Heckuva Job! posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 9:02 AM
Top U.S. Housing Official Resigns
Housing Secretary Alphonso R. Jackson resigned his post on Monday, removing a key player from the Bush administration team dealing with the financial crisis set off by the slump in the housing market and the problems with subprime mortgage lending.
.....
Mr. Jackson, 62, has been under investigation by the Justice Department and the housing department's inspector general in inquiries focusing on whether he gave lucrative housing contracts to friends. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has interviewed several of his employees.
Mr. Jackson is the first housing secretary with experience running public housing authorities, having led them in Washington, St. Louis and Dallas.
But his tenure has also been marked by controversy.
In 2004, less than two months after his confirmation as housing secretary, Mr. Jackson told a House panel that he believed poverty "is a state of mind, not a condition." Two years later, he said in a speech that he had canceled a contract for a company after its president told him that he did not like Mr. Bush.
We need a pitcher... posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:06 AM
Bush booed loudly while throwing out first pitch in Nationals home opener
President Bush delivered the first pitch tonight at the new Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. to a resounding chorus of boos. After being announced, Bush was showered by boos as he strode to the mound. Even after delivering the pitch, the jeering did not let up until Bush disappeared from the field.
In 2006, Vice President Cheney was also loudly booed when he threw out the first pitch for the Nationals. In a rare move for a president, Bush missed the team's home openers in both 2006 and 2007.
Washington Nationals manager Manny Acta caught Bush's pitch. Acta was chosen after Paul Lo Duca, the Nationals' catcher was by-passed due to his involvement with performance-enhancing drugs.
Unconfirmed but does anyone doubt it's real? posted by
Clyde 5:32 AM
US military build-up on Iran border: Russian Intelligence
Russian military intelligence services are reporting a flurry of activity by US Armed Forces near Iran's borders, a high-ranking security source said Tuesday.
'The latest military intelligence data point to heightened US military preparations for both an air and ground operation against Iran,' the official said, adding that the Pentagon has probably not yet made a final decision as to when an attack will be launched.
He said the Pentagon is looking for a way to deliver a strike against Iran 'that would enable the Americans to bring the country to its knees at minimal cost.'
He also said the US Naval presence in the Persian Gulf has for the first time in the past four years reached the level that existed shortly before the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
Bet it would be different if people had Inc. or LLC behind their names posted by
Clyde 5:26 AM
Katrina victims may have to repay money
NEW ORLEANS - Imagine that your home was reduced to mold-covered wood framing by Hurricane Katrina.
Desperate for money to rebuild, you engage in a frustrating bureaucratic process, and after months of living in a government-provided trailer that gives off formaldehyde fumes you finally win a federal grant.
Then a collector announces that you have to pay back thousands of dollars.
Thousands of Katrina victims may be in that situation.
Bush says Rudd's plan to withdraw from Iraq mirrors his own
US PRESIDENT George Bush has praised Australia's decision to withdraw its combat troops from Iraq as a sign of both military success and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's strength of character.
Making the best of a diplomatic setback, Mr Bush said Mr Rudd was not abandoning Iraq, but simply changing mission.
"Obviously, the Prime Minister kept a campaign commitment, which I appreciate," Mr Bush said of Mr Rudd's election promise to withdraw 550 combat troops. "I always like to be in the presence of somebody who does what he says he's going to do. This is a guy who meant it."
Speaking after meeting the Prime Minister at the White House early yesterday, Mr Bush said Mr Rudd's plan was no different from his own intention to withdraw five US brigades by July.
War hero or just a shitty pilot? posted by
Clyde 7:20 AM
John McSame got shot down, how does that make him a war hero? He didn't charge a pillbox or fight off a battalion of NVA single-handedly. Fact is that the media has morphed him into some damn Audie Murphy and it just doesn't pass the smell test. Remember, the only true war hero for the Republicans in 2004 was Bush because he was able to fight off the bloodthirsty horde of Cuban invaders bent on taking Alabama.
John McCain touts war hero image as Clinton and Obama bicker
With Democrats locked in a bloody primary battle, John McCain set his sights on the general election Friday, releasing his first ad since sewing up the GOP nomination.
"The American President Americans have been waiting for," proclaimed the 60-second spot, which transposes footage of the 71-year-old Arizona senator with clips of himself imprisoned in Vietnam.
Coming seven months before the election, and as Obama and Clinton continue to fight for their party's nod, the ad is a clear attempt by McCain to define himself before Democrats do it for him.
It also comes as McCain kicks off a "Service to America" tour next week that is intended to highlight places that have shaped his life, from the Naval Academy in Maryland - where he famously graduated near the bottom of his class - to a military base in Mississippi.
To think that this is allegedly the most powerful man in the world posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 7:07 AM
Bush gives out wrong hotline number - again
When it comes to a government hotline number for homeowners seeking mortgage relief, President Bush just can't get the digits right.
After a housing roundtable in New Jersey, Bush twice gave out the wrong number in a public statement, saying the relief line was 1-88-995-HOPE - leaving off the third 8 in the area code of the correct number: 1-888-995-HOPE.
Bush had trouble with the same number in December when it was first unveiled. Then the president incorrectly said the number was 1-800-995-HOPE.
Anyone who dialed 1-800-995-HOPE did not reach the mortgage hotline, but instead contacted the Freedom Christian Academy - a Texas-based group that provides Christian education home schooling material.
Maybe that explains it - a free plug for his texan god-squad friends. Either he's a complete moron, or he's evangelizing from the White House. I'm not sure what's scarier.
Eddie Vedder's "No More": Inspired By An Iraq War Veteran posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:19 AM
Body of War is an intimate and transformational feature documentary about the true face of war today. Meet Tomas Young, 25 years old, paralyzed from a bullet to his spine - wounded after serving in Iraq for less than a week.
Body of War is Tomas' coming home story as he evolves into a new person, coming to terms with his disability and finding his own unique and passionate voice against the war. The film is produced and directed by Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro, and features two original songs by Eddie Vedder. Body of War is a naked and honest portrayal of what it's like inside the body, heart and soul of this extraordinary and heroic young man.
A special election on 9/11? posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 12:07 PM
Giuliani weighing 'special' run for gov
In the latest twist in New York politics, Rudy Giuliani is eyeing a run for governor in a special election this fall should Gov. Paterson be forced to resign, sources say.
A top adviser to the former mayor, who pulled the plug on his presidential bid in January, yesterday dangled the possibility of Giuliani's running in a special election.
It would happen in a year in which presidential nominee John McCain would be at the top of the GOP ticket.
The Post reported this week that state lawmakers started researching the line of succession after Paterson's first week in office was spent responding to questions about extramarital affairs and the questionable use of campaign funds.
If Paterson resigns before August, a special election would have to be held in November.
Life in La La Land posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:07 AM
President Bush: Iraq violence is a 'positive moment'
President Bush gave warning yesterday that Iraq's "fragile situation" required the US to maintain a strong military presence there, even as he defended the withdrawal of British troops from Basra, the scene of heavy fighting in recent days.
In an interview with The Times, he backed the Iraqi Government's decision to "respond forcefully" to the spiralling violence by "criminal elements" and Shia extremists in Basra. "It was a very positive moment in the development of a sovereign nation that is willing to take on elements that believe they are beyond the law," the President said.
Asked if British troops had retreated to the relative safety of the Basra airbase too hastily last year, Mr Bush said that the pullback had been "based upon success" in quelling violence, adding that he remained grateful for the contribution made by British Forces from "day one" of the war.
Mr Bush, who had spent the morning being briefed on Iraq by the Pentagon before an imminent announcement on US troop levels, said that despite "substantial gains" since the US military surge began last year, much work was needed to "maintain the success we've had".
Like he cares posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:01 AM
At Pentagon, Bush Hears Military's Worries On War Strains From Long, Frequent Iraq Deployments
Behind the Pentagon's closed doors, U.S. military leaders told President Bush Wednesday they are worried about the Iraq war's mounting strain on troops and their families. But they indicated they'd go along with a brief halt in pulling out troops this summer.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff did say senior commanders in Iraq should make more frequent assessments of security conditions, an idea that appeared aimed at increasing pressure for more rapid troop reductions.
-- Wednesday's 90-minute Pentagon session, held in a secure conference room known as “the Tank,” was arranged by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to provide Bush an additional set of military views as he prepares to decide how to proceed in Iraq once his troop buildup, which began in 2007, runs its course by July.
"Armed with all that, the president must now decide the way ahead in Iraq," said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell. The discussion covered not only Iraq but Afghanistan, where violence has spiked, and broader military matters, said Morrell, who briefed reporters without giving details of the discussion. Some specifics were provided by defense officials, commenting on condition of anonymity in order to speak more freely.
Cousin lovin'? posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 7:28 AM
Clinton and Obama related to Brangelina
The U.S. presidential candidates may have star qualities -- and they also have stars in their families, according to a genealogical study linking Hillary Clinton to Angelina Jolie and Barack Obama to Brad Pitt.
The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) in Boston on Wednesday released a study in which it traced the family trees of all three presidential candidates to find they all had famous relatives, both dead and alive.
It found Illinois Senator Barack Obama, whose mother is from Kansas, can claim at least six U.S. presidents as distant cousins, including George W. Bush and his father, Gerald R. Ford, Lyndon B. Johnson, Harry S. Truman, and James Madison.
But other cousins include British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill -- and Brad Pitt who is a ninth cousin linked back Edwin Hickman who died in Virginia in 1769.
Fresh off his eighth Iraq visit, Sen. John McCain declared Monday that "we are succeeding" and said he wouldn't change course - even as the U.S. death toll rose to 4,000 and the war entered its sixth year.
To underscore his view of the stakes in Iraq, the certain Republican presidential nominee twice referenced a recent audio tape from Osama bin Laden in which the al-Qaida leader urged followers to join the al-Qaida fight in Iraq and called the country "the greatest opportunity and the biggest task."
"For the first time, I have seen Osama bin Laden and General (David) Petraeus in agreement, and, that is, a central battleground in the battle against al-Qaida is in Iraq today. And that's what bin Laden was saying and that's what General Petraeus is saying and that's what I'm saying, my friends," McCain said.
FALLUJAH, Iraq - The city's police chief, Col. Faisal Ismail al-Zobaie, a husky man with a leathered face and a firm voice that resonates with authority, ordered an aide to shut his office door. He turned to his computer. Across the screen flashed a video, purportedly made by the Sunni insurgent group Al Qaeda in Iraq.
In the video, branches are thrown into a pit, then doused with kerosene and ignited. The camera pans to three blindfolded men, kneeling, mouths sealed with tape. Six armed men in black masks stand behind. One declares: "These three men fought and killed Al Qaeda. We will punish them according to Islam." The masked men then kick the three into the burning grave.
Al-Zobaie angrily turned off the video. "How can we show mercy to those people?"
Al-Zobaie, 51, knows the nature of the men in black masks. He is a former insurgent. Now, as the police chief, he has turned against the insurgency, especially Al Qaeda in Iraq. The U.S. military showcases Fallujah as a model city where U.S. policies are finally paying off.
What's that about judicial activism? posted by
Clyde 11:14 AM
Supreme Court allows retiree benefit cuts
The Supreme Court on Monday gave employers a green light to reduce health benefits for millions of retirees who turn 65 and become eligible for Medicare. The justices turned away a legal challenge from AARP, the nation's leading senior citizens lobby, which had contended these lower benefits for older retirees violated the federal law against age discrimination.
The court's action upholds, in effect, a rule adopted last year by federal regulators that says the "coordination of retiree health benefits with Medicare" is exempt from the anti-age-bias law.
Advocates for companies and labor unions openly disagreed with AARP and applauded the outcome. They said this compromise rule will encourage employers to maintain health coverage for their retirees. Otherwise, employers might drop all benefits for their former employees, they said.
They said it will prove especially helpful to those younger retirees who were offered continued healthcare when they left full-time work.
The overall U.S. death toll in Iraq rose to 4,000 after four soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing in Baghdad, a grim milestone that is likely to fuel calls for the withdrawal of American forces as the war enters its sixth year.
The American deaths occurred Sunday, the same day rockets and mortars pounded the U.S.-protected Green Zone in Baghdad and a wave of attacks left at least 61 Iraqis dead nationwide.
An Iraqi military spokesman said Monday that troops had found rocket launching pads in different areas in predominantly Shiite eastern Baghdad that had been used by extremists to fire on the Green Zone, which houses the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government headquarters.
"We hope to deal with this issue professionally to avoid civilian casualties," said spokesman Qassim al-Moussawi.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain has condemned the influence of "special interest lobbyists," yet dozens of lobbyists have political and financial ties to his presidential campaign - particularly from telecommunications companies, an industry he helps oversee in the Senate.
Of the 66 current or former lobbyists working for the Arizona senator or raising money for his presidential campaign, 23 have lobbied for telecommunications companies in the past decade, Senate lobbying disclosures show.
McCain has netted about $765,000 in political donations from those telecom lobbyists, their spouses, colleagues at their firms and their telecom clients during the past decade, a USA TODAY analysis of campaign-finance records shows.
It's unclear how much more money those lobbyists have raised for McCain. Eighteen of them are listed by the campaign as "bundlers," which are major fundraisers. McCain doesn't disclose how much each bundler has raised - unlike Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, who categorize their bundlers by the amount they raise. For example, Clinton's "Hillraisers" have brought in more than $100,000 each.
Oh yeah, well what has he done for George lately? posted by
Clyde 5:10 AM
Stalwart Service for U.S. in Iraq Is Not Enough to Gain Green Card
During his nearly four years as a translator for U.S. forces in Iraq, Saman Kareem Ahmad was known for his bravery and hard work. "Sam put his life on the line with, and for, Coalition Forces on a daily basis," wrote Marine Capt. Trent A. Gibson.
Gibson's letter was part of a thick file of support -- including commendations from the secretary of the Navy and from then-Maj. Gen. David H. Petraeus -- that helped Ahmad migrate to the United States in 2006, among an initial group of 50 Iraqi and Afghan translators admitted under a special visa program.
Last month, however, the U.S. government turned down Ahmad's application for permanent residence, known as a green card. His offense: Ahmad had once been part of the Kurdish Democratic Party, which U.S. immigration officials deemed an "undesignated terrorist organization" for having sought to overthrow former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Ahmad, a Kurd, once served in the KDP's military force, which is part of the new Iraqi army. A U.S. ally, the KDP is now part of the elected government of the Kurdish region and holds seats in the Iraqi parliament. After consulting public Web sites, however, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services determined that KDP forces "conducted full-scale armed attacks and helped incite rebellions against Hussein's regime, most notably during the Iran-Iraq war, Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom."
25 years of Ronny's Ray-Gun posted by
Clyde 4:52 AM
'Star Wars' and the Phantom Menace
Perhaps it is fitting that the 25th anniversary of President Ronald Reagan's "Star Wars" speech falls on Easter Sunday. After all, many had believed Reagan's grand plan for a system that would render Moscow's nuclear-tipped missiles "impotent and obsolete" died along with the Soviet Union. But "Star Wars" has been resurrected, and has been standing guard over America's skies since 2004. But the more than $120 billion spent over 25 years to build the "Star Wars" missile shield has not left the U.S. less vulnerable to attack - some would argue that it has done exactly the opposite, by diverting resources away from dealing with more urgent and plausible threats.
Those who fear a missile strike on the American mainland from North Korea or Iran - not that either is anywhere close to achieving such capability - the investment in a missile shield, even one whose efficacy is far from clearly established, may seem worthwhile. To those who believe the more salient and insidious threats are those of the type we experienced on 9/11, this shield against a handful of rogue missiles represents an unfortunate diversion of funds that could be used far more effectively to defend the U.S.
The growing consensus among national-security professionals is that a deadly weapon targeting the U.S. is far more likely to be delivered hidden in a shipping container than in the warhead of an intercontinental ballistic missile. But the $10 billion a year the Pentagon devotes to missile defenses is almost twice the amount the U.S. spends on defending the nation's borders and ports from smuggled weapons.
With Bush giving corporate welfare - Why would they? posted by
Clyde 6:20 AM
Wall Street culture not likely to change
Wall Street investment bankers got another lesson about the dangers of risk-taking this past week with the downfall of Bear Stearns Cos. The question now obviously is, how long will it last?
Those bankers, many of whom lived through market debacles like the dot-com bust at the start of this decade, turned out to have very short memories. And so analysts believe the sale of Bear Stearns to JPMorgan Chase & Co. for a stunning $2 per share ultimately won't have that much of an impact on how Wall Street conducts business.
In fact, bankers and traders are under even more pressure to reap big returns because of the ongoing credit crisis, and risk is just part of the game.
"There's an old saying on Wall Street that, for traders and bankers, you'd have to take a normal 30 year career and distill it to 15 years," said Quincy Krosby, chief investment strategist for The Hartford. "This whole episode might change Wall Street for a little while."
There will be no questioning of the "fly in the ointment!" posted by
Clyde 5:50 AM
Pentagon rules out Fallon testimony
The Pentagon on Friday ruled out including Adm. William Fallon as a witness before Congress when the top U.S. military and diplomatic officials in Baghdad testify next month on the way ahead in Iraq.
Fallon's abrupt announcement March 11 that he was resigning, effective March 31, as chief of U.S. Central Command overseeing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan triggered accusations by Democrats in Congress that he was being forced out for publicly opposing launching a war against Iran.
In declaring that Fallon would not join Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker as witnesses before Congress next month, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said the decision had nothing to do with Fallon's views on Iran or the reasons for his unexpected resignation and retirement.
"I know there have been requests, in fact, from members of Congress to have Adm. Fallon testify with Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker, and I can tell you that Adm. Fallon will not be testifying" with them, Morrell told a Pentagon news conference.
But they are mum on Vitter posted by
Clyde 11:06 AM
U.S. Defends Tough Tactics on Spitzer
The Justice Department used some of its most intrusive tactics against Eliot Spitzer, examining his financial records, eavesdropping on his phone calls and tailing him during its criminal investigation of the Emperor's Club prostitution ring.
The scale and intensity of the investigation of Mr. Spitzer, then the governor of New York, seemed on its face to be a departure for the Justice Department, which aggressively investigates allegations of wrongdoing by public officials, but almost never investigates people who pay prostitutes for sex.
A review of recent federal cases shows that federal prosecutors go sparingly after owners and operators of prostitution enterprises, and usually only when millions of dollars are involved or there are aggravating circumstances, like human trafficking or child exploitation.
Are they in their final throes? posted by
Clyde 11:01 AM
The final battle for Basra is near, says Iraqi general
General Mohan al-Furayji, the Iraqi commander in charge of security in the south of Iraq, has warned his troops they must prepare for the final battle to defeat the Shia militias terrorising Basra.
For the British force based at Basra airport, the general's strategy raises the spectre of a return to the city they left last September after a summer of incessant attacks by the gunmen.
General Mohan is determined that the armed Shia groups have to be defeated before the provincial elections in the autumn. Failure to do so, he maintains, will mean the gunmen will take over what is left of the degenerating political process, making it impossible to shift them in the near future. No date has been fixed for the drive against the militias in Basra, he said yesterday. But he also delivered an uncompromising warning to his troops: they must be ready for a decisive military push, and it will come soon.
Iraq: No news is good news. Period. posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:24 AM
AP president: US arrests journalist in Iraq to 'control' information
Associated Press president Tom Curley says his news organization does not buy the government's argument that one of its photographers arrested in Iraq was working on behalf of the enemy, and he alleged the US is rounding up journalists in an attempt to control information.
"To say the least, we see things very differently," Curley commented dryly, regarding photographer Bilal Hussein, who was arrested two years ago and remains in military custody.
Noting that at least a dozen other Iraqi photographers have been detained or arrested, Curley stated, "It's impossible not to conclude that the words and pictures these journalists produced were considered unhelpful to the war effort and that their arrests would have served a broader strategy of information control."
Curley also called on journalists to demand that all the presidential candidates make a commitment to reversing a directive issued by Attorney General John Ashcroft shortly after September 11 that radically restricted the scope of the Freedom of Information Act.
Unlike Bush on most things.... posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 8:53 AM
Poll: Most Americans Say War Not Worth It 64% Say Results Of War Not Worth American Lives Lost
One the eve of the five-year anniversary of the start of the war with Iraq, Americans continue to think the results of the war have not been worth the loss of American lives and the other costs of attacking Iraq, according to a new CBS News poll.
Today 29 percent of Americans say the results of the war were worth it; 64 percent say they were not.
In August 2003, less than six months after the beginning of the war, Americans were divided as the whether or not the results of the war were worth it. Opinion reached a low point in March 2006 - when only one in four Americans said the war was worth the costs.
Support today breaks heavily along partisan lines. Sixty-two percent of Republicans say the results of the war with Iraq were worth the costs, while only 10 percent of Democrats and 25 percent of Independents agree. In fact, belief among Republicans that the war was worth it has risen 11 points since March 2006, while support among Democrats and Independents has remained largely the same.
The '80's are here again. posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 7:27 AM
In a good way:
'I Wanna Barack': Twisted Sister song retooled for Obama
Jay Jay French wants to rock. He also wants Barack.
So the Twisted Sister guitarist has re-recorded the heavy metal band's anthem, I Wanna Rock, which has become I Want Barack.
French, a lifelong liberal Democrat whose mother campaigned for John F. Kennedy, said Barack Obama, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, has energized a new generation of voters who previously felt left out of politics.
"He has excited so many people," said French, who founded Twisted Sister in 1973, in a telephone interview Tuesday. "He has given sincere hope to people who have been out of the arena for years."
French plays guitar on the track, which features Paulie Z., singer for the band Z02, on vocals and lead guitar. They call the band Jay Jay French and Friends and stress this isn't a Twisted Sister project because that band's members are split on the presidential candidates.
President Bush says he has no doubts about launching the unpopular war in Iraq despite the "high cost in lives and treasure," arguing that retreat now would embolden Iran and provide al-Qaida with money for weapons of mass destruction to attack the United States.
Bush is to mark the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq on Wednesday with a speech at the Pentagon. Excerpts of his address were released Tuesday night by the White House.
At least 3,990 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the war in 2003. It has cost taxpayers about $500 billion and estimates of the final tab run far higher. Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglizt and Harvard University public finance expert Linda Bilmes have estimated the eventual cost at $3 trillion when all the expenses, including long-term care for veterans, are calculated.
Billo's loofa causing problems at Faux News? posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 2:10 PM
Bedbugs at Fox News
While grappling with MSNBC and CNN for viewers, Fox News has also been battling a smaller, more insidious enemy closer to home: bed bugs in its Midtown Manhattan newsroom. In an interview on Monday, Warren Vandeveer, senior vice president for operations and engineering at Fox News, said the cable channel had realized it had a problem a few weeks ago, when an employee "caught a bug and showed it to us."
An exterminator determined that the incursion was limited to a "very small area in the newsroom." But the source of the bugs was not determined until the exterminator inspected the homes of about 20 employees. Mr. Vandeveer said the exterminator later described one employee's home as having "the worst infestation he had seen in 25 years in the business." After making large bags available for employees to stash their belongings, and replacing a number of fabric-covered desk chairs, Mr. Vandeveer said that the treatments had ended about a week ago, and that the problem had been contained. "It's totally eradicated," he said.
Have you gone beserk? Can't you see that man is a ni? posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:47 AM
NY: Gov. Patterson Admits To Having An Affair
The thunderous applause was still ringing in his ears when the state's new governor, David Paterson, told the Daily News that he and his wife had extramarital affairs.
In a stunning revelation, both Paterson, 53, and his wife, Michelle, 46, acknowledged in a joint interview they each had intimate relationships with others during a rocky period in their marriage several years ago.
In the course of several interviews in the past few days, Paterson said he maintained a relationship for two or three years with "a woman other than my wife," beginning in 1999.
As part of that relationship, Paterson said, he and the other woman sometimes stayed at an upper West Side hotel - the Days Inn at Broadway and W. 94th St.
Dear McCain voters... posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:31 AM
One-Third of Seniors Have Mental Decline
More than 5 million elderly people have a hard time remembering things, sorting through daily decisions and even sometimes knowing what day it is, according to the first national estimate of how commonly the minds of aging Americans are starting to fade.
Using detailed evaluations of a nationally representative sample of 856 people ages 71 and older, the federally sponsored study concluded that 22 percent have begun to see their mental faculties decline, which translates into 5.4 million people.
Combined with a previous estimate that 3.4 million Americans have full dementia, such as Alzheimer's disease, the new findings mean that more than one-third of people age 71 and older have some diminished mental function, the researchers said. About 25 million people in this age group live in the United States.
"This is important because the number of people with cognitive impairment is likely to increase significantly as the baby boomers age," Plassman said, noting that the new research found that 12 percent of those with mild problems go on to develop dementia, and about 8 percent die each year.
Cheney contemplates investing in Hog Futures! posted by
Clyde 1:02 PM
So Exxon will only meet last quarter's profits instead of breaking the record they set last time. My heart weeps! Not!
Oil plummets on economy worries
Oil prices fell sharply Monday, pulling back at least temporarily from record levels as investors feared that the financial crisis that forced the sale of Bear Stearns Cos. is a sign of deep economic troubles.
Crude's plunge came even as diesel prices rose to a new record above $4 a gallon, and gas prices remained high. Diesel, used to transport the vast majority of the nation's goods, rose 1.3 cents to a national average of $4.002 a gallon Monday, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. The national average price of a gallon of gas, meanwhile, dipped slightly to $3.283 a gallon, but remains 73 cents higher than a year ago.
Oil's steep decline - falling $4.17 to $106.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange - came hours after futures rose to a new trading high of $111.80 on the Federal Reserve's surprise Sunday move to lower a key interest rate by a quarter point. In the past several months, Fed rate cuts have fueled rallies in oil prices.
Get in the soup line early posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 11:56 AM
Fed Cuts Discount Rate, Lends More to Avert Meltdown
The Federal Reserve, struggling to prevent a meltdown in financial markets, cut the rate on direct loans to banks and became lender of last resort to the biggest dealers in U.S. government bonds.
In its first weekend emergency action in almost three decades, the central bank lowered the so-called discount rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 3.25 percent. The Fed also will lend to the 20 firms that buy Treasury securities directly from it. In a further step, the Fed will provide up to $30 billion to JPMorgan Chase & Co. to help it finance the purchase of Bear Stearns Cos. after a run on Wall Street's fifth-largest securities firm.
.....
The move is Chairman Ben S. Bernanke's latest step to alleviate a seven-month credit squeeze that's probably pushed the U.S. into a recession. The dollar tumbled to a 12-year low against the yen and Treasury notes rallied as traders increased bets that officials will reduce their main rate by 1 percentage point when they meet tomorrow.
Let the recession begin posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 11:53 AM
Bear's 'Fire Sale' Sparks Fear That No Bank Is Safe
A fire sale of Bear Stearns stunned Wall Street and pummeled global financial stocks on Monday on fears that few banks are safe from deepening market turmoil.
"Last evening the Bear Stearns situation reached a crescendo, as JPMorgan agreed to acquire the wounded broker for a token amount of $2 per share," research firm CreditSights said. "The reality check is that there are many challenged major banks, brokers, thrifts, finance/mortgage companies, and only a handful of bonafide strong U.S. banks."
As a result, financial firms face a "new world order," CreditSights concluded.
President Bush assured the world that the United States was "on top of the situation" in financial markets as the Federal Reserve geared up for a deep cut in interest rates on Tuesday to blow money into the fragile financial system.
But they want to "Stay the course" posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:20 AM
Seven out of 10 Iraqis want foreign forces to leave: poll
More than two-thirds of Iraqis believe US-led coalition forces should leave, according to a poll conducted for British television ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion.
The ORB/Channel 4 News survey suggested that 70 percent thought multinational forces should withdraw.
Yet some 40 percent of the 4,000 people surveyed said they wanted the United States to play a bigger role in rebuilding Iraq and 36 percent wanted more British involvement.
Overall, the wide-ranging poll painted a mixed picture of Iraqi attitudes, contrasting their bleak daily existence with a surprisingly positive attitude about the future.
...
A quarter of those surveyed said they had lost a family member to murder. In Baghdad, that figure rose to nearly half (45 percent).
Republicans See Storm Clouds Gathering Week of Bad News Highlights Difficult Challenges for GOP in Fall Elections
While all eyes were on the presidential campaign and the demise of New York Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer (D) last week, Republicans on Capitol Hill were suffering a run of bad news that could hold dire implications for the campaign season.
It started with the loss last weekend of the seat held for two decades by former House speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). It got worse when Republicans lost potentially strong challengers to Democratic senators in South Dakota and New Jersey, and failed to field anyone to oppose the reelection bid of Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.).
(snip)
"It's no mystery," said Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.). "You have a very unhappy electorate, which is no surprise, with oil at $108 a barrel, stocks down a few thousand points, a war in Iraq with no end in sight and a president who is still very, very unpopular. He's just killed the Republican brand."
Stuart Rothenberg, a nonpartisan analyst of congressional politics, said: "The math is against them. The environment is against them. The money is against them. This is one of those cycles that if you're a Republican strategist, you just want to go into the bomb shelter."
Those "storm clouds" that are gathering over the Republican party have me...
That "booming economy" that Bush has been talking about for years.... posted by
Wally 11:13 PM
... that has now been downgraded to "tough times. It's about to become tougher than anyone younger than about 80 has ever seen.
Wall Street fears for next Great Depression
Wall Street is bracing itself for another week of roller-coaster trading after more than $300bn (£150m) was wiped off the US equity markets on Friday following the emergency funding package put together by the Federal Reserve and JPMorgan Chase to rescue Bear Stearns.
One UK economist warned that the world is now close to a 1930s-like Great Depression, while New York traders said they had never experienced such fear. The Fed's emergency funding procedure was first used in the Depression and has rarely been used since.
A Goldman Sachs trader in New York said: "Everyone is in a total state of shock, aghast at what is happening. No one wants to talk, let alone deal; we're just standing by waiting. Everyone is nervous about what is going to emerge when trading starts tomorrow."
In the UK, Michael Taylor, a senior market strategist at Lombard, the economics consultancy, said on Friday night: "We have all been talking about a 1970s-style crisis but as each day goes by this looks more like the 1930s. No one has any clue as to where this is going to end; it's a self-feeding disaster."
When the Wall Street Journal - written for, and read by primarily rich republicans - starts talking like this, it might be a good time to stock up on canned goods and warm clothes and preparing for the worst. Clyde wrote a column a while back about how the Bush administration is looking more and more like Herbert Hoover, driving us into a Depression before FDR pulled us out. As much as Dookie and I thought he was retarded the first time we met him, Clyde is smarter than he looks. He's like the Rainman of politics or something.
Call your House Rep and Thank Them posted by
Wally 7:48 AM
(or chastise them, depending on how they voted) for upholding the Constitution and finally defying the Boy King
House Rejects Eavesdropping Immunity
After its first secret session in a quarter-century, the House on Friday rejected retroactive immunity for the phone companies that took part in the National Security Agency's warrantless eavesdropping program after the Sept. 11 attacks, and it voted to place greater restrictions on the government's wiretapping powers.
The decision, by a largely party-line vote of 213 to 197, is one of the few times when Democrats have been willing to buck up against the White House on a national security issue. It also ensures that the months-long battle over the government's wiretapping powers will drag on for at least a few more weeks and possibly much longer.
With President Bu sh and Democratic leaders squaring off almost daily on the wiretapping question, neither side has shown much inclination to budge. The question now moves to the Senate, where lawmakers passed a bill last month that was much more to the liking of the White House. Unlike the bill approved Friday by the House, it would give legal immunity to the phone providers that helped in the National Security Agency's wiretapping program, which President Bush says is essential to protect national security.
The House bill approved Friday includes three key elements: it would refuse retroactive immunity to the phone companies, providing special authority instead for the courts to decide the liability issue; it would add additional judicial restrictions on the government's wiretapping powers while plugging certain loopholes in foreign coverage; and it would create a Congressional commission to investigate the N.S.A. program.
Also call your Senator and tell him/her to support the House's version of the bill, with no immunity for violating the Constitution and breaking the law. While the bill won't hold up to a veto, forcing Bush to veto it will mean that HE is the one who is not "protecting national security" by killing a bill passed by both houses of Congress. It will also slow the approval of wiretapping by another several months while a new bill is written. Keep handing him bills he doesn't like and make him veto them until January 2009, when we'll (hopefully) have a sane person in the White House.
Bush clears another hurdle on the way to Dubya Dubya III posted by
Wally 7:08 AM
General Fallon was one of the strongest voices against, and biggest roadblocks in Dubya's rush to start his third war - one that would be the most disastrous yet - against Iran.
Afghanistan was desperately poor - a nation in shambles - when we moved into that nation to go after Osama bin Laden (remember him?), Al Qaeda, and the Taliban. Iraq was somewhat better armed, and actually had a hint of infrastructure (although degraded after more than a decade of sanctions), as well as a well armed and well educated populace who knew an "occupation" when they saw one - regardless of what they thought about Saddam.
Iran has a full blown, well armed, well funded military, with over a half million active soldiers. Anyone who thinks they're going to let us stroll into Tehran in a week like we did in Iraq is delusional.
Unfortunately, that word perfectly describes the Bush administration. Which is why General Fallon had to go. There is no room for reason, reality, or dissent in the current White House.
Iran Dissent Cost General Fallon His Job
Fallon was "brazenly challenging" the Bush Administration's push to go to war with Iran, fighting "against what he saw as an ill-advised action." ..... While President Bush wants war with Iran, "the admiral has urged restraint and diplomacy," adding, "Who will prevail, the president or the admiral?"
Like so many generals before him who have disagreed with this administration, the answer should be obvious. Bush can't tolerate anyone who disagrees with him.
Fallon's backers in and out of the Pentagon said his departure simply proves that the Administration brooks no dissent on matters of war and peace. "Bush says he'll listen to commanders in the field," one retired admiral says, "unless they say something he doesn't like, and then he fire them." Senior Pentagon officials insist Fallon left on his own, but those familiar with the Pentagon's ways had their doubts. "We're not telling you what to do, Fox" the admiral suggests Gates told Fallon, "but there's hemlock in the cup."
(snip)
The betting inside the Pentagon is that despite Fallon's departure, war with Iran is no more likely next month than it was last month. The U.S. military, its hands full in Iraq and Afghanistan, could only engage in an air war against Iran's nuclear sites. The ramifications of attacking a third Muslim nation since 9/11 are so extreme, military officers believe, that no President would launch such a war in his final months in office.
The problem with that line of reasoning is that there is "reasoning" involved. More accurately, it would go "no sane President would launch such a war."
How about your daughters then? posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:22 AM
Bush says if younger, he would work in Afghanistan
U.S. President George W. Bush got an earful on Thursday about problems and progress in Afghanistan where a war has dragged on for more than six years but been largely eclipsed by Iraq.
"I must say, I'm a little envious," Bush said. "If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed."
"It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks," Bush said.
And you're precious little snowflake is sound asleep when the phone rings at the White House. Who do you want to answer the call?
Obama Receives Endorsement of Flag Officers from Army, Navy and Air Force
Citing his judgment and ability to lead, admirals and generals from the United States Army, Navy and Air Force that together have served under the last nine Commanders-in-Chief today announced their endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for president.
In offering their endorsement, the generals and admirals recognized Obama's judgment to oppose the war in Iraq before it began, his respect for the Constitution and rule of law, his leadership on behalf of America's servicemen and women and his ability to conduct the diplomacy necessary to restore America's standing in the world.
"Those of us who have served, worn the cloth of our nation, and gone into harm's way know that to be successful we must have the strongest sense of trust in our Commander in Chief. We must be confident that he or she has listened to the best possible advice, that he or she has garnered the best possible information from all possible sources, that he or she has analyzed and weighed all the possible consequences and outcomes, and that he or she has made the decision to exert military force as a last possible resort," said Admiral (Ret.) Robert "William" Williamson (USN). "Of this I am certain: Senator Obama will do all of those things and much more to ensure the safety and freedom of our citizens, our allies, and coalition partners. He has all the great qualities and attributes required to carry out the most difficult duties of the Presidency.
"I spent a career involved in coalition warfare, and I am keenly aware of the importance of working with allies," said Brigadier General (Ret.) James Smith (USAF). "Senator Obama brings a powerful approach to dealing with national security challenges by truly leveraging multinational relationships. He brings a new face of America to the rest of the world."
Unlike David Vitter (R-Diapers) posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 11:11 AM
Spitzer resigns.
'Deeply sorry,' Spitzer to step down by Monday
Gov. Eliot Spitzer said Wednesday that he will step down from the state's top office because he cannot allow his "private failings to disrupt the public's work."
"I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me," he said in a brief news conference announcing his intention to resign, effective Monday. "I will try once again outside of politics to serve the common good."
With his wife, Silda, at his side, he added, "Our greatest glory consists not in never falling but in rising every time we fall."
The announcement came as the New York governor faces allegations -- but no charges -- that he is tied to an international prostitution ring ensnared in a federal probe.
Spitzer's lawyers were in discussions Wednesday with the U.S. attorney's office in New York, trying to negotiate a plea deal to avoid prosecution, a source with knowledge of the discussions said.
That's Senator Dr. Death to you! posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 11:09 AM
Jack Kevorkian preparing a run for Congress
Assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian is planning a run for Congress.
Kevorkian was released from prison last year and remains on parole. But the 79-year-old told The Oakland Press for an article published Wednesday that he plans to run for office as a candidate with no party affiliation.
Kevorkian lives in Oakland County and the 9th District. That's a seat now held by Republican Joe Knollenberg.
Kevorkian would have to gather a minimum of 3,000 signatures on nominating petitions to appear as an independent on the November ballot.
Another state that doesn't matter to Hillary posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:24 AM
Obama wins Mississippi handily
NBC News declared Barack Obama as the projected winner in the Mississippi primary late on Tuesday, the latest in a string of racially polarized contests across the Deep South and a final tune-up before April's high-stakes race with Hillary Rodham Clinton in Pennsylvania.
"Now we look forward to campaigning in Pennsylvania and around the country," Maggie Williams, Clinton's campaign manager, said in a written statement that congratulated Obama on his victory.
"I'm confident that once we get a nominee, the party is going to be unified," Obama said in claiming his victory in Mississippi.
Suuuure they are! posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:19 AM
White House 'very concerned' about record oil price
The White House said it is "very concerned" about record-high oil prices but that there was nothing US President George W. Bush could do to bring gasoline costs down quickly.
"It would be wrong of the president to provide false hope to people who think that we are going to be able to have an immediate impact to reduce gas prices," Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters.
"This is something that we're all going to have to work through," she said as Bush travelled to Tennessee for a speech on Iraq and an election-year fundraiser, while oil prices struck a record high of 109.72 usd per barrel.
"The price of crude oil and therefore the price of gasoline is very high and we know it is impacting America's consumers and some businesses especially. And we are very concerned about it," Perino said.
And the smear starts now! posted by
Clyde 10:25 AM
Unfortunately this S.O.B serves the district in which I was born and raised. I cannot fathom how people with whom I grew up with keep sending this F*CK back to Washington every election.
Rep. King defends comments about Obama Iowa Rep. King defends views on Obama, terrorists, despite McCain rebuke
An Iowa Republican congressman on Monday defended his prediction that terrorists would celebrate if Democrat Barack Obama were elected president, despite a rebuke from aides to John McCain, the GOP's apparent presidential nominee.
"(Obama will) certainly be viewed as a savior for them," Rep. Steve King told The Associated Press. "That's why you will see them supporting him, encouraging him."
King said his offices have been bombarded with calls _ positive and negative _ since he said Friday that al-Qaida "would be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September 11 because they would declare victory in this war on terror."
King cited Obama's pledge to pull U.S. troops from Iraq, his father's Muslim roots in Kenya and his middle name, Hussein, which King said has a meaning to terrorists.
The opposite is true on Faux News... posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:24 AM
Exhaustive review finds no link between Saddam and al Qaida
An exhaustive review of more than 600,000 Iraqi documents that were captured after the 2003 U.S. invasion has found no evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime had any operational links with Osama bin Laden's al Qaida terrorist network.
The Pentagon-sponsored study, scheduled for release later this week, did confirm that Saddam's regime provided some support to other terrorist groups, particularly in the Middle East, U.S. officials told McClatchy. However, his security services were directed primarily against Iraqi exiles, Shiite Muslims, Kurds and others he considered enemies of his regime.
The new study of the Iraqi regime's archives found no documents indicating a "direct operational link" between Hussein's Iraq and al Qaida before the invasion, according to a U.S. official familiar with the report.
He and others spoke to McClatchy on condition of anonymity because the study isn't due to be shared with Congress and released before Wednesday.
Remember the "Oil for Food" program? posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 12:14 PM
Make that "Oil OR Food" program:
Oil passes $107, setting another record
Oil prices hit $107.44, a new inflation-adjusted record and their fifth new high in the last six sessions.
Meanwhile, gasoline prices were poised Monday to set a new record at the pump, having surged to within half a cent of their record high of $3.227 a gallon.
The national average price of a gallon of gas rose 0.7 cent overnight to $3.222 a gallon, 69 cents higher than one year ago, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Last May, prices peaked at $3.227 as surging demand and a string of refinery outages raised concerns about supplies.
That record will likely be left in the dust soon as gas prices accelerate toward levels that could approach $4 a gallon, though most analysts believe prices will peak below that psychologically significant mark. In its last forecast, released last month, the Energy Department said prices will likely peak around $3.40 a gallon this spring; a new forecast is due Tuesday.
The wave continues... posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:31 AM
Foster win a big blow to GOP
The election of Democrat Bill Foster to a congressional seat held by Republicans for decades illustrated once again the power of timing in politics -- a contest framed by a sour economy that pitted a newcomer against a perennial candidate in a district shifting away from its GOP roots.
As Foster made a special election thank-you tour Sunday of the massive 14th Congressional District that former GOP House Speaker Dennis Hastert represented for 20 years, Republicans and their losing candidate, Jim Oberweis, sought answers to prevent the same result in their fall rerun for the full two-year congressional term.
"I think it was an enthusiasm for something different," Foster said as he stopped at buffets and diners in Batavia, Elgin, Geneva and Dixon.
But as much as the win by the little-known Foster reflected voters' desire for the elusive political factor of change, the election to finish out the retired Hastert's term that expires in January also was a referendum on Oberweis. And it symbolized the state of a listless GOP in Illinois that finds itself without a power base and plagued by infighting.
It ain't over posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:28 AM
Clintons push Obama as a running mate
Hillary and Bill Clinton have been talking up the idea that Barack Obama, whom they have called too inexperienced to be president, would make a strong running mate on a ticket headed by the New York senator.
Campaigning in Mississippi over the weekend, the former president was quoted as saying his wife and Obama could form "an almost unstoppable force."
After winning the Democratic primaries in Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island last week, Senator Clinton suggested that she and Obama might end up on the same ticket, with her at the top of it.
Obama won the Wyoming caucuses Saturday, and the latest polls show him leading in tomorrow's primary in Mississippi. He is ahead of Clinton in pledged delegates, but neither candidate is expected to obtain the 2,025 needed for the nomination in the remaining state contests.
Just when you think Rove and O'Reilly can't get any more shameless.... posted by
Wally 9:14 AM
It is no longer possible to have your irony meter redline when Karl Rove appears on TV. He is so beyond the pale, so completely entrenched in his alternative reality that the only thing left to do is marvel at the brass cojones he must possess to pull off this appearance on The O'Reilly Factor. Now that the Bush administration has officially endorsed Republican nominee John McCain, Bush's Brain tells Billo that there's a lot about McCain that the public doesn't know, and those things would impress them. For example, did you know that McCain adopted a dying baby from Bangladesh?
I don't think people know a lot about him. They don't know about his views and values that informed him as a young man. They don't know about what drew him to service in the United States Navy. They don't know about all of the compelling story about the POW experience that he had. They don't know what motivated him, but what people and places in Sedona touch his life. Let me give you just one example: I think most of your viewers be shocked to hear the story about Cindy McCain in Bangladesh, visiting an orphanage, and she has a small dying child thrust into her hands and the orphanage...the people in the orphanage say we can't, we can't care for her, she's dying, we don't know what to do. And Cindy McCain's impulse was to hold that…hug that child to her chest, get on an airplane and bring her home. When she got off the plane, there was John McCain, and he said, "What do you got?" and she said "I've got a child who's dying, we need to get her help...we need to get her care." And John said, "Well, who is she going to be staying with?" and Cindy McCain said, "I was hoping that she could stay with us." And today, that young child-who was near death-is their teenage daughter. I don't think most people understand the compassion and love that would come from a moment like that. There's a lot more of John McCain's story that he needs to tell.
Funnily enough, Rove felt that it was his job to tell McCain's story about his daughter Bridget back in 2000, and the version he told then was significantly different:
Rove invented a uniquely injurious fiction for his operatives to circulate via a phony poll. Voters were asked, "Would you be more or less likely to vote for John McCain...if you knew he had fathered an illegitimate black child?" This was no random slur. McCain was at the time campaigning with his dark-skinned daughter, Bridget, adopted from Bangladesh.
Support the Troops the Cheney way! If the IED's don't get them, the water will posted by
Wally 6:57 AM
How can Dick Cheney hold a straight face while claiming to support the troops?
KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton (where Cheney was CEO) spent nearly 3 years giving our troops poisoned water in Iraq. That's what your Trillions of tax dollars has been buying - something to think about next time you're at the car wash hosing off that yellow ribbon magnet on the back of your SUV.
Dozens of U.S. troops in Iraq fell sick at bases using "unmonitored and potentially unsafe" water supplied by the military and a contractor once owned by Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, the Pentagon's internal watchdog says.
A report obtained by The Associated Press said Soldiers experienced skin abscesses, cellulitis, skin infections, diarrhea and other illnesses after using discolored, smelly water for personal hygiene and laundry at five U.S. military sites in Iraq.
The Pentagon's inspector general found water quality problems between March 2004 and February 2006 at three sites run by contractor KBR Inc., and between January 2004 and December 2006 at two military-operated locations.
KBR is a former subsidiary of Halliburton Co., the oil services conglomerate that Cheney once led.
Note that Halliburton didn't dump KBR until April of 2007, so at the time of the poisoning, they were still together. That's not to say that these and all the other KBR problems are Cheney's fault - but as former CEO, he knows how the company is run, and still has some pull there. As current Vice President of the U.S., he damn well should make sure they're taking care of the troops and doing what the U.S. taxpayers are paying them to do.
Oh yeah, last time I checked he still held 300,000 or so shares of Halliburton stock (note that it's Sunday morning after the time change - maybe I'll look that up after another cup of coffee or two). The more they save on trivial things like water purification for the soldiers, the less profit and dividends go into his pocket.
UPDATE: okay, I looked up Darth's ties to Halliburton and what I found is here, and here. (note that some of it is dated. He is a secretive little shit, after all)
Big Win for Dems in Illinois posted by
Wally 6:04 AM
Democrat Foster takes Hastert's (former Speaker of the House) seat from GOP
Oh how far the mighty have fallen. At this time last year, Fat-Denny Hastert (Repugnant-IL) was (literally) large and in charge - the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Leading the majority party in the house as they drove our country headlong off a cliff.
One year later, he has resigned amid controversy, his party is in the minority, and now his seat in a GOP stronghold in Illinois has been taken by a Democratic no-name in what could be called a pretty good ass-whipping.
In a stunning upset Saturday that could be a sign of trouble for Republicans this fall, a little-known Democratic physicist won the special election for a far west suburban congressional seat long held by former GOP House Speaker Dennis Hastert.
Foster had 53 percent to Oberweis' 47 percent with all of the unofficial vote counted.
(snip)
"By electing him to a traditionally Republican seat - a seat that former Speaker Dennis Hastert held for 20 years - the people of Illinois have sent an unmistakable message that they're tired of business-as-usual in Washington," Obama said in a statement.
The 14th District historically has been very Republican, re-electing Hastert with 60 percent of the vote in 2006 and giving President Bush 55 percent of the vote in 2004.
This was a district that has been heavily gerry-mandered to make damn sure it remains a Republican stronghold. There was no way a Democrat was ever supposed to be able to win that district. If this keeps up, this might be a very good November for the Dems, and for anyone else running against the Republicans.
We're paying $42 million in tax dollars so the IRS can tell us our tax refund check is almost in the mail. posted by
Wally 3:12 AM
The Internal Revenue Service is spending the money on letters to alert taxpayers to expect rebate checks as part of the economic stimulus plan.
The notices are going out this month to an estimated 130 million households who filed returns for the 2006 tax year, at a cost $41.8 million, IRS spokesman John Lipold confirmed.
"There are countless better uses for $42 million than a self-congratulatory mailer that gives the president a pat on the back for an idea that wasn't even his," Sen. Charles Schumer said Friday, arguing the IRS could more effectively spend the money to catch tax cheats.
Bush to Veto Bill Banning Waterboarding Bush to Veto Bill Banning Use of Waterboarding, Other Harsh Techniques on Terror Suspects
The White House says President Bush will veto legislation on Saturday that would have barred the CIA from using waterboarding — a technique that simulates drowning — and other harsh interrogation methods on terror suspects.
"The bill would take away one of the most valuable tools on the war on terror, the CIA program to detain and question key terrorist leaders and operatives," deputy White House press secretary Tony Fratto said Friday.
The bill would restrict the CIA to using only the 19 interrogation techniques listed in the Army field manual.
(snip)
The Army field manual contends that harsh interrogation is a "poor technique that yields unreliable results, may damage subsequent collection efforts, and can induce the source to say what he thinks the (interrogator) wants to hear."
I thought Bush supported the troops. Why is he directly opposing their field manual? Even according to intelligence officials, torture (including waterboarding) results in the victim saying anything to make it stop - including making whatever shit up that the torturers might want to hear - thus providing misleading and inaccurate (prounounced "made-up") intelligence. So why does Dubya insist on doing it? Applying Occam's Razor leads to one obvious answer. He's a sadistic sonofabitch that likes to torture people.
Are you reading this Ohio? posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 8:26 AM
Keep going red when it matters, this is what you're gonna get:
Jobs plunge by 63,000, worst since 2003; Fed steps in
Employers slashed jobs by 63,000 in February, most in five years, the starkest sign yet the country is heading dangerously toward recession or is in one already.
The Federal Reserve, shortly before the report was released, underscored its concern for the economy by saying it will pump more cash into financial markets.
The Fed said it will raise its planned March 10 and March 24 auctions to $50 billion each, from $30 billion it had previously announced. The auctions serve as short-term loans to get banks the cash they need to keep lending.
Fed officials aslso said they would move to even larger amounts at future auctions if necessary.
And the Fed announced another effort to ease credit - a series of repurchase transactions expected to reach $100 billion. In those moves, the Fed buys securities, giving the sellers immediate cash.
Music to my ears! posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 7:24 AM
Senate Democrats Hope for a Majority Not Seen in 30 Years: 60 Seats
When Mark Begich, the popular 45-year-old mayor of Anchorage, came to town for a meeting of mayors in January, he was beckoned to the Capitol by the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada. There was one agenda item: ousting Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, the senior Republican in Congress.
For 45 minutes, Mr. Reid and Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, the head of the Democrats' campaign efforts, pressed the mayor to run this year. Last week, they got him. Mr. Begich announced that he had formed a committee to start raising money. Effectively, the race is on.
For Democrats hoping the November elections set off a seismic shift in Washington, the dream scenario is not just capturing the White House, but also winning a filibuster-proof majority of 60 seats in the Senate - a luxury no president has enjoyed since Jimmy Carter 30 years ago.
....
Numbers help tell the story. Republicans have 23 seats to defend, including five left vacant by retiring incumbents, while the Democrats have just 12, with a competitive race expected only in Louisiana. Even there, the incumbent, Mary L. Landrieu, is still a heavy favorite.
The presidential race, too, seems to cut in the Democrats' favor. In many states, there has been record voter turnout in the primaries, but far more for the Democrats. About 28.5 million people have voted in Democratic primaries so far, compared with more than 17.3 million in Republican races, said Curtis Gans, director of the Center for the Study of the American Electorate at American University.
In an extraordinary haul, the Obama campaign confirms that it raised an astonishing $55 million in February.
More than $45 million of it was raised online.
Woah.
Remember, when the Hillary campaign announced they'd raised in the neighborhood of $36 million for the month, the Obama camp played it close to the vest, saying only that they'd raised "considerably more." They held off on releasing the figures until now -- after the March 4th voting -- which prompted speculation that they were hoping to release the numbers to either shift the story away from Hillary's victories or put a final nail in the Hillary campaign's coffin had she not had an impressive showing.
More benefits of Bush's trickle-down economics... posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 10:56 AM
Oil price spikes to a new record near $106 Oil prices steadied Thursday after nearing a record $106 a barrel as investors reacted to a surprise drop in U.S. crude supplies and the dollar struck new lows against the euro.
Weekly U.S. jobless claims take a tumble Although the drop left claims lower than the 360,000 showing economists were expecting, the longer-term picture shows a slowing in the jobs market. A year ago, new filings for unemployment benefits stood at 327,000.
Mortgage delinquencies hit 23-year high Homeowners fell behind on their mortgages in the last quarter of 2007 at the fastest pace in 23 years, and the rate of new foreclosures hit the highest levels on record, according to data released Thursday by the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Stocks pull back amid economy worries Stocks tumbled Thursday as renewed concerns about the credit markets and another dose of disappointing housing numbers intensified the market's worries about the sagging economy. The Dow Jones industrials fell more than 100 points while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index gave up more than 1 percent.
Family Dollar February same-store sales up 1.3 percent Family Dollar Stores Inc on Thursday posted a better-than-expected 1.3 percent increase in sales at stores open at least a year as shoppers turned to the discount chain for consumables like food and detergent as well as seasonal items and consumer electronics.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean urged Florida and Michigan party officials to come up with plans to repeat their presidential nominating contests so that their delegates can be counted.
"All they have to do is come before us with rules that fit into what they agreed to a year and a half ago, and then they'll be seated," Dean said during a round of interviews Thursday on network and cable TV news programs.
The two state parties will have to find the funds to pay for new contests without help from the national party, Dean said.
"We can't afford to do that. That's not our problem. We need our money to win the presidential race," he said.
"Oh boys....." posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 7:25 AM
Obama Keeps Delegate Lead
Sen. Barack Obama survived defeats in three primaries Tuesday with his lead the delegate race essentially intact.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton netted only a 12-delegate pickup, despite winning primaries in Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island, according to an analysis of returns by The Associated Press. There were still 12 more delegates to be awarded.
In the overall race for the nomination, Obama had 1,562 delegates, including separately chosen party and elected officials known as superdelegates. Clinton had 1,461. It takes 2,025 delegates to secure the Democratic nomination.
For the night, Clinton won at least 185 delegates and Obama won at least 173.
The 19% endorsement posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 2:32 PM
McCain makes Bush wait at White House
It's not good to keep President Bush waiting. But John McCain did on Wednesday.
Bush joked with reporters and laughed and turned left and right as he waited for the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting to show up at the White House for a promised endorsement.
McCain finally showed up and the two men went inside for lunch. "He's going to win," Bush said. He shook hands with McCain and kissed his wife, Cindy, on the cheek.
In recent weeks, Bush has gone out of his way to defend the senator's conservative credentials, saying criticism of the Arizona senator has been grossly unfair. The two were bitter rivals in 2000.
Do as we say not as we do! posted by
Clyde 11:35 AM
Crimes by Homeland Security agents stir alert Arrests of Homeland Security agents on bribery and drug charges have a top executive of the agency worried.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is supposed to stop these types of crimes. Instead, so many of its officers have been charged with committing those crimes themselves that their boss in Washington recently issued an alert about the ''disturbing events'' and the ``increase in the number of employee arrests.''
Thomas S. Winkowski, assistant commissioner of field operations, wrote a memo to more than 20,000 officers nationwide noting that employees must behave professionally at all times -- even when not on the job.
''It is our responsibility to uphold the laws, not break the law,'' Winkowski wrote in the Nov. 16 memo obtained by The Miami Herald.
Winkowski's memo cites employee arrests involving domestic violence, DUI and drug possession. But court records show Customs officers and other Department of Homeland Security employees from South Florida to the Mexican border states have been charged with dozens of far more serious offenses.
A time to heal? posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 9:21 AM
It's been interesting to see how split our party has become between supporters of Hilly and Obama. Will this fix it?
Clinton Hints At Sharing Ticket With Obama
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton hinted at the possibility of a Democratic "dream ticket" with Sen. Barack Obama.
Speaking on "The Early Show" on CBS, Clinton said "that may be where this is headed, but of course we have to decide who is on the top of the ticket."
Clinton said the race between her and Obama remains "incredibly close," with just "smidgens of difference" between them in both the popular vote and number of delegates.
Clinton's remarks came after her campaign won two big states yesterday: Ohio and Texas. She also won Rhode Island. The wins enabled her campaign to break Obama's 12-state winning streak and pick up some momentum of its own.
What recession? It's the economy, stupid! posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 7:43 AM
Worst idea EVER.
Get the Lowdown on the 401(k) Debit Card
As the threat of recession looms, some people are searching for extra cash to supplement their incomes.
People used to use their homes as piggy banks, but the mortgage crisis has led many to tap into their 401(k)s and now there's even a new debit card that lets you get money from your retirement savings just as you would a checking account.
"Good Morning America" financial contributor Mellody Hobson tells you the smartest way to handle your money and gives you the pros and cons of the new 401(k) debit card plan.
.....
Mellody's Math:
An individual with $20,000 saved in a 401(k) account who contributes $100 every month, assuming an average annual return of 8 percent, would have almost $364,000 saved for retirement in 30 years.
However, the same individual who borrows $10,000 from the plan pays the loan back over five years and stops contributing to the plan while paying back the loan. That same individual would have just $203,000 -- a difference of about $161,000.
An easy rule of thumb to remember: Every $1,000 you withdrawal from your 401(k) plan equals about $10,000 less in retirement income.
Rush scared of the black man posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 7:18 AM
Maybe if they had a better candidate:
Limbaugh urges listeners to vote for Clinton
As Hillary Clinton battles to keep her presidential bid alive, she may be getting help from an unlikely source: conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh has been actively urging his Texas listeners to cross over and vote for Clinton in that state's open primary Tuesday, arguing it helps the Republicans if the Democratic race remains unsettled for weeks to come.
He also said Clinton is more willing than the Republican National Committee and John McCain's campaign to criticize Barack Obama.
"We need Barack Obama bloodied up politically. It's obvious that the Republicans are not going to do it, they don't have the stomach for it," Limbaugh continued. "As you probably know we're getting all kinds of memos from the RNC saying we're not going to be critical. Mark McKinnon of McCain's campaign said he'll quit if they get critical over Obama. This is the presidency of the United States we're talking about. I want our party to win I want the Democrats to lose."
You're reading this because.... posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 7:19 AM
More Americans turning to Web for news
Nearly 70 percent of Americans believe traditional journalism is out of touch, and nearly half are turning to the Internet to get their news, according to a new survey.
While most people think journalism is important to the quality of life, 64 percent are dissatisfied with the quality of journalism in their communities, a We Media/Zogby Interactive online poll showed.
"That's a really encouraging reflection of people who care A) about journalism and B) understand that it makes a difference to their lives," said Andrew Nachison, of iFOCOS, a Virginia-based think tank which organized a forum in Miami where the findings were presented.
Nearly half of the 1,979 people who responded to the survey said their primary source of news and information is the Internet, up from 40 percent just a year ago. Less than one third use television to get their news, while 11 percent turn to radio and 10 percent to newspapers.
More than half of those who grew up with the Internet, those 18 to 29, get most of their news and information online, compared to 35 percent of people 65 and older. Older adults are the only group that favors a primary news source other than the Internet, with 38 percent selecting television.
Use the "Post a Comment" link to submit your caption of Dubya sharing some time at his "ranch"* with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
* Note: by definition, a "ranch" is for raising livestock. Since Dubya is afraid of horses and cows, and has no animals other than his dogs and the sluts, every time he refers to his property in Crawford as a "ranch" he is, like every other time he opens his mouth, lying.
But Rummy and Wolfowitz said it would pay for itself posted by
Wally 10:29 PM
Iraq war could cost more than World War Two, says top economist
The war in Iraq could end up costing more than World War Two concludes a major new study by a top international economist.
In a book to be published tomorrow Nobel prize winning Professor Joseph Stiglitz has found that the Iraq war has now cost a staggering one and a half trillion pounds.
The long-term hidden costs which include such items as medical care and pensions for wounded soldiers mean that it will eventually surpass the two and a half trillion pound cost of the Second World War.
And that forecast is valid, the study argues, even if the US ends the war next year and tries to pull out of Iraq as quickly as possible.
How long does it take for a "Surge" to become an "Escalation" posted by
Clyde 5:30 AM
Bush stays mum on U.S. troop reductions
President Bush refused to say Saturday whether he will scale back U.S. troop levels in Iraq more than planned by the time he leaves office.
Bush ordered nearly 30,000 additional troops to Iraq in January 2007 to secure Baghdad and its surrounding provinces.
When the last of the five Army combat brigades and two Marine battalions ordered in as part of that campaign leaves Iraq by July, 140,000 troops will remain -- about 8,000 more than the 132,000 American troops stationed there before the "surge."
"In terms of troops levels, there is going to be enormous speculation, again, about what decision I will make," Bush said Saturday.
What the hell, it's only our money posted by
Clyde 5:12 AM
White House blocks inquiry into construction of $736m embassy in Iraq
The Bush administration is blocking an inquiry into the delay-plagued construction of the $736m US embassy in Baghdad, a senior Democrat in Congress said today.
Henry Waxman, who is chairman of the oversight committee in the House of Representatives, asked US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice today to explain why her department certified the embassy as "substantially completed" in December despite inspections that reveal continued deficiencies in the facility's water, fire alarm and kitchen systems.
The Baghdad embassy, which stands to become the largest US diplomatic facility in the world, had an original opening date of mid-2007. But the project stalled amid ballooning cost estimates as well as charges of corruption and shoddy work by the private contracting company overseeing the project.
In addition, two US state department employees who worked on the embassy project are now under criminal investigation. Waxman urged Rice to release subpoenaed documents related to the Baghdad embassy project next week or risk being forced to do so.
Federal prosecutors in Miami have appealed the sentences of Jose Padilla and two other men convicted of conspiring to provide ''material support'' for the global terrorist group al Qaeda.
Prosecutors announced Friday the filing of their appellate notice with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the closely watched terrorism case. Defense lawyers had filed theirs at the beginning of February.
In January, a federal judge rejected prosecutors' bids for life sentences for Padilla and two codefendants, saying their support for Islamic extremists abroad did not call for the severe punishment given to the nation's worst terrorists.
U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke gave Padilla a prison term of 17 years and four months for participating in a South Florida-based conspiracy to aid Muslims in "violent jihad.''
As if we expected anything different posted by
Clyde 7:21 AM
Mukasey Refuses to Prosecute Bush Aides
Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey refused yesterday to refer two new House contempt citations to a federal grand jury, saying the White House aides involved in the case cannot be prosecuted because they were following legal advice from the Justice Department.
In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Mukasey said the refusal by White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten and former presidential counsel Harriet E. Miers to comply with congressional subpoenas "did not constitute a crime."
The department "will not bring the congressional contempt citations before a grand jury or take any other action to prosecute Mr. Bolten or Ms. Miers," Mukasey wrote.
Mukasey's refusal further escalates a dispute between the administration and Congress over the firings of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006.
