Best Internet News and Politics

The ongoing United States election has captured my attention and the interest of Canadians. Over the past few months, as I have watched the news updates, however, I have been surprised to learn that US politics use a number of words that are not generally used in everyday conversations. We hear words like “pundent”, “spin”, “superdelegates”, “caucus” and “misspeak” in the news but the more I pay attention to the debates, the more I realize that there is confusion about the meanings of these terms. A pundent seems to be someone who has enough knowledge and experience with politics to be able to not only analyze but also predict and advise. The part I haven’t figured out is what qualifications are required in order to be given this title and who, besides the media reporters, have the power to award the title to someone. It almost seems to be an honourary role. In fact, when someone is introduced on a panel that person often responds with humble protests that s/he is not deserving of being called a “pundent”.

“Spin” is the way that a candidate and their supporters perceive and market a situation. I have been surprised to hear candidates make comments that they lost an election because they were “outspent” or didn’t campaign in a state because they knew they weren’t favoured there. They might explain a “loss” by stating that they were “unknown” in the area or harmed by the media coverage. Spin is a “story” that is presented to justify poor performance or motivate voters to support a candidate financially, through volunteer work or with their ballot.

Superdelegates are party members who have been elected or appointed to the Democratic party. They are not only allowed a vote in their home district but also are given an additional vote at the party’s convention. (The Republicans do not have this designation). Superdelegates have “power” to Continue Reading »

Ever since 4 November when we won a fabulous election I have been encouraged by the steps taken by our President Elect. His choice for cabinet members shows the average person that President Elect Obama is surrounding himself with a staff of knowledgeable and experienced personnel.

He is not on a path of payback for electoral help. He has further demonstrated his quest for the best when he nominated Senator Clinton as Secretary of State. His next great step was his decision to have the Secretary of Defense position remaining with Secretary Gates. This action to keep the Secretary of Defense from the previous administration will ensure a smooth transition of the military. There has never been an administration that has kept the previous Secretary of Defense.In the eyes of a regular guy this is a very important aspect of President Elect Obama’s ability to lead. Today I watched the 50 Governors of the United States in a meeting with President Elect Obama. This is another indication of his unprecedented action when he called the Governors together in this meeting.

He asked the Governors for their help in developing the recovery plan for our economic recovery. The governors stated this action was also a first. Never in the history of this country has the President Elect solicited such help from the governor level of government. As I stated before I am just the average person watching the daily events taking place in forming our future government. We need strong leadership and I feel our choice for the next president a wise choice.

My name is Carl Mortimer. You have taken the first step in learning how to write to make money on the web. The next step is to access a site that can assist you in reaching your goal. For help in learni Continue Reading »

If you find the governing institutions of the European Union (EU) a bit confusing, this article is designed to help take some of the confusion away…

Many people find all the different institutions and all the acronyms puzzling. I must confess I did too until a few days ago! There are, for a start, several bodies with the word “Council” in their names, and it’s very easy to mix them up.

The Council of Europe: This is not an EU institution, and is not connected with the government or running of the EU. It is an intergovernmental organisation, based in Strasbourg. One of its aims is to protect human rights, and also to promote European culture and to combat social problems such as racism. It was founded in 1949 and it drew up the European Convention on Human Rights, and set up the European Court of Human Rights to decide on issues arising from that Convention.

The European Commission: This is a non-elected body, whose function is to advise on and propose new legislation. It has no power to make any policies into law, but once a policy has become law, it is the Commission’s duty to put it into effect.

The European Council: This is composed of the heads of state and government of the member states, with the President of the European Commission, who meet, on average, about four times a year to agree on broad EU policies and to monitor progress. These meetings are often dubbed as “summits” because leaders of governments are involved.

The Council of the European Union: The main policy and legislation making organisation of the EU. This used to be called the Council of Ministers, and it is composed of government ministers from all the member states. In former times, all decisions had to be achieved by a unanimous vote. In practice, this system was found to be d Continue Reading »