24 June 2008
News and Comments 06-24-08
Posted by Roy Bischoff under: General; What's News .
26 Comments so far...
Jesse Says:
24 June 2008 at 12:20 am.
Some people don’t think you Mormons have the right to speak up about anything political but when it is a moral issue you do. Constitutional law guarantees that.
LDS Church officials urge California members to support marriage amendment
LDS Church officials are urging California Mormons to “do all you can” to support a constitutional amendment to recognize only marriages between a man and a woman.
The call to action came from the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a letter that is scheduled to be read to local California congregations, church spokesman Scott Trotter said.
“The church’s teachings and position on this moral issue are unequivocal,” the letter reads. “Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained or God, and the formation of families is central to the creator’s plan for his children.
“Children are entitled to be born within this bond of marriage.”
Last month, the California Supreme Court overturned a voter-approved law outlawing gay marriage. After that ruling, Affirmation, a support group for gay and lesbian Mormons, had urged the LDS Church to stay out of the political debate over the proposed constitutional amendment, which would overrule the state’s high court.
Cameron Says:
24 June 2008 at 5:32 am.
Nice spin control but this guy is a racist. I heard his remarks and he was not talking like Pacman was being picked on because of his race.
Imus faces new questions over on-air race remarks
By SAMANTHA GROSS, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 30 minutes ago
NEW YORK - Don Imus is finding himself in a familiar position on his morning radio broadcast: facing questions over what he meant by on-air remarks about race.
Months after a career resurrection and a pledge to mend the wounds caused by his remark about a women’s basketball team, Imus again drew criticism for racial comments made on his broadcast.
During a conversation Monday about the arrests of suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam Jones, Imus asked, “What color is he?”
Told by sports announcer Warner Wolf that Jones, who used to be nicknamed Pacman, is “African-American,” Imus responded: “There you go. Now we know.”
Later Monday, Imus responded to criticism of his comments, saying he had been misunderstood.
“I meant that he was being picked on because he’s black,” Imus said in a statement released by his spokesman.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080624/ap_en_ce/imus_color_comment
Cameron Says:
24 June 2008 at 9:00 am.
Now what?
UN says fair vote in Zimbabwe is impossible
By JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS - Outraged at the turmoil in Zimbabwe, the U.N. Security Council declared that a fair presidential vote is impossible because of a “campaign of violence” waged by President Robert Mugabe’s government.
The 15-nation council Monday unanimously said it “condemns the campaign of violence against the political opposition ahead of the second round of presidential elections,” which has resulted in the killing of scores of opposition activists and other Zimbabweans.
The move came after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from the vote — reportedly fearing for his safety — and police raided his Harare headquarters, hustling away dozens of his supporters.
George Sibotshiwe, a spokesman for Tsvangirai, said the politician had received a tip that soldiers were on the way to his home Sunday, after he had announced he was pulling out of the runoff scheduled for Friday.
Sibotshiwe would not reveal the source of the tip and said the soldiers’ intentions were unclear. But “the moment you have soldiers coming your way, you just run for your life,” Sibotshiwe said. “The only way he can protect himself is to go to an embassy.”
Sibotshiwe said other opposition leaders were also in hiding, among them Tsvangirai’s campaign manager. Officials were no longer working out of the party’s headquarters in Harare for fear of arrest, he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080624/ap_on_re_af/zimbabwe
Cameron Says:
24 June 2008 at 9:07 am.
Mitt is usually named first when they discuss the Veep situation so that is hopeful.
McCain veep helper is discreet lawyer
By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - The search for John McCain’s running mate is such a mystery that few people even know who’s in charge.
The Republican is leaning on a consummate behind-the-scenes player in Washington — attorney Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. — for this maximum-discretion, minimal-disclosure assignment. In Culvahouse, a one-time White House counsel to President Reagan, McCain gets someone whose work mostly has been so obscure that he likely isn’t recognized outside Washington’s Beltway.
Culvahouse has been involved in vetting people for positions at all levels of government for three decades, roles he’s gotten partly because of his reputation for under-the-radar maneuvering.
McCain has turned to him in recent weeks as he sorts through a list of some 20 or more would-be No. 2s — not that you’d know it. The Arizona senator, like every nominee-in-waiting, is demanding privacy and trying to keep the search under wraps, including the involvement of the man who goes by A.B.
McCain’s advisers, the few in the know, are under strict orders not to even discuss the search. McCain, at times, has violated his own rule, including mentioning he wanted to consult with Culvahouse and disclosing he had a preliminary names list.
When word leaked that three potentials — former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist — were invited to McCain’s estate Arizona for Memorial Day weekend, aides were furious and insisted it was a social affair.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080624/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_veepstakes
Angela Rogin Says:
24 June 2008 at 9:12 am.
After thinking about it for months I have definitely decided to vote for McCain if he picks Mitt.
Benjamin Says:
24 June 2008 at 9:21 am.
Home prices extend record slide in April: S&P
Tuesday June 24, 9:41 am ET
By Lynn Adler
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Home prices extended their record slide in April, with every top metropolitan area now posting annual losses and many showing double-digit declines, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller home price index report on Tuesday.
However, the monthly pace of the decline showed some moderation.
The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metro areas fell 1.4 percent in April from March and slumped by a record 15.3 percent over the year.
Bigger declines of 2.0 percent in the month and 15.9 percent from April 2007 had been expected for the 20-city index, according to the median forecast of economists polled by Reuters.
The 20-city month-over-month decline was the smallest drop since the August-September 2007 period.
S&P said its composite index of 10 metro areas slid 1.6 percent in April for a record 16.3 percent annual drop.
Home prices in a dozen of the metro areas have fallen for eight straight months.
Benjamin Says:
24 June 2008 at 9:22 am.
Dobson accuses Obama of `distorting’ Bible
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - As Barack Obama broadens his outreach to evangelical voters, one of the movement’s biggest names, James Dobson, accuses the likely Democratic presidential nominee of distorting the Bible and pushing a “fruitcake interpretation” of the Constitution.
The criticism, to be aired Tuesday on Dobson’s Focus on the Family radio program, comes shortly after an Obama aide suggested a meeting at the organization’s headquarters here, said Tom Minnery, senior vice president for government and public policy at Focus on the Family.
The conservative Christian group provided The Associated Press with an advance copy of the pre-taped radio segment, which runs 18 minutes and highlights excerpts of a speech Obama gave in June 2006 to the liberal Christian group Call to Renewal. Obama mentions Dobson in the speech.
“Even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools?” Obama said. “Would we go with James Dobson’s or Al Sharpton’s?” referring to the civil rights leader.
Dobson took aim at examples Obama cited in asking which Biblical passages should guide public policy - chapters like Leviticus, which Obama said suggests slavery is OK and eating shellfish is an abomination, or Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, “a passage that is so radical that it’s doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application.”
“Folks haven’t been reading their Bibles,” Obama said.
Dobson and Minnery accused Obama of wrongly equating Old Testament texts and dietary codes that no longer apply to Jesus’ teachings in the New Testament.
“I think he’s deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology,” Dobson said.
Benjamin Says:
24 June 2008 at 9:25 am.
Economy on brink of recession, Greenspan says
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned on Tuesday the U.S. economy was on the brink of a recession, with the chances of that happening at more than 50 percent.
The U.S. economy has been hit by a credit crisis which began in the sub-prime mortgage market, prompting a series of interest rate cuts to help boost the economy. But price pressures are growing, making more rate cuts unlikely.
Asked if the U.S. economy was in recession, Greenspan said: “We are on the brink.”
A quick recovery was unlikely, he said via video link to a conference in Johannesburg. “A rebound at this stage is not something I think is in the immediate outlook,” he said.
“There are still very considerable structural problems remaining in the financial system. They will remain for a while. It’s going to be very difficult. There are a lot of unexpected adverse events out in front of us,” Greenspan said.
Bryon Says:
24 June 2008 at 9:43 am.
Wow Obama! That is the lamest use of the bible I have ever heard. Does he know that slave holders used the bible to justify their deeds? A close look shows Jesus is promoting, “Liberating the Captives.” Any body can twist the bible. I’d be forced to reevaluate my position of Obama if he used it correctly.
Matt Says:
24 June 2008 at 10:52 am.
Right on, Bryon.
Pickles Says:
24 June 2008 at 12:10 pm.
The Old Testament was the lesser law and the New Testament is the higher law. Obama must not know his bible very well or understand it at all. Sheesh!
T. Fan Says:
24 June 2008 at 12:54 pm.
Rush is talking about how serious the economic situation is. It is kind of weird because for a long time he denied there was any problem at all with the economy. The airline business is in trouble and it is going to get a lot worse as the gas prices continue up. Our way of life is going to be directly effected. Some economists say it isn’t so bad and they quote facts and figures but what they aren’t facing is that it is the gas prices that are crazy and in the seventies they didn’t have anything this drastic.
Cameron Says:
24 June 2008 at 12:58 pm.
T. Fan, when I read your post I decided to snag this because I am afraid you are right.
Oil prices won’t come down: OPEC president
Oil prices “will not come down,” OPEC president Chakib Khelil said Tuesday, assuring that the oil cartel has already done what it can on the matter.
“OPEC has already done what OPEC can do and prices will not come down,” Khelil told journalists as he arrived for a meeting with EU energy officials in Brussels.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080624082624.w60gqlcj&show_article=1
Bryon Says:
24 June 2008 at 3:46 pm.
What is that supposed to mean? “OPEC has done what it can.” I don’t get it. Is OPEC saying they were doing something to lower their profit from oil? If so that is very kind of them. And I thought they were robbing the world without bothering with mask and gun. Obviously the oil companies have no control over the price of oil. So who does control the price?
Carrie Says:
24 June 2008 at 4:32 pm.
Bryon you are so cool.
Bryon Says:
24 June 2008 at 8:54 pm.
Of course I’m cool. I am 18 years old. That alone qualify me for being cool. JK, LOL.
Tony Says:
24 June 2008 at 10:29 pm.
bryon, right on. who/what controls the price of oil?
SGS Says:
25 June 2008 at 4:53 pm.
Hey, from a news article posted by Cameron about McCain’s veep selection process, it reads in part:
These days, Culvahouse, 59, is the chairman of O’Melveny & Myers, an international law firm where he has worked since 1976, save for a few years in the 1980s. His biography posted on his firm’s Web site says he also has an “active corporate governance, internal investigations and compliance, and strategic counseling practice.” Among his clients: the International Olympic Committee in the scandal surrounding the Salt Lake City games and Ford Motor Co. in the Firestone tire investigations.
This is almost a given! I mean, if you were involved in something like this, you cannot avoid NOT working with Mitt Romney at more than one point. You cannot avoid, having the depth of knowledge of the mess brought by that scandal, being impressed by what Mitt has done to make Olympic successful. It is great to know that Culvahouse is somewhat more biased toward Mitt (not against). There’s hope for mccain (grrr!) and ROMNEY ticket!
(too bad, I cannot change font size here, for if I could, mccain (yes all small letters) would be font size 2 or whatever smallest size is).
GO mccain and ROMNEY, GO!
SGS Says:
25 June 2008 at 5:03 pm.
Tony, future market is what control the price of crude oil on market. It has a strong corresponding relationship with the expected future demand, whether it is real or not. SA definitely play to the expectation that the demand will be so high that it eventually won’t be met by the supplies. This is quite false, as the demand has yet to out-raise the supply, and won’t be in a near future. To nug it along, they (meaning the oil producers) have made it looks like they are struggling to supply. For example, each time there is a sporadically fighting in spots that end quickly in Nigeria (one of the largest oil producers), the price in oil jump, only almost never to return to its previous price.
SGS Says:
25 June 2008 at 5:32 pm.
It’s SGS again. Sorry for being so talkative today. It has been two weeks for me since I came here, being out on business trip and such. I’m bursting at seams with things to comment on!
As some of you know, I am deaf. I served on a mission for my church, working among the deaf population (yes, they are everywhere, but more so around and within the cities). It has been my experience that the deaf person we would teach intend to ask my hearing companions questions, instead of me. This is funny, considering that most of my hearing companions just learned the language, and they cannot sign the language fluently. They often missed the questions. I was one who answered their questions. But yet, each time, they have questions to ask, asking my hearing companions they did! No matter how many times I have answered their questions. It has to do with the oppressed thing — I am not a psychologist, but many of these deaf people believe hearing people are superior to them (sad, but they indeed are an oppressed people).
Anyway, my point I want to comment here is that I think this is what will happen if McCain does have Romney on his ticket. If they are in the same room (a rarity these days, with the security concerns), it is more likely that the reporters would be looking at Romney rather than McCain when they ask questions. Romney simply is much better than McCain at answering questions, understanding the issues in depth and has a more pleasant personality! McCain will definitely feel inferior being in the same room with Romney. But then, he knew it when he had to play dirt against Romney during the primary season.
Cameron Says:
25 June 2008 at 5:37 pm.
Holy Cow SGS, I never thought of that. Maybe now I really could vote McCain if he picks Romney and really have some hope. It makes sense. We’ve missed you around here. Deaf or not, you have wise things to say and are a real plus to the blog.
Jan W. Says:
25 June 2008 at 6:27 pm.
It breaks my heart to hear that some deaf people think the hearing are superior. IMO, with all the crazy loud distractions in the world today, being deaf could actually help you hear better. Really hear what is important that is.
SGS Says:
25 June 2008 at 10:10 pm.
Jan W., yes, it’s sad. The cause may be as simple as being unable to communicate within the walls of your own homes. I mean, you may sit at the table, eating dinner with your family. There could be 2 or 3 conversations going on at the same time. For many people, learning sign language is a chore, so they learned only enough to keep their deaf children behave. They do not have enough skill to have the conversation on the same par as they do in their primary language. You are left out at the table. You may start to be curious what is going on with their lives (all kids at age of 4 or 5 start to interact with others), only to be told “I will tell you later”. Often, you were never told. Now, image this, year after year, in various settings. This is just one example of why many deaf people ended up feeling inferior.
The other big one is that you have been told over and over that your ability to talk is the only thing that matter. You would have more time doing speech-training than you would study math, social studies, or other subjects. In a sense, your life revolve around your mouth. Your wholeness, what define you as a person, is pretty much neglected. You have been told over and over that you have an amazing speech. Then when you are teen, you went to a McDonald to order a shake, on your own for the first time. The cashier would look at you as if you are freak. This really do boost your self-esteem.
These are just a couple of examples of what the deaf people may experience, even here in America. The approach to educate them have not been resolved — AG Bell Foundation just injected the oral method philology with tens of million dollars, telling the parents who learned for the first time that their children must never use hands, or else they will be freak. And that they must be all about using your voice, or else, they will never success. Of course, there are a few successful stories of oral deaf people, but they are in the minority, comparing with those who learned sign language from a very young age (deaf children of deaf parents, for example).
Oh well, the fight goes on, as it has been since 1840s.
Hank Says:
26 June 2008 at 1:20 am.
SGS, I have a friend who is deaf and is good at reading lips. I’ve learned a little sign language but not much. I never really understood what he went through until reading what you just wrote. You explained it in a way that puts it in a whole new light. I wish families of children who are deaf could all read what you wrote so they wouldn’t make those mistakes. It rips at the heart. No wonder there are insecurities. Thanks for opening up about it.
Cameron Says:
26 June 2008 at 8:49 am.
SGS, we appreciate you sharing those things. I never had any idea what it was like for the deaf. I’ll never forget now.
T. Fan Says:
26 June 2008 at 11:13 am.
Ditto
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