The News Thread
 

We have the Miscellaneous Weird News thread but we don't have one for the not-so-weird/serious news. The only reason I'm starting this is:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...2-03193718.jpg

It's only been 44 years since the Civil Rights Act, introduced by John F. Kennedy and signed by Lyndon Johnson. We now have a person of color as a presidential nominee! I've been paying attention (but not obsessively) to the primary season and I would have supported any Democratic nominee. I definitely would have supported Hillary had she won the nomination (although I wasn't especially keen on seeing another Clinton in the White House - they are too polarizing, I think). But it's incredibly exciting to see Barack Obama as the nominee.

The next 6 months are going to be very interesting and exciting! :)

The last eight years have been exhausting, to say the least. It's been a long time since I've felt excited about a presidential election, and even longer since I felt a genuine sense of possibility. Bill Clinton broke my heart when he broke the promises he made during his first campaign, and although I would have supported whomever received the Democratic nomination, I am very pleased that it's Obama. I hope that he can stay true to the ideals that he's presented; I hope that he is as great a leader as he is a speaker.
I am a little afraid. I hope the SS watches him very carefully.

When reading a fairly rough and short summary of Obama's opinions versus McCain's I'd definitely vote for Obama.

Top story on UK news as well but I found this more local news fascinating (in a disturbing way)

It's no wonder that people like me are constantly sought to reduce people's tax bills when you hear about this sort of thing happening with the money so collected.

A government spending watchdog criticises the procurement of eight Chinook helicopters, still not airworthy 13 years after their purchase.

It is "one of the most incompetent procurements of all time", according to a government spending watchdog.

Masters of understatement those government watchdogs. :shifty:

Melanie, as I think I may have mentioned here before, when my sister mentioned early on "I don't think America is ready for a black or female candidate, I said "oh, I hadn't thought about that."

Clearly, it's now an issue (and perhaps always was), but it shouldn't be.

I'm a bit afraid that with Hillary out of the race and a lot of people now not voting at all because they don't want to vote for a Republican and they also don't want to vote for Obama, we will get yet another one of Dick and Donald's puppets in the White house. The world deserves better than that.

I know that some people aren't ready for a black candidate, but I guess I am hoping that he will bring out enough younger voters (and people who have never voted until this primary season) to counteract those who may switch over to McCain or won't vote at all. Obama will definitely need to win over those who voted for Hillary (he would be stupid to assume they'll just come over to him).

I think the turnout for this election will be phenomenal. A lot of people are sick to death of the last 8 years and don't want to see it repeated. I really don't think McCain is moderate enough (and I hope they'll be able to show that) to bring over enough independents and on-the-fence Democrats.

Enough pontificating from me. :P

What you really have to watch out for is Hillary running independent and splitting the Dem vote. She may not see any chance for winning the election this year, but she may be aiming for 2012, and making sure Obama loses this one could be her ticket.
____________________

In the 'news that probably won't affect more than one or two people on this forum' department, Jon Anderson of Yes has had to cancel the current Yes tour, due to being diagnosed with acute respiratory failure. It's probably a good thing that I was holding off on trying to get tickets to see them this time around. If Rick Wakeman had decided to tour with them instead of his son Oliver, I almost certainly would have tried to get some, since I missed the last tour where they played together a handful of years ago.

I don't really think we have to worry about that. If Hillary is truly aiming for 2012, she won't alienate the Democratic party by throwing the election to the Republicans.

I'd just be curious to hear whether Jon Anderson still has a funny voice after all these years.

Osama (sorry Obama) has said he would cut the Nasa budget. Barsteward.

I like space and all, but I'm pretty sure we could use that money elsewhere right now.

That's the best news I could have had all day! :D

Hahaha that'll teach them!

They'll be made to vote again. The EU doesn't accept disagreement :rolleyes:.

Rest in peace, Tim Russert; you were a decent man and a journalist with integrity.

That's one of the worst news I've heard in a while. How stupid can they be to put the Lisbon treaty in a vote?

Yay, let's make everything as difficult and ineffective as possible...

They didn't have a choice, the Irish constitution requires that any proposed changes to it be decided by a plebiscite.

Actually I'm against referenda of any kind. People will always choose conservative because the situation they know is less scary than whatever else, and you can't expect people to make the right choice in most political matters. The idea is that we choose the professionals who have our best interests in mind; if they mess up, well, you should have voted for another government.