Amerikaanse verkiezingen #52: Colin Powell endorses Obama

quote:

With his embrace of Obama, Powell, 71, has broken ranks.

The decision led to debate over his motives. Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh suggested Powell's endorsement was rooted in race and the hope that Obama would become the first black president.

"I am now researching his past endorsements to see if I can find all the inexperienced, very liberal, white candidates he has endorsed," Limbaugh said in an e-mail. "I'll let you know what I come up with."

Powell, in his appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," denied that race was the motivating factor. He said he had pondered a decision for months, and that he had told Obama, "I'll give you all the advice I can, but I'm not going to vote for you just because you're black."

Powell's decision to cross party lines, former associates said, is far more complicated than black and white.

"It was a painful thing for him to do, for sure," Larry Wilkerson, a retired Army colonel who was Powell's chief of staff at the State Department, said in an interview Sunday. "One of the principal parts of his character is defined by loyalty."

The Republican Party and Republican presidents "have done a lot for his career," Wilkerson said. Powell was President Reagan's national security advisor, then served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W. Bush before he became President George W. Bush's first secretary of State.

Wilkerson said that Powell ultimately was distressed over what he saw as growing divisiveness in the country and a return to "the vitriol and bigotry and prejudice" of the 1960s.

Adm. Henry Ulrich, the former commander of U.S. naval forces in Europe, said he thought Powell's decision was not easy.

"Colin Powell is a very, very, very bright, thoughtful person, and I can assure you that he did not enter into this endorsement without giving it lots and lots of thought and give it all the due process it deserved," Ulrich said. "I think it is remarkable that he has endorsed a Democrat, and so I am sure he didn't do it lightly.

"Sen. Obama is quite lucky and fortunate," he added. "It should have made his Sunday."

quote:

'Olievelden raken leeg'

20-10-2008 | Gepubliceerd 07:46
20-10-2008 | Laatst bijgewerkt 08:10

Olievelden raken snel leeg. De productiedaling gaat harder dan verwacht.

Dat zegt Pieter Boot, directeur duurzame energie en technologie van het Internationale Energie Agentschap (IAE), maandag in Het Financieele Dagblad. Hij denkt dan ook dat de recente val van de olieprijs van tijdelijke aard is.

De IAE onderzocht achthonderd olievelden op hun natuurlijk verval, dat optreedt zodra een veld over zijn piek heen is. Boot denkt dat er dan ook meer investeringen nodig zijn om het verval tegen te gaan.

Boot wil geen percentages noemen, maar volgens hem is de productiedaling van olievelden, of ze nu in het Midden-Oosten of Rusland liggen, over de hele linie groot. "Dat geeft geen plezierig beeld." Op 12 november publiceert de IAE de studie over achthonderd bekeken olievelden.

quote:

Op maandag 20 oktober 2008 15:53 schreef Wheelgunner het volgende:
'Olievelden raken leeg'

Dat horen we nu al sinds de jaren '60...

quote:

Op maandag 20 oktober 2008 16:36 schreef Wheelgunner het volgende:

[..]

Deze week was er nog die enorme vondst bij Cuba..

quote:

Op maandag 20 oktober 2008 16:57 schreef Montov het volgende:
McCain heef 37 miljoen dollar uitgegeven in september. Dat betekent dat hij nog 47 miljoen kan utigeven in oktober (en november). Obama heeft dus in september 150 miljoen opgehaald... Dat is een redelijk verschil.

quote:

Op maandag 20 oktober 2008 17:16 schreef Fokski het volgende:

[..]

Zo gigantisch is het verschil niet als je de Republikeinse partij er bij neemt. De laatste maand zal wellicht een groter verschil laten zien maar Obama moet gokken dat hij weet hoeveel geld hij nog kan binnenhalen.

[ afbeelding ]