Vladimir Putin's clairvoyance

Osama bin Laden; attacks on New York and Washington; Islamic extremism - Reading an editorial containing the preceding subjects would be nothing out of the ordinary these days, rather par for the course in any discussion on the War on Terror. Now imagine these ideas being bandied about almost two years before September 11, 2001. In fact, they were penned in an op-ed by Russian leader Vladamir Putin, in November of 1999. Most extraordinary, Putin wrote the following cryptic scenario:

"....ordinary New Yorkers or Washingtonians, asleep in their homes. Then, in a flash, hundreds perish in explosions at the Watergate, or at an apartment complex on Manhattan's West Side. Thousands are injured, some horribly disfigured. Panic engulfs a neighborhood, then a nation."

His point of reference was the violence afflicted by Chechen separatists in the on-going conflict on Russian soil. For all the criticism thrown Putin's way by western media, this one editorial of his has validated his analysis on what it takes to combat extremism, a blueprint followed by his American comrade, George Bush, for the last 6 and a half years.

Obama's flag pin

Since May 14, Barack Obama has universally donned a flag pin on his lapel, an act his two rivals in the race have yet to ascribe to. There has even been an interesting machination in the versions that Obama has worn. Originally, the wavy version with a pole was chosen; this particular one is the most common among politicians and newscasters such as Lou Dobbs, Brit Hume and Jay Leno. On May 19, on a visit to South Dakota's Indian reservation, Obama switched to the Presidential rectangular flag. I applaud his campaign's strategy in employing the latter, which looks better, and more importantly, adorns the lapel of George W Bush, who himself made the switch just before taking his second term in January 2005. This puts Obama on an even viewing pane with the figure he hopes to succeed in less than 8 months from now.

Here are the visuals of Obama and Bush adorning their nation's symbol.

Obama's three seminal primary victories

Who would have imagined four months ago that the primary season would still be relevant leading up to the warm days of summer; now we're still provided around the clock television coverage on the super networks on every Tuesday or the next. The journey that Senator Obama has travailed deserves an inspection via the paper of record, whose grand headlines dictate the relevance of the day's news. Here below are the historical victories that have certainly clinched the nomination for the tall skinny young man who no one had ever heard of even 4 years ago. (To think, it could have been Mike Ditka of all people that would up stopped this train before it gained steam during those days in 2004.) My best wishes to the great states of Iowa, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

Bill O'Reilly swearing up a storm

Real Obama girls

Scenic Southern Suburbs

Barack Obama campaign photo album