, 2016



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– H. Dargan McMaster (R-SC), c. February 2007



…and in political news, former Senator and 2004 Presidential nominee Bernie Goetz met with prominent Republican donors in Washington, D.C., which has led to some speculation that he may be considering running for President next year…

– NBC, 2/15/2007 broadcast



“Who even is that guy, Tommy? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in anything.”

“That’s because this is his first movie, too. I found him on the technet. He’s like me, wanting to make movies all his life and now circumstances have given him the chance to try it out.”

“Is he paying for anything?”

“Yes, basically, we’re using his recording equipment.”

“Oh, well, never mind, then.”

“What, Donny?”

“I just mean, you know, his acting. It was…weird. Very wooden. Flat. Not that great.”

“I thought that was on purpose. He’s supposed to be an evil cult leader. You can’t have people scared if you’re waving arms around like Jim Carrey or a chicken. Cheep-cheep-cheep-cheep!”

“Well at least he’s not in charge of editing. Maybe we can fix it in post or whatever.”

“Yeah. I mean, I think it’s fine, but when it’s time to edit, we’ll see what works and what doesn’t.”

“This is going to be a real special movie, Tommy. I can feel it!”

– transcript of audio recording of office meeting at Trump Sunrise Tower, Santa Monica, CA; recorded 2/18/2007 and leaked 12/17/2018



“I don’t know, I might run for President again. I think I lost because of SARS. I will admit, Jackson did handle that pretty well. And there was the whole landing-on-Mars thing. That probably created a rally-around-the-flag affect. The cards were stacked against me. But now people are beginning to see just how corrupt the Jackson administration is. I think next year there could be a lot of buyer’s remorse going on. Maybe now the people will go, ‘Hey, Bernie, you were right, so this time, we’ll vote for you.’ So, yeah, another run could happen, it really could.”

– Former US Senator Bernie Goetz (R-CO), KXKL Radio Denver’s The Ken Hamblin Show, local talk/news program, 2/20/2007 interview



JACKSON NOMINATES RALPH NADER FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL

…Jackson’s cabinet is going through some unexpected shake-ups of late, with Secretary of State Ann Richards retiring due to cancer, the Treasury Secretary passing away, and Attorney General Edwards announcing his departure in January due to exhaustion… The selection of Senator Ralph Nader can be viewed as a bipartisan selection due the level of support for the former two-term US Senator that is found among liberal and moderate Republicans. Due to his sign popularity, his lengthy and accomplished career of many years of scandal-free public service, and the Democrats still holding a majority in the US Senate, NADER is expected to be confirmed with ease…

The Washington Post, 2/22/2007



“It is vital for our nation that we manage our lands efficiently. We must take advantage of the space we have out west and even the space we have in the east. I am very proud of movements in places like Baltimore and Chicago, where constructing vertical gardens are being tried out. Even small areas like traffic islands can house solar panels or a wind turbine. Now, I understand the urge that many of my fellow Republicans have, to wean America off foreign energy, but we must honor and protect the land and the surface of the ground, before we go fracking underneath it willy-nilly. We need to open up energy enterprises within the confines of environmental responsibility. That is why I am proud of the people of Arizona, who have recently reached a deal with the Navajo Nation to place solar panels in select locations. That is what I like to see – businesses working with Native Americans to preserve the sacredness of the land, to protect and respect Mother Nature in our pursuit of both fossil fuels and renewable energy.”

– US Secretary of the Interior Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO), 2/24/2007



CONGRESS PASSES DIGITAL CONTENT SECURITY BILL; Jackson Is Expected To Sign It Into Law “Pronto”

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…credit for the quick pace of the legislation’s passing likely goes to its high amount of bipartisan support, as both Republican and Democrats have voiced concern over the possible “fragility” of the technet in light of recent cyber-attacks on US banks. …“Some on The Hill are seeing this as a sign of hope for further bipartisan collaboration, but, personally, I think that this will turn out to be one of few exceptions where Jackson is able to work with the McMaster-led House with ease and without conflict or mudslinging. Call me a pessimist if you want, it’s just my opinion,” says US Senator Paul Vallas (D-IL)…

The New York Times, 2/27/2007



MOTHER-POST: What Has South America’s History Been Like Politically?

I’m studying for a history test and I think the teacher’s going to ask about this but I misplaced my notes! I know a lot of countries down there are former dictatorships and that Jackson pulled us out of Colombia but that’s about it, politics-wise. Help?

>REPLY 1:
How Much history are we talking? Here’s what I know about the past 50 years or so:

Argentina – Juan Peron (the main guy in that “Evita” Musical) served from 1946 to 1955 but then came back in the 1970s. He started losing popularity, so he did a self-coup and stayed in office as a dictator – one of South America’s better dictator, even with that whole bizarre Falklands thing, let’s just admit it already – until his death in 1985 at the age of 90. His second wife (not Eva) took over then, but she wasn’t popular, so when she finally let free and fair elections happen, she lost to Nobel Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel. He led the charge to raise the country’s standard of living. Now, though, the new President is deregulating and fighting labor became he wants to see the country return to its former glory – it used to be one of the richest countries in the world about a century ago.

Bolivia – politically, very stable – until Walter Mondale got scared by a socialist, Juan Jose Torres, winning the Presidency in 1970. Ol’ Jota-Jota got overthrown in 1974, officially because of the 1973 oil shock, and a revolving door of unpopular dictators ruled until Torres returned to power in a coup of his own in 1993, and served until his death two years later from natural causes at the age of 77. Since then, the country’s returned to political stability, and have good relations with all of their neighbors. The rise of the solar panel has been a boon for the country due to Bolivia’s rich deposits of minerals like tin, silver, lithium and copper. We’ve got some pretty impressive mining technology coming out of there in recent years, too, so, I dunno, maybe a tech boom’s happening down there as well!

Brazil – It fell to a military junta in 1964 and the dictatorship quietly and slowly collapsed in the 1970s/1980s. Since then, it’s developed into what some call an “emerging power” and may be a major “superpower” on the world stage someday, if they keep up the pace of economic and social growth, but they still have a ways to go. Recently, its 35th President, Hamilton Mourao, a former peacetime Army General, lost re-election in a landslide over his handling of the SARS pandemic and overall dictator-like administrating. He lost to Heloisa Helena, a former nurse, who seems to be getting them, let’s say “back on track.”

Chile – It’s not very stable, but it was politically “polarized” in the 1960s and 1970s, swinging back and forth between centrist and far-right Presidencies before a popular far-left politician whose name I forget came to power in 1988. He served for 14 years and almost got overthrown at least twice according to a report on what US President Dinger’s CIA Director was doing while the rest of the US was distracted by the war in Korea and the War on Recreadrugs. Their current president is Leonardo Farkas. And he’s, well, he’s really something!

Colombia – they were in a state of Civil War for years. Completely unstable, with guerillas on the far-left and the far-right, assassinations, hostage crises and massacres allowed drug cartels to swoop in and “protect” locals from the carnage. For a price, obviously. But with the Civil War having concluded with a tricameral legislature and shorter Presidential term limits, the cartels are reeling as stability slowly reclaims the interior hinterlands. So, yeah, they’re still struggling to get along with itself in the aftermath of a decades-long civil war, but Colombia is still much better off than they were even just a few years ago.

Ecuador – A peaceful (fourth-lowest homicide rate in the Americas) and very politically stable developing country. Environmentally conscious, it is the protector of the Galapagos and that island chain’s horny sea turtles. Not much else I can say about it, sorry.

French Guiana – Technically a French territory, not a country. Even with it being mainly just rain forest with a low population and poor infrastructure, the cost of living here is somehow higher than that of France proper. However, social unrest over this is expressed through the ruling Guianese Socialist Party often sparring with the Government of France proper instead of, you know, voting for independence and threatening to cut France off from crops and livestock. But, hey, to each his own, you know?

Guyana – After becoming independent from the British in 1966, the US’s CIA kept a close eye on it, keeping the Jagan power couple out of power until the 1990s. Because there’s more Guyanans in the US than in Guyana, the country is very pro-USA, to the point that they seriously wanted to be a US state during the 1990s. As cool as that would have been – and not too implausible, in my opinion, given that NASA supported it because of something to do with rocket propulsion and the proximity of the equator – all that came out of that movement was them adopting the US dollar as their official currency. Anyway, they’re a politically stable land at the moment.

Paraguay – Oh, boy, these guys. How many dictatorships have they had? Too many! Stroessner oversaw the arrest, torture, and assassination of many opponents, including Domingo Laino (1935-1986, never forget), and served from 1954 until his death in a plane crash in 1996. His successor, Andres Rodriguez died less than a year later from old age, and then another dictator took over until he was overthrown in 2001 by a dictatorial due who supported free and free election – which were postponed for two years because of the SARS pandemic. But because of how well he handled that virus, he actually won the 2004 election by a comfortable margin. They’re technically a presidential republic now, but their President is on the border of becoming a dictator again. Nevertheless, the country’s economy is expanding, and human rights abuses are at an all-time low. So, yeah, they’re doing better, but still…

Peru – Possibly worse off than Paraguay; it’s pretty neck-and-neck. Their modern history had been dominated by armed conflicts of territorial disputes, coup after coup, many mass protests, and alternating times of economic disaster and economic inequality. Only occasional have things been truly stable. For instance, President Fernando Belaunde Terry barely survived a coup attempt in the late 1960s by renegotiating some oil deal with New Jersey or something like that, only to get overthrown later on down the line anyway. Then, efter a left-wing populist, then a right-wing populist, and then a center-leftist served as dictator, Guzman scared the crap out of everyone, even Bellamy! To put it bluntly, the 1990s weren’t got to Peru. However, they’ve only been a “Presidential Democracy” since Abimael Guzman got ousted in The Millennium Revolt of 2000, but their President since then, Japanese-Peruvian Jaime Yoshiyama, is already showing some bad signs – he might get impeached for abuse of power. So, yeah, great people, bad political track record.

Suriname – Independent since 1975, the continent’s sole Dutch-speaking nation started out with politics devolving into ethnic-based groups with “tribe mentality” and a coup just three years later. Four years after that, a counter-coup was led by the sly and charismatic Wilfred Hawker. He ultimately held free elections and won two terms before losing a bid for a third to fellow heartthrob Ronnie Brunswijk, and was soon arrested for trying to launch a self-coup. Since then (the mid-1990s), the political landscape has stabilized but ethnic group loyalty is still prominent.

Uruguay – It seems its people learned from their mistakes of the past. They used to live under an iron fist of a right-wing regime that persecuted everything to the left of it, only for it to collapse in the 1980s. Now, the nation is a democratic constitutional republic praised for its press freedom, income equality, low corruption, environmentalism, steady and stable economic growth, and promotion of peace.

Venezuela – With the largest oil reserves in the world, the country has enjoyed political stability for decades, even during the Colombia refugee crisis connected to the Cartel Wars. However, with more and more populations attempting to “go green” and use electric and solar forms of energy across the globe, the government is seeking alternative forms of energy to export. In this endeavor, they are still experimenting with harnessing the energy of lightning storms famously striking of one of their bays or lakes or what have you. The results so far have been rather…explosive.

>REPLY 1 to REPY 1:
Thanks for the help! But, um…Sources?

>REPLY 1 to REPLY 1 to REPY 1:
Just use the sources linked on clickopedia, duh!

– homeworkhelpforum.co.usa post, started 2/28/2007



WHY DID KFC REPRESENTATIVES MEET WITH STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS?

…the nature of the mysterious visit remains undisclosed, but one anonymous source claims that those involved discussed issues concerning jurisdiction and labor. From this, one may assume that KFC is attempting to expand into another oversees locations, quite possibly into some sort of disputed zone or a small nation that is only partially recognized.

“It may in fact be Taiwan,” suggests researcher and businesswoman Evelyn Hartley. “This would be a contentious move given the bad blood.” She explains, “KFC’s founder had to sacrifice US recognition of Taiwan and its mainland land claims in 1968 in order to keep the People’s Republic of China from acting militarily in the wake of US forces taking Hanoi. It was a necessary maneuver that nevertheless soured US-Taiwan relations for years, and made KFC woefully unpopular on the island. Thus, maybe KFC officials were seeking advice from the State Department on how to best enter Taiwan markets for the first time, and without upsetting China.”…

– businessinsider.co.usa, 3/1/2007 e-article



While CEO Cain had shied away from major high-risk business endeavors, FLG CEO Mary Lolita Starnes Hannon was enthusiastic for publicity stunts, believing that with the right tooling such investments would boost sales and profits. And in October 2004, Hannon was presented with an idea for what was quite possibly the biggest publicity stunt in the company’s entire history.

That December, The Board of Directors for KFC met at the company headquarters in Florence, Kentucky. There, Hannon discussed the size and scale of the KFC Company. “Kentucky Fried Chicken needs to expand.”

Board member David Novak looked at the map behind Hannon. Taking up most of the boardroom’s side wall, the flattened globe of Earth was sprinkled with little KFC buckets, each representing an outlet. With a smile, Novak observed, “But, with all due respect, Ma’am, KFC is already found, well, everywhere. Where else could be establish the brand?”

Hannon grinned, “I’m glad you asked that.” With a hand gesturing she motioned her assistants to flip to the next Power-Slide filling up the wider wall of the room. “We’ve already sent KFC to space. Our offerings can be found on the I.S.S., and the marstronauts brought KFC to the Red Planet.”

“Exactly,” said Novak, “We’ve already gone where no franchise has ever gone before.”

“Yes,” Hannon replied gently, “But what about…here?” she clicked over to the next slide.

A murmur swept the room as Hannon revealed the proposal, and began to discuss its details.

“Wouldn’t that be illegal?” asked one of the directors.

“No,” answered one of the co-developers of the proposal. “See, the US government signed a conservation act back in 1978 that provides penalties for, and I quote, the discharge or disposal of pollutants, unquote, into the area and its waters.” [6]

“Also,” added the second Power-Slide assistant, “The importation of certain items such as recreadrugs may be monitored or disallowed there as well. And, amazingly, the responsibility of enforcing these laws is shared by four US Cabinet Departments.” [6]

“Well that’s all well and good for fun-fact hoarders but what does that mean for this proposal?” asked another board member.

“It means we will only have to pay a small fine, and pay rent on the outlet, because we will essentially be establishing an outlet within an outlet,” said the Head CEO.

“But Madame Hannon,” asked a third board member, “Why go through all this legal paperwork for just one outlet?”

“Because it is our duty and promise to service every customer, and way over there, our potential customers go without.”

“I feel like we would save more money focusing on already-established costumer communities.”

“We tried the conservative approach under Cain, and look how that turned out.”

“Fair enough,” the third board member conceded. “Perhaps a stunt like may actually work. We’ll certainly make headlines. Whether they’re good or bad headlines is the real question.”

“I don’t know,” said the still-unconvinced Novak, “What about the labor laws in that part of the world?”

“Actually, U.S. law can in fact apply to areas not under the jurisdiction of other nations. That’s why the US has had special deputy US Marshal stationed over there since the Dinger days!” The first Power-Slide assistant happily explained. [7]

Novak would later comment, “I will admit, it was difficult keeping the project under our hands. It could have leaked at any point. When we met with state and international officials throughout 2005, and when we began visiting the sight in 2006. It was unnerving at times, because we knew that people would immediately assume the worst and thing that we were going to somehow destroy the environment, and before we could say anything, we’d have eco-activists protesting outside of [KFC headquarters in] Florence [, Kentucky].”

According to Novak, the legal hurdles were the most challenging aspects, with achieving clearance from legal departments requiring multiple meetings. But the meetings had merit, given the endeavor was the establishing of a historic precedence…

– Marlona Ruggles Ice’s A Kentucky-Fried Phoenix: The Post-Colonel History of Most Famous Birds In The World, Hawkins E-Publications, 2020



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– Mary Lolita Starnes Hannon, CEO of Finger Lickin' Good, Inc.; photograph undated



P.T. PARTY PICKS PROFESSOR COYNE IN LEADERSHIP VOTE

…Professor Deborah Coyne of Ontario beat out Darrell Dexter of Nova Scotia and Mike Schreiner and Martha Hall Findlay of Ontario… On the other side of the political spectrum, conservative political figures such as Cheryl Gallant are also preparing for the next general election…

– The Calgary Sun, Canadian newspaper, 3/5/2007



ANTI-BEMBA GUERILLA FORCES ARE ADVANCING ON KINSHASA!

– The Associated Press, 3/7/2007



RALPH NADER SWORN IN AS NEW ATTORNEY GENERAL TODAY

– The Connecticut Post, 3/10/2007



IGNATIEFF RE-ELECTED IN LABOR LANDSLIDE

…Michael Ignatieff, the popular Prime Minister of Australia, easily won a second term over Alexander Michael Somlyay of the Liberal Alliance and Alasdair Webster of the Christian Democratic Party…

The Australian, daily newspaper, 3/12/2007



EXPOSÉ CLAIMS CAPE TOWN OFFICIALS BRIBED I.O.C. OFFICERS TO WIN 2012 OLYMPICS HOSTING DUTIES!

…The expose published by The Boston Globe mentions only one member of the International Olympic Committee by name – IOC member Ivan Slavkov, who the expose accuses of accepted the higher number of bribes from SA officials. The President of the IOC earlier today condemned the actions of Slavkov “if true,” and has ordered an investigation bf launched into IOC rules violations. …At the moment it is unclear how far up the chain of command the scandal goes...

The Guardian, UK newspaper, 3/14/2007



BERNIE GOETZ, PLEASE DON’T RUN

…what the Republican Party needs now is a unifying figure who will win over moderate Democrats dissatisfied by the ridiculousness of the Jackson-Wellstone administration. But our own party failed to garner enough enthusiasm for your candidacy in 2004. This is not one of those times when history should repeat itself. We have to move on from 2004 and seek out a candidate to nominate next year who can win next year…

– Former US President Jeremiah Denton (R-AL), The Washington Post, open letter/op-ed, 3/15/2007



“I dunno, I still think I could win it if I got the nomination again.”

– Former US Senator Bernie Goetz (R-CO), 3/16/2007



…Civil rights-related police reform returned to the front of the news cycle yet again when Richard Pennington, the former Chief of Police for the city of Charlotte, North Carolina was a defendant in a lawsuit that alleged that he and other senior officers of said precinct/office engaged in a criminal conspiracy to retaliate against a police officer who had earlier testified on behalf of a defendant in a bond hearing in federal court. This developed into a civil rights lawsuit because the defendant was detained during a police raid (called a “sweep”) of a majority-minority Charlotte neighborhood – an action, the one side claimed, that amounted to an invasion of privacy, and thus a violation of the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution. The Herring Network, the most prominent conservative TV news network in the US by this time, avidly supporting Pennington during this news cycles of 2007, as did other conservative groups. However, polls conducted show that a majority of Americans were against Pennington, or at least held a negative view of him, in the subsequent media war/court of public opinion…

– researcher Brenda J. Hargis’ Emboldening: The Jesse Jackson Presidency, Sunrise Publications, 2017



…When news broke of my father’s company’s legal representatives’ cloak-and-dagger operations in D.C. in early March, the Board of Directors sought the advice of Harley, Pete Harman, and myself, the three remaining company elders. We unanimously agreed that KFC would have to publicly acknowledge the project before it could be leaked. We had to control the narrative in order to ensure that the people had the facts before rumors could overshadow them.

On March 25, 2007, the company revealed the project at a press conference. It went as expected, with it polarizing technetters in ontech discussion forums and with our stock value only increasing. What we did not expect was the high number of important political individuals calling for investigations into the matter. Thankfully, our meetings with state and even international groups and governments shielded is from potential opening delays, as – and I can’t stress this enough – our company made sure that everything was handled legally, carefully, and with respect for the area…

– Mildred Sanders Ruggles’ My Father, The Colonel: A Life of Love, Politics, and KFC, StarGroup International, second edition, 2010



GUINEA-BISSAU: AFRICA’S NEW TECH CENTER?

…the small western African country of Guinea-Bissau is garnering some attention for its recent technological innovations, with its fairly stable government constructing bike paths and eco-friendly paved roads across its territory. With their bloody and devastating Civil Wars of the 1980s and early 1990s father behind them with each passing year, the people of Guinea-Bissau are experiencing a tech boom of sorts, capitalizing on trade with Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire to produce dashboard interface software for the Kantanka car company…

Time Magazine, late March 2007 issue



REPORT: The Bernie Bros 2.0 Can’t Beat Original

…While some supporters of Bernie Goetz still exude the same level of passion they did in 2004, the fire seems to have dimmed in others. The level of passion, though, looks even smaller in size and significance when one observes numbers. Ontech support for the Goetz campaign is much less impressive than it was in March 2003. …When meeting with supporters of the controversial Coloradoans, there is a sense that many are phoning it in, that the spark of genuine enthusiasm from yesteryear is now gone, long since snuffed out by Goetz’s landslide loss in 2004…

The Washington Post, 3/27/2007



...With the backing of Sanders’ media empire, Mayor Hamburg made college more affordable for NYC residents by putting caps on high interest rates on student loans. This and her forgiving of $2.5million in student loans led to a surge in high school students applying for NYC colleges in the years since. Mayor Hamburg’s answer to revenue concerns was also influenced by Saunders – both figures supported tax reform, with Hamburg laying out a plan to bring about matching grants at the state and federal level in order to cut tuition for public universities by as much as 50%. This change was also an attempt to stop predatory lending in the student loan market...

– Michael O’Connor’s Bern Sanders: The Biography of a Multimillionaire (Democratic) Socialist Maverick, Greenwood Press, 2009



SOURCE(S)/NOTE(S):
[1] OTL sighting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_O'Hare_International_Airport_UFO_sighting
[2] Italicized parts are from this source on this underused conservative personality: https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-xpm-2013-sep-04-la-me-barbara-coe-20130905-story.html
[3] Italicized wording is from the OTL Alabama state constitution, and found here: https://law.justia.com/constitution/alabama/CA-245664.html
[4] Italicized passages were pulled from here: https://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/12/14/johnson.ill/index.html
[5] This name for this was the idea of @ajm8888
[6] OTL, found here: http://www.legalflip.com/Article.aspx?id=15&pageid=63
[7] OTL, found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Treaty_System#United_States

The next chapter’s E.T.A.: soon!
 
Last edited:
Chapter 93: April 2007 – August 2007
Chapter 93: April 2007 – August 2007

“Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved”

– William Jennings Bryan



BERNIE GOETZ RULES OUT A SECOND WHITE HOUSE BID

…the 2004 Republican nominee for President today announced that he will not run for President after all, having spent the past several months expressing interest in doing so. “I talked it over with my wife and kids,” Goetz explained to the press during the announcement, “And we’ve come to the conclusion that it would be best for our family if I kept my focus on my new career,” referring to his positions on several Colorado think tanks and on the board of directors of several business, most notably a vegan dietary supply store chain based in Boulder.

Early polling for the Republican party’s presidential primaries showed Goetz, who served one term in the US Senate from 1997 to 2003, performing fairly well, often hovering within striking distance of other potential frontrunners polling higher in most primary polls. However, polls of hypothetical matchups of the 2008 general election showed Goetz performing poorly, with nearly all pollsters showing Wellstone defeating Goetz by a large margin…

The Denver Post, Colorado newspaper, 4/5/2007



BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL DECLINES PRESIDENTIAL BID: “The Department of The Interior Still Needs Me”

The Denver Post, Colorado newspaper, 4/9/2007



MESA MAYOR RACE: Willie Wong Wins By A Wide Margin

…the city’s mayoral elections are usually held in late March of each Presidential election year, with a runoff, if necessary, being held in early May, and the winner is inaugurated on June 1. However, Mayor Ramsey passed away in early October from injuries he received in an “unexpected hang-gliding incident,” as reported late last year. In accordance with revisions made to Mesa’s city charter in 1985, a special election blanket primary to complete Ramsey’s term was held in late February, with the runoff being held tonight…

– The Arizona Republic, 4/10/2007



Mayors of MESA (Arizona)

1976-1980: 34) Wayne Casto Pomeroy (R, 1923-2019) – former business owner; previously served on the city council from 1966 to 1974 and as vice mayor from 1972 to 1974; retired to successfully run for a US House seat in 1980

1976 (primary): Phyllis Royer (D), L. Alton Riggs Jr. (I) and S. Michael Scigliano (I)
1976 (runoff): Phyllis Royer (D)

1978 (primary): Wayne E. Phelps (I)
1978 (runoff): not held; unnecessary due to the primary winner receiving over 50%+1 of the vote

1980-1984: 35) Donald William “Don” Strauch Jr. (R, 1926-2021) – former business owner; previously served on the city council from 1972 to 1980; lost re-election; later served in the state House from 1989 to 1999 and in the state senate from 1999 to 2017

1980 (primary): Elma Allen Milano (I)
1980 (runoff): not held; unnecessary due to the primary winner receiving over 50%+1 of the vote

1982 (primary): Kirby Allan (I)
1982 (runoff): not held; unnecessary due to the primary winner receiving over 50%+1 of the vote

1984-1988: 36) Cordon Wesley Driggs (R, 1921-2005) – previously served on the city council from 1976 to 1984; revised several aspects of the city charter; lost re-election after clashing to some members of the city council over tax reform, resulting in “gridlock”; later worked for the US Department of the Interior under President Dinger from 1995 to 2001

1984 (primary): Don Strauch (R) and Warren D. Staffey (I)
1984 (runoff): Don Strauch (R)

1986 (primary): Warren D. Staffey (I)
1986 (runoff): not held; unnecessary due to the primary winner receiving over 50%+1 of the vote

1988-1989: 37) Sumner “Al” Brooks (R, 1928-1989) – former businessperson; previously served on the city council from 1978 to 1986; died in office suddenly and unexpectedly from poor health, exact causes not disclosed

1988 (primary): Cordon Driggs (R) and Keno L. Hawker (R)
1988 (runoff): Cordon Driggs (R)

1989-1989: 38) Betty N. Lewis (I) – city’s first female mayor; ascended to office due to being Vice Mayor; previously served on the city council from 1980 to 1989; due to there being more than 6 months left until the end of Brooks term, as special election was held; retired and later served on the city council again from 1989 to 2002

1989-1990: 39) Ross N. Farnsworth (R) – previously served on the city council from 1984 to 1989; retired, officially to uphold campaign promise but also due to being frustrated with several aspects of the occupation

1989 (special) (primary): Dave Guthrie (I), Helen Stortz (I) and Robert A. Shirley (I)
1989 (special) (runoff): Dave Guthrie (I)

1990-2000: 40) Margaret “Peggy” Rubach (R) – city’s first elected female mayor; political strategist; previously served on the city council from 1984 to 1990; retired to unsuccessfully run for a US House seat in 2002; later worked on several Republican campaigns at the statewide and national level

1990 (primary): Joan Newth (I), L. Harold Wright (I), Jerry Boyd (I) and Frank de Rosa (I)
1990 (runoff): Joan Newth (I)

1992 (primary): Kirby Allan (I) and Bob Foltin (I)
1992 (runoff): Kirby Allan (I)

1994 (primary): William “Willie” Wong (I), Dan Hill (I) and Ilias Kostopoulos (I)
1994 (runoff): William “Willie” Wong (I)

1996 (primary): Wayne J. Brown (I, 1936-2013), Dan Hill (I), Jerry Boyd (I) and Dana B. Harper (I)
1996 (runoff): Wayne J. Brown (I)

1998 (primary): Louis Stradling (R) and Dan Hill (I)
1998 (runoff): not held; unnecessary due to the primary winner receiving over 50%+1 of the vote

2000-2002: 41) Kirby Allan (I, 1928-2011) – born Sidney Allen Pittman; worked as a diverse musician starting in the early 1950s; was a perennial candidate and local activist until winning a seat on the city council and serving there from 1996 to 2000; elected in a major upset; known for a highly controversial move to demonstrate how short the filing deadlines were for the city – in his effort to extend said deadlines, he announced he would run for a second term after all, only to bow out at the last minute; returned to being a musician

2000 (primary): T. Farrell Jensen (I) and Jim Stapley (I)
2000 (runoff): T. Farrell Jensen (I)

2002-2006: 42) Ilias Kostopoulos (I, 1930-2009) – city’s first Greek-American mayor; elected mayor in an upset due to a lack of more established candidates in the race; former electronics businessman and political commentator; anti-corruption and socially conservative; served on Mesa’s city council from 1996 to 1998; previously served on Tempe’s city council from 1976 to 1982; also served as a state senator from 1984 to 1988; moved to Mesa in 1989; fought with city council over filing deadline specifics; re-elected in a race so close it required a recount; lost re-election in a landslide, failing to even make it to the runoff

2002 (primary): Lillian Wilkinson (I)
2002 (runoff): not held; unnecessary due to the primary winner receiving over 50%+1 of the vote

2004 (primary): Teresa Brice-Heames (I) and Michael “Mike” Graves (I)
2004 (runoff): Teresa Brice-Heames (I)

2006-2007: 43) David Sherman Ramsey (I) – previously served on the city council from 2002 to 2006; died in office in an accident

2006 (primary): Manuel Cortez (I), Ilias Kostopoulos (I) and H. M. “Pat” Gilbert (I)
2006 (runoff): Manuel Cortez (I)

2007-2007: 44) Dennis Kavanaugh (I) – ascended to office due to being Vice Mayor; previously served on the city council from 1996 to 2007; known for being bipartisan, supporting both Democratic and Republican candidates and policies; retired; served on the city council again from 2008 to 2018

2007-2012: 45) William “Willie” Wong (I, b. 1948) – city’s first Asian-American mayor; former businessperson; previously served as Vice Mayor from 1988 to 1990, and on the city council from 1986 to 1992 and again from 2000 to 2007; retired to successfully run for a US House seat in 2014, and served from 2015 until retiring in 2021

2007 (special) (primary): Scott Smith (R, b. 1956), H. M. “Pat” Gilbert (I), Keno L. Hawker (R) and Ilias Kostopoulos (I)
2007 (special) (runoff): Scott Smith (R)

2008 (primary): Keno L. Hawker (R) and Danny Ray (I)
2008 (runoff): Keno L. Hawker (R)

2010 (primary): Rex Griswold (I)
2010 (runoff): not held; unnecessary due to the primary winner receiving over 50%+1 of the vote

2012-2020: 46) Claudia Walters (R) – previously served on the city council from 2000 to 2012 and as Vice Mayor 2007 to 2012; retired

2012 (primary): Rex Griswold (I) and Danny Ray (I)
2012 (runoff): Rex Griswold (I)

2014 (primary): Alex Finter (R)
2014 (runoff): not held; unnecessary due to the primary winner receiving over 50%+1 of the vote

2016 (primary): John C. Giles (R, b. 1960) and Courtney Guinn (I)
2016 (runoff): John C. Giles (R)

2018 (primary): Jeremy Whittaker (I)
2018 (runoff): not held; unnecessary due to the primary winner receiving over 50%+1 of the vote

2020-present: 47) Verl Fransworth (I) – former construction contractor and businessperson; currently supports improving the city’s downtown area, passing tax cuts to encourage small business growth, and opposing rising calls for the city to implement ranked-choice voting; incumbent

2020 (primary): Alex Finter (R)
2020 (runoff): not held; unnecessary due to the primary winner receiving over 50%+1 of the vote

– clickopedia.co.usa, c. 7/4/2021



…In the face of mounting evidence of wrongdoing, and with the public trial of Ivan Slavkov only raising calls for it, the IOC has at last announced that they have rescinded Cape Town, South Africa’s right to host the 2012 Summer Olympics. To make up for the selection process being sullied by the South African delegation’s acts of bribery, the I.O.C. has also announced that they will hold a special I.O.C. meeting very soon in order to find a replacement city for hosting the 2012 Olympic Games…

– KNN Breaking News, 4/14/2007 broadcast



“Donald.”

“Tommy! There you are, I was about to do the next scene without you.”

“Donald, what is this I hear about you bothering the girls?”

“Girls? Where?! Wait, what are you talking about?”

“I hear you keep walking in on them in the dressing rooms. And that you won’t leave when they ask you to.”

“Yeah, what’s the problem? Don’t like the ladies or something, Tom?”

“Donald, do you want to be the one that starts the Third Ark Wave? Come on! You are tearing me apart, Donald!”

“I didn’t touch any of them, I swear. I only looked. Like window shopping! You can’t be arrested for window shopping, Tommy, not in this country. Maybe in, like, Alaska, but not in the U.S., alright?”

“Just cut it out please. We rescue them in the third act tomorrow. They should look happy to see you. Don’t make their role-job so hard. Especially since we wrap tomorrow.”

“We have a what? I don’t ever go that urban, Wiseau!”

“We finish filming, big finish. Then we edit and we put it out and became even more rich and famous! Ha. Anyway, how’s your sex life?”

“Really good! Thank you for asking!”

“No mention it, don’t problem! So, promise to stay out of the dressing rooms when they ask?”

“Oh, alright, alright. They aren’t 10s anyway. No big loss.”

– transcript of audio recording of office meeting at Trump Sunrise Tower, Santa Monica, CA; recorded 4/18/2007 and leaked 12/17/2018



“STAY HEALTHY OR TO HELL WITH YA!” MAYOR HAMBURG IMPOSES MORE RULES COMPANIES

…NYC Mayor Peg Hamburg has worked with the city council to form a law that will require companies with employees working in NYC to provide them with parental leave, sick leave, and vacation time, and threatens companies that do not comply with heavy fines. The law is a response to recent investigations into the amount worker abuse and wage theft prevalent throughout the city...

– The Staten Island Advance, conservative NYC newspaper, 4/21/2007



WILLIAM WESTMORELAND IS DEAD AT 93; Played Key Roles In Cuba, Indochina, Libya Wars

Charleston, SC – William Childs Westmoreland, the highly-decorated retired US Army General who oversaw U.S. forces during the early years of the Indochina Wars before serving as the Governor of South Carolina and the US Secretary of Defense during the Libya War, died last night in a retirement home in Charleston, South Carolina, his son, James Ripley Westmoreland, announced ontech early today. The General was suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease; he had turned 93 less than a month ago.

“Westy,” as he was known during his time as a West Point cadet, was born on March 26, 1914 in Saxon, SC. Throughout his life, Westmoreland was driven and combative. In World War II, he led a fast-moving artillery battalion. In Cuba, Westmoreland, at the rank of Major General at the time, co-led the 1962 “push” into the island’s mountainous hinterland by adhering to a controversial “burn the house to get out the rats” approach that including carpet-bombing and, briefly in 1963, a “moderate scorched-earth” policy. When US Secretary of Defense Homer Litzenberg died in June 1963, Westmoreland was considered to be a possible candidate for the position; instead, he was promoted to Lieutenant General, then finally to General in early 1964, one month prior to turning 50.

In 1965, President Sanders sent Westmoreland to Laos, where he directed “search and destroy” missions meant to decimate the Pathet Lao (the Communist guerillas in the Southeast Asian kingdom of Laos). After assisting with Western Division supply chains and mobilization for the 1967 Invasion of Hanoi, which led to rumors of him possibly running for President in 1968 should President Sanders decline to run for a second term, Westmoreland accepted the diplomatic role of US ambassador to Cambodia, a position in which he served from April 1968 to January 1973. In that capacity, he defended the Laotian monarchy and helped to modernize its military and international relations.

Retiring from the US Army in early 1974 at the age of 59 (after serving in it for 38 years, since 1936), Westmoreland eyed the Governorship of South Carolina and won it in that year’s gubernatorial race. After working to improve education standards in the state, Governor Ronald Reagan tapped him to be his running mate in the 1976 Presidential election. This decision resulted in the “legendary” debate between Westmoreland and then-Vice President Mike Gravel, which saw the two diametrically opposed candidates get into a heated discussion over foreign policy goals.

After leaving office in 1979, Westmoreland launched a bid for the Presidency, in which he won no delegates or primary victories in the 1980 GOP primaries, ultimately bowing out and endorsing Jeremiah Denton. Denton returned the favor by appointing him Secretary of Defense in mid-1981. In this position, Westmoreland promoted military intervention in several countries, most notably in Colombia and Libya.

In his memoirs, the General defended his push to retain American forces in Libya after the Libya War ended by noting that the remaining forces “established a record of remarkable achievements: mammoth logistical security buildups, various tactical expedients and innovations, numerous advisory efforts, and successful civic action programs.” Nevertheless, critics allege that the delayed withdrawal unnecessarily cost the US military the lives of hundreds of soldiers killed in post-war skirmishes. After Denton resigned, Westmoreland followed suit in opposition to Kemp’s allegedly “weak” foreign policy agendas.

Westmoreland’s competitiveness continued into his retirement years, as he occasionally appeared on radio and TV news programs to strongly oppose the foreign policies of Presidents Bellamy and Jackson, saying the day after the latter’s 2000 election victory, “I really wanted to see a South Carolinian become President someday; from now on I’ll be more careful what I wish for.”

He is survived by his wife of nearly 60 years, Katherine (Kitsy) Stevens Van Deusen; his two daughters, Margaret Childs and Katherine Stevens; his son James Ripley II; his brother-in-law Col. Frederick Van Deusen; many other relatives; and many friends who will remember him fondly and dearly. Funeral arrangement specifics have yet to be announced.

The Post and Courier, South Carolina, 4/22/2007



…“Nothing ever ends for anyone.” Harley gave one last speech, straight from the heart. “Death is just the ending of one adventure and the beginning of a new one. People live their lives and then they die, and are replaced by new life, new people, who ultimately die themselves, and it just continues on and on. And whatever problems show up along the way – poverty, war famine, disease – they’re worked on until they’re fixed, until they’re gone and gone forever, no matter how many generations it takes, and when that day comes, well, then another problem, a newer problem or an older problem, shows up and becomes the main problem, to be addressed by the lovers, leaders, believers and dickheads of the world. That’s death for you – it’s a part of all our lives, whether we want to accept it or not. Life and death, for everyone here on this planet, in this universe – it just keeps going in a dance-like cycle. Not for each person, but for all people, life itself never dies. And the endless cycle of death and life following one another throughout time, it makes for an eternity of marvelous wonder and sadness and purely utter beauty.”

He turned his head and looked out the window. “Did you notice how beautiful the sky is today?”

I nodded to my brother, “It’s lovely.”

“Heavenly, in fact.”

The clouds outside the hospice’s windows were a cumulous assortment of pinkish billowy piles, going out far, spreading out into the distance, like a canopy.

Or a shroud.

Venus wept.

– Mildred Sanders Ruggles’ final memoir, The Gift of Every Day, Doubleday, 2010



HARLEY SANDERS HAS DIED

– The New York Times, 4/29/2007



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– clickopedia.co.usa



“I’m going to miss ol’ Harley; he was a good man, and so was his father. You know, I actually got to meet both of them long before I entered politics, when I was still in high school, in fact. See, my father, Marion Wellington Webb, was born in 1914 in Alabama – coincidently, where Harley was born just two years earlier – but my dad moved his family to Chicago when I was 9 years old. And my father worked on the train lines for decades, so when Colonel Sanders went campaigning in ’68 on that old train, going across the country like he did, my dad knew where the stops were and so when the President's locomotive rolled into this one station, we were there to greet him. The Colonel shook our hands and thanked us for coming out. It was brief, but it was a magical moment for me. Looking back, I remember seeing Harley there behind his father, on the train, looking at a clipboard and rubbing his cheek with concern. He looked like a man who worked hard, like his father did. My own father became ill with prostate cancer in 1985, but he held on long enough to see my daughter Stephanie graduate from Howard University in Washington, D.C. [1]. Harley played a vital role in American politics in his own way, and I can only hope that his health was not nearly as bad as more own father’s health was when he passed away all those years ago.”

– former Governor Wellington Marion Webb (D-CO), KXKL Radio Denver, local talk/news program, 4/30/2007 broadcast



...Science has proven that an afterlife exists. Science tells us that all forms of energy are constant – energy cannot just pop into existence and it cannot just pop out of it, either. All energy has to go somewhere, and that includes the energy one gives off when alive. …Another sign that there is still far more about human consciousness that we have yet to fully understand can be seen in one medical anomaly that unfolded a few years back, when a scientist suffered a major health crisis. Said scientist was a neurosurgeon who lapsed into a coma during this illness that struck the cortex of their brain and shut it down, thus creating his comatose state, and since the cortex is the part of the brain that supposedly controls thought and consciousness, his thought process was supposed to be on hiatus. In other words, because of his cortex’s condition, he shouldn’t have experienced anything during the time that he was comatose. However, when the virus was treated, when doctors managed to essentially flush it out, he awoke and said that he had experienced a distinct experience – not some crazy, hazy fever trip, but a clear and lucid experience that felt much more real than a simple dream. Because his cortex was shut down, experiencing anything during the coma should not have been scientifically possible, and yet, it happened [2].

In my opinion, the most amazing rebuttal to the assumption that science can confirm a lack of an afterlife is that there is no evidence to show how brain cells or the networks connect them to each other even produce thoughts, mind and consciousness! [3]

Think about that. According to science, we shouldn’t be able to think, because there is no currently-known physical evidence, found inside the human brain, of our ability to think. I think further studying of this is needed, don’t you?

[snip]

…In fact, people come from “that after-place” all the time! It is called “the Lazarus syndrome,” [4] and scientists are baffled and befuddled by it due these peculiar events defying conventional thoughts on the finality of death. In these cases, the person can be “dead” for hours. In one case not too long ago, a woman came back to this plane of existence after being dead for enough hours for her body to begin stiffening as rigor mortis began to set in, only for those physical conditions to subside upon her “return” [5]. Her mortal husk had begun to rot, only for her to begin living again; in other words, her soul returned – her body’s energy returned! The ability for the human soul to re-enter the body, for a person’s consciousness/life-force to seemingly expire only for it to “come back,” is a scientifically-documented miracle, and we still can’t figure out why or how it happens – from a scientific perspective, that is...

[snip]

…There is no darkness at the end of this road; anyone who says otherwise is ignoring the scientific evidence, either out of ignorance or due to malicious intent, to sell misery to already-troubled masses. The evidence suggests that, awaiting each and every one of us, there is something rather than nothing; never let anyone ever tell you otherwise. Something awaits us all. Remember it – a great something awaits us all...

– Mildred Sanders Ruggles’ final memoir, The Gift of Every Day, Doubleday, 2010



“WATCH: Former CDC Head Makes A FOOL Out of House Committee Chairman”

Description: former Center of Disease Control Director Jeff Koplan calmly answers dumb questions asked by House Republicans at a “Special Review” Board

– video uploaded to OurVids.co.can, a video-sharing netsite, on 5/1/2007



“I have to say that I am very disappointed in my fellow Republicans over in the House. Speaker McMaster’s refusal to work with the President to find common ground and compromise is not in good form. His latest counterproductive action, the promoting of the House Judiciary Committee’s efforts to hold up or deny President Jackson’s court appointments, amounts to administrative sabotage. Additionally, while McMaster’s criticism of the President’s handling of the SARS pandemic – handling that has been applauded on the world stage – are unprofessional, his attacks on the President’s son are nothing more than cheap, petty and shallow insults unbecoming of whoever has the privilege of holding the position of Speaker of the House.”

– US Senator William F. “Bill” Weld (R-MA), The Boston Globe, 5/2/2007 op-ed



…Twelve years ago, the sprawling desert metropolis of Blumshtot did not exist. Yiddish for “Flower City,” the artificial urban center is the home of over 20,000 Israelites, all courtesy to several years of concentrated terraformation efforts and land reclamation projects across Israel’s southern desert territory. Located half-way between Mitzpe Ramon and Tskim-Paran, life in Blumshtot is described by the US Ambassador to Israel as “very similar to life in Phoenix, Arizona – air conditioning is worth more than gold.” The community is overall homogenously Jewish, with the primary jobs revolving around the industries of construction, solar power, and water...

[snip]

…Blumshtot Is one of several Israel communities built in the country’s southern deserts since the early 1990s [6], each experiencing successes and failures in the addressing of the many issues involved in terraforming a desert.

Fortunately, Israel’s stable government incentivizes wealthier farmers across the nation who are using solar pumps (water pumped with solar energy) to sell the excess power back to the national grid, giving farmers more income, the state gaining electricity reserves, and curbing over-irrigation of crops, all while reducing carbon emissions and providing jobs and electricity for the “colonies” of Israel’s southern desert…

– National Geographic, May 2007 issue



…We can now confirm that DRC President Bemba has indeed been overthrown in a stunning assault on the capital by united rebel forces. Bemba’s plane was captured before it could get off of the runway and Bemba is expected to stand trial for ethnic cleansing and other abuses of power…

– Foreign correspondent, KNN Breaking News, 5/7/2007 broadcast



…The biggest problem facing the new leadership, though, was themselves. Each faction wanted majority control, and while the reforms made to the national legislature were progressive for what they were, Nkunda and Wamba each believed themselves to be worthy of the Presidency immediately – that each had fought for it, each deserved it, and that the rebuilding of the nation had to come before they could hold an election to resolve the dispute. As a result, Post-Bemba DRC appeared to be already on shaky ground, emboldening the remaining Loyalists. Fortunately, a temporary compromise leader was ultimately discovered. Moise Katumbi of Katanga had overseen refugee programs and was known more for aiding the displaced in his province thin for engaging in armed conflict with fellow Anti-Bembans. Needing a leader that would be acceptable to all factions, which were already beginning to rattle their sabers against one another, Katumbi agreed to serve as President until the country was stable enough to host free and fair elections….

– John J. Polonko Jr.’s All’s Fair: What War Makes Necessary, Hachette Book Group USA, 2017 edition



“…as you can see by the enthusiastic crowd behind me, people in this part of town are in a very festive mood as they celebrate their preferred candidate’s victory tonight… [snip] …This is also the city’s first election to use ranked-choice voting…”

– KDFW-TV, local news coverage, 5/12/2007 broadcast



Mayors of ARLINGTON (Texas)

1997-2003: Elzie Odom (I, b. 1929) – city’s first African-American mayor; former community activist and former postal worker; previously served on the city council from 1989 to 1997

1997: Tony Vann (I) and Craig Smith (I)

1999: Jerry Pikulinski (I)

2001: Lico Reyes (I), Don Higginbotham (I), Terry L. Harris (I) and Dimitra F. S. “Dee” Turner (I)

2003-2017: Dr. Robert Nance Cluck (R, b. 1939) – former OB-GYN physician and hospital administrator; retired

2003: Sheri Capehart (I)

2005: Jerry Pikulinski (I) and Stephen White (I)

2007: Chris Harris (R, 1948-2015) and Stephen Joe Lagwund White (I)

2009: Aaron Bickle (I), Lane M. Weston (I), Carl Oehler (I) and Carl Scrivner (I)

2011: David Allan Sampson (R, b. 1957)

2013: Jerry Pikulinski (I) and Didmus B. Banda (I)

2015: Corbett “Corby” Davidson (I, b. 1969)

2017-present: Diane Patrick (R, b. 1946) – previously served on the state Board of Education from 1992 to 1996 and in the state House from 2007 to 2015; incumbent

2017: Ruby Faye Woolridge (D), William Wade “Bill” Zedler (R, b. 1943) and Mark McGregor Shelton (R, b. 1956)

2019: Tony Dale Tinderholt (R, b. 1970), Ashton Stauffer (I) and Chris “Dobi” Dobson (I)

2021: Michael Glaspie Sr. (I), Marvin Sutton (R), Jim Ross (R), Dewayne T. Washington (I) and Cirilo “C. J.” Ocampo Jr. (I)

– clickopedia.co.usa, c. 7/4/2021



DEMOCRAT WINS WICHITA MAYOR RACE

…after defying polling in a stunning political upset in both tonight’s runoff and in the May 1 blanket primary, the African-American moderate will take office on June 1…

– The Lawrence Journal-World, Kansas newspaper, 5/15/2007



Mayors of WICHITA (Kansas)

1960-1961: 65) Levi Budd Rymph (I, 1901-1987) – former businessman; limited to a single, one-year term; the mayoral seat is officially non-partisan; later served in the state senate as a Republican

1961-1962: 66) Herbert Piper Lindsley (I, 1913-1991) – former insurance businessperson, former school board member, and former city commissioner

1962-1963: 67) Carl A. Bell, Jr. (I, 1922-2009) – opposed rising calls for the mayor’s seat to be popularly elected, believing it would lead to a rise in corruption

1963-1964: 68) Frank Russell Jump (I, 1895-2000) – former business owner and former city commissioner; praised for cooling racial tensions that were on the rise when he entered office; previously served as mayor from 1952 to 1953; city’s longest-lived mayor

1964-1965: 69) Vincent L. Bogart (I) – former attorney

1965-1966: 70) William D. Tarrant (I, 1929-1998) – previously served as a city commissioner from 1963 to 1967; later worked as a professor of journalism and as a columnist

1966-1967: 71) John S. Stevens (I) – former city council member

1967-1968: 72) Clarence Eldert Vollmer (I, 1897-1983) – previously worked in construction

1968-1969: 73) William D. Anderson Jr. (I, 1927-2019) – previously worked at a printing company; served on the city commission from 1965 to 1967; supported tax reform but failed to effectively implement long-lasting changes due to short time in office

1969-1970: 74) Donald Kirk “Don” Enoch (I, 1916-2010) – former businessman; previously served as a City Commissioner from 1967 to 1969 and again from 1970 to 1971; co-established the city’s Wichita River Festival, which had evolved from the 1969 waterfront celebrations of Wichita’s centennial

1970-1971: 75) A. Price Woodard Jr. (I, 1919-1986) – city’s first African-American mayor

1971-1972: 76) Jack H. Greene (I) – supported efforts to expand mayoral term limits from one year to either two years or four years

1972-1973: 77) Connie Ames Peters Kennard (I) – city’s first female mayor; previously served on the city commission from 1970 to 1972

1973-1974: 78) Glenn J. "Jack" Shanahan (I, 1923-2015) – previously worked for a law firm; previously served as the Chair of the city’s Metropolitan Transit Authority from 1967 to 1971 and on the city commission from 1971 to 1973 and again from 1974 to 1979; took a neutral stance on the 1973 city referendum to amend the power of city mayor and have it be a popularly elected position, which passed

1974-1975: 79) Garry L. Porter (I) – was the city’s last mayor to be elected by the city council (last “partially ceremonial” mayor); oversaw the city’s first mayoral election (two-tier blanket primary system)

1975-1979: 80) David Hamilton Koch (R, 1940-2019) – city’s first popularly elected mayor; wealthy businessman; founded the Wichita office of his brother Charles’ company, Koch Industries; accused by political opponents of having “bought” the election due to using his personal wealth to self-fund the race and outspent to runoff opponent 5-to-1; failed to override and legally challenge a veto-proof city council motion to “cap” spending on all city-wide elections in 1978; cut taxes and repealed victimless crime laws; lost re-election amid a noticeable decline in the quality of the city’s services; became president of Koch Engineering in 1979 and co-owner of Koch Industries in 1983; later spent over $100 million in a failed bid to oppose the re-election of President Jesse Jackson; lost millions in the Unlucky Recession of 2013

1975 (primary): Connie Ames Peters Kennard (I), William D. Anderson Jr. (R) and Antonio F. "Tony" Casado (I)
1975 (runoff): Connie Ames Peters Kennard (I)

1979-1987: 81) Robert G. “Bob” Knight (R, b. 1941) – former investment banker; previously served on the city council from 1975 to 1979; backed populist policies; notably clashed on occasion with US Senator Robert Joseph “Bob” Dole (R-KS) over the extent of federal farm aid despite endorsing Dole’s 1980, 1988, and 1992 Presidential campaigns; term-limited

1979 (primary): Robert C. Brown (I) and Sheldon Kamen (I)
1979 (runoff): Robert C. Brown (I)

1983 (primary): Margalee Wright (I)
1983 (runoff): not held; unnecessary due to Knight receiving over 50% in the first round

1987-1995: 82) Elma Broadfoot (R) – previously served on the city council; city’s first popularly-elected female mayor; term-limited

1987 (primary): Antonio F. “Tony” Casado (I) and Sheldon Kamen (I)
1987 (runoff): Tony Casado (I)

1991 (primary): William J. Maley (R), Sheldon Kamen (I) and Frank M. Ojile (I)
1991 (runoff): William J. Maley (R)

1995-2003: 83) Robert G. “Bob” Knight (R, b. 1941) – served on the city council again, from 1987 to 1995; term-limited; unsuccessfully ran for Governor in 2002 and again in 2006

1995 (primary): Jonathan Wells (D, 1928-2012) and Keith W. Koby (R)
1995 (runoff): Jonathan Wells (D)

1999 (primary): Carl Kramer (Liberty, b. 1960)
1999 (runoff): not held; unnecessary due to Knight receiving over 50% in the first round

2003-2007: 84) C. Howard Wilkins Jr. (R, 1938-2016) – former businessman and political fundraiser; managed several Pizza Hut franchises across Appalachia during the 1960s and 1970s before entering politics in the 1980s; served as the US Ambassador to the Netherlands from 1993 to 1997; lost re-election

2003 (primary): Carlos Mayans (R, b. 1948) and Mario Goico (R, b. 1945)
2003 (runoff): Carlos Mayans (R)

2007-2015 M. Lee Pelton (D, b. 1950) – city’s first popularly elected African-American mayor; former academic; previously worked as President of Willamette University from 1998 to 2005; term-limited; unsuccessfully ran for Governor in 2018; President and CEO of the Boston Foundation since 2021

2007 (primary): C. Howard Wilkins Jr. (R), Mario Goico (R), Carl Brewer (D, b. 1957), Jane Knight (I) and Joan Cole (I)
2007 (runoff): C. Howard Wilkins Jr. (R)

2011 (primary): Bob Knight (R), Mark S. Gietzen (R) and Joan Cole (I)
2011 (runoff): Bob Knight (R)

2015-present Sheila Colleen Bair (R, b. 1954) – former head counsel of the staff of US Senator Robert Joseph “Bob” Dole (R-KS); previously served as Chair of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 1993 to 1995, as the US Assistant Secretary of the Treasury of Financial Institutions from 1995 to 2001, and in the state senate from 2005 to 2015; received praise for her actions during the Unlucky Recession of 2013; incumbent

2015 (primary): Jennifer Winn (D), Marjorie Hitchcock (I) and Darrel E. Leffew (I) and Paul Rhodes (I)
2015 (runoff): Jennifer Winn (D)

2019 (primary): Amy Lyon (D), Mark S. Gietzen (R) and Samuel M. Williams (R)
2019 (runoff): Amy Lyon (D)

– clickopedia.co.usa, c. 7/4/2021



FORMER PRESIDENT DINGER PRAISES PRESIDENT JACKSON’S NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT ACTIONS

…Dinger dismantled 1,500 nuclear weapons during his five years and eight months in office. The former Commander-in-Chief is urging the President and state legislatures to create and then ratify an international treaty that would prohibit all signatories from possessing nuclear weapons, saying in the radio interview “these weapons are too destructive to serve any purpose in any war. We saw how many innocent women and children were unnecessarily killed in Japan by just two of the earliest versions of them, so we cannot feign ignorance on this.” In the interview, the former Commander-in-Chief also expressed being “disappointed” by the lack of pro-nuclear disarmament rhetoric in the recent GOP Presidential primary debate…

The Chicago Tribune, 5/17/2007



…McCartney’s 2007 album was dubbed “Paul McCartney Goes Too Far!” In John and Paul’s decades-long turbulent relationship, repeatedly alternating between camaraderie and fighting, none of their collaborative albums were quite like this one. Lennon and Paul spent over two years on its content, with Ringo contributing in much smaller doses. Hosting a wide selection of genres, this album had tributes to the Ambient Rock and Razor Rock styles of the 1960s and 1970s as well as the British Boy Band sounds of the 1990s. This album proved to be a financial hit, with the one song from it, “Good To Know,” becoming a particularly popular in the states with its catchy tune and simple lyrics...

– Pat Sheffield’s Dreams, Reality, and Music: The Love Story of One Band and the Whole Entire World, Tumbleweed Publications, 2020 edition



Unfortunately, House Speaker McMaster’s calls for anti-corruption investigations into the Jackson White House received fodder a few months later. On May 18, 2007, the President’s official Chief Domestic Policy Advisor, Nativo Lopez, had to step down over an ethics scandal. Nativo Lopez, the only member of Jackson’s White House to be member of the regional La Rasa Unica party, was immigrant rights advocate, Latin American immigrant community service organizer, and former National President of the Mexican American Political Association. From his post of CDPA, he favored and encouraged the use of bilingual petitions, ballots, street signs, and other materials across the US.

In May 2007, the LAPD charged Lopez with two felonious counts of voter fraud. During the 2004 general election, Lopez was living in Orange County, LA, California, but cast his ballot for president from the polling place near his MAPA regional office headquarters in the neighboring LA County; additionally, Lopez had in late September cast a Presidential ballot via mail while living in New York until moving beck to LA in late October.

It did not matter to McMaster that Lopez claimed he mistakenly voted twice due to exhaustion from the campaign causing him to completely forget that he had already voted before. The scandal had broken out, and McMaster, smelling blood in the water, saw it as the perfect opportunity to misuse the House judiciary committee by launching another in indigestion into the Jackson White House. The scandal seemed to vindicate McMaster’s belief that the White House harbored scandals, and this image was a crisis for Jackson’s image consultants…

– Nancy Skelton and Bob Faw’s Thunder In America: A Chronology of The Jesse Jackson White House, Texas Monthly Press, 2016



“NOBODY’S WATCHING” CONCLUDES AFTER TWO LACKLUSTER SEASONS

…written by Bill Lawrence and Garrett Donovan, the dramedy series was about making a TV series. The “show-within-a-show” framing device was complicated, and audience found the pilot episode confusing, resulting in the show’s premise being “cleaned up” in a “second pilot” that suggested that the first pilot was, essentially, “just a dream.” However, Lawrence and Donovan introduced more complicated plot ideas into the second season, again causing viewers, unable to keep track of its plots and characters, to tune out...

– tvguide.co.usa, 5/21/2007



STILL SHOCKED BY SON’S DEATH, JON HUNTSMAN SR. RULES OUT WHITE HOUSE BID

– The Desert News, Utah newspaper, 5/24/2007



WEST WING CONCLUDES GRACEFULLY

After eight seasons of watching President Jolene Davenport and her inner circle tackle a host of dramatic conflicts and at-times comic misadventures with depth and mirth, fans of Aaron Sorkin’s celebrated political series must have felt sadness but satisfaction at the show’s succinct finale yesterday evening. …Passionate about the series since it began airing in September 1999, Sorkin wrote every episode of Seasons 1-through-7. Sorkin left the show upon Davenport leaving office at the end of season seven in April 2006, believing the series had reached its natural conclusion. However, the network decided to renew The West Wing for another season in May 2006, and brought in a new writing and directing team, and a cast shake-up, to take the show “in a new direction for the new administration.” Unfortunately for the more diehard fans of the series, the eighth season just didn’t have that unique style and charm that poured out from Sorkin’s scripts. Not even the exceptional acting of Richard Schiff, portraying the new main character and new US President (Chief-of-Staff–turned–Davenport’s-second-VP, Harold “Harry” R. Goldsmith, clearly modeled off VP Wellstone), could prevent the noticeable drop in ratings over the past year. With the network agreeing to not renew The West Wing for a ninth season, the series finale concluded on the anniversary of the first year of President Goldsmith, with only a hint of more drama being in store for the President and his inner circle...

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– usarightnow.co.usa/pop-culture, 5/27/2007 e-article



ARNOLD SMASH! “THE HULK” DOMINATES BOX OFFICE DESITE LUKEWARM CRITIC RESPONSES

…The latest comic book character to make it onto the big screen has won over moviegoers with its impressive special effects and action-packed fight, chase, and punch sequences, even if the character development is lacking, the plot is simple, and the dialogue, though stuffed with witty Arnold-esque phrases, is relatively rudimentary. “The Hulk,” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as the hero, has remained strong at the box office since its Memorial Day premier two days ago…

Variety, TV/film review section, 5/29/2007



…Both crew and passengers of “commercial” (privately-owned) aircraft were called “aviators” in early years of air travel. For outer space, people who are willing to pay to travel to space are either called “passengers” or “space tourists,” or, if involved in projects on board in any way, “civilian astronaut.” Part of the allure of commercial space flight, a phenomenon that is beginning to gain the attention of wealthy donors and of very wealthy members of the elite, is being able to call oneself an astronaut, not a passenger. Perhaps these astronomical terms will evolve as humankind shifts from landmark endeavors, like one year in space or a large trip to Mars, to more regular, more common, more readily available/fiscally affordable forms of space travel. A compromise for the names for the time being, however, is currently being suggested: “astronauts” for passengers, and “professional astronauts” for crewmembers…

– scientificamerican.co.usa, 6/2/2017 e-article



MOTHER-POST by @ProudNewJerseyMan: Anyone Else Spotting Self-Driving Trucks On The Roads?

I commute to work on The Turnpike, so long-haul tractor trailers are a common sight. The other day I was in a traffic jam and noticed this larger transport truck next to me had a guy in the passenger seat looking at his lar phone and nobody behind the wheel! Naturally, I freaked out before thinking that maybe he was in the cabin part in the back, or had simply stepped out, and I couldn’t see him, but then I saw a label on the door saying it was an “auto-auto,” an autonomous vehicle – a self-driving truck!

When did these things show up? How are they street legal? What is going on?!

>REPLY 1:
They’ve been around for only a few years, mostly in California, though. They’re not street legal, not yet anyway. What you probably saw was one being street-tested with some kind of permission, to see how well it performs in congested traffic.

>REPLY 2:
I live near Silicon Valley, and yeah, they’re real, and they are way more commonly found out here. Strange it was on a highway – they’re usually driven around side streets and in parking lots around here.
>REPLY 1 to REPLY 2:
I want to say that robot cars are cool, but the high number of antennas, cameras and sensors sticking out from them look ridiculous! If one of them isn’t called “the porcupine,” like the robot version of a dodge ram, I’ll be very disappointed!
>REPLY 2 to REPLY 2:
Robot trucks? But I’m still waiting on flying cars!
>REPLY 1 to REPLY 2 to REPLY 2:
We already have those – they’re called airplanes!

>REPLY 3:
I’ve heard of these things, but I’ve never actually seen one. Apparently, we’ve reached that level of technology where car companies are beginning to experiment with self-driving, or at least partially-autonomous vehicles. Cool thing to spot on the road, dude!
>REPLY 1 to REPLY 3:
The Future Is Now!

>REPLY 4:
What in the heck is a lar phone?
>REPLY 1 to REPLY 4:
Uh, hello? It’s short for cellular phone – cellular phone, get it? Get with the times, old man!
>REPLY 1 to REPLY 1 to REPLY 4:
I’m 32
>REPLY 1 to REPLY 1 to REPLY 1 to REPLY 4:
And to a highschooler, that’s old!

– euphoria.co.usa, a public pop-culture news-sharing and chat-forum-hosting netsite, 6/4/2007 posting



…The thwarting of political opponents from coalition-building during his national legislative years was one thing, but his crackdowns as President were another matter. In the U.T., the Law on Political Parties ensures the right to hold meetings, distribute publications and hold primary elections and conventions for all registered parties with at least 1 registered member living in each seat district of the National Gathering. One of the first major reform efforts undertaken by Karimov was to have all political parties based entirely or almost entirely on ethnic, religious, military or subversive ideas/ideologies prohibited, essentially cracking down on single-issue political organizations.

Meanwhile, with the assistance of his allies in the N.G., Karimov passed the Campaign Finance Reform Law, a law that did little financial reform and instead buried the lead deeper than a pirate buries treasure – the law made it so that in future elections, unmarked ballots would be automatically voted “yes” votes for the incumbent, and anti-incumbent votes would be considered void if they were not fully filled in or imperfect in other ways. This clear attempt to rig the country’s elections in favor of his incumbent allies was merely a precursor to his administration’s efforts to crack down on individual rights and religious freedoms in a crisis threatened the unity of the country.

[snip]

Karimov’s influence over the National Tethering was attributed to his years of gathering “dirt and dues” on his fellow national legislators, calling in favors and blackmailing district seat holders in an upending of the National Gathering.

It did not help that Karimov was still quite popular in his home nation-state of Uzbekistan, at least at the start of his Presidency. Because of this, his support was fairly lopsided when compared to how United Turkistan’s population was distributed:

Turkmenistan – pop: 6,031,000 (9.3%) = 94 seats in the National Gathering

Kyrgyzstan – pop: 6,548,000 (10.1%) = 101 seats in the National Gathering

Uzbekistan – pop: 33,456,000 (51.6%) = 516 seats in the National Gathering

Kazakhstan – pop: 18,777,000 (29.0%) = 290 seats in the National Gathering

The country’s total population was 64,812,000, with the National Gathering consisting of 1001 Members. This meant that there was 1 NGMs for every 64,747 citizens. Uzbekistan hosting a majority of the country’s populace was the reason behind the constitution requiring that 2/3rds of all NGM support was needed to pass anything in the NG, practically without exception. This meant that most of the aforementioned NGMs that were intimidated by Karimov into allying with him were from the three other nation-states…

[snip]

Karimov’s foreign policy was aloof. More “shut in” and “inwardly focused,” Karimov rarely took foreign trips or hosted foreign officials visiting the UT. Karimov only cautiously maintained relations with Russia and Iran in order to maintain oil and gas supply deals; however, he remained wary of Russia due to their “colonialistic past” and of Iran due to that nation being an alleged puppet of the US, and thus a part of “the American agenda,” an intermittent term of Karimov’s that had a very vague definition.

– Ke Wang’s Turkestanis Unite!: The Rise And Execution of An Idea, Cambridge University Press, 2013



SCIENTISTS MAKE BREAKTHROUGH WITH ISFV RESEARCH; Patient Achieving Remission After Stem Cell Transplant Could Be Key To Cure

…researchers may have come one step closer to finding a cure for the Immunity Systems Failure Virus that has haunted the BLUTAGO community since the 1980s. An ISFV-positive patient in Italy has been essentially “cleared” of the virus after years of treatment for both this disease and for lymphoma…

Associated Press, 6/18/2007



SID BASS BEGINS TENURE AS DISNEY CEO WITH OLIVE BRANCHES AND EYES ON INTERNATIONAL MARKETS

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…After the lengthy administration of Franklin Wells (who served from 1984 to 1999) and the externally prosperous but internally tumultuous reign of Jeff Katzenberg (who had been serving since 1999), Sid Bass is looking to appeal to both stockholders and Disney Animation Artists by greenlighting projects based on folk stories that are lesser-known in the US but could be highly profitable in both domestic and foreign markets…

– thehollywoodreporter.co.usa, 6/23/2007 e-article



THE ULTIMATE FROZEN CHICKEN? A Look Into The Inner Workings of The World’s Loneliest Fast Food Outlet

…As I scout on ahead to the only spot of human civilization for 1.9 miles, I finally see the lights emanating from behind a large hill. The beacon’s beams are not steady, for the freezing blasts of icy wind interrupt the flow of light and energy to make ribbons of yellow, gold, red and white dance across the dark azure sky. I crest the hill and smile at the welcoming sight. I’m certain that if it weren’t for the fact that my nose is frozen, I would be smelling in the wafting aroma of a fresh batch of wings.

This is McMurdo Station, a US research station on the shore of McMurdo Sound. It is the largest community on the continent, capable of supporting over 1,100 residents. location of the sole outlet of Kentucky Fried Chicken in all of Antarctica.

In June 2005, KFC’s parent company, Finger Lickin’ Good, Inc., managed to successfully franchise KFC to the scientist cafeteria at this American scientific research base in Antarctica, making KFC the first franchise to open an outlet on every single continent – and, quite possibly, the sole outlet to ever do so, as there is a vague but growing movement to have business ventures banned from Antarctica.

This remote branch of Kentucky Fried Chicken opened two years ago, on June 30, 2007, but it is not open as often as other locations. In fact, due to the local climate conditions and the limited number of possible customers – anyone working at the base – this is the one KFC outlet where they serve Sunday dinner only three days a week most of the year. During the warmest months (January and December), the cafeteria’s outlet is open five days a week, and during the coldest months of the year (June and July), the custom pressure-fryer is only used on Sunday.

I meet Henry Siwiak as he exits the Chapel of the Snows, an interfaith church holding regular services year-round as the second southernmost religious building on this planet. It is a Sunday in July, and the temperature outside is staying steady at negative 2 degrees Fahrenheit. Born in Krakow, Poland in 1955, Siwiak moved to the US at the end of the Cold War, working various jobs to support his family while slowly learning the English language. It is his pursuit of the paycheck to do right by his family that has led to him frying chicken in Antarctica.

“I have had worse jobs,” he shrugs as best he can in his thick layers of clothing. At the moment, though, his main complaint is not the distance between himself and his wife and children, or the freezing cold, but instead the limitations of international preservation law. “I’m a good hunter, but I can’t hunt a thing.”

Indeed, the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 dictates that nothing originating from the continent can be consumed—so no fishing, no hunting for seals or any other wildlife, and no foraging—not that anything can grow in such extreme conditions. This, combined with the fact that shipping to such a remote area can be incredibly challenging, means that McMurdo’s inhabitants, who total about one thousand in summer, and 150 in winter (and who must pass stringent physical, dental, and psychological evaluations), rely fully on deliveries and are limited in what they can eat. Once a year during the Southern Hemisphere’s summer season—usually around the last two weeks in January—a vessel from Port Hueneme, CA, delivers enough food for the entire year, consisting of both dried and frozen food.

“The ships come in. Hundreds of pounds each crate. All food. Hundreds and hundreds of pounds of fool. All frozen. They give the food, they take away trash and broken things. Broken equipment. Junk. Junk and garbage.”

“So how does KFC serve fresh chicken?” I ask Siwiak as we enter the cafeteria and approach the pressure fryer station. Siwiak and five other workers are on KFC’s payroll. Their salaries match those of the company’s workers employed at any food court in the US, dollar to dollar.

“Not always fresh. But always cooked very good. Finger Lickin’ Good, yes?”

KFC-Antarctica can only sell fresh chicken during the warmer months of the year because fresh food is a luxurious commodity in Antarctica. “During the summer, we receive fresh food called ‘freshies’ on planes from Christchurch, New Zealand, with dairy, fresh fruit and vegetables, and eggs. If the weather is good and the planes come on time, we’ll usually receive an order once a week, though sometimes it will be delayed or cancelled. During December and January, we usually don’t get fresh food unless there’s a little extra room on the plane—and of course, in the food budget as well,” explains the General Manager of the outlet. Because the station is always stocked with sufficient food supplies, whether fresh or not, any passengers or needs related to science and research take precedence over food when there’s any extra room on the planes carrying shipments to the station.

[snip]

Antarctica’s environment is extremely sensitive, so disposal of waste is carefully regulated as well. “There’s a matrix we must follow when disposing of trash, which is vital to keeping everything in check,” the General Manager explains. “Food waste must be double-bagged and can’t be mixed with any other garbage. We have some items that are strictly for landfill—they can’t be recycled and there must not be any food in them. So much importation means that we must monitor if any insects or other outside species arrive in the food that could contaminate the environment as well. If we do find anything, the environmental department is called so they can log this information and appropriately dispose of it.” [7] KFC the company has continuously emphasized this aspect in press release after press release, with the company’s CEO defending the outlet’s existence in interviews and the company even managing to get celebrity actors such as Leo DiCaprio to be in commercials meant to placate eco-activists and end their criticisms.

But with such a small number of customers each fiscal quarter, are the environmentally conscious opponents right – should this franchise remain in operation?

“This job is good for my family,” says Siwiek. “My children are going to college because of KFC. I have a job. I make food money being here. Nobody else wanted this job. You want this job? No. That’s why they pay me a lot. And it good food. I make it great. And everything done right. All clean, everyone careful.” He then asks, in a very wise manner, “So what is the problem?”

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Above: me (foreground, bottom left-hand corner) at McMurdo Base

– National Geographic, June 2009 issue



IOC Session No. 119
Date: July 6, 2007
Location: Copenhagen

Subject 1 of 1: Bidding For Hosting The 8/29/2012-9/9/2012 (or XIV) Summer Olympics

A “special” session was held after the South African delegation at the 117th IOC Session was found to have bribed their way into getting Cape Town the 2012 Olympic Games, prompting their hosting duties to be rescinded and the games left without a host country. This session thus found a replacement host country.

Voting Results:
Tehran, Iran – 57 (Round 1) – 67 (Round 2)
N.Y.C., U.S. – 34 (Round 1) – 36 (Round 2)
Sydney, Australia – 10 (Round 1)
Nairobi, Kenya – 2 (Round 1)

End Result: Tehran won on the second round

– aldaver.co.usa/votes.html



LIST OF PRIME MINISTERS OF ITALY

[snip]

1960-1963: ((32)) Amintore Fanfani (Christian Democracy) – supported the US side of the Cuba War in spite of continuous youth protests

1963-1963: 37) Giovanni Leone (CD) – the 1963 general election saw Palmiro Togliatti (Communist) and Pietro Nenni (Socialist) perform better than expected

1963-1965: 38) Aldo Moro (CD) – his poor handling of domestic issues, especially the Salad Oil Recession, led to him losing support within the party

1965-1969: (37)) Giovanni Leone (CD) – lost dominant party support

1969-1975: 39) Benigno Zaccagnini (CD) – assassinated by a far-right activist for compromising with the Socialist party on welfare reform legislation

1975-1978: (38)) Aldo Moro (CD) – the party lost control as the country re-entered recession weeks before the 1978 general election

1978-1985: 40) Francesco De Martino (United Socialist) – deficit spending on social welfare programs and public works projects ended two decades of unrest

1985-1987: (38)) Aldo Moro (CD) – lost re-election as several CD party members fell to the Second Ark Wave of sexual pestering scandals

1987-1991: (40)) Francesco De Martino (US) – retired due to declining health

1991-1992: 41) Ottaviano Del Turco (US) – failed to keep the Socialist parties allied

1992-1992: 42) Pierre Carniti (Independent) – essentially, a “caretaker” PM

1992-1999: 43) Arnaldo Forlani (CD) – party lost in the 1999 general election

1999-2004: 44) Gianfranco Fini (Conservative National Alliance) – party lost in the (December) 2004 general election

2004-2005: 45) Gianni De Michelis (New Socialist Alliance, but officially Independent) – served for just six months; party lost in the 2005 general election

2005-present: (44)) Gianfranco Fini (CNA) – the incumbent

– knowledgepolitics.co.usa, c. July 2007



FREDDIE MERCURY: A lot of people think I’m this pompous snob because I don’t do interviews that often, but, the thing is, I just don’t like talking to people I don’t really know. [8]

INTERVIEWER: And for that reason, I’m very thankful for this little sit-down.

MERCURY: You’re welcome, then.

INTERVIEWER: Heh, now, um, first off, you both look great.

EMINEM: Thanks, you don’t look too bad yourself.

MERCURY: Don’t be blind, Em, she’s beautiful.

INTERVIEWER: Oh, you. Heh-heh! Um, now, uh, about this album you worked on with Eminem.

EMINEM: Ah, yeah, The Collab – “Problems For Your Answers.” That was a big project, wasn’t it?

MERCURY: I thought she was supposed to ask something like that.

INTERVIEWER: (slight chuckle) Well, actually, I was going to ask about the inspiration behind it.

MERCURY: Well, I don’t like to stay in one place for too long, I like to try new things. I love the challenge of trying out new kinds of music, of new genres [8]. Like “Hot Space” and “Night Flight,” those were new things.

EMINEM: You like to keep it fresh.

MERCURY: Fresh? I guess, but I’m not a bloody fridge.

EMINEM: I mean you keep it real.

MERCURY: Well I can’t ‘keep it fake.’ That’s not even possible when you do what you love. And, dearie, to answer your question, what I love to do is try new things, so when Eminem suggested we try to make a song together I rose to the challenge. Because this man, boy, does he love his lyrics. So many rhymes, it’s very impressive.

INTERVIEWER: But I wasn’t just one song in the end.

EMINEM: No, the original collaboration piece, uh, “Gospel For Ascension In Nevada,” that was a big song, and the first draft of the lyrics, it was this monstrosity, like three Bohemian Rhapsodies, so we sliced it up and expanded those parts into all these other songs. “Tidal Love,” “Briefly God, “Dream of Timing,” those three all came out of “PFYA.”

MERCURY: “Living For My Doorway Nerves” and "Monteverdi's Output" were more of my own at the start of things, though.

EMINEM: Yeah, and “Flamboyant Beef” was, like, I want to say, uh –

MERCURY: 50/50?

EMINEM: Yeah, exactly. But “Fade Your Dark Craft” was my idea at, like, the beginning.

MERCURY: Oh, definitely. That one’s somewhat similar, just a tad, um, to “Sing for the Moment.” One of your best songs, by the way, chap.

EMINEM: I know it is.

INTERVIEWER: Well many have compared “Briefly God” to Queen’s more gospel-influenced songs.

MERCURY: I don’t know, I think it’s more upbeat, a different tempo.

EMINEM: But it is dramatic. It’s kind of got some inspiration clearly pulled from Innuendo and Stan, too.

MERCURY: If you really think so, sure.

INTERVIEWER: And the rest of Queen were not involved in the project because…

MERCURY: Now they seemed curious at first, but when I asked them if they wanted to join in, they said to me, basically, “This is your thing,” mine and his. But a part of me – the part of me that’s usually right – that part of me thinks they just didn’t think they could keep up with us. We were working like mad men, caught up in the moment, which turned out to be most of the summer, in fact.

[snip]

MERCURY: I’ve gotten very mature from then. I look back at times on my younger self and my younger work and I think, “Good God, how could I have done that?” You know, everyone grows out of their younger self. And you’ll grow out of your current you. You evolve. [8]

EMINEM: Like a Pokémon.

MERCURY: Now that is a good whatever-it-is. What, a game, a show? That whole experience of it!

INTERVIEWER: Oh! Are you a fan of Pokémon?

MERCURY: I’m poke-curious.

[snip]

INTERVIEWER: Now, another thing I want to ask: Freddie, I think everyone knows by now that you usually don’t spend much time, uh, hanging out with the other members of Queen.

MERCURY: That’s right, I socialize with them now and again, but our differences outside of music, uh, they’re too different. I like opera, they don’t. [8] Basically, I like them and they like me, but only in small does. They can’t take all of me for too long. Too much of a good thing, I guess.

INTERVIEWER: Yes, but Eminem, have you hung out with Queen outside the recording booth, and with Freddie, too, same thing?

EMINEM: Uh, yes and no. I mean, the rest of Queen and I, we’re not having sleepovers.

MERCURY: (sarcastic) What, not yet?

EMINEM: Eh-heh, but yeah, they’re great and all, and I’ve hung out with them, yeah, from time to time. But with Freddie, not so much. I don’t like opera as much as he does.

MERCURY: And he has some interests I don’t find all that great. But, eh. That’s his bag. [8] To each his own, and, uh, that stuff’s his own, I suppose.

[snip]

INTERVIEWER: What did you think of The Scene That Celebrates Itself?

EMINEM: That bygone era from the 1990s. It was great for artists trying to make it big, but only if you could get into the scene. Great for those already established, you know, being able to take a break from the rivals and competition and instead focus way more on the music.

MERCURY: I remember reading once about something in American history called The Era of Good Feelings. It was something like that, but for bands, especially UK-based groups. The truth is, dear, that every artist steals from other artists whether they know it or not. Of course, they don’t go around listening to hours of other people’s music, plucking out bits they like, of course not, but similar songs tend to happen naturally. [8] And that era was just everyone allowing each other to rip each other off, and, uh, but it – that, uh, that sort of collaboration was, I think, a very good thing while it lasted.

– Tumbleweed TV, 7/12/2007 interview [9]



…And in multinational news, the International Olympics Committee has awarded the growing city of Erzurum, the coldest city in the nation of Turkey, with the right to host the 2014 Winter Olympics…

– The Overmyer Network, 7/15/2007 broadcast



…A supermajority is needed in both chambers of congress to override a President’s veto on a bill as well. Because the GOP had a majority, but not a supermajority, in the House and was not control of the Senate chamber, House Speaker McMaster and House Committee Chairs responded to the Senate and the President by trying to hold up as much Democrat-led legislation as possible until the other side of the aisle agreed to conservative bill, or negotiated a compromise bill. This tactic did not always work. For example, in July 2007, just before the House summer recess, McMaster’s allies held up a Democrat-authored bill to expand key aspects of the 1990 UHC bill. In exchange for allowing a watered-down version of the bill to pass, Republicans wanted the Senate to hold additional hearings and investigations into the government’s handling of the SARS pandemic. The Democratic party refused, and the bill died in committee...

– researcher Brenda J. Hargis’ Emboldening: The Jesse Jackson Presidency, Sunrise Publications, 2017



MULTINATIONAL EFFORT LEADS TO WATER SANITATION TECH BREAKTHROUGH

…A team of scientists, researchers and analysts working in four countries – Israel, Egypt, Guinea-Bissau and the UK – have announced the successful testing of a “humidifier pump” the team believes could be “a game-changer in the fight against” water scarcity. Aiming to utilize the latest in water sanitation and humidification technology, the experimental pump has demonstrated the ability to absorb and sanitize water vapor in trials held in southern Egypt. The team hopes to use such pumps to sanitize contaminated bodies of water in the near future...

…As nearly 1 billion people live in areas of water scarcity, solutions span across the subjects of policy, technology, and necessary behavioral changes. Together with UK scientists, developers in Israel and the rising tech hub of Guinea-Bissau also field-tested in Egypt experimental “coffee filter”-like eco-paper that can be used to purify drinking water, reducing 99.9% of bacteria. “Any tools meant to sanitize water need to be affordable and useable in the affected areas,” says one team member... Improving education concerning how to keep water sources sanitary is currently the primary focus of humanitarian organizations worried about water scarcity, as enhancing air humidifiers are thought to currently be impractical for “parched” (low humidity) parts of the world. Others, however, are hopeful that new water well technology will improve the global situation. “The real ironic thing of it,” says one UK researcher, “is that in Sub-Saharan Africa, groundwater is typically 20 meters below the surface. It’s right there! But, because of poor infrastructure and unstable governments, access to it is very limited.”…

– scientificamerican.co.usa, 7/19/2007 e-news article



…With endorsements ranging from popular celebrities like Donovan Bailey to popular politicians like Deputy Prime Minister Gerard Michael Kennedy, the “stay” vote is currently ahead by 10% in most polls. With just over a month left before the people of Quebec vote on a sovereignty referendum…again.

Despite one being held eight years ago, the closeness of the 1999 Quebec Independence Referendum led to accusations of voter fraud that have only grown in recent years, fueled by the rhetoric of controversial individuals such as former Quebec Parti leader Lucien Bouchard, former PM Paul Hellyer, and many of their supporters. As a result, McTeer reluctantly approved of another vote to be held. However, if the current polls are anything to go by, than this upcoming referendum’s margin of victory for the “stay” vote will be even wider than it was in 1999 (which was 52.7% “no,” 47.3% “yes”)...

The Vancouver Sun, Canadian newspaper, 7/21/2007



KFC BLOWS AWAY EARNINGS EXPECTATIONS FOR 2ND FISCAL QUARTER: Consumers Buy Up Limited-Time-Only Triple-Decker Chicken Sandwiches

– Business Weekly, late July 2007 issue



GOP HOUSE COMMITTEE’S RESEARCHERS DISCOVER U.S.’S SARS DEATH COUNT WAS POSSIBLY AN “OVERESTIMATE”

…Investigations to see if the Jackson administration downplayed the number of Americans killed by SARS at the start of the decade has led to an unexpected backfiring. The “independent” researchers the GOP selected for the investigations today announced their claim that the total number of American lives lost in the pandemic may have erroneously included elderly patients who passed away at the time with SARS-like symptoms but did not actually have the virus. This would mean that the US’s medical personnel and leaders did an even better performance than we thought they had done already…

– tumbleweed.co.usa, 8/7/2007 news e-article



The Forever War “mega-film” greenlit

…the epic is set to be three hours long and directed by Ridley Scott…

The Hollywood Reporter, 8/8/2007



CORRESPODENT: …Even typically apolitical people are getting involved in this referendum, especially on the “stay” side. Behind me is the Oswego Music Hall in Ontario, where Sir Gordon Lightfoot is currently performing the song “Nous Vivons Ensemble” after having spent years learning French during the 1990s ahead of the 1999 referendum.

[cut to interior of the music hall]

LIGHTFOOT (singing): We’ve got to stay together, we’ve got to find each other now, that is how, we can learn all about the other man’s song [10]

– CBC Television, Canadian TV news network, 8/11/2007 broadcast



8.0 EARTHQUAKE RATTLES PERU; Hundreds Dead, Thousands Injured!

The New York Times, 8/15/2007



…help poured in from the national governments, neighboring and far-way nations (especially the United States), all levels of the Peruvian private and public sectors, international NGOs, UN agencies, and international charities. The Peruvian military distributed aid, cleared debris in search of survivors, evacuated the wounded, and helped establish emergency shelters for those left temporarily homeless. However, the initial response lacked proper coordination and proved to be chaotic until Peru’s President took command of the situation, working with the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination team to provide technical assistance and advice to on-the-ground relief workers…

– clickopedia.co.usa



…For instance, when Peru was struck by a powerful earthquake on June 15, the House opposed the amount of relief Jackson initially wanted to send. Leaders of the House Budget Committees pointed to the fact that, during the past 20 months, America’s national surplus had diminished greatly since its high mark in early 2006. As a result, Jackson had to work quickly to shore up support for the earthquake funding, calling on liberal and moderates to pressure McMaster into compromising on a reduced level of funds. The argument lead to the US sending Peru charitable donations until the 21st, when the federal government finally contributed to the relief efforts…

– author A’Lelia Bundles’ Consequential: The Presidency of Jesse Jackson, Random House, 2015



QUEBEC VOTES TO STAY IN THE DOMINION, 58.4%-to-41.6%

…the substantial margin of victory for the “stay” vote is being described as a “crushing blow” for Lucien Bouchard, who was allegedly eyeing becoming the first head-of-state of an independent Quebec…

The Globe And Mail, Canadian newspaper, 8/25/2007



…At the beginning of Harley Brown’s term, many worried that a Governor with ties to biker gangs would lead to an increase in crime. To their surprise and relief, Brown routinely met with both biker leaders and law enforcers to discuss and implement strategies to curb crime rates in rural counties and urban centers. In his first year, Governor Brown managed to reform Idaho’s Department of Health and Welfare, albeit only slightly, as reforms were continually opposed by state congress and the department itself. Due to this gridlock, Brown decided against running for President in 2008, despite publicly expressing interest in doing repeatedly since his election in 2006…

– Bill O’Reilly’s Ascension from the Asphalt: The Harley Brown Story, Borders Books, 2011



“A HYPOCRIT OF THE HIGHEST ORDER”: P.R.C. Ex-Pat Claims Bo Xilai Is Corrupt – And He May Have Proof!

The Los Angeles Times, 8/30/2007



GREATLY OBSTINATE PARTY: With “Goetzite” Candidates Leading The Pack, Have Republicans Already Forgotten 2004?

…the landslide defeat of Senator Bernie Goetz has not discouraged several divisive populists from expressing interesting in running for President next year… young supporters of Bo Gritz, a freshman US Senator from Idaho, are eerily similar to Bernie Goetz’s “Bernie Bros,” from their near-identical demographics (low-income, non-college-educated, rural communities) to their negative presence on various netsites. Colonel James “Bo” Gritz, whose last name rhymes with “rights,” is a former Green Beret Commander who is one of several anti-establishment candidates hoping to win over Goetz’s base of supporters.

w01ZYvY.png


Above: US Senator Bo Gritz in 1999, burning a flag of the UN while promoting his book “Profiles In Conspiracy: From FDR to Bellamy”

Another one of such candidates is US Congressman Tommy Tancredo of Colorado, who has already been endorsed by white supremacist Don Black, activist and mental health law critic Byron Looper, and distinguished economist and banking millionaire R. Severin Fuld.

However, on the other side of the GOP political spectrum, increasingly away from the Country Conservative types, are the Colonel Conservative, Libertarian, and Moderate factions of the party, with nearly-all declared or potential candidates from said factions calling for a move away from Goetz’s negative lines of attack…

…With such a wide range of opposing thoughts and candidates [11], the Republican Party is in for a tense but interesting pre-primary campaign season in the weeks and months ahead…

Newsweek, late August 2005 issue



SOURCE(S)/NOTE(S):
[1] The italicized part(s) is/are from his OTL autobiography https://www.google.com/books/edition/Wellington_Webb/nYw_NaCgJuMC?hl=en&gbpv=0
[2] Based on a 2008 case from OTL!: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eben_Alexander_(author)
[3] OTL!: https://qz.com/866352/scientists-say-your-mind-isnt-confined-to-your-brain-or-even-your-body/
[4] This is an OTL phenomenon!: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazarus_syndrome
[5] Based on an OTL case!: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ne...ck-to-life-after-being-dead-for-17-hours.html
[6] I mentioned this in the August 1992 chapter, so this is like an update of that.
[7] Italicized segments are pulled from here: https://table.skift.com/2017/11/28/...ke-to-run-a-kitchen-in-the-middle-of-nowhere/
[8] Freddie Mercury really did say something similar to this in a 1994 interview with Lisa Robinson in 1984, found on youtube
[9] Credit is due to @Igeo654 for suggesting this bit
[10] OTL song: youtube.com/watch?v=OBujb_4bYP4

[11] Speaking of which, ahead of the 2008 Republican primaries, I made a preference poll for y’all: https://www.strawpoll.me/22453062
And here’s a quick breakdown of the 20 candidates (both declared and undeclared) found on the poll:

US Sen. Bob Barr of Georgia, age 60 – A supporter of small government, low taxes and individual freedom “within reason,” this libertarian-leaning conservative was a US Congressman from 1995 to 2003 and was elected to the Senate in 2002 despite opposing Jackson’s federal bailout measures that same year. He is one of many candidates who believe that the presumed 2008 Democratic nominee, Paul Wellstone, is vulnerable, after eight straight years of Democratic rule.

Fmr US Sen. Mario Biaggi of New York, age 91 – Some may consider it “sad” that the former frontrunner for the 1972 Democratic Presidential nomination has become a perennial candidate, but Biaggi sees himself in a different light, as the last true “law and order” politician in the US. Opposed to police precinct reform, the former Governor and former US Senator defiantly promises “I will keep on running until I win, dead or alive!” To sweeten the pot and win over voters concerned about his advanced age, he has announced that he wants his running mate to be his “co-president” in the White House. We’ll see if he gets any takers.

Pr. Mike Bickle of Missouri, age 53 – An Evangelical Christian pastor who founded the International House of Prayer in 1999 and has served as its leader ever since then, Bickle believes he can “best Jackson at his own game” and win over religious voters away from the Reverend President. Politically, he is even further to the right on both fiscal and social matter than is Meredith.

US Sen. Herman Cain of Georgia, age 53 – An experienced and accomplished fiscally-conservative businessman who served as the CEO of Finger Lickin’ Good, Inc. from early 2001 to late 2003 before being elected to the US Senate in 2004, Cain’s recent recovery from a severe health crisis would be a major talking point in the pre-primary season. The conservative African-American has stated that “after surviving Stage IV colon cancer, surviving a crowded primary will be easy,” touting his medical recovery in 2006, which was aided by an early diagnosis thanks to the benefits of being an incumbent US Senator. The chemotherapy lead to him developing a low voting attendance record despite remote-voting for Senators being allowed ever since the measure was allowed amid the SARS pandemic of 2002; this could also be a major talking point, along with his potentially-controversial 9-9-9 tax proposal.

US Rep. Billy J. Creech of North Carolina, age 65 – A US Congressman since 2003, a former state representative, and a former businessman, Creech opposes “the nanny state” and believes the federal government should “stay out of the worker-management relationship,” calling for tax breaks for small business owners and for “caps” on immigration. However, he supports raising farmer subsidies. He considers himself to be a “dark horse” candidate in this race who will catch on because "we need a fresh face in this race."

US Sen. Jim Edgar of Illinois, age 62 – A leading technocratic moderate centrist in a party still reeling from the 2004 defeat of a populist nominee, Edgar’s campaign’s central theme is restoring dignity to both the party and the White House. Considered one of the best Governors that the people of Illinois have had in decades, he is focusing less on social issues and more on fiscal issues such as pension funds, adjusting UHC costs to make the system more manageable, banking reform, insurance reform, and the “proper” distribution of taxes.

Fmr Gov. Jim Gilmore of Virginia, age 59 – Serving in office from 1998 to 2002, Gilmore plans to campaign on his record in office and “fill the Sensible Conservative void” in the party. A standard conservative on fiscal and social issues, he believes that mounting a grassroots campaign and exceeding expectations in the debates will improve his polling and fundraising numbers.

US Sen. James “Bo” Gritz of Idaho, age 70 – The isolationist and populist freshman US Senator is quite known for his attention-grabbing antics, whether it be a mock filibuster speech outside the US Capitol Building or feud with a celebrity on a technet forum. Utilizing public access stations and radio programs not affected by FCC changes to get out his campaign platform planks (which include opposing “the sinister plans of the EU,” calling for “investigations into SARS virus origin alternative theories,” and restarting the War on Recreadrugs, among other policies), Gritz (whose name rhymes with the Bill of Rights), is popular among former Goetz backers. Before entering the Senate, he was a state senator and then a US Congressman, and before that, served in the US Army Special Forces, fighting in wars in Indochina and Africa before retiring at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Gov. Antoinette “Toni” Jennings of Florida, age 59 – During her tenure as Governor, she has established term limits, supported NASA, and improved the state’s education quality. She rose to national prominence for her handling of Katrina and other hurricanes. She is running on a moderate, non-offensive business-friendly platform focused on improving education, restructuring tax law to benefit small and “growing” businesses, and continuing Jackson’s GCD policies while reversing his actions of several welfare programs.

Fmr Gov. Gary Earl Johnson of New Mexico, age 60 – The Mayor of Albuquerque from 1993 to 2001 and Governor from 2003 to 2007, Johnson is a former businessman best known legalizing pot at the local and then level, climbing Mount Everest in 2001, earning the nickname “Governor Veto” in his dedication to the philosophy of “minimum government, maximum freedom,” and being a critic of Bernie Goetz. Johnson’s libertarian campaign is focused on school voucher reform to improve education, and replacing the income tax and the IRS with a “FairTax,” a single consumption tax on retail sales.

Fmr US Amb. Alan Lee Keyes of Potomac, age 68 – The former diplomat who served in the past four Republican administrations has been serving as the Dean of The Columbus School of Law, the law school of the private Catholic University of America, located in Washington, D.C. Potomac, since late 2004. While’s never served an elected position, his wide range of administrative experience, his celebrated debate skills, and his “strong record” of taking conservative religion-based stances on social issues makes him believe that he can win over the GOP in the upcoming debates and primaries.

US Rep. Scott McCallum of Wisconsin, age 68 – A life-long politician and the current House Majority Whip, the moderate McCollum has serving in the House since 1985, and in that time has worked to pass laws defending private prisons, sunsetting outdated laws, adjusting income taxes for inflation, protecting the environment, and, most notable, supplying stimulus packages to disadvantaged Americans during the 2001-2004 global SARS pandemic. Nevertheless, he is mounting a pro-business campaign in support of a strong national defense and deregulation to promote technological entrepreneurship in the United States.

Fmr VP James H. Meredith of Mississippi, age 75 – Running once again, the former VP and former US Senator is running on a platform nearly identical to his 2004 platform, from his defending of the Constitution to his calls for investments into economic development and minority empowerment without raising taxes or infringing upon state and individual rights. This time, though, he’s mounting a more aggressive campaign to compete in a potentially-crowded field.

Gov. George Speaker Mickelson of South Dakota, age 67 – In office since 2003, Mickelson, a former US Congressman and former State Attorney General, has improved his state’s infrastructure and scholarship systems, raised the state’s minimum wage, and resolved South Dakota’s water sanitation issues. He’s running for President over agricultural concerns, promising jobs by improving the FJG program, and defending private prisons and police precincts, albeit “within reason,” stating that police should be well-funded but also should not use such funds to be “this militarized entity that does more harm than good.”

US Sen. Hillary Diane Rodham-Clinton of Tennessee, age 61 – A “Colonel Conservative” and former Governor, her pro-education and pro-stimulus checks record, anti-corruption bona fides and past pro-labor rhetoric all put her on the edge of being labelled a “moderate,” hence her recent pivot to the right via coming to the defense of police but not private prisons. Her candidacy, however, would mean having to give up running for a second Senatorial term in 2008, and with freshman US Congressman Dave Ramsey eyeing her seat, she is currently at a crossroads of sorts.

Gov. Ronna Eileen Romney of Michigan, age 65 – The sister-in-law of former Michigan Senator Mitt Romney, Ronna began her career as a campaign manager serving as Michigan’s Republican Party Chair and then Financial Committee Chair. After hosting a popular radio talk show for several years, she was elected Governor in 2002, and has since had a “mixed” tenure, failing to bring back as many jobs as she promised but succeeding in keeping several businesses from leaving. Despite this, her deep pockets and impressive war chest and political connections could make her a very formidable candidate.

US Sen. Olympia Jean Snowe of Maine, age 61 – The influential and “bipartisan” Greek-American legislator is a moderate centrist who has been attacked more than once by members of her own party for being too much of a “LID,” or “Liberal in Disguise.” Despite these criticisms, she believes that she can be a unifying candidate for the GOP, a party that she says “needs to heed the warning of 2004 and shift to the center and away from the far-right in order to stay competitive at the national level.” Snowe has already been endorsed by Bill Weld, who has opted to run for re-election to the US Senate instead of mounting a second White House bid of his own.

Gov. Lynn Curtis Swann of Pennsylvania, age 56 – The African-American former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver and broadcaster, who served as the Chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports from 1998 to 2001, successfully mounted a gubernatorial bid in 2002. He is running on his record as Governor – addressing mass transit and housing issues, and reforming property tax and environmentalism policies – but is shying away from his earlier support for police procedure reform.

US Rep. Tommy Tancredo of Colorado, age 63 – This life-long politician is giving up his House seat of ten years to mount a populist and constitutionalist campaign that is heavily anti-immigration in theme and tone, touting his decades long opposition to bilingual education, his support for strong national borders, and his being the first member of Congress to call for a complete border shutdown at the start of the SARS pandemic.

Gov. J. C. Watts Jr. of Oklahoma, age 51 – A Baptist minister and former quarterback for the Ottawa Rough Riders, this conservative African-American was inspired by Jesse Jackson to successfully run for Governor in 2002, having already served as a US Congressman from 1995 to 2003. He supports fracking and domestic oil production but has allowed solar and wind power projects in the states; despite being an interventionist and supporting Jackson’s intervention in the DRC, he’s been endorsed by the likes of Ron Paul and Bob Inglis. He is running as a younger, less controversial alternative to James H. Meredith.

Please vote!



The next chapter’s E.T.A.: November 26!

Wnglish? what is Wnglish?
Noted. Thanks for spotting that spelling error. I just went back and fixed it.
 
Last edited:
My vote goes to Olympia Snowe. It's time America had another female President in office. I say, Let it Snowe!
Oh god, just imagine all the potential snow joke headlines.
YOU KNOW NOTHING, PRESIDENT SNOWE: House Majority Leader criticises Pres. comments about struggling families

I could see Cain trying to play himself up as the next president Sanders or Iacocca with his ties to KFC before it backfires when people start realising how the company struggled under him
 
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