This is kind of an add-on to the recent "bullshit" diaries (shhh the original of which I personally loved).

Of course, some people said that particular diary was too negative.  So, I'd like to ask the community a really, really positive - dare I say SEXY - question.  

What change or addition to US policy would YOU most like to see?

I'm not talking about abstract notions like "make the US more liberal!".  No no no.
(So instead of "Energy independence", how about "massive federal funding of alernative fuels, similar to JFK's funding of the moon race".)

I'm not talking about specific foreign policy actions, like "get outta Iraq!" or "nuke Latvia!".  FUN THOUGH THOSE THINGS MAY BE.  (But "divert funds away from nuke R&D to bodyarmour and troop equipment" would work.)

And I'm not talking about appointing people, like "Make Al Gore Supreme Ombudsman of the Universe!".

I'm talking about ONGOING POLICY!  Like "outlaw slavery".  

I know, I know, we did that one.... See?  It's working already!  So, for more stuff that's cool, though probably not as cool as outlawing slavery, join me on the flip.

I have been thinking about the 2008 Presidential Elections, and in particular, who the GOP candidate is likely to be.  I like to have a good fix on an opponent some way in advance.

Now, take a look at this poll here:  http://www.gopbloggers.org/...

It's a poll of the top gop candidates for 2008, taken across the top Republican/conservative blogs.  People were allowed to vote acceptable/not acceptable/'top choice' for each candidate.

As you can see, the top choices (by some way) were:
Gingrich 3681 25.6%
Giuliani 3529 24.6%
Romney 2868 20.0%

Now, I don't think Gingrich will have support outside of the 1994 throwback crowd.
I don't think Giuliani will play well in the "heartlands", wherever they are.
All this time, therefore, I've thought that Romney was the true frontrunner.  Tancredo, Brownback and Hunter may try to build some momentum, but for the time being Romney was the man to watch.  Well, I don't think that any more.......

Does that reflect your viewpoint?

I'm talking about all the front-page diaries with YouTube videos embedded in them.  

For me, with my nice fast broadband, diaries with YouTube videos embedded in them load nice and fast, so I have no problem.  But I've been noticing a few complaints from people on dail-up connections for whom YouTube-embedded diaries seem to be causing a great deal of hassle.

Do front-page diaries with YouTube videos embedded in them screw up your Daily Kos experience?  If there are a significant number of people having problems with loadtimes etc, then maybe we can make a call for people to be able to 'turn off' embedded videos, and have them replaced with a link to the YouTube site, if you mark that in your preferences.  I'd presume that wouldn't be too much work behind the scenes.

Anyway, it seems a shame to lose people just because they're on a dialup, so please answer the poll and maybe we can see how many people are having problems!

While a friend from PA was registering to vote, I asked her what her district was.  She told me it was PA-15.  That didn't ring any bells, so I asked her to sum up the situation down there.  Here's what she said:

We're a 50/50 red/blue district and my guess is [Republican congressman] Dent will probably get re-elected.

Hmmm.

The next thing I found out was that PA-15 went for Kerry in 2004..... but PA-15's current congressman, Charles Dent, backs Bush's Iraq policy.

More on the flip...

The BBC has news on more plans to bend academia to 'National Security' interests:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/4603271.stm

US Intelligence services are hoping to recruit anthropology students by giving them grants.  In exchange for this generous help with their college fees, what will they be required to do?  Join up as a company man after graduation?  Well yes, but before graduation.... they'll have to use their time spent abroad studying to spy on other countries.

I wonder if they'll also get their legal fees paid for if they get arrested/convicted?

More after the break....

Warner Bros is making a film about improper detentions at Guantanamo Bay.  It's not, however, about the current "WOT" detainees, but instead about the HIV+ Haitian immigrants in the early 90s.

Details below....  

This is fairly obvious, but it's nice to have it confirmed... or re-confirmed... or whatever.

THERE ARE NO WMD IN IRAQ

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/story/0,9061,1301434,00.html

Hello.  So, I'm a Brit, but I take an active interest in the 04 election on account of how I remember when the US President was the LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD... and I think it's healthy to take an interest in who your leaders are.  So when I meet American expats, I always fish for their voting intentions.  Until now, it"s always been Dem, so we bitch about Bush together, and sometimes they also bitch about Kerry and I say, you know, I think he's OK!  And that's that.

So last night for the first time ever I meet a hard core Bushite, in a room featuring a couple of other undecided, leaning Kerry Americans..

I see OPEC are claiming that they are pumping at full capacity, and oil shortages / high oil prices are nothing they can do anything about.

High oil prices might be expected to lower Bush's approval ratings.

When the WTO found that Bush's protectionism on steel was against its rules, Bush ignored it - until the the EU threatened retaliatory economic measures aimed deliberately at Election 2004 Battleground States.

As reported by Reuters:

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=551156§ion=news

( Washington Times has been running a 'Nukes found in Iraq' story for 3 hrs now.  
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040721-081009-2541r.htm
)

This is the comeback from Iraq's Interior Ministry.  In their own words:

"It's stupid"

Sources cannot yet confirm whether this was a reference to the story, the Post, or the Preznit.

::: Developing a Migraine :::

So, my understanding is that there are US sanctions in place to prevent companies investing and operating within Iran.

No matter - just set up an offshore subsiduary, and nominally conduct your Iran operations through that!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3908753.stm

Hurrah for Halliburton, throwing of the shackles of offical US policy through lawyerly sidestepping.

What I'd like to know is:

i) Were these contracts in place during Cheney's tenure?

ii) What has Cheney said about sanctions against Iran?

I think a juxtaposition of these two things could be interesting, especially now the Bush Admin are starting to heat up a little on Iran.

I once dreamt the lottery numbers, and whaddya know: I didn't get a single one right!

Now, almost 5 years later to the day, I dream the results of the 2004 Presidential Elections.

So, what does my misfiring subconcious predict?

I know I keep shilling for this site, plus I just mentioned this in the Open Thread: but what the hey, I think this is a worthy cause...

http://www.faithfulamerica.org have been broadcasting ads on Al-J and other mid-east stations, that basically consist of apologies from American religious leaders over the various cases of torture that have come to light of late.

more below....

Todays London Times has an article on Kerry's reaction to Reagan's death, accusing him of announcing a moritorium on political attacks relating to RR, then being unable to 'resist trying to gain advantage over his rival'.

See below for quote:

Hello All,

As some of you may know, the Bilderberg Group is an annual get-together for international leaders, bankers, financiers, media moguls and other influential people.  Basically the most important people in the world, all together, no journalists, just thrashing it out.  Very hush-hush....

Hello All,

Given that in today's fast-moving on-the-go info-saturated environment some people don't have room in their heads for Kerry's more 'nuanced' style, I thought I'd see what we could do taking it the other way.  I figured we need to target that important demographic: dumb people.  

So what's the least nuanced meme we could put out?  Yes, it's time for contrasting word-pairings!

Here's the top few I came up with this morning in the bath:

Hello all.  This is my first diary, so please go easy on me ;-)

I posted this link:

http://www.faithfulamerica.org

a while back on an open thread, and got a little bit of a storm off it.  The idea was that some religious (ok - Christian) folk think that the Repubs are somehow the 'default' party for them as 'believers' - I thought it might be nice to point such people towards a leftist religious site such as the one above.