This morning I was horrified to read that the Chinese government is threatening to send two elderly women to reeducation camps for, get this, applying to hold a legal protest.

Yes. Two frail women in their seventies are being threatened with hard labor because they asked permission to criticize their government for seizing their homes and not compensating them.

Forget for a second that these women are old and frail and that their punishment, should it be given, is hard labor, which would be difficult and excruciating for even the young and healthy.

Check this link

In an unusual move, Hillary Clinton's staff is creating a 40-member "whip team" at the Denver Democratic convention to ensure that her supporters don't engage in embarrassing anti-Obama demonstrations during the floor vote on her nomination, according to people familiar with the planning.

The VP announcement is going to be happening before the convention. If Clinton was going to be the VP pick, then there is no way this whip team to control protestors would have been created.

► The Unites States defeated Brazil 1-0 in a brutal, ferocious overtime duel.

► Big Props to Goalie Hope Solo who pulled off one miraculous save after another.

USA! USA! USA!
USA! USA! USA!
USA! USA! USA!
USA! USA! USA!
USA! USA! USA!
USA! USA! USA!
USA! USA! USA!
USA! USA! USA!
USA! USA! USA!
USA! USA! USA!

Not really but he most certainly is not an "unknown quantity", he's only been under the microscope for the past 18 months, there is no way anyone can sincerely say that they don't know who Obama is.  Especially when they have us to share what we know of Barack Obama.   

Noun 1.    unknown quantity - a factor in a given situation whose bearing and importance is not apparent; "I don't know what the new man will do; he's still an unknown quantity"at we know of the man.

The Free Dictionary

Obama, everyone knows what John McCain did in a prison camp in Vietnam.  And everyone knows that because he has an (R) by his name, it is off-limits to question his military service (that only works if you have purple hearts and a D by your name).  But you don't have to bring it up everytime you talk about him.  In fact, you shouldn't, so stop.

This morning I was walking to work and reading the news on my phone when I came acrossed an article where Obama was hitting McCain on the economy.  I was excited to see the MSM picking up a major, substantive criticism of McCain.  But I was distressed by the quote from Obama.  He prefaced his criticism with "John McCain has served our country, no one questions....blah blah blah."

It's crystal clear. Obama needs a game changer and Hillary is it. No doubt in my mind.

Picking Hillary would strike the fear of God into the Republicans. She would immediately deliver half of the 20% of Dems who are holding out and, as the GOP base have already polarised like sheep around the most right wing candidate, there is very little downside.

Sure there are a few independents, who understandably won't be comfortable with it initially but ultimately Obama is the presidential candidate and Hillary will be his deputy.

If you're a woman who wants to preserve the right to make the most difficult choice you may have to make in your life, then Obama is your only option. If you're happy with a bunch of grey haired angry conservatives telling you that even if you get raped, you have to bear the baby to term then go ahead and vote for McCain because McCain has made it crystal clear that if he gets the chance to appoint a Supreme Court justice, Roe v Wade is dead and once Roe v Wade dies and a one day old embryo is considered to be a person, abortion will logically have to be banned in ALL circumstances. Fact. They will have police guarding the border to Canada with sonography equipment to prevent women crossing over for terminations. Welcome to a McCain presidency.

But it's not just hot button issues like abortion that are crucial indeed it's much bigger issues such as the economy. If you agree with Bush/McCain that tax cuts should go exclusively to the rich then please, vote for them. If you think tax cuts should go to the working and middle classes then Obama is your candidate and having Hillary as his deputy changes nothing.

The one downside to Hillary is the personal issues that exist between her/Bill and Obama. Can she really be trusted to advocate for him 100% and be his trusty attack dog as Lieberman and Romney would do for McCain. If not, he can't pick her. But I think she realises that this is her only chance to become president in the long term. If Obama loses, she will be blamed for it and the party will not touch her again.

I would still prefer Bayh but Clinton would spark a media frenzy that would steal the narrative for weeks and deliver the critical states of OH, MI and FL. It would be a bold choice and would demonstrate that Obama is big enough to work with someone who has previously assailed him mercilessly. If I were a McCain supporter I would want him to pick Sebelius. She's a great person but an ineffective speaker and people would not regard her as ready to be president in the way that Clinton so clearly is.

First, if you haven't seen CNN's explosive interview with John McCain last night, where he talks about his first marriage, you should: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChIX-XHlZ Fw

Okay, fine, grannyhelen. You got me. Put "sex" in the title and have McCain squirm on CNN while trying to defend cheating on a sick woman who faithfully waited for him the entire time he was in Vietnam, and I'll take a peek.

But what does this have to do with policy?

Follow me, young grasshopper...

Why has the race tightened up?  I think it is a combination of three factors.

1.  The Republican base is coming home to McCain.  Of course if he picks a pro-choice VP, then he will put this group into a lather which will like cost him a point or two in the polls, but probably less, when all is said in done in the voting booth.  Its one thing to tell a pollster you haven't made up your mind because you are pissed off, its another to not vote at all, or, gasp, vote for the all pro-choice ticket.

2.  The attack ads have had a modest effect on Obama, by playing to the meme of "otherness."  This has lead some independents who were earlier saying they would vote for Obama (based largely on general anti-Republicanism) to slip back to "I haven't made up my mind" when polled.

3.  The whole VP dance, and "putting her name in nomination or not" dance has served to reopen the barely scabbed wounds of the really angry part of Hillary's support.  Let's call it about 20% of her primary season voters.  When the pollsters call these women (my assumption is that is mostly women) they are too angry to say that they will vote for Obama.  And McCain's flirting with a pro-choice VP, gives them a little cover, as they toy with the idea of violating every core principle they have, out of anger.  But again, it is hard to imagine that in November, with a pro-choice, progressive ticket within smelling distance of the White House, that they will stay home, or vote McCain.

So..  If I were McCain, I would shoot for the independents, reclaim my maverick brand, and pick Tom Ridge, let the base chips fall as they may.  But, I don't think he will do that.  He will pick a safer VP, who is anti-choice, firm up his base, but also further dilute his "maverick" brand, and look like just another Republican in a year when the Republican brand is toxic.

If Obama picks a women VP, the Hillary really angry group will come home to him sooner than if he picks a white male, but either way, when it comes time to vote, that group will sigh deeply about how close they came to electing one of their own President, and vote for Obama.  Indeed, they may well deny it to pollsters right up to the moment in the voting booth, but when the actual votes are counted, I bet more than two-thirds of that group comes home to Obama.