The Delegate Trickle Continues

Two more Edwards delegates move to Obama. Plus two more superdelegates for Obama. Net for today, four more for Obama.

New stats:

Delegate count is: Obama 1969, Clinton 1779, Edwards 7

In percent terms that is: Obama 52.4%, Clinton 47.4%, Edwards 0.2%

2026 delegates are needed to win.

There are 295 delegates yet to be determined.

Obama needs 57 more delegates to win.

Clinton needs 247 more delegates to win.

In percentage terms, that means:

Obama needs 19.3% of the remaining delegates to win. (It was 28.3% before KY/OR.)

Clinton needs 83.7% of the remaining delegates to win. (It was 74.4% before KY/OR.)

Proposed ACTA

This kind of stuff is BS, but it just keeps coming. It needs to stop.

Copyright Police may seize iPods, Macs under G8 trade deal
(Andy Space, 9 to 5 Mac)

iPods, iPhones, laptops and other digital devices could be seized by customs officials worldwide under a new top-secret copyright policing deal being worked out between the G8 nations, reports claim.

Nations including Canada, the US and various European states (including the UK, which sits on the G8) are secretly agreeing a new pan-global state police deal in which information held on iPods and other devices could be subject to investigation by customs officials tasked with a new role, as copyright police.

Dubbed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), signatory nations will form an international coalition against copyright infringement.

The deal’s up for discussion at the next G8 meeting in Tokyo in July, It creates rules and regulations to govern private copying and copyright laws, and posits the founding of an international regulator, “that would turn border guards and other public security personnel into copyright police,” reports Ottawa Citizen, the National Post and other Canadian media outlets.

I Fear This is True

Hillary's gambit
(Brendan Loy, Irish Trojan)

What, then, is Hillary playing at? I have a theory. She appears to be racheting up her rhetoric to the point where, if the Rules & Bylaws Committee does anything other than seat the Florida and Michigan delegations with full voting rights and in complete accordance with the rogue primary results, she can declare that decision an anti-democratic outrage that must be remedied, irrespective of its significance to the nomination battle, and thus use it as an excuse to keep fighting all the way to the convention, even after Obama secures the nomination by any and all mathematical standards (whether the magic number is 2,025, 2,210, or something in between). In this scenario, Hillary would most likely "suspend" her campaign, but refrain from endorsing Obama or "releasing" her delegates, and then lie in wait for the next three months, hoping some political calamity befalls him in the mean time, at which point she can sweep in like a "white knight" and take the nomination away from him.

Please Be True

There have been conflicting reports on this the last 48 hours or so, and denials of about every one of those reports. But personally, I hope this one is true:

The Nightmare Ticket Is Dead
(Al Giordano, The Field)

The Field can now confirm, based on multiple sources, something that both campaigns publicly deny: that Senator Clinton has directly told Senator Obama that she wants to be his vice presidential nominee, and that Senator Obama politely but straightforwardly and irrevocably said “no.” Obama is going to pick his own running mate based on his own criteria and vetting process.

Inimigos da HP

Is Ivan allowed to go see them when he is in Brazil?

Notes: The Brazilian Band Called Inimigos da HP (Translation: Enemies of HP)
(Brian Lam, Gizmodo)

On my last day in São Paulo, the good people we were working with on an upcoming Portuguese version of Giz with took us to some nightclub with an open roof and lots of beautiful younger people dancing and making out. Anyhow, here's the gadget party of this story: There was a band there playing called Inimigos da HP, or Enemies of HP. Yes, that HP.