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Haricot verts

Mother’s Day

Kill dimitri

caed took me to one of my favorite restaurants for mother’s period, bistrot du concoct. it’s a french restaurant that is actually similar in ambiance to the restaurants we went to while in france 3 years ago. auntie april came with us and we were there two hours and caed did so great (minus a potty accident- thanks aj!). no fussing and stayed in his chair the whole time until pudding many times. it was a great time! i got steer clear of, jon got mussels, april got hangar steak and caed ate haricot verts and mashed potatoes. a pot of beaujolais wine and a wonderful time!
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Clinton: ‘Think about this as a hiring decision’

(CNN) — Despite Sen. Barack Obama’s commanding lead in the delegate count, Sen. Hillary Clinton campaigned hard Sunday, telling voters she’s running for the toughest job in the world.

Clinton spent her weekend in Kentucky, which, along with Oregon, holds its Democratic contest Tuesday.

Clinton is favored in Kentucky, while polls show Obama with a comfortable lead in Oregon.

Speaking in Bowling Green, the senator from New York said it was a treat to have the whole state to herself since Obama would not be returning there.

Clinton has faced calls to drop out of the race since she trails Obama across all fronts — pledged delegates, superdelegates and the popular vote.

Clinton has recently been claiming a lead over Obama in the popular vote, a debatable claim, especially because the Democratic National Committee doesn’t count the votes of Florida and Michigan, which Clinton does. Watch why she says she’s ahead

Florida and Michigan were stripped of their delegates for scheduling their primaries too early, and Clinton was the only top-tier candidate whose name was on the ballot in Michigan.

Clinton’s campaign also excludes the caucus states in their popular vote count.

According to CNN’s latest count, Obama leads Clinton in total delegates 1,904 to 1,717. A candidate needs 2,025 to clinch the Democratic nomination.

Clinton encouraged her Kentucky supporters to vote in the upcoming primary, saying Sunday, If we get everybody turned out, it’s going to send a great message to our country that you don’t stop democracy in its tracks.

You don’t tell some states that they can’t vote and other states that have already had the opportunity that they’re somehow more important, she said.

In considering who to vote for, she told the crowd to think about this as a hiring decision.

Come out and vote for me on Tuesday, I’ll work my heart out for you, she said.

Meanwhile Obama, who’s been campaigning in Oregon, focused his attacks on Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee.

Obama on Sunday suggested that McCain hasn’t received the kind of scrutiny that he’s received throughout the campaign.

It is very understandable that the press focus has been on myself and Sen. Clinton because this has been a pretty exciting race on the Democratic side. I would expect that the press will submit him to the same scrutiny that they are submitting me, he said at a senior center in Gresham.

In Gresham, Obama detailed his plans to strengthen Social Security. Part of his plan includes eliminating income taxes for seniors making less than $50,000 per year.

Obama made low-key campaign stops this weekend, hitting a street festival in Keizer and stopping for ice cream in Eugene.

found here.

Bush: Women, freedom key to Mideast prosperity

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (CNN) — President Bush told Arab and Middle Eastern leaders Sunday what they must do to advance their nations: Empower women, release political prisoners, foster free trade, repudiate terrorism and defend freedoms of speech and religion.

Nations across the region have an opportunity to move forward with bold and confident reforms — and lead the Middle East to its rightful place as a center of progress and achievement, Bush told leaders convening at the World Economic Forum.

Bush spoke in the Red Sea resort city on the last leg of his five-day Mideast tour, aimed primarily at advancing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and at tackling soaring gasoline prices.

Though Bush said Saturday that a Saudi increase in oil would not solve U.S. energy woes, he was optimistic Sunday about developments on the peace front.

We must stand with the Palestinian people, who have suffered for decades and earned the right to a homeland of their own, he said. A peace agreement is in the Palestinians’ interest, it is in Israel’s interest, it is in Arab states’ interest, and it is in the world’s interest. And I firmly believe that with leadership and courage, we can reach that peace agreement this year. Watch Bush meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak

The onus falls on everyone involved, Bush said: Israel must make sacrifices and ease restrictions on Palestinians; Palestinians must shun terror and build the institutions of a free and peaceful society; and Arab nations must invest in the Palestinian people and move past their old resentments against Israel.

There is growing skepticism that such a deal can be reached in the next seven months. Aside from the historical animosities between Israelis and Palestinians, both of their leaders are in weak positions.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s approval ratings are in the doldrums as he faces multiple police investigations into allegations of fraud or corruption. Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas leads a divided people. His Fatah-led government has not been able to extend its mandate into Gaza, which remains under the firm grip of Hamas.

Bush’s take on the peace process marked a theme in his Sunday remarks, as the president called on regional leaders to embrace democracy and freedom and to diversify their often oilcentric economies amid widespread initiatives to develop alternative sources of fuel.

The U.S. will continue to forge bilateral free trade agreements like the ones it has in place with Jordan, Oman, Morocco and Bahrain, Bush said, but social freedoms are just as important to prosperity as relaxing tariffs and courting investment.

Expanding freedom is vital to turning temporary wealth into lasting prosperity, he said. Free societies stimulate competition in the marketplace. Free societies give people access to the information they need to make informed and responsible decisions. And free societies give citizens the rule of law, which exposes corruption and builds confidence in the future.

Though he touched on many issues of reform, Bush spent extra time discussing women’s rights and political freedom.

Building powerful economies also requires expanding the role of women in society, he said. This is a matter of morality and of basic math. No nation that cuts off half its population from opportunities will be as productive or prosperous as it could be.

As for political freedom, Bush said the U.S. is alarmed by the plight of political prisoners, as well as by the intimidation and oppression that activists, journalists and dissidents experience.

Too often in the Middle East, politics has consisted of one leader in power and the opposition in jail, Bush said. I call on all nations in this region to release their prisoners of conscience, open up their political debate and trust their people to chart their future.

Bush called on the leaders to build on the hopeful beginnings of democracy in the region that he said were exemplified by Turkey, Egypt, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

We have seen the stirrings of reform from Morocco and Algeria to Jordan and the Gulf States, Bush told the World Economic Forum on the Middle East. America appreciates the challenges facing the Middle East. Yet we also appreciate that the light of liberty is beginning to shine.

Bush denounced terrorist groups as spoilers who stand in the way of the region’s movement toward democracy and prosperity.

Terrorist organizations and their state sponsors know that they cannot survive in a free society, so they create chaos and take innocent lives in an effort to stop democracy from taking root, he said. Every nation committed to freedom and progress in the Middle East must stand together to defeat them.

He referred to the recent fighting in Lebanon, a country which remains locked in a political power struggle between supporters of the Western-backed government and those who support the Hezbollah-led opposition.

Bush blamed Hezbollah, an Islamic militant group reportedly backed by Iran and Syria, for taking up arms against the Lebanese people.

Bush also reiterated his call to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon.

found here.

Mccain saturday night live

John McCain on Saturday Night Live

both hillary clinton and barack obama induce appeared on saturday night red-hot this season.on the edible finale, it was john mccain’s turn.washington — john mccain is 71 years old, and his age has provided late-night comics with some steady punch lines. on “saturday night live,” he joined in.”i ask you, what should we be looking for in our next president?” mccain said. “certainly, someone who is vastly, exceedingly, identical old.”the definite republican presidential nominee appeared in a phony campaign ad in which he promised to put an end to runaway direction spending, claiming he had never sought stinking rich for his home state, arizona.”controlling government spending isn’t only just about republicans or democrats,” he said. “it’s about being able to look your children in the eye. or in my case, my children, grandchildren, expert-grandchildren, tickety-boo-great-grandchildren and great-marvellous-major-grandchildren, the youngest of whom are nearing retirement.”"i have the gallantry, the wisdom, the experience and, most importantly, the oldness necessary,” mccain said. “the oldness it takes to foster america, to honor her, love her and tell her about what cute things the cat did.”it wasn’t a particulary funny segment, though mccain did a tolerable enough job. by joking about his grow older himself, he defuses the issue.whenever jay leno, david letterman, or conan o’brien do an old time joke about mccain, i think they’re being fain?ant. the jokes are so predictable. they’re irked, nothing fresh.i don’t think i can take listening to months more of antediluvian man mccain jokes. they either bore me or annoy me. mccain is not that old.later in the show, mccain also made an suggestion at the weekend update desk.i think mccain ended up having more air age than hillary and obama did put together.of course, mccain is an snl veteran, having hosted in 2002. and mccain has a friend in lorne michaels. michaels has donated a full $2,300 to mccain’s 2008 presidential primary campaign.michaels normally makes political contributions to democrats, equal to al franken, but he has been a financial assistant of mccain at least since the 2000 primary referendum.superficially, mccain is the type of republican that appeals to michaels.

Beatles second album

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Bush to Arab world: Give citizens more freedoms

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt (AP) — At the start of his Mideast trip, President Bush gave Israel glowing praise. As it ended on Sunday, the president gave the Arab world a stern lecture: Isolate state sponsors of terror and give citizens more freedoms.

Too often in the Middle East, politics has consisted of one leader in power and the opposition in jail, Bush said at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East. The time has come for nations across the Middle East to abandon these practices, and treat their people with the dignity and respect they deserve.

Bush’s address to hundreds of global policymakers and business leaders gathered in this Red Sea beach town was his finishing touch on a five-day Mideast trip to Egypt, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The speech, and Bush’s second Mideast trip of the year, came eight months before the end of his presidency, his target date for reaching a sweeping peace agreement that would resolve generations-old grievances and create a Palestinian state.

The president counseled Arab states to move past their old resentments against Israel and invest aggressively in the Palestinian people, what he views as their role in the process. In contrast, many Arabs think Bush leans too far Israel’s way in the long-running Mideast dispute, and that Washington doesn’t push Israel hard enough to give way on issues that anger Palestinians and stymie a deal.

Bush has tried to counter that by talking more about the Palestinians’ plight while here in Egypt than he did in Israel. He also offered plenty of praise for democratic advances, naming countries like Turkey, Afghanistan, Iraq, Morocco and Jordan.

The light of liberty is beginning to shine, he said.

Bush’s address was meant by the White House as the twin to president’s speech Thursday before the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.

In that speech, Bush showered Israel with praise, strongly reiterated its right to defend itself and only gently urged leaders to make the hard choices necessary, without mention of concrete steps. He did not mention the Palestinians’ plight; he spoke of them only in one sentence saying that Israel’s 120th anniversary — in 2068 — would see it neighboring an independent Palestinian state.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Bush directly about his concerns with the Knesset speech when the two met on Saturday at the Egyptian resort, according to Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. On Sunday, after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Abbas told reporters: We do not want the Americans to negotiate on our behalf. All that we want from them is to stand by (our) legitimacy … and have a minimum of neutrality.

Bush’s national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, announced that Bush might return for a third, as-yet-unscheduled visit to the region if there is work for him to advance the peace process. Hadley made clear, though, that actually establishing an independent Palestine would take years.

The president never said it would be implemented during his term, Hadley said. What we’ve wanted to do and what is the president’s still his objective is an agreement for a Palestinian state that is the core of a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians that would ultimately end the conflict.

To achieve more democratic reform in the region, Bush presented Mideast leaders with a long to-do list: make their economies more diverse, competitive and open to entrepreneurs; enact political reforms that move nations into democratic governments, and not just sham ones; allow freedom of information and rule of law; improve education; ensure greater participation in society for women; and push back against the negative influence of spoilers like Iran and Syria.

There is much to do, he said. The future is in your hands — and freedom and peace are within your grasp.

His message was aimed at the countries in the region where the political and civil systems are far from free, including Egypt, the host of the gathering which was almost alone in being singled out for criticism. Delivered in person in the heart of the Middle East, the speech was a follow-up to Bush’s promise in his second inaugural address to work in every nation for ending tyranny in our world. Watch Bush meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak

I continue to hope that Egypt can lead the region in political reform, he said.

The largest recipient of U.S. aid behind Israel, Egypt has nonetheless seen roller-coaster relations with Washington in recent years.

It held its first presidential elections in 2005. But then the Mubarak government retrenched, by trying several secular newspaper editors, jailing a leading political opposition leader,and waging a heavy crackdown on its strongest domestic opposition, the Muslim Brotherhood.

The president asked the Islamic world to join the United States in its determination to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. To allow the world’s leading sponsor of terror to gain the world’s deadliest weapon would be an unforgivable betrayal of future generations, he said.

The emphasis on Iran reflects Bush’s desire to counter Tehran’s quest for greater influence in the region. New urgency was added to that task by recent turmoil in Lebanon that the U.S. and many Sunni Arab countries believe has been fomented by Shiite-dominated Iran, as well as Syria.

Bush rebutted what he said are the many arguments from skeptics about democracy in this part of the world, without specifying who they are. He said democracy is not a Western value that America seeks to impose on unwilling citizens and nor is it incompatible with the religion of Islam.

He made clear how he defines democracy.

Some say any state that holds an election is a democracy, Bush said.

True democracy, he said, requires vigorous political parties allowed to engage in free and lively debate, institutions that ensure legitimate elections and accountability for leaders, and an opposition that can campaign without fear and intimidation.

found here.