No. 5 April 11, 2008

Give us Obama

A recent Canadian Press Harris/Decima survey asked Canadians who they hoped to see become the next U.S. president. The results show:
A plurality (39%) hope Barack Obama becomes the next president, followed by 30 per cent who prefer Hillary Clinton, and eight per cent John McCain. The rest offered no opinion.
According to the pollsters, this represents a major swing in preference away from Senator Clinton in the last three months. A poll in early January saw Senator Clinton with an 11-point edge over Senator Obama with this lead dropping to three points by mid-February, followed by the swing to Obama in front by nine points now.
Senator Obama is most popular in Ontario and Alberta where he has the support of 42 per cent and 44 per cent of respondents compared to 28 per cent and 21 per cent for Senator Clinton.
Obama also led among all age groups, but his support was fully double that of Clinton among those under 25 (54% Obama, 27% Clinton).
Men more heavily favoured Obama (44% Obama, 25% Clinton, 13% McCain) than did women. However, Obama also has a slight lead among female voters (34% compared to 33% for Senator Clinton and 4% for Senator McCain).
Obama is preferred across vote intention lines. His lead is smallest among Conservative voters, 36 per cent of whom prefer Obama, compared to 31 per cent for Hillary Clinton, but still only 19 per cent for John McCain.
Asked who they thought would win the presidency, 44 per cent said that Senator Obama will go on to win, 19 per cent felt Senator McCain would win, while only 17 per cent foresaw a second President Clinton.
Declared Harris Decima President Bruce Anderson, “The momentum for Senator Obama that became evident over recent months in the US, is now showing up in Canada. Not only is he now preferred by more Canadians than the other two candidates, Canadians believe a Democrat will win the White House and that Senator Obama will be that Democrat.”

The plight of the Assyrians

The Christian Assyrians in Iraq are suffering disproportionately more than other segments of the population believes a member of the Dutch parliament who has recently returned from the northern part of the country. Joël Voordewind of the Christian Union party, made the statement in a story carried by the Assyrian International News Service (AINA). "The impression I had was that this minority has been targeted more than the rest," he said. "This impression was confirmed through my visits to regional politicians, aid societies and refugees from Mosul and Baghdad," Voordewind noted that of the original 1.4 million Christian Assyrians in Iraq, there are about 400,000 remaining. About 100,000 of these are in the Kurdish part of Northern Iraq as displaced persons.read the full story here.

A gold-standard martini?

The makers of Gold Flakes Supreme French vodka claim martinis made with their product set the gold standard for the cocktail.
“Maximize your liquidity,” says a PR release. “With the current market fluctuations, credit crunches and housing busts, Gold Flakes Supreme is the only recession-proof vodka available. This unique, quadruple-distilled vodka is made with edible flakes of 24 karat gold that glitter magically in the glass. The Gold Flakes Supreme martini can help smooth investors over the rocky patches ahead. It is a no risk venture, a liquid asset that will return the investment in pure pleasure -- shaken or stirred.”