13 May 2008
News and Comments - 05/13/08
Posted by Joy Bischoff under: Uncategorized; What's News .
IF PRO IS THE OPPOSITE OF CON, WHAT IS THE OPPOSITE OF PROGRESS?
IF THE U.S. CONGRESS WERE IN BUSINESS
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14 Comments so far...
Jesse Says:
13 May 2008 at 1:05 am.
US has April surplus but budget strained
Tuesday May 13, 2008, 6:40 am
The US government posted a $US159.3 billion ($A169.52 billion) surplus in April, helped by the mid-month deadline for individuals meeting 2007 tax obligations, but it was down from the prior year’s surplus, the Treasury Department reported on Monday.
In April 2007, the surplus was $US177.7 billion ($A189.1 billion).
In the first seven months of fiscal 2008, which ends on September 30, the government’s budget deficit swelled by 88.4 per cent to $US152.2 billion ($A161.97 billion), from $US80.8 billion ($A85.98 billion) in the first seven months of fiscal 2007.
The latest figures point to growing strain on the budget, which is poised to face a deeper deficit as payments under an economic stimulus program agreed by Congress and the Bush administration get into full swing.
Jesse Says:
13 May 2008 at 1:16 am.
ENVIRONETDAILY
Wanna help planet? ‘Let’s all just die!’
Group pushes to improve Earth’s ecosystem by ensuring human species does not survive
Posted: May 11, 2008
10:33 pm Eastern
By Chelsea Schilling
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
“May we live long and die out” is the unofficial motto of a movement that seeks to improve the Earth’s ecosystem by ensuring that the human species does not survive.
The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement, or VHEMT, consists of volunteers who have made active life decisions to remain childless for the benefit of the Earth, thereby preventing the extinction of millions of species of plants and animals.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=63755#vhemt
Roy Bischoff Says:
13 May 2008 at 6:27 am.
What do you want to bet that however Clinton takes care of her debt she pays off herself first?
Clinton status puts focus on her $20 million debt
By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer Tue May 13, 3:15 AM ET
WASHINGTON - Should she lose or abandon her quest for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Rodham Clinton will have to deal with her campaign’s more than $20 million debt — a step that could test her relationship with Barack Obama and raise new issues in campaign finance law.
Clinton owed $10 million at the end of March, has made loans to her campaign totaling of $11.4 million thus far and will more than likely end the primary season significantly in the red.
Among her options is transferring that debt to her Senate campaign committee and paying it off with contributions to her 2012 re-election effort.
But, for the short term, many Democrats believe the answer lies with Obama and his vast network of contributors.
“That is a normal thing when a candidate finishes a race and loses, the winning candidate would try to help if there’s some debt that’s been incurred,” said Tad Devine, a Democratic consultant who has worked in several presidential campaigns but is unaligned this year.
By law, Obama cannot write a massive check from his flush campaign account to hers. But Obama donors, large and small, might be willing to donate to Clinton in the name of party unity.
Clinton campaign officials say they have not contemplated what she will do with the debt. Asked whether she would welcome financial help from Obama, her spokesman, Howard Wolfson, told “Fox News Sunday” that “any talk of that is premature.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080513/ap_on_el_pr/clinton_debt
Cameron Says:
13 May 2008 at 9:13 am.
Report: Death toll in China quake exceeds 12,000
By WILLIAM FOREMAN, Associated Press Writer
DUJIANGYAN, China - The toll of the dead and missing soared as rescue workers dug through flattened schools and homes on Tuesday in a desperate attempt to find survivors of China’s worst earthquake in three decades.
The official Xinhua News Agency said the death toll exceeded 12,000 in Sichuan province alone, and 18,645 were still buried in debris in the city of Mianyang, near the epicenter of Monday’s massive, 7.9-magnitude quake.
The Sichuan Daily newspaper reported on its Web site that more than 26,000 people were injured in Mianyang.
The numbers of casualties was expected to rise due to the remoteness of the areas affected by the quake and difficulty in finding buried victims.
There was little prospect that many survivors would be found under the rubble. Only 58 people were extricated from demolished buildings across the quake area so far, China Seismological Bureau spokesman Zhang Hongwei told Xinhua. In one county, 80 percent of the buildings were destroyed.
Rain was impeding efforts and a group of paratroopers called off a rescue mission to the epicenter due to heavy storms, Xinhua reported.
More than two dozen British and American tourists who were thought to be panda-watching in the area also remained missing.
Officials urged the public not to abandon hope.
“Survivors can hold on for some time. Now it’s not time to give up,” Wang Zhenyao, disaster relief division director at the Ministry of Civil Affairs, told reporters in Beijing.
Premier Wen Jiabao, who rushed to the area to oversee rescue efforts, said a push was on to clear roads and restore electricity as soon as possible. His visit to the disaster scene was prominently featured on state TV, a gesture meant to reassure people that the ruling party was doing all it could.
“We will save the people,” Wen said through a bullhorn to survivors as he toured the disaster scene, in footage shown on CCTV. “As long as the people are there, factories can be built into even better ones, and so can the towns and counties.”
State media said rescue workers had reached the epicenter in Wenchuan county — where the number of casualties was still unknown. The quake was centered just north of the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu in central China, tearing into urban areas and mountain villages.
Earthquake rescue experts in orange jumpsuits extricated bloody survivors on stretchers from demolished buildings.
Some 20,000 soldiers and police arrived in the disaster area with 30,000 more on the way by plane, train, trucks and even on foot, the Defense Ministry told Xinhua.
Aftershocks rattled the region for a second day, sending people running into the streets in Chengdu. The U.S. Geological Survey measured the shocks between magnitude 4 and 6, some of the strongest since Monday’s quake.
Zhou Chun, a 70-year-old retired mechanic, was leaving Dujiangyan with a soiled light blue blanket draped over his shoulders.
“My wife died in the quake. My house was destroyed,” he said. “I am going to Chengdu, but I don’t know where I’ll live.”
Zhou and other survivors were pulling luggage and clutching plastic bags of food amid a steady drizzle and the constant wall of ambulances.
Just east of the epicenter, 1,000 students and teachers were killed or missing at a collapsed high school in Beichuan county — a six-story building reduced to a pile of rubble about two yards high, according to Xinhua. Xinhua said 80 percent of the buildings had collapsed in Beichuan alone.
At another leveled school in Dujiangyan, 900 students were feared dead. As bodies of teenagers were carried out on doors used as makeshift stretchers, relatives lit incense and candles and also set off fireworks to ward away evil spirits.
Elsewhere in Gansu province, a 40-car freight train derailed in the quake that included 13 gasoline tankers was still burning Tuesday, Xinhua said.
Gasoline lines grew in Chengdu and grocery stores shelves were almost empty. The Ministry of Health issued an appeal for blood donations to help the quake victims.
Fifteen missing British tourists were believed to have been in the area at the time of the quake and were “out of reach,” Xinhua reported.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080513/ap_on_re_as/china_earthquake
Cameron Says:
13 May 2008 at 9:27 am.
This is exactly what we were afraid of. A lot of you made comments about this kind of thing being likely to happen. What a horrible tragedy and what an evil government. Makes me appreciate America even more.
Myanmar cyclone victims getting low-quality supplies
YANGON, Myanmar - Many cyclone victims are getting spoiled food from Myanmar’s junta instead of the high-quality supplies being delivered by foreign governments and charities, victims and aid workers said Tuesday.
A longtime foreign resident of Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon, told The Associated Press in Bangkok by telephone that angry government officials have complained to him about the military misappropriating aid.
He said the officials told him that quantities of the high-energy biscuits rushed in on the World Food Program’s first flights were sent to a military warehouse.
They were exchanged by what the officials said were “tasteless and low-quality” biscuits produced by the Industry Ministry to be handed out to cyclone victims, the foreign resident said.
He spoke on condition of anonymity because identifying himself could jeopardize his safety.
He said it was not known if the high quality food was being sold on the black market or consumed by the military.
A government spokesman did not immediately respond to an e-mailed query from the AP seeking a comment. The allegations were impossible to confirm independently because of the massive restrictions imposed by the junta on journalists.
Myanmar state television said navy commander in chief Rear Adm. Soe Thein told Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of the U.S. Pacific Forces, that basic needs of the storm victims are being fulfilled and that “skillful humanitarian workers are not necessary.”
The U.N. said that the World Food Program is getting in 20 percent of the food needed because of bottlenecks, logistics problems and government-imposed restrictions.
CARE Australia’s country director in Myanmar, Brian Agland, said members of his local staff brought back some of the rotting rice that’s being distributed in the devastated Irawaddy Delta.
“I have a small sample in my pocket, and it’s some of the poorest quality rice we’ve seen,” he said. “It’s affected by salt water and it’s very old.”
It’s unclear whether the rice, which is dark gray in color and consists of very small grains, is coming from the government or from mills in the area or warehouses hit by the cyclone.
“Certainly, we are concerned that (poor quality rice) is being distributed,” Agland said by telephone from Yangon. “The level of nutrition is very low.”
Many survivors also said they were either not getting any aid or were being handed rotten, moldy rice.
Cameron Says:
13 May 2008 at 9:33 am.
The man is an idiot. With the economy, gas prices, the biofuel disaster, he is pushing the global warming hoax and if he is president he will push it down our throats. He is such a total globalist and knows so little about the economy that this man would ruin us. He is so bull headed and he doesn’t care about anybody’s opinion but his own. All this on the coldest spring I can remember.
McCain Breaks With Bush on Climate Policy
By Juliet Eilperin
PORTLAND, Ore., May 12 — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) made a sharp break with President Bush on Monday, saying that the United States should adopt mandatory curbs on greenhouse gas emissions as well as issue tradable emissions credits to polluters to spur technological innovation.
“The facts of global warming demand our urgent attention, especially in Washington,” he said, speaking at a Portland training facility for Vestas Wind Technology. “We stand warned by serious and credible scientists across the world that time is short and the dangers are great. The most relevant question now is whether our own government is equal to the challenge.”
Under the plan put forward by the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, the United States would return to its 2005 emissions levels by 2012, reach its 1990 levels by 2020, and cut emissions by at least 60 percent compared with 1990 levels by mid-century. The plan does not go as far as a bill expected to reach the Senate floor in June, which calls for a 70 percent reduction in emissions compared with 1990 levels by 2050. McCain has not said how he will vote on the bill.
Mac Says:
13 May 2008 at 9:48 am.
Myanmar’s government sounds ready for a smackdown.
Matt Says:
13 May 2008 at 10:32 am.
Huck is McCain’s top VP choice??
Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and defeated contender for the GOP presidential nomination, is currently at the top of John McCain’s short list for a running mate. At least that’s the word from a top McCain fundraiser and longtime Republican moneyman who has spoken to McCain’s inner circle. The fundraiser is less than thrilled with the idea of Huckabee as the vice presidential nominee, and many economic conservatives—turned off by the populist tone of Huckabee’s campaign and his tax record as governor—are likely to share that marked lack of enthusiasm. But here is the logic of picking Huckabee:
As any pollster knows, voters search for candidates who “care about people like me,” and Huckabee would probably score a lot higher on that quality than millionaire investor Mitt Romney.
(Are you kidding me??)
Nevertheless, reports out of the evangelical community dispute Huckabee’s support [for McCain]. One experienced, credible activist in Christian politics, who would not let his name be used, told me Huckabee in personal conversation with him embraced the concept that an Obama presidency might be what the American people deserve. That fits what has largely been a fringe position among evangelicals that the pain of an Obama presidency is in keeping with the Bible’s prophecy.
Benjamin Says:
13 May 2008 at 2:02 pm.
This is the last paragraph in a column about the VP pick. I think McCain won’t be forced into picking Mitt and this guy has the same opinion. From some of what I am reading it looks like it could turn out to be Huckabee. I think McCain might be pretty surprised if he pulls that one. He is probably arrogant enough right now to think he can carry it himself but what the polls haven’t been reflecting is that Obama hasn’t really turned his full sights on McCain yet. Wait until fall and the attacks against McCain will show his weaknesses. He really does need a strong VP and Huckabee will be made to look like a clown if he is picked.
VP or VIP?
So yes, let’s all have fun with the matchmaking in this season of politics, telling nominees whom they should pick to fulfill all sorts of political criteria. But let’s also hope that McCain and Obama (sorry, Clinton fans) ignore us. In today’s world it is unimaginable, and undesirable, for a vice president to be as uninformed as Truman was about an administration’s top secret and priority. McCain and Obama should go with their gut and pick someone they respect, trust and, yes, actually like.
Concerned American Says:
13 May 2008 at 2:42 pm.
This man is insane. His people need to toss him out before he does something really dumb.
Ahmadinejad: Israel to be ’swept away soon’
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/205101,ahmadinejad-israel-to-be-swept-away-soon.html
Tehran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that Israel would “be soon swept away” from the Palestinian Territories by the Palestinians. It is the second time within less than three years that the Iranian president predicted the eradication of the Jewish state.
The first time was in 2005 when Ahmadinejad hoped that Israel would be eradicated from the Middle East map.
“This terrorist and criminal state is backed by foreign powers, but this regime would soon be swept away by the Palestinians,” Ahmadinejad said in a press conference in Tehran.
Referring to worldwide celebrations for the 60th anniversary of Israel’s foundation, he said that “it would be futile to hold a birthday ceremony for something which is already dead.”
“As far as the regional countries are concerned, this regime does not exist,” Ahmadinejad added.
The Iranian president said last week that the anniversary feasts could not save this “rotten and stinking corpse.”
Ahmadinejad caused international outrage in the past by hoping for the eradication of Israel, the relocation of the Jewish state to Europe or Alaska and questioning the historic dimensions of the Holocaust.
Pickles Says:
13 May 2008 at 2:49 pm.
C.A., I think that Iran’s president is trying to stir up trouble and get us so mad that we start the war. Then they can tell everyone it isn’t there fault and it is the big bad America doing it all.
Matt Says:
13 May 2008 at 4:13 pm.
Who Will Be McCain’s Vice Presidential Candidate?
The list includes former presidential candidates Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney
Posted May 13, 2008
Sen. John McCain may be in the early stages of picking a running mate, but that doesn’t stop the press from speculating. Today in Washington Whispers, Paul Bedard asks you to pick the best running mate for McCain, and yesterday, our own James Pethokoukis reported that Huckabee tops the list of potential veeps. But there are still other candidates to consider and we’re letting you in on some little known facts about each one. Our latest addition is 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Rob Portman.
Here are names we’ve identified in media reports and links to 10 things you didn’t know about them (we’ll update the list as we hear of more):
* Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour
* North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr
* Florida Gov. Charlie Crist
* Former Arkansas Gov. and former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee
* Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.
* Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison
* Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty
* Former Ohio Rep. and former Director of the Office of Management and Budget Rob Portman
* Former Secretary of State Colin Powell
* Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
* Former Massachusetts Gov. and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney
* Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan
* South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford
# FedEx CEO Frederick Smith
# GOPAC Chair Michael Steele
Matt Says:
13 May 2008 at 4:27 pm.
And the rumors just keep on coming:
Team Mitt and McCain meet in Houston
How about this for political fodder — former presidential hopeful Mitt Romney and his top 50 advisers meeting head-to-head with presumptive Republican nominee John McCain in a not-smoke-filled room at the Hilton Americas-Houston Saturday morning.
Could it be the rumblings of a vice presidential position? No one is saying.
Almost as intriguing was the Romney campaign reunion Friday night at the Hilton Americas. With 2,000 of Romney’s lead fundraisers from across the country wining, dining and dancing to the sounds of the Beach Boys in the hotel ballroom, it surely felt like something was cooking.
T. Fan Says:
13 May 2008 at 7:09 pm.
I still don’t think McCain will pick Romney no matter what rumors are out there. He is so stubborn.
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