28 June 2008
News and Comments 06-28-08
Posted by Roy Bischoff under: What's News .
5 Comments so far...
Cameron Says:
28 June 2008 at 8:49 am.
Supreme Court, long quiet, ends term with a growl
By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 28 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - For most of the term, Supreme Court justices showed remarkable restraint. They displayed broad agreement even in some volatile areas and refrained from angry dissents.
Then they decided the tough cases.
The court, in its three most important cases, declared a constitutional right to have guns at home for self-defense, granted some constitutional protections to foreign prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and outlawed the death penalty for people who rape children.
Not only did the familiar ideological divisions return in these cases and several others, but the justices took turns hurling charges of “judicial activism” and worse at each other.
Giving rights to the detainees “will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed,” Justice Antonin Scalia said in a scathing dissent he read from the bench.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080628/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_unrestrained_finish
Cameron Says:
28 June 2008 at 10:39 am.
McCain says spending much time on VP choice
By Steve Holland
CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Friday he was spending a lot of time working on his choice for a vice presidential running mate but was not close to making a decision.
Speaking to reporters on his Straight Talk Express bus, McCain said the search was “not very far” along and he would make an announcement about his running mate “at the appropriate time.”
“I’ve spent a lot of time on it,” McCain said in a rolling back-and-forth with reporters that began after he ate about half-a-dozen boiled shrimp from a Styrofoam bowl and described it as both breakfast and lunch.
He said his choice would be someone who shared his principles, values and goals and was qualified to take his place.
McCain gave no clue who was being considered. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, whom McCain defeated in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist are among a host of possibilities.
McCain is expected to make up his mind some time before the Republican nominating convention in early September in St. Paul, Minnesota. He said he was not necessarily looking for someone who could help him win a state or a region.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080627/pl_nm/usa_politics_mccain_dc_4;_ylt=ArfOnolcvgUSiKT8yNNNzw0E1vAI
Cameron Says:
28 June 2008 at 10:43 am.
OPEC Leader Khelil Says Dollar Will Drive Oil to $170 (Update1)
By Ahmed Rouaba
June 28 (Bloomberg) — OPEC President Chakib Khelil predicted that the price of oil will climb to $170 a barrel before the end of the year, citing the dollar’s decline and political conflicts.
“Oil prices are expected to reach $170 as demand for fuel is growing in the U.S. during the summer period and the dollar continues to weaken against the euro,” Khelil said today in a telephone interview. The leader of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries also serves as Algeria’s oil minister.
Political pressure on Iran and the depreciation of the U.S. currency have caused a surge in oil prices, Khelil said. New York- traded crude has more than doubled in a year and touched a record $142.99 a barrel yesterday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
OPEC ministers generally say that oil output is sufficient, even as Saudi Arabia, the biggest producer, pledged to pump an extra 200,000 barrels a day next month to calm the market. “The market is completely supplied,” Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said yesterday. Libya announced possible production cuts, calling the market oversupplied.
The rising cost of crude is not linked to supply, Khelil said today. “There is more than enough oil in the market to meet the international demand,” added the OPEC president, who will take part June 30 in an international energy forum in Madrid.
Prices, which are up 38 percent this quarter, are heading for the biggest quarterly gain since the first three months of 1999, when oil traded between $11 and $17.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aq_sRQH22HdY&refer=worldwide
Benjamin Says:
28 June 2008 at 2:41 pm.
Pakistan launches strike at Taliban hideouts
KHYBER AGENCY, Pakistan - Pakistani forces bombarded suspected militant hideouts with mortar shells Saturday as the government launched a major offensive against Taliban fighters threatening the main city in the country’s volatile northwest, officials said.
The offensive in the Khyber tribal region marked the first major military action Pakistan’s newly elected government has taken against the militants operating in the tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.
The government had said it preferred to try to defuse tension with the groups through negotiations, but with threats by Islamic militants to the city of Peshawar growing in recent weeks, the military decided to take action.
Khyber also is a key route for moving U.S. military supplies into neighboring Afghanistan.
By Saturday afternoon, the paramilitary Frontier Corps began shelling suspected militant hideouts in the mountains in Khyber.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080628/ap_on_re_as/pakistan;_ylt=Apobq7SFRoBuwHs1CNCV5CxbbBAF
Benjamin Says:
28 June 2008 at 2:43 pm.
Dang, Cameron, I just read that OPEC article. Can you believe that just nine years ago gas was selling between $11 and $17 a barrell? This is so insane.
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