More of the Energy Emergency

AP reports on the latest example of the energy supply crunch sweeping the planet. These stories are going to become commonplace by the end of 2008:

China is facing its most severe power shortage ever as some plants struggle to secure increasingly costly coal and others shut down capacity rather than rack up losses by selling electricity at low rates.

The rebellion by power plant managers unwilling to generate at a loss is likely to worry policymakers still haunted by the nationwide diesel supply crisis last autumn, when refiners under similar pressure quietly curbed output and forced the government to make an unplanned and unwanted rise in fuel prices.

Meanwhile...The Energy Emergency

While we slowly figure out which RICH PERSON should lead the country next...

...entire African nations are experiencing massive blackouts.
The Associated Press reports:

Zambia was plunged into darkness Monday night in what appeared to be the second nationwide power outage in three days.

The electricity network went down at about 7:30 p.m. and was restored about four hours later. There was no immediate explanation for the blackout.

Hillary Will Turn Me Into A Republican

This is a comment left on "The Caucus", A New York Times political blog:

It is interesting to see how both Clintons have turned so much fire on Mr. Obama, when in fact, it is Mr. Edwards who has been so bluntly (and accurately) critical of Mrs. Clinton. By throwing rocks (bricks, actually) at the front-runner (Obama) rather than returning fire at the true source (Edwards), Clinton really reveals her true ambitious colors and lack of character. At a time when this country is desperately in need of a leader with courage,vision, and character, it is increasingly evident that Mrs. Clinton has none of the above. As an African-American male and historically loyal Democrat, I will give serious consideration to voting for a Republican in the fall if Mrs. Clinton wins the Democratic nomination.— Posted by Gerald

And by the way...just in case you are not convinced that Hillary is a status quo conservative...watch this from Democracy Now.

The Voting Emergency

The below is an excerpt from DMI blog:

The news recently has been all voting, all the time. As candidates make epic tours of diners, churches, and city halls, papers and TV screens are chock full of pictures of politicians giving hugs and kissing babies. There's news about Hillary's teary eyes on the campaign trail and the difference the weather made in the New Hampshire primary. But in all the hoopla and campaign coverage, one aspect of the primary season has been surprisingly underdiscussed -- that of the process of voting itself.

Until this past Sunday, that is. The New York Times Magazine featured a lengthy article on voting machines, telling the story of a system rife with problems that we still manage to use to determine hair-splittingly close elections. The Times reports,

"In the last three election cycles, touch-screen machines have become one of the most mysterious and divisive elements in modern electoral politics. Introduced after the 2000 hanging-chad debacle, the machines were originally intended to add clarity to election results. But in hundreds of instances, the result has been precisely the opposite: they fail unpredictably, and in extremely strange ways; voters report that their choices 'flip' from one candidate to another before their eyes; machines crash or begin to count backward; votes simply vanish."