CNN Breaking News Email: Barack Obama has resigned as a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, his campaign says. I was actually tipped off by Jazz’ earlier post and went looking for this: (CNN) — Barack Obama resigned Saturday from his Chicago church — where controversial sermons by his former pastor and other ministers had created repeated political headaches for the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination — his campaign confirmed. The resignation comes...

Results 1 Scott Dixon #9 2 Vitor Meira 4 3 Marco Andretti 26 4 Helio Castroneves 3 5 Ed Carpenter 20 Etc…..

Want to assist cyclone survivors in Burma and earthquake survivors in China? TMV reader C Stanley suggests: In reading this story, where China is specifically listing an urgent need for tents, I was moved to research and give to an organization that had been mentioned to me recently – a group that provides tents and other subsistence items in natural disasters. One ‘box’ costs about USD 1000 (that includes the organization’s costs in delivering it.) Contents: Each ShelterBox...

Chris Cillizza of Washington Post’s The Fix On the Top 10 Veep Choices The Friday Line: Veepstakes! Ask someone who works for either Barack Obama (Ill.) or John McCain (Ariz.) about the search for a vice presidential nominee and, to a person, the response you get goes something like this: “It’s way too early to even be thinking about specific names.” Bring up potential VP’s with people outside the direct orbit of the campaigns, however, and you get a panoply of names,...

Some aid workers can and do get into the country – here’s how to help: Myanmar Cyclone Relief New York, NY, May 8, 2008—Thanks to its historical, 94 years of operation as a non-political entity and relief organization, JDC staff has been granted entry visas to carry out humanitarian aid efforts for victims of cyclone Nargis which hit Myanmar last week. A senior JDC professional is on the ground in Myanmar, where he will assess the situation and carry out plans to aid the estimated...

Another twofer from the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics: OBAMA’S VICE-PRESIDENT? – May 8, 2008 – Guest columnist Gerald Pomper suggests Webb MCCAIN’S VICE-PRESIDENT? – May 8, 2008 – Guest columnist Kathryn Lopez suggests Romney

The State of Israel is celebrating its 60th Birthday today. Israeli President Shimon Peres in the Jerusalem Post on 60 years of public life. Other Jerusalem Post Israel@60 articles Ynet’s coverage British PM Gordon Brown: Israel`s creation one of the 20th century`s `greatest achievements` Iran’s Ahmadinejad compares Israel to a dead rat ISRAEL21c: Israel in 2008 bears little resemblance to the tiny agricultural nation that declared independence 60 years ago. Today it’s a high tech...

I am listening on NPR to Sen. Obama’s victory speech in North Carolina – he really thinks that our Democratic Party will unify behind him! Such denial of reality should automatically disqualify him from serious consideration for the Presidency. It’s About What’s Best For America – NOT What’s Best For Barack Obama. Change? We? Can? Believe? In? – Every Word is False. It is clear to this center-left Democrat that Barack Obama is NOT the best choice for the...

Indianapolis Star ELECTION2008: A Couple of Snippets… If you haven’t voted yet, Marion County Clerk Beth White offered this advice just before noon: Go now. “I’d recommend they get there right now, bring their ID and prepare to be patient,” White said during a news conference in the clerk’s office. Polls close at 6 p.m., and White said turnout already is looking less like a primary than a general election….One thing was clear by noon: Election results will...

Political Wire: Charlotte Observer: “Long lines were reported this morning at some polling places across North Carolina in the state’s first significant presidential primary election in two decades… Longtime N.C. political observers say that 1.5 million voters may participate in the historic Democratic primary.” Indianapolis Star: “More voters have turned out in the first half hour than usually turn out in a half day… Republicans appeared to be crossing over in...

Yesterday afternoon I drove over to Indianapolis from Cincinnati to volunteer for the Clinton campaign. I lived in Indianapolis from 1979-2000 and therefore know my way around fairly well. I spent Sunday evening working out of the Clinton South-side office with Ed from Georgia and Stoney from Texas, visiting undecided voters in a racially-mixed neighborhood off of Franklin Rd between 30th St and I-70. Many folks weren’t home (or pretended such). We left literature tucked in the screen doors...

Eschew comparing political horseraces with actual horsy-horseraces: Not only did an inexperienced stallion named Big Brown just win the Kentucky Derby, but 2nd place went to the filly Eight Belles who collapsed immediately after the race and had to be euthanized. You may recall that Sen. Clinton supported the filly. MSNBC

Ken Livingstone is a vicious bigot and I won’t miss him. BBC: Boris Johnson has won the race to become the next mayor of London – ending Ken Livingstone’s eight-year reign at City Hall.

Larry J. Sabato on OLD MATH, NEW MATH, AND THE DISPUTE OVER THE “POPULAR VOTE” AND Alan I. Abramowitz on THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING REPUBLICAN BASE. OLD MATH, NEW MATH, AND THE DISPUTE OVER THE “POPULAR VOTE” Little consensus on measure of primary participation Give Hillary Clinton credit. She has shown toughness, stamina, and persistence in one of the longest presidential campaigns in American history. She has fought hard and come back time and again in the 2008 primary season,...

Rhodes Cook: Barack Obama caused quite a stir a fortnight ago when he told a suburban San Francisco fund raiser that small-town Pennsylvania voters were “bitter” about their economic plight. As a consequence, he added, “they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them…” As political comments go, it was a self-inflicted “twofer”. Not only was Obama’s sociological analysis delivered in a place synonymous with permissive...

According to Political Wire: An Indicator? An early indication that Sen. Barack Obama thinks he’ll lose today’s Pennsylvania primary: He’s heading to Indiana tonight for a rally with John Mellencamp while Sen. Hillary Clinton plans a victory party in Philadelphia. In addition, Obama’s campaign also released a memo essentially erasing all expectations of a win.

Credulous, likely-senile Jimmy Carter had tea with the terrorist group Hamas and now, according to MSNBC, Hamas is asking for a 10-year “truce” while refusing to recognize the State of Israel on the condition that said State of Israel return to the nearly-indefensible 1967 (read 1949) borders. This is nothing new from Hamas, which would love to import offensive weaponry for the next 10 years while ruling both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Hamas’ terrorist attacks will simply...

Larry J. Sabato on HOW COULD JOHN McCAIN WIN IN NOVEMBER? History versus circumstance in the general election PLUS Alan I. Abramowitz on WILL DISAPPOINTED DEMS VOTE FOR MCCAIN? Crossover voting and defection in past elections Sabato: It’s obvious to just about everyone that, at least theoretically, the Democrats have a near-perfect climate for presidential victory in 2008. A deeply unpopular Republican President is mired around 30 percent in the polls; last week, Bush was at 28 percent, a...

There are certainly valid issues here, but I doubt that the protests are doing Tibet, China, or the Olympics any good whatsoever. Imagine if all that energy were directed in constructive channels. NPR: Tibet Protests Stir Chinese Nationalism Audio for this story will be available at approx. 7:00 p.m. ET All Things Considered, April 18, 2008 · Internet death threats and attacks on property greeted at least one person’s efforts to mediate between protesters on opposite sides of the China-Tibet...

Rhodes Cook asks “Who has the right credentials?” One of the basic themes of the long-running Democratic nominating campaign between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton speaks to the need for a new era in American politics. But increasingly it seems as though their race could be decided by a method quite old–a decision by the convention credentials committee that is voted up or down on the convention floor. Why is that? Because the Clinton-Obama battle could very well be decided by...

Indianapolis Star: The Purdue Society of Professional Engineers knows how to make a hamburger. Before a crowd of more than 1,500 people Saturday in the Purdue University Armory, the team came away with first prize in the 2008 national Rube Goldberg Machine Contest. Advertisement The Purdue engineers beat six other teams from colleges across the country, including last year’s champions from Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich., in a hamburger-making competition. The annual event challenges...

The Phelps Family Ghouls (the ‘God Hates Gays’ Baptists who picket funerals) may lose their property to the courts as a consequence of their hateful actions. Topeka KS Capital-Journal: A federal judge in Maryland on Thursday ordered liens on the Westboro Baptist Church building and the Phelps-Chartered Law office. If the case presided over by U.S. District Court Judge Richard D. Bennett is upheld by an appeals court, the church, at 3701 S.W. 12th, and the office building, at 1414 S.W....

Political Wire: Clintons Made $109 Million Since Leaving White House Here’s the Friday night news dump: The Clintons had gross income of $109 million for 2000 to 2007, according to newly released tax documents. President Clinton made $51.8 million speeches over eight years and $29.6 million in book income, while Sen. Clinton made $10.5 million in book income. The Clintons paid $33.8 million in taxes between 2000-2007, or 31% of adjusted gross income, and gave $10.26 million to charity over...

Larry Sabato has two guest columns for us this week, Wesley Little on WHAT IF DEMOCRATS USED WINNER TAKE ALL? Without proportional allocation Obama would trail AND Alan I. Abramowitz on SUPERDELEGATE MATH: Unpledged delegate projections don’t favor Clinton WHAT IF DEMOCRATS USED WINNER TAKE ALL? Without proportional allocation Obama would trail SUPERDELEGATE MATH: Unpledged delegate projections don’t favor Clinton

Tierneylab Blog at The New York Times: Are Carbon Cuts Just A Fantasy? What if there’s no way to cut greenhouse emissions enough to make a real difference? That’s the question raised by a commentary in Nature arguing that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has been too optimistic in its projections for the technological possibilities of reducing greenhouse emissions. Their calculations are called “a bombshell” in a separate news article in Nature about the paper. My colleague Andy...