DRUDGE REPORT FLASH 2005Well the Dems are quilting too -- I believe this circus the Democrats are creating over Tom Delay is going to cost them dearly... Don't get me wrong if rules were broken they must be held accountable, but universal accountability must be enforced.
The controversy over lobbyist-funded Congressional travel has brushed yet another Member. Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) took a five-day jaunt to Miami in February. The original travel disclosure Dicks' office filed with the House Clerk listed the sponsor as the Spectrum Group, a defense lobbying firm in Alexandria, Va.
That would be a violation of House Rules, ROLL CALL reports on Monday.
And in recent days, Dicks' office has appended two "corrections" to its initial filing.
The LA Times runs a story by Reuters, which you can
read here, ending their piece with:
A team of 18 forensic scientists will begin an examination of the Toyota Corolla in which the Italians were traveling.
Now the whole article released by Reuters, which you can
read here, continues with the following conveniently left out by the LA Times article.
A U.S. Army official earlier this week said Italy was disputing two factual issues in the report: the car's speed as it approached the checkpoint and the nature of communications between the Italians and U.S. forces before the incident.
The army official said one of the "trip wires" in the incident was that "there was, in fact, poor communications between the Italians and the Americans."
Italy's government has said the Italians had been driving slowly, received no warning and had advised U.S. authorities of their mission to evacuate Sgrena from Iraq.
CBS news has reported that a U.S. satellite had filmed the shooting and that it had been established the car carrying Calipari was traveling at more than 60 miles per hour as it approached the U.S. checkpoint in Baghdad.
The Italians say they are unaware of any recording of the incident.
Why would the LA Times leave this portion out? The speed of the vehicle is one of the
major disagreements and this after all sourced to CBS News of all things (you think they think it a conservative news network)... No, they had their motives or I guess it could be simply lazy reporting -- but either way it is proof you never trust one source and especially the LA Times.
Blair saw legal caveats a year before invasionDoes anyone else find it odd or comical that the same tactics are deployed against Mr. Blair of Britain that were used against Mr. Bush of America? I mean didn't we hear or don't we hear how everything was planned in advance Bush knew everything before and lied about it -- deja vu Mr. Blair has the same powers.
Mr Blair has always maintained he was not aware of any ambiguity in his legal right to go to war. But today we reveal that he saw Foreign Office caveats a year before the Attorney General's infamous advice that has put his reputation in the balance this week. Raymond Whitaker reports.
UPDATE: More from
Reuters.
The New York Times > Health > 19 on H.I.V. Drugs After Needle Prick
These are children, children -- haven't we heard there is nothing to be fearful from individuals with HIV... Well maybe not for adults but that obviously doesn't apply to children. How would you feel if one of these children were yours?
PHILADELPHIA, April 30 (AP) - Nineteen elementary schoolchildren who were pricked with a diabetes-testing needle by another student are taking strong drugs to fight H.I.V. after one of the children tested positive for the virus, officials said.
The authorities have ruled out the possibility that the child who tested positive for the virus, which causes AIDS, could have been infected by the needle prick.
Beware How You Google
Be careful and make sure you updates are current.
A simple misspelling of Google's domain name could lead to a Web surfer's worst nightmare.
In a new twist to the old practice of 'typosquatting,' virus writers have registered a slight variation of Google Inc.'s popular search-engine site to take advantage of any users who botch the spelling of the google.com URL.
7 men sue Florida City Denny's after being called 'bin Ladens': South Florida Sun-SentinelIf this is true -- Denny's simply needs to give up or increase their hiring standards - their employees simply can't get this racial thing down. How many law suits is that now? I hate law suits; however, Denny's has become a joke
Seven men of Middle Eastern descent have sued a Denny's restaurant in Florida City, claiming the restaurant refused to serve them.
Ehab Albarabi, Nabil Arafat, Usama El-A-Baidy, Esam Hessein, Mohammad Natour, Usama Mohamed and Ehab Mohamed, all of Boca Raton, filed the civil rights suit April 22 in Miami-Dade Circuit Court. They seek $4 million each from the owner and a former manager of the restaurant.
[...]
After waiting more than one hour, Albarabi asked manager Eduardo Ascano about the delay. According to the suit, Ascano called the men "Bin Ladens," referring to al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
My Way News - Woman Fabricated Kidnap Story
This is unfortunate for the family who seemed to trust the women an felt she was happy -- evidently she seems to have experienced the mother of "cold feet" syndrome.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - A Georgia bride-to-be who vanished just days before her wedding has admitted that she lied about being abducted, police said Saturday.
Jennifer Wilbanks, 32, called her fiance from a pay phone late Friday in New Mexico and told him that she had been kidnapped, police said. She had vanished Tuesday.
'She was in discussion with detectives and agents and she decided that she needed to do the right thing and tell the right story,' said Ray Schultz, the police chief in Albuquerque.
UPDATE: More information
here.
BBC NEWS | Americas | Ex-N Korea envoy 'broke UN rules'
Well this big - let's forget the nuclear issues; failure of North Korea to answer and follow UN nuclear guidelines or refusal to participate in the talks -- this is much bigger, give me a break.
The UN's former North Korea envoy, who is being investigated over the Iraq oil-for-food scandal, employed a relative in breach of UN staff rules.
A UN spokesman said Canadian Maurice Strong recruited stepdaughter Christina Mayo to work for him in February 2003.
The violation was discovered during an examination of Mr Strong's employment file as part of the UN's oil-for-food programme inquiry.
U.S. military releases photos of soldiers' coffins - U.S. News - MSNBC.com
Well the Department of Defense caves to pressure. I really disagree with this, period -- maybe if the families want to release photos, OK, but they and they alone should be allowed to make that choice -- certainly not the ghoulish media.
WASHINGTON - The Defense Department, under pressure from open-government advocates, released hundreds of images Thursday of flag-draped coffins of American soldiers.
The department had previously refused to release such images, which were taken by military photographers. Nor has it allowed the news media to photograph ceremonies of soldiers’ coffins arriving in the United States, saying it is enforcing a policy installed in 1991 to respect the privacy of families of dead soldiers.
Oil-for-food probe has not cleared Annan, Volcker says
I didn't think so but it is nice someone actually publishes the fact that Annan hasn't the authority to clear himself.
Former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker says his investigation into the scandal-plagued oil-for-food program has not cleared U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan of wrongdoing, despite Mr. Annan's claims to the contrary.
My Way News - Bush to Propose Oil Refineries at Ex-Military Bases
This is a new one to me and at first glance sounds pretty good -- what do you think?
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Under pressure over high energy prices, President Bush on Wednesday will propose tackling the root causes of the problem by encouraging new oil refineries be built at closed military bases and jumpstarting construction of new nuclear power plants.
In a speech, Bush will also propose giving federal regulators the lead authority to decide where to locate terminals for processing imported natural gas. States have increasingly been taking the lead on this issue.
CNN.com - Two men go hunting together, die of heart attacks
I thought this was interesting -- I just hope they truly loved hunting and would have chosen to be doing that when they passed.
WENATCHEE, Washington (AP) -- Two elderly men who had gone turkey hunting together died of apparent heart attacks just minutes apart, authorities said.
Elmer Sapp, 78, and Alfred Hurd, 70, were hunting south of East Wenatchee on Monday when Hurd got out of a pickup truck and chased a bird down an embankment.
Liberals celebrate the one year anniversary of the Abu Ghraib Scandal - event schedule can be seen
here (like a backyard barbecue celebration).
Ted Kennedy gets involved by releasing a celebration statement - (
via Drudge Report)
I suppose liberals are so desperate for a 'win' they consider this scandal the closest they have come in years so why not celebrate -- I say more power to them - if they want to celebrate the Abu Ghraib Scandal sobeit.
My Way News - Democrats Stage Rally for Social Security
Where are the alternative ideas? It has been well documented that even during the Clinton administration Democrats stated Social Security was in trouble, so they[Democrats] have stopped the "social security is not in trouble" line, but still have not introduced any alternative plan -- their plan as usual, go against anything BUSH and attack anything Republican...
WASHINGTON (AP) - From the buttoned-down confines of a Senate hearing room to a boisterous outdoor rally nearby, Democrats took on President Bush and his Social Security proposals with gusto on Tuesday and rebuffed pleas for bipartisanship from frustrated Republicans.
'If he's going out to push for privatization, let's help him pack,' Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said to cheers from a sun-splashed crowd on the lawn across the street from the Capitol. He was ridiculing Bush's heavily publicized 60-day tour to build support for his proposals.
'Personal accounts unravels the Social Security safety net in a way that makes it hard to find common ground,' said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, one of several Democrats who criticized the president's recommendations at a lengthy Senate Finance Committee hearing.
Here are some more quotes form Sen. Grassley, Iowa -R, you can read other
here.
"Those of you that are bad-mouthing every other suggestion out there, suggest your own plans," Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, the normally mild-mannered committee chairman erupted at one point during the hearing. "Doing nothing is not an option, because doing nothing is a cut in benefits," he added. "Grandpa Grassley gets Social Security, but my granddaughter, when she retires 56 years from now, if we do nothing, is going to get this cut that you're talking about."
Republican Blasts Dems on Social Security - Yahoo! News
I hope more Republicans come forward and shed light on Democrats lack of opinions, plans, and their inaction.
WASHINGTON - The Republican head of the Senate Finance Committee lambasted Democrats and other critics of Social Security overhaul Tuesday, accusing them of offering no ideas of their own on how to keep the system from crashing.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said that doing nothing will trigger at least a 28-percent cut in benefits by 2041, showing why the current Congress should work on changes to achieve "sustainable solvency."
"Those of you that are bad-mouthing every other suggestion out there, suggest your own plans," the 71-year-old part-time farmer exhorted, his voice rising. This came after a panelist at Grassley's initial hearing on the politically volatile issue of restructuring the retirement program suggested that benefit cuts and other changes triggered by creation of personal accounts would be more harmful than projected cuts under the existing structure.
USATODAY.com - Syria ends 29-year military presence in Lebanon
RAYAK, Lebanon (AP) � Surrendering to international pressure and Lebanese street protests, Syria ended its 29-year military presence in its smaller neighbor on Tuesday with a farewell ceremony near their shared border, where a Syrian commander told Lebanese troops: 'Brothers in arms, so long.' The soldiers responded, 'So long.
My Way News - Frist Defends Effort to End FilibustersGuess this will not produce the sound-bites Democrats hope for -- "judges deserve respect", but we will see how they spin it.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist was telling conservatives on Sunday that judges deserve 'respect, not retaliation no matter how they rule,' and he defended his effort to strip Democrats of their ability to block votes on President Bush's court nominees.
'I don't think its radical to ask senators to vote. I don't think its radical to expect senators to fulfill their constitutional responsibilities,' Frist said.
The spin has already started -- in a story about Senator Frist they writer still got his shots in at Tom Delay and attempted to make Frist look bad in doing so.
Instead, Frist seemed intent on steering clear of the views expressed by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and other conservatives in and out of Congress who have urged investigations and even possible impeachment of judges they describe as activists.
Some more words that want make a good "critical" sound-bite and ring true. By the way -- what is wrong with voicing your opinion about a decision you believe wrong - remember the continual out cry about the 2000 election from Democrats -- I guess this right as with many others are only reserved for the left.
"Our judiciary must be independent, impartial and fair," Frist said in his taped remarks.
"When we think judicial decisions are outside mainstream American values, we will say so. But we must also be clear that the balance of power among all three branches requires respect - not retaliation. I won't go along with that," Frist said.
Candid camera with Supreme Court justices - Politics - MSNBC.comWho would disagree with this analysis? Really -- Scalia stated honestly, what he sees/thinks and his words not scripted...
Some interesting points "If judges start interpreting the Constitution to suit political views" -- is this not the concern many have and therefore the following statement "the people in a democracy will try to seize control of it" indicates there should be no surprise... If the "seizure" or "retaining" of judicial power was not an issue why was it a topic in the MSM and of political debates leading up to the presidential election? Yes, Republicans and yes even the Democrates, who act surprised today -- knew this was a large issue, one might say bigger then demonstrated.
Scalia voiced concern that critics could try to 'seize control' of the Supreme Court because 'judges have become political entities much more than they ever were.'
'Something very fundamental has changed,' he said. If judges start interpreting the Constitution to suit political views, he added, then the Supreme Court 'becomes a very political institution and when that happens the people in a democracy will try to seize control of it.
For the record I am not for seizure of "judicial power" -- what I am for is a Supreme Court that actually does what it's purpose is -- interpret the law/constitution… What the Court has continued to do in my adult life more and more is legislate the law - change the law - taking this power away from the people… I will not forget just what Justice Scalia alluded to - democrats added to the "politicization" of the Supreme Court when they fought the 2000 election and both parties are guilty when blocking nominees is a political strategy or discussing nominees is a campaign topic. Basically, what are the Democrats acting shocked about -- they and the Republicans knew this battle was coming and both their goals is to achieve their agenda rendering most of the rhetoric partisan politics.
