Maybe the qualities that many find off-putting in Hillary — her opportunism, her triangulation, her ethical corner-cutting, her shifting convictions from pro-war to anti-war, her secrecy, her ruthlessness — are the same ones that make people willing to vote for a woman.

Few are concerned that Hillary is strong enough for the job. She is cold-eyed about wanting power and raising money and turning everything about her life into a commodity.

Yet, the characteristics that are somewhat troubling are the same ones that convincingly show she will do what it takes to beat Obama and Rudy.

She will not be soft or vulnerable. She will not melt in a crisis. And, unlike Obama, she doesn’t need to talk herself into manning up.   more »

The Pentagon was covering up the real magnitude of the “suicide epidemic”. Following an exhaustive investigation of veterans’ suicide data collected from 45 states; CBS discovered that in 2005 alone:

“THERE WERE AT LEAST 6,256 AMONG THOSE WHO SERVED IN THE ARMED FORCES. THAT’S 120 EACH AND EVERY WEEK IN JUST ONE YEAR.”

That is not a typo. Active and retired military personnel, mostly young veterans between the ages of 20 to 24, are returning from combat and killing themselves in record numbers.

We can assume that "multiple-tours of duty" in a war-zone have precipitated a mental health crisis of which the public is entirely unaware and which the Pentagon is in total denial.

If we add the 6,256 suicide victims from 2005 to the “official” 3,865 reported combat casualties; we get a sum of 10,121. Even a low-ball estimate of similar 2004 and 2006 suicide figures, would mean that the total number of US casualties from the Iraq war now exceed 15,000.   more »

The Clinton people are talking about Obama's ties to Tony Rezko, who is represented by Obama's law firm.

Rezko was indicted for insider deals after contributing big money to Rod Baloyevich and Obama.

Obama got Rezko's wife to buy a vacant lot in Kenwood so he could buy his mansion next door.

The Chicago Sun Times has many more details in it's archives. Background   more »

Let us remember that Hitler’s favorite photo ops showed him cuddling with children.

Joseph Paul Goebbels, the Feuhrer’s propaganda chief and one of the great public relations pros in history, lacked the imagination of Dubya’s publicity squad.

But, if he’d had a chance to learn from the Bush White House, who knows? He might have unearthed a few befuddled victims of his war, perhaps the family of a Warsaw ghetto Judenrat cop trampled by his fellow Jews in a food riot.

The ensuing photo op would have immortalized the family hugging Hitler inside his HQ at Wolfsschanze.

Wolfsschanze, conveniently, was in Poland, making it convenient to ship the family - still starry-eyed from their visit with the charming and empathetic comforter-in-chief - straight to Auschwitz.   more »

The US property market, undergoing troubled times because of the credit crisis, has suddenly become great value for Britons dismayed by sky-high house prices at home.

The market has been driven by an exchange rate that has risen above two dollars to the pound for the first time since the early 1980s.

British buyers come in all shapes and sizes. Some are looking for holiday homes at prices they could not have hoped to pay a few years ago. Others are selling their British houses and moving to the US. Still others are starting to buy shops and businesses.

A recent survey showed that one in five US estate agents has sold a home to a foreign buyer in the past year, and 12 per cent were British, representing a third of all European buyers.   more »