15 May 2008
News and Comments - 05/15/08
Posted by Joy Bischoff under: What's News .
LIGHT TRAVELS FASTER THAN SOUND, WHICH IS WHY SOME PEOPLE APPEAR BRIGHT UNTIL YOU HEAR THEM SPEAK.
19 Comments so far...
Joy Bischoff Says:
15 May 2008 at 12:08 am.
In addition to posting this stupid story below, I wanted to let you all know that I didn’t realize the picture of Alfred P. Newman was mocking Bush. So if you don’t like Bush you will enjoy it. If you do like Bush, assume that the stupid words are Newman and not the president.
Gas prices up? All in your head, data says
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - High gasoline prices got you down? Come to the land of seasonal adjustment, where the sun is always shining and gas prices fell 2 percent last month.
What? You paid more? Well, in the real world, gasoline prices did rise by a sharp 5.6 percent in April from a month earlier, but the way that the Bureau of Labor Statistics adjusts the figures to smooth out seasonal oddities, it appeared to be down in the consumer price index released on
“The drop makes absolutely no sense. Where does the BLS buy their gas?” asked Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wachovia.
No, there is not a magical government gas station where pump prices remain below $3 per gallon while the national average stands at $3.72.
Another branch of the very same U.S. government, the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration, said average retail gas prices actually shot up 9.5 percent in April from March.
So who’s right?
It has to do with how the Bureau of Labor Statistics compares current price trends with the norm.
Typically, gasoline prices rise sharply in April as the arrival of warmer weather encourages people to drive more. The government data is adjusted to reflect that pattern so that it can highlight variations from the trend. Because gas prices did not rise as much last month as they typically do in April, the seasonal adjustment showed that prices fell.
Back in the unadjusted world, not only did gas prices rise sharply in April, but with oil hitting record highs on a regular basis, they are likely to keep climbing in the coming weeks. That means May’s CPI data may look less tame.
“We do not think that the market or the Fed should take false comfort from the data. We expect to see much worse numbers in both the headline and the core a bit down the road,” said Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist with Merk Investments.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1428112620080514?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0
Cameron Says:
15 May 2008 at 5:58 am.
Canadian polygamist sect under pressure
By MARTHA MENDOZA, AP National Writer Wed May 14, 2:42 PM ET
LISTER, British Columbia - Fluorescent lights cast a yellow-green pall on the posted student artwork. Children’s voices recite lessons behind closed doors. A group of seventh-grade girls giggle and whisper as they wander back to class.
But instead of a smiling portrait of an elected official, Bountiful Elementary-Secondary School displays a photograph of a smiling Warren Jeffs — the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, who is doing time in a Utah prison, convicted of being an accomplice to rape.
The principal puts an affectionate arm around a youthful and happy second-grade teacher, a mother of 12. She’s one of his wives.
The students and the teachers are dressed in hand-sewn clothes, mostly cut from the same few bolts of pastel fabric. The girls wear their hair in long, elaborate French braids, some with exaggerated pompadours above their foreheads.
School rules, posted near the front door, say: “Obey sweetly and promptly.”
When authorities raided a thickly walled polygamist compound and took custody of 463 children in Texas last month, child welfare officials said the beliefs practiced there left girls at risk of sexual abuse and encouraged boys to become sexual perpetrators.
Many residents in this parallel community, which includes about 500 American citizens, share those same beliefs — that you take many wives and live a communal lifestyle — but prosecutors have not moved in to take action.
Yet.
British Columbia’s Attorney General Wally Oppal told The Associated Press he plans to arrest someone on a polygamy charge or ask the courts to weigh in on Bountiful’s legal standing within the month.
“Something must be done,” he said. “I personally feel, and our government feels, that it would be inappropriate to do nothing.”
Bountiful, just north of the U.S. border, is already splintered: some follow Jeffs, others follow his excommunicated former bishop Winston Blackmore. Even though many are related or have same last name, members of the two groups are not allowed to talk with each other.
Wary of outsiders — one Bountiful woman grabbed two children and ran into her home when approached by an AP reporter — these believers say authorities “kidnapped” children in Texas, confirming their worst fears about the broader world they deliberately avoid.
“It’s always in the back of our mind,” said Bountiful Elementary-Secondary School principal Merrill Palmer. “How would you feel if the police could come to your home and take your children? We have that hanging over us all the time.”
One of his wives, teacher Aloha Palmer — wearing the standard ankle-length dress, its pink puffy sleeves covering her arms — said she now warns children that “the police, the authorities, these are people to be feared.”
Bountiful residents have reason to worry: Just like in Texas, polygamy is illegal in Canada.
But instead of responding to a direct complaint of sexual abuse, Oppal would be reacting to two decades of unanswered pressure that the Canadian government do something about these families who practice plural marriages with impunity.
The pressure has been growing since the Texas raid. A national poll last month found nearly two-thirds of Canadians want Bountiful residents who break the law by practicing polygamy to be prosecuted.
But two Canadian laws stand in contradiction: Polygamy is banned, and religious freedoms are firmly protected.
In repeated investigations, the more troubling questions of sexual abuse, human trafficking and forced marriages also have been investigated. As part of a three-year review launched in 2004, detectives spent three months in the community. No charges were brought, but the legal age of sexual consent in Canada increased to 16 from 14 on May 1.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080514/ap_on_re_us/bountiful_s_polygamists;_ylt=ApXBw55GmaQ68nlV1L_NLyNvzwcF
Cameron Says:
15 May 2008 at 7:52 am.
State TV: China quake death toll could hit 50,000
By WILLIAM FOREMAN, Associated Press Writer
LUOSHUI TOWN, China - China warned the death toll from this week’s earthquake could soar to some 50,000, while the government issued a rare public appeal Thursday for rescue equipment as it struggled to cope with the disaster. Rescue workers broke through key roads to the epicenter in the race to find survivors.
More than 72 hours after the quake rattled central China, rescuers appeared to shift from poring through downed buildings for survivors to the grim duty of searching for bodies — with 10 million directly affected by Monday’s temblor.
The official death toll reached at least 19,500 in Sichuan province alone where Monday’s quake was centered, vice governor Li Chengyun told a news conference in the provincial capital of Chengdu. The figure was up from nearly 15,000 confirmed dead the day before.
But the State Council, the country’s Cabinet, said the number could rise to some 50,000, state TV reported.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080515/ap_on_re_as/china_earthquake
Cameron Says:
15 May 2008 at 7:57 am.
Here it is! We have to move to the left for votes. Sell out like McCain does and you’ll be okay. The article says most republicans support McCain and that isn’t true. This disgusts me.
Shaken Republicans look to McCain as savior
Soul searching Republicans are turning to an unlikely savior, one-time party heretic and now presumptive White House nominee John McCain, as they try to stave off an electoral disaster.
Stung by the Democratic seizure of three staunch conservative seats in Congress, Republican lawmakers fear a shellacking in November’s general election, after losing control of both chambers of Congress in 2006.
The rise of McCain as their champion is not without irony, since the 71-year-old Arizona senator has quarreled with his own party for years on issues as diverse as immigration, campaign finance reform and global warming.
But it is precisely that independent streak that is drawing Republicans to his coattails, hoping he can cleanse them of the stain of gridlocked Washington.
Eric Cantor, Republican chief deputy whip in the House of Representatives, told reporters that the McCain brand was healthier than that of his party.
“John McCain is a demonstrated vote getter among independents, and his message and what he will be able to do in this election is extremely important.”
House Republican minority leader John Boehner told Fox News that with McCain at the top of the ticket, his demoralized party might spring a surprise in November.
“I think that we’re going to do a lot better than people think,” Boehner said.
“John McCain appeals to almost all Republicans. He also appeals to a wide array of independents and conservative Democrats.”
Democrat Travis Childers on Tuesday won Mississippi’s first congressional district, one of the safest Republican seats in the country, following his party’s recent special election wins in Illinois and Louisiana.
The win was another triumph for the strategy of matching socially conservative Democrats, who often oppose abortion and back gun rights, to conservative districts, where Republicans would normally ease to victory.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080515073312.w25iyzae&show_article=1
Cameron Says:
15 May 2008 at 8:22 am.
I grabbed the beginning of the article and then a few paragraphs later which really burned me. JPMorgan isn’t concerned about the economic hardships in America because of the growing markets in India and China so they are happy. This is so cold. They are traitors.
JPMorgan to start physical oil trade, eyes $200 oil
By Sambit Mohanty
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co will begin trading physical oil by year-end, increasing its exposure in a market that could rise to $200 a barrel, the bank’s global head of commodities said on Wednesday.
The bank plans to expand in commodities and energy trading, Blythe Masters said, despite expectations of job cuts in other areas as it prepares to take on staff from Bear Stearns at the same time it deals with turbulent financial markets.
“We will start trading in physical oil and refined products by the end of this year,” she told Reuters in an interview.
JPMorgan will join a growing list of investment banks from Goldman Sachs to Barclays Capital seeking to boost profits on their big derivatives trading desks by gaining a foothold in physical markets.
Masters shrugged off the impact of the U.S. credit crisis, saying robust growth in demand from emerging markets could more than offset a slowdown in demand in the United States.
“I think the prospects for the natural resources sector and commodity businesses are strong and are not really derailed in any sense by the credit crisis in the United States.”
“Urbanizing populations in markets like India and China are driving the appreciation in commodity prices,” she added.
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSSP14850120080514?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0
Mac Says:
15 May 2008 at 9:00 am.
I’m not sure what makes me madder, the article about republicans moving left or this one about JP Morgan. I’ve been thinking about supporting McCain because of the war but maybe some of you here are right and it is more important to keep the party moving left. The long run does matter. I’m not sure what I’ll do.
Sharon Anderson Says:
15 May 2008 at 10:57 am.
I got a call from the Salt Lake Tribune this morning verifying that I was the one who sent them the letter to the editor yesterday. The person calling indicated that my input (about Obama and the Global Poverty Act) was rising to the top of the pile so I guess that means they may publish it soon. Maybe they are willing to do that because they think it will help McCain. I just hope it will help make people aware and get them thinking.
At any rate, if you haven’t already checked out this media link, I urge you to do so. http://capwiz.com/jbs/dbq/media/ As you compose your letter watch the colored bar that indicates how many words you have used. If you stay in the first color (fewer words) you have a better chance having them use your material.
I am very impressed by the comments that are made on this site and think that many of you could find a comment you have made that would be suitable to submit to the media.
A note to Stumpy: Check with Snuffy Smith before you submit something. He got great coverage in his day and might be able to give you a few hints.
Sharon Anderson Says:
15 May 2008 at 11:05 am.
Regarding Bush and Alfred P. Newman: I’m certain that Bush has made many statements that have made even his supporters wince.
My husband says, “Newman would have made a better president than any we have had since Newman first announced his candidacy in Mad Magazine in the 60s . So stop tarnishing his image by comparing him to Bush.”
Iffer Says:
15 May 2008 at 11:53 am.
Good for you Sharon, i’m glad you wrote to the newspaper. I think there are a lot of people out there are clueless and need to be woken up.
I saw this one lady on the news and she was voting for Hillary just because she is a woman. It really made me irritated.
T. Fan Says:
15 May 2008 at 12:45 pm.
Way to go Sharon. We’re proud of you. Keep it up.
LOL about Newman.
Sharon Anderson Says:
15 May 2008 at 12:47 pm.
OK so this isn’t national news and it wouldn’t even make the local papers but it is news on my street. I just planted chard, beets, lettuce and spinich seeds and set my squash, cucumbers, pepper and tomato plants out to “harden” so they will adjust to the out-of-doors and be ready to transplant in a few days. My seeds are non hybrid and I plan to let some of the plants go to seed so I can harvest seeds for another year. I expect to learn alot more about gardening this season. Wish me luck (and my plants, too).
Hey, Stumpy maybe you can come over for some fresh veges in a couple of months.
Stumpy Says:
15 May 2008 at 2:02 pm.
So Sharon. Do y’all got cute lil bunnies I can harvest?
Pickles Says:
15 May 2008 at 2:33 pm.
Stumpy, if you don’t stop killing bunnies it may be over between us. Good job Sharon.
E.E. Says:
15 May 2008 at 3:48 pm.
Sorry McCain but what you have outlined here is a timetable, the same kind of thing Romney was talking about. It is called goal setting and nothing is ever accomplished without goals. There is just one problem here, 2013 is way too long. Our country wouldn’t stand up to the rift it would cause and we can’t afford it in money or manpower. It would definitely be seen as an occupation and the rest of the world would be set in their hatred towards us. We need to win faster.
McCain believes Iraq war can be won by 2013
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Republican John McCain declared for the first time Thursday he believes the Iraq war can be won by 2013, although he rejected suggestions that his talk of a timetable put him on the same side as Democrats clamoring for full-scale troop withdrawals.
The Republican presidential contender, in a mystical speech that also envisioned Osama bin Laden dead or captured, and Americans with the choice of paying a simple flat tax or following their standard 1040 form, said only a small number of troops would remain in Iraq by the end of a prospective first term because al-Qaida will have been defeated and Iraq’s government will be functioning on its own.
“By January 2013, America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly so that America might be secure in her freedom. The Iraq War has been won,” McCain told an audience of several hundred here in the capital city of a general election battleground state.
Later, as the Arizona senator drove to the airport on his “Straight Talk Express” campaign bus, McCain was peppered by reporters with questions about the timetable. He and his aides insisted there was a difference between ending the war and bringing troops home and, as they criticize the Democrats, announcing a withdrawal upfront without regard for the military endgame.
“It’s not a timetable; it’s victory. It’s victory, which I have always predicted. I didn’t know when we were going to win World War II; I just knew we were going to win,” McCain said.
The Vietnam veteran added: “I know from experience, you set a day for surrender — which is basically what you do when you say you are withdrawing — and you will pay a much a heavier price later on.”
In the primary campaign, McCain had criticized former Republican rival Mitt Romney for hinting at a timetable.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080515/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_governing_style
Benjamin Says:
15 May 2008 at 4:49 pm.
Right on E.E. McCain is his own worst enemy. Of course the same can be said of Obama:
Obama says Bush falsely accuses him of appeasement
WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama accused President Bush on Thursday of launching a “false political attack” with a comment about appeasing terrorists and radicals.
The Illinois senator interpreted the remark as a slam against him but the White House denied that Bush’s words were in any way directed at Obama, who has said as president he would be willing to personally meet with Iran’s leaders and those of other regimes the United States has deemed rogue.
In a speech to Israel’s Knesset, Bush said: “Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along.
“We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: ‘Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.’ We have an obligation to call this what it is—the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.”
Obama responded with a statement, seizing on Bush’s remarks even as it was unclear to whom the president was referring.
“It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel’s independence to launch a false political attack,” Obama said in the statement his aides distributed. “George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists, and the president’s extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel.”
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D90M50O02&show_article=1
Peter Says:
15 May 2008 at 5:25 pm.
I thought I would show I don’t always come here to disagree with everyone. I went to the link on the Bush speech and was reading some of the comments. I loved this one so I thought I would share it from some guy named Mark:
I like what Mitt Romney said this morning. “There’s an old saying. If you throw a rock over a fence, the dog that barks is probably the one that was hit.”
Hilarious. The entire democratic party is beside themselves, gnashing their teeth. The truth hurts.
Jan W. Says:
15 May 2008 at 5:28 pm.
Peter, it is great to see another side of you. That was a fabulous comment by Mitt. Way cool.
Jesse Says:
15 May 2008 at 6:01 pm.
This is from the San Francisco Chronicle. I wish I could have put the whole article but it was too long. You need to read it. It is shocking.
U.S.-trained forces reportedly helping Mexican cartels
By STEWART M. POWELL
WASHINGTON — As many as 200 U.S.-trained Mexican security personnel have defected to drug cartels to carry out killings on both sides of the border and as far north as Dallas, Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble, told Congress on Wednesday.
The renegade members of Mexico’s elite counter-narcotics teams trained at Fort Benning, Ga., have switched sides, contributing to a wave of violence that has claimed some 6,000 victims over the past 30 months, including prominent law enforcement leaders, the Houston-area Republican told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The slaughter has gained urgency amid high-profile assassinations of law officers in Mexico since May 1, claiming six senior officers, five of them with the federal police.
Poe held aloft a dramatic, poster-board-size photograph that he said showed guerrilla-style commandos crossing into the United States.
He said the Department of Homeland Security had documented “over 250 incursions by suspected military forces” into the United States over the past decade.
“I was surprised to hear that the United States has trained Mexican forces and some of those have deserted and become the reason for these attacks,” Poe said.
Officers ’switched sides’
The U.S.-trained Mexican security personnel have “switched sides and became assassins and recruiters for the Mexican drug cartels.”
Poe, a former prosecutor and criminal court judge, issued the allegations in an unsuccessful effort to persuade the House Foreign Affairs Committee to revamp President Bush’s Merida Initiative.
Bush’s blueprint calls for $1.4 billion in training, equipment and law enforcement assistance to Mexico and Central America over three years.
Bush also is seeking $500 million in emergency assistance for Mexico this year as part of the supplemental war spending measure.
Democrats have included only $400 million of Bush’s request in the $161 billion war spending measure.
Poe tried to require the Bush administration to evenly split spending between the United States and Mexico rather than sending the entire amount south of the border.
“It seems as though the United States has a history in some cases of giving support (to Mexico) and that support turns around and is used against the very people we’re trying to protect, in this case, us,” Poe said. “We have no assurance that the equipment we’re sending to Mexico won’t be turned over to the drug cartels and used against us.”
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/5780470.html
Sharon Anderson Says:
16 May 2008 at 8:54 am.
Shoking but not surprising. They switch sides becasue they can see where the money and power are and that’s what they want.
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