Canvassers who spent the day knocking on doors in Youngstown, Ohio, gathered at the New Bethel Baptist Church to watch and listen to SEIU President Andy Stern and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick share why they are supporting Barack Obama.
Watch a video clip below:
More: continued here
For three months, HP has promised to return reader N’s laptop within the next ten days. N sent his HP Pavillion for repairs in December after his screen became a blurry mess incapable of displaying anything as basic as say, oh, a tracking page. HP insists that they fixed the laptop, but they won’t ship it back to N. Conveniently, the one-year warranty expired last month.
N posted a blurry video of the blurry screen:
He writes:
I’m just like Lorraine… I also want my laptop back an HP Pavillion, I have not received it since December 2007. The problem with my laptop is that it wont start if u press the power button and the screen one time gets blurry… I even posted a video on youtube about my screen which u guys can view it here.HP service staff keeps on telling me that I’ll be recieving my laptop for the next ten days now its been almost 3 MONTHS… I need help dunno really what to do by the way my notebooks 1 year warranty just expired this month of February 2008.
Call (650) 857-1501 and ask for Mark Hurd’s office. Tell him to break out a torch and pack up his hunting gear: the mysterious disappearing laptop is on the prowl once again.
PREVIOUSLY: Hey Geek Squad, I Haven’t Seen My Laptop In A Month
(Photo: Carla216)
More: continued here
Terrible news for anyone afraid of flying: the FAA is reporting that the newest passenger planes are held together with “substandard” parts. The oversight at several supplier factories was so shoddy that workers were caught using rulers made of scotch-tape and paper.
The report cited four engine failures in 2003 — three on the ground, one in flight — that were traced to “unapproved design changes made by a . . . supplier” of speed sensors on engine fuel pumps. It did not cite any more recent incidents, nor did it specify the degree to which continuing problems with parts threaten to cause similar failures.
During a visit to one parts supplier, the inspector general’s office observed an employee who “used a piece of paper, scotch-taped to the work surface, as a measuring device for a length of wire on an oil and fuel pressure transmitter.”
Among its recommendations, the report said that the FAA needs to require manufacturers to make more on-site visits. The FAA also needs to improve its own inspections, the report said.
The FAA concluded that the report raised no “imminent safety issues.” Great, we feel safer already.
FAA Criticized In Report on Airplane Parts [Washington Post]
(Photo: Charliux)
More: continued here
Barack held a town hall meeting in Parma, Ohio this evening, where he answered questions on a variety of issues ranging from gun control to foreign policy.
One woman whose father is currently serving in Iraq asked Barack how he would “get the fear out of the American people.” Barack responded:
Our job on the military front is to go after those who would do us harm. We also need to strengthen our homeland security, which we still have not fully done. We need to make ports secure, make sure chemical and nuclear plants are properly guarded.
…What is probably going to be most important for us in the long term is to regain the trust of the 1.3 Muslims in the world. We need to build schools, help dig wells in countries that don’t have drinkable water, and assist in providing public health for people with HIV/AIDS. When we send the message that we are interesting in helping them improve their lives, you will see an improvement in our image on the world stage.
…America is at its best when it’s not fearful. Our most shameful times are when people are afraid. We need a president who projects the confidence of America — our values and our ideals.
Another question was about Barack’s policies on immigration.
Barack said:
We are a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. Those things are not contradictory. We have to have stronger border security, but that has to be done intelligently. We need stronger border patrols and electronic surveillance. We have to crack down on employers who are hiring undocumented workers purposely because they don’t want to pay U.S. workers decent wages. We need to give illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship. This way, they will no longer be undercutting U.S. workers because they will be following the same laws.
…Part of what has happened in our politics over the last several years has been, and this administration has helped, is we’ve become afraid of each other. Afraid of people who don’t look like you or talk like you or live in your neighborhood. Afraid of gay people, afraid of immigrants. That kind of divisive politics has to come to an end. We can’t solve our problems with that mindset because it’s a distraction. I’m tired of distractions and we can’t afford to be distracted.
East Cleveland Councilwoman Barbara J. Thomas came to the town hall show her support for Barack.
Barbara has followed Barack since she first saw him in Boston in 2004. A lifelong Hillary Clinton fan, she said:
I knew there was no one who could take my support away from Hillary—until I saw and heard Barack. And I’ve been working hard to get him elected ever since. The people of East Cleveland are fired up and excited for him. I took people in my car to early vote on Friday—that’s how pumped we are about this election.
Julie Dewey from Lakewood said that this not her first time seeing Barack. “I saw him two years ago in Mayfield and loved it,” she said. Julie believes that Barack is better at bringing people together and has a talent of negotiation. She says, “he stays calm and collected under pressure and doesn’t show the emotional end of problems.”
Are you ready to make real change in our country? Make your voice heard on March 4. Find your polling location here.
More: continued here