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I find it disturbing that white conservative commentators feel comfortable saying that a prominent African American, like Colin Powell, decision to vote for Barack Obama is based on race or that a prominent Republican attorney (Dan Billings)  would accuse Powell of racism for the same reason.  The subtext of these statements is that African Americans can never see past race when making decisions of national importance.

Equally disturbing is, for some in the media, to report on these statements as though they are “thoughtful insights”, which furthure demonstrates the double standards concerning what is considered acceptable statements that can be made when assessing the importance race plays in an issue.  Where’s the outrage?  Does the media buy in to a belief that African Americans are at a loss to see beyond race when it comes to making important decisions about what direction the country should be taking?  Do we lack the intellect to assess information presented before us and come to a reasonable conclusion?  If anyone answered yes to any of these questions, then you should also ask yourself is it because of lack of intellect that so many in the majority continue to vote against their own economic self-interest.

This argument could have an inkling of credibility if it were anyone other than Colin Powell.  After all, we are talking about a life-long Republican who served in both Bush administrations.  The idea that, as George Will puts it, Obama has a “psychological sway over other African Americans” implies that reason played no role in the decision Colin Powell made to vote for Obama.  This type of talking down to African Americans is one of the many reasons that will keep the majority of African Americans from ever considering that the Republican party could ever represent us.

And since we’re talking about race, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the argument that commentators like George Will like to trot out to explain Obama’s support among whites: White Guilt.  As Will puts it, the country is just eager to feel good about itself by voting for Obama.  For Will to say that the reason for Obama’s white vote is so that whites can feel good about themselves is ludicrous.  Could there be some out there who may feel that way?  Yes.  And many exercised that freedom when they voted for Shirley Chisholm, Jesse Jackson and even Al Sharpton.  But to say that these millions of votes cast for Obama by the white electorate is a “feel good vote” is an insult to the intelligence of every white person who voted for him.

The bottom line is that these conservatives need to face the facts.  Obama moves people.  Does this inspiration come from someone who is black?  Yes.  But would it be any less impressive if he were white, Hispanic or Asian?  No.  Conservatives need to stop crying that Obama is getting his support because he is black.  It’s George Bush, your reckless support of an economy with no regulation, your reckless support of a war that America didn’t have to wage and your presidential candidate’s reckless utterance of “the fundamentals of the economy are sound” that account for the reason that your candidate is behind in the polls, not white guilt or your belief that Colin Powell is voting for Obama because he is black.  The arguments sound bigoted and petty.  Respectfully: Grow up.

Colin Powell endorses and announced that he is voting for Barack Obama for President of the United States on Meet the Press.

On the show, Powell said that Obama had showed steadiness, intellectual curiosity and depth of knowledge during the economic crisis, and that he had selected a vice-presidential candidate who was ready to be president.

As for John McCain, Powell said that McCain appeared unsure during the economic crisis and changed his position from a day to day.   He continued by saying that the selection of Sarah Palin, who he said was not ready to be president, had raised questions in his mind as to McCain’s judgement.

He was also not pleased with McCains approach to his campaign: linking of Bill Ayers to Obama as to suggest that somehow Obama had terrorist feelings and the robo calls.

His most damning indictiment of the McCain campaign has to do with those who say that Barack Obama is a Muslim.  Powell said that the right answer is that Obama is a Christian and the really right answer is, “What if the is?  Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country?”

He followed this point with the story of a mother who was crying on the headstone of her son buried at the National Cemetery.  On the headstone was not a Cross or a Star of David, but a Crescent and Star.  He was a Muslim.  He was a 20 year old young man who was born in New Jersey.  He was 14 when the trade towers were attacked and had to wait until he was old enough to serve and die for his country.

I hope this point will not be lost on those who keep using Obama as a Muslim as a way to discredit him as being worthy of becoming president.

However, I, like many others of your out there, even with his later explanation, am still amazed that Powell did not question more the information given to him in support of the invasion of Iraq. Still, his rejection of the Bush-McCain approach to the war in Iraq now has offered him some slight redemption, but considering that many believe that he was the only person who could have stopped this war, he still has more to do. His support for Obama, however, is an act that continues to lead him down that road of redemption, hopefully with many more acts to follow.

The final debate was help last night and according to every poll taken – yes, FOX too –  Barack Obama won.  For those who are keeping count, that’s three for three or, if you add in the VP debate, four for four .

Most analysis agree that Obama started off slow, but as the debate wore on, he was able to more convincingly relate his positions and to take on the attacks that the McCain campaign had been leveling at him.  One incident in particular was Obama preempting the Ayers controversy by saying that McCain’s campaign had been saying that he had been pallin’ around with terrorist.

By bringing it up first, McCain was put on the defensive, which made him have to justify it as an issue.  This lessen the impact that the controversy could have, if any, which made the whole spectacle appear out of place.

McCain did have one high-point in the debate when he said that if (Obama) wanted to run against George Bush, that he should had run four years ago and by stating “I am not President Bush.”

Unfortunately for McCain, this victory was short lived.  After a minute or so had passed, Obama said, “… if I occasionally have mistaken your policies for George Bush’s policies, it’s because on the core economic issues that matter to the American people, on tax policy, on energy policy, on spending priorities, you have been a vigorous supporter of President Bush.”

One of the more interesting questions asked by Schieffer was about Palin’s qualifications to be VP.  McCain stated her oil pipe line deal and taking on the oil industry as qualifications, nothing about foreign policy.  When Obama was asked to respond, he deflected the question by saying it up to the American people to decide.  Given Palin’s unfavorability ratings, it was smart of Obama not to try to add gas to the fire, in addition, any answer he could have given could have easily backfired. 

In the end though, must analyst acknowledged that it all came down to style.  For much of the debate, McCain appeared angry, tense and uncomfortable.  Obama on the other hand appeared relaxed, poised and in control.  If there is a criticism to be leveled against Obama it is that he counter-punched throughout most of the debate instead of taking it directly to McCain.

As for who really won the debate, we have to wait a couple of days until we see the new polls.

Apple announced their latest lineup of notebooks that have a number of new improvements, the most exciting being the glass Multi-Touch trackpad.

The old trackpad has been replaced with a single pad. That’s right, no more clicker, which gives you more room to scroll on the new silky glass surface. Because of this new design, Apple has changed the way you move around on your computer.

To move about your MacBook, you, “Use two fingers to scroll up and down a page. Pinch to zoom in and out. Rotate an image with your fingertips. Swipe with three fingers to flip through your photo libraries. Swipe with four fingers to show your desktop, view all open windows, or switch applications. If you’re coming from a right-click world, you can right-click with two fingers or configure a right-click area on the trackpad,” as told by Apple.

Apple also added a new keyboard. The MacBook Pro sports an aluminum keyboard curved to fit your fingers that’s illuminated as well.

Some other features are the new NVIDIA GeForce 9400M intergrated graphics processor, battery life up to 5 hours and a glossy LED-backlit display with a glass enclosure.

As for pricing, Apple has their first notebook for under $1000 – actually it’s $999. The new pricings for this lineup are as follows:

MacBook:
$1299. 13.3″ Glossy Display, 2.0GHz, 2GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, 160GB HD.
$1599. 13.3″ Glossy Display, 2.4GHz, 2GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, 250GB HD.

MacBook Pro:
$1999. 15.4″ Glossy Display, 2.4GHz, 2GB RAM, NVIDIA 9400M + 9600M, 250GB HD.
$2499. 15.4″ Glossy Display, 2.53GHz, 4GB RAM, NVIDIA 9400M + 9600M, 320GB HD.

Apple also introduced their first LED-based Cinema display. The screen size is 24″ and it comes with 3 USB 2.0 ports, built-in iSight, microphone and speaker system. This is going to set you back $900.

Mom always said that you should eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and it seems that science is backing her up. To protect against cancer, health professionals have always recommended eating lots of fruits and vegetables. Now scientists report on a possible explanation for this protection:

(Scientist) have have shown that a fragment released from pectin, found in all fruits and vegetables, binds to and is believed to inhibit galectin 3 (Gal3), a protein that plays a role in all stages of cancer progression.

“Most claims for the anticancer effects of foods are based on population studies,” says Professor Vic Morris from the Institute of Food Research. “For this research we tested a molecular mechanism and showed that it is viable.”

Population studies such as EPIC, the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer, identified a strong link between eating lots of fiber and a lower risk of cancers of the gastrointestinal tract. But exactly how fiber exerts a protective effect is unknown.

Pectin is better known for its jam-setting qualities and as being a component of dietary fiber. The present study supports a more exciting and subtle role.

Interaction between dietary carbohydrates and mammalian proteins, of which this research is an example, may provide an explanation. Other food carbohydrates such as beta glucans are considered to be bioactive and their anti-cancer action can be attributed to different types of carbohydrate – mammalian protein interactions.

“For a whole combination of different effects it is best to consistently eat a range of fruits, vegetables and high-fiber foods,” says Professor Morris. “You don’t necessarily have to eat a superfood.”

The next stage of Prof Morris’ research is to identify how pectin can be taken up by the body and released so it can exert its effect on cancer cells. The research could result in functional foods with added bioactive pectin as well as providing more conclusive evidence for the importance of a eating at least your ‘5-a-day’.

So it looks like mom was right again – hopefully she won’t rub it in. In any case, I guess I should go eat an apple.  

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/nbi-pp101008.php

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