Pooling, TV stations could finally, this afternoon, get a plane in the air, close enough to show the devastation.
Bolivar Peninsula is located north of Galveston Island. It was on the east side of that Eye of Ike as he hit. Sea level, 10 feet. A reported 140 folks stayed on the Peninsula (authorities had told them to write their name and SS number on their arm) They are looking for them. They are having difficulty, cause they can't match the houses to addresses. The houses have moved or disappeared.
And, the Texas coastline has changed. The Gulf of Mexico just got bigger
#1
The Media have been irresponsible. Many folks who would have left saw the media arrive and begin to broadcast and thought, "Hey, if these bozos can stay, so can I." Bad move on everyone's part.
#3
All true, but people in SE Texas have not forgot the mandatory evacuation of Rita (I believe it was Rita) that ended up in 100 mile backups and 14 hour stoppages in the interestates. I think a lot of the people stayed behind because of that experience.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/15/2008 12:15 Comments ||
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#4
Some interesting folks in Bolivar Peninsula...
Of particular concern is a resident who collects exotic animals who is now holed up in a Baptist church with his pet lion. "We're not going in there," Jones said. "We know where he (the lion) is on the food chain."
I wonder where his owner is on the food chain today?
#5
AFAIK, the evacuation for Rita killed more people than the storm itself (?herself) did. It's still a bad idea to live such a short height above sea level in a hurricane zone, unless you're some kind of aquatic or amphibian life form.
#6
The Rita gridlock was because people did not follow instructions - the entire Houston metro area should not have gotten on the roads, just the low-lying areas to the south along the bay and beyond (Galveston). People did somewhat better this time, but still plenty of room for improvement. And Galveston-Bolivar residents who do not evacuate might as well be playing Russian Roullette - as mentioned elsewhere today, stupidity is a capital offense, with no appeal.
On paper _ and it's a paper he has yet to sign or even publicly admit exists _ President Robert Mugabe appears to be acknowledging at last that he cannot rule Zimbabwe alone. Not with a bang, with a whimper?
Mugabe, Zimbabwe's main opposition leader and a leader of a smaller opposition faction were to sign a power-sharing deal Monday that has resulted from weeks of negotiations mediated by South African President Thabo Mbeki.
Mbeki and Morgan Tsvangirai, the main opposition leader, announced a deal late Thursday. They gave no details, saying the agreement would be made public Monday. Members of the opposition first gave the broad outlines Friday, and media controlled by Mugabe confirmed their version Sunday.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Power Sharing 10/90.
Blame Sharing 90/10.
Idiots.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/15/2008 9:55 Comments ||
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Two senior Saudi clerics have issued fatwas calling for the owners of Arab television channels that broadcast shows promoting magic, debauchery and vice to be tried in court and face the death penalty.
The sheikhs, both members of the Higher Council of Clerics, said Sunday they stopped short of directly condemning to death purveyors of these shows but denounced them as unsuitable for the holy month of Ramadan.
The head of the Saudi Supreme Judiciary Council Sheikh Saleh al-Lihedan said in an interview with Saudi TV Sunday that he objected to the content of many satellite channels but that he did not intend to incite people to kill channel owners, claiming that his original religious ruling broadcast on Saudi radio last week had been taken out of context.
Another senior cleric, Sheikh Saleh al-Fozan, weighed in on Sunday in response to the furor ignited by his colleague and condemned horoscope and advice shows as equivalent to sorcery and therefore apostasy worthy of the death penalty.
"Sorcerers who appear on satellite channels who are proven to be sorcerers have committed a great crime ... and the Muslim consensus is that the apostate's punishment is death by the sword," Fozan told the daily al-Madina newspaper "Those who call in to these shows should not be accorded Muslim rites when they die," the prominent cleric added.
Sheikh Saleh al-Lihedan
Many of the hundreds of Arab satellite channels have sprung up in recent years specialize in horoscope programs and advice shows, seen as "sorcery" by some. Turkish soap operas have also become extremely popular this year in Saudi Arabia and the Arab world. They provoked a storm of anger this year among conservatives who fear the spread of secular culture and immoral values.
Lihedan, who holds the highest judicial authority in Saudi Arabia, said in response to a caller's question during a radio show last week that channel owners should be tried in court where a verdict suitable to the offence, including capital punishment, would be handed down.
"I want to advise the owners of these channels that broadcast programs with indecency and vulgarity and warn them of the consequences ... They can be put to death through the judicial process," he told Saudi radio.
He was referring to comedy shows and soap operas airing in Ramadan, a month of fasting when Muslims are supposed to focus on God. Critics say Ramadan has become an orgy of food and television consumption once the fast ends at sunset.
"I told them I don't mind if they make sure this [immorality] doesn't happen, but obviously this is hard for them because it's against their policies," the 79-year-old cleric told Saudi TV Sunday. He said he had rejected offers to host a religious show before or after the programs because he did not want his show sandwiched between such "indecent" programs.
Lihedan added that when he talked about the topic, he started by addressing channel owners and asking them to fear God and stop airing TV shows that confuse people's beliefs and spread ideas that unsuitable for Ramadan.
Sheikh Saleh al-Fozan
Fozan said entertainment channel owners should be "banished" but stopped short of advocating the death penalty for them.
"The position of Muslims and their rulers about these channels is that they should be talked to and if they continue airing depravity and shamelessness they should be banished from this place and others brought in their place."
The government's official advisor on religious affairs, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdelaziz Al al-Sheikh, said in July it was not Islamically permissible to watch the Turkish serials.
In their capacity as judges, clerics of Saudi Arabia's conservative form of Islam often sentence "sorcerers" to death.
The owners of Arab entertainment channels, including MBC, ART, Orbit, Rotana and LBC, are mostly Saudi royals and businessmen closely allied to them.
Concerned about the country's international image, some key members of the Saudi royal family have promoted liberal reforms. The clerics fear plans to limit their extensive influence in what is the world's largest oil exporter.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Saudi should just ban radio and television, neither are mentioned in the Koran anyway.
#2
Neither are elecric driven loudspeakers and electric fans. Nonbeliever inventions all.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/15/2008 10:33 Comments ||
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#3
Antiboitics, insulin and the internal combustion engine also seem like innovations from the blessed time of the Profit. Ban 'em all.
Nothing spreads an idea faster than official condemnation. I would look for a tidal wave of shamelessness and depravity througout the Magic Kingdom. Clerical credibility crash in 5..4..3..2.... .
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
09/15/2008 11:47 Comments ||
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#4
Looks like no chance of the Fairness Doctrine being enacted over there...
A top Saudi cleric and judge sought Sunday to tone down a controversial religious edict sanctioning the killing of owners of television stations that air "debauchery," saying they could only be put to death after a judicial process. If the owners of television networks that air "depravation and debauchery" are not deterred by lesser punishments, they would be referred to justice which issues its rulings in keeping with the laws in force in the kingdom, Sheikh Saleh al-Luhaidan told state-run Saudi television.
"They may be killed through a judicial [ruling]," he added. Luhaidan, who heads the Supreme Judicial Council, the highest judicial body in ultra-conservative Muslim Saudi Arabia, sparked controversy by saying on the radio that the owners of television networks broadcasting "immoral" programs may be killed. "It is lawful to kill ... the apostles of depravation ... if their evil cannot be easily removed through simple sanctions," Luhaidan said, according to excerpts of the remarks broadcast on Saudi-owned Al-Arabiyya satellite television on Friday.
Luhaidan acknowledged on Sunday that his remarks had caused an outcry, but put that down to what he said was a wrong interpretation of his views.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2008 00:00 ||
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Whew! Thank heavens he cleared THAT up!
Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields ||
09/15/2008 1:43 Comments ||
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Yeah. I'm sure the 4 TV workers killed in nothern Iraq a few days ago are very appreciative
The Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) found unnecessary delays made in every stage of approval of power projects, purchase of equipment and wholesale irregularities in meter installations and extension of electric lines based on political influence.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2008 00:00 ||
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Former adviser Justice Fazlul Huq's son Dr Afzal Hossain, son-in-law Tariqul Rahman Prince and one of his employees applied to the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday to face the Truth and Accountability Commission (Tac) for making voluntary disclosure about their ill-gotten wealth.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Nicaragua's president says he will not attend a Central American summit which is expected to be attended by US president George W. Bush. The summit, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, will be held on September 24.
The Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said late on Saturday that he would not be present at the summit to show his 'solidarity' with the Bolivian Government. "In these conditions, I can't go to the meeting, out of solidarity with the people of Bolivia and I ask the United States to respect that," Ortega said, according to AFP.
The decision could affect the ongoing diplomatic row between Washington and several Latin American countries including Bolivia and Venezuela.
Bolivian President Evo Morales expelled the US ambassador to La Paz this week after accusing him of conspiring against his government. Washington rejected the accusations and expelled Bolivia's ambassador to the US the following day. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez also ordered the US ambassador to Caracas to leave the country, saying "they (the Americans) are trying to do here what they were doing in Bolivia."
Honduran President Manuel Zelaya also showed support for Bolivia's government by refusing to accept the credentials of a new US ambassador to his country.
Ortega, whose first administration fought US-backed Contra rebels in the 1980s, has often been strident in criticizing Washington.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2008 00:00 ||
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GW "That's quite alright Danny-boy, I can make my own salsa!"
President Evo Morales struggled to assert control over a badly fractured Bolivia on Sunday as separatist protesters set fire to a town hall and blockaded highways in opposition-controlled provinces, impeding gasoline and food distribution.
At least 30 people have been killed in the poor Andean nation this week, Interior Minister Alfredo Rada said. All the deaths occurred in Pando province, where Morales declared martial law on Friday, dispatching troops and accusing government foes of killing his supporters.
Troops continued to arrive in Pando and were patrolling the streets of Cobija, the capital.
"There are people who want to continue sowing pain across the region," presidential spokesman Ivan Canelas told reporters on Sunday. He said without providing details that highway blockades continued and that "an armed group" had set fire to the town hall in Filadelfia, a municipality near Cobija.
The La Paz newspaper La Razon quoted the country's highways chief as saying blockades had halted transit on major roadways in the opposition-governed eastern provinces of Tarija, Beni and Santa Cruz. The AP could not immediately confirm the report.
The gravest challenge to Morales in his nearly 3-year-old tenure as Bolivia's first indigenous president stems from his struggle with the four eastern lowland provinces where Bolivia's natural gas riches are concentrated and where his government has essentially lost control.
The provinces are seeking greater autonomy from Morales' leftist government and are insisting he cancel a Dec. 7 referendum on a new constitution that would help him centralize power, run for a second consecutive term and transfer fallow terrain to landless peasants. Morales says the new charter is needed to empower Bolivia's indigenous majority.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
In other words, they object to his robbing them blind, for some reason. How wude of them.
DEVIL worshippers in Russia butchered four teenagers in a Satanic ritual - stabbing them 666 times each and eating them. The teens - a youth and three girls aged 16 or 17- had their gentitals mutilated and were cooked on a bonfire before being eaten, The Sun newspaper reported today.
Police found body parts dumped in a pit beside an upside-down cross, a symbol of Satanic worship, in a rural area of Russia, the newspaper said. Eight people have been arrested over the slayings.
Police believed the teenagers, who were all friends, were lured to a cottage and encouraged to get drunk before they were slain.
The discovery in Yaroslavl, 480km from Moscow, has sent a shudder across Russia - where Satanists are feared to have committed a string of mutilations and killings. olice began tracing the gang after finding out all the victims had made phone calls to alleged leader Nikolai Ogolobyak. The rest of the cult were described by former teachers as being of low intelligence and moody.
When it comes to containing Russia, the invisible hand of the markets may be the West's most potent weapon.
Tightening access to international credit and mounting stock losses are hurting Russian billionaires as well as state- owned corporations, prompting calls by businessmen to heed Western complaints over Kremlin policy in Georgia. The head of the country's biggest business association, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, met President Dmitry Medvedev, urging him to take ``anti-crisis'' measures.
``The stock market is plunging, capital is fleeing, there is a severe shortage of liquidity in the banking system, prices for many core exports are falling and inflationary pressures are strengthening,'' the business group's Alexander Shokhin said today in a live televised Kremlin meeting. Current policies ``may turn out to be inadequate,'' he said.
After rejecting Western appeals not to recognize breakaway Georgian regions, Medvedev last week signaled compromise for the first time. He agreed to implement a European Union-brokered cease-fire and pull troops back into the disputed territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Mevedev told the gathering of Russian billionaires that the government doesn't want ``either confrontation or isolation.''
#2
THis article is just more MSM-Net evidence that RUSSIA DOUBTS ITS LT ABILITY TO RESIST NEW NATIONAL DESTABILIZ + BREAKUP VEE RADICAL ISLAM, and that by the RUSSO-GEORGIAN CONFLICT > RUSS is actually "hedging" agz a perceived WORST-CASE SCENARIO, i.e. Islamist defeat of Russia + Islamist Asian Takeover. GEORGIA = RUSS WAS PDENIABLY BULLYING THE US-NATO/EU IN ORDER TO ENTICE SAME TO SET UP A MIL PRESENCE AROUND ITS BORDERS, IN ORDER TO CYA RUSS ARSE AGZ ANY FUTURE ISLAMIST-INDUCED BREAKUP OF RUSSIA, ESPEC AGZ ITS OWN CURRENT ANTI-US ALLY FUTURE NUCLEAR IRAN.
RUSSO-GEORGIAN CONFLICT > IMO IS NOT "RUSSIA VERSUS US-NATO/EU" BUT MORE SSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH
"RUSSIA WANTS THE US-NATO/EU IN ASIA"!
E.g. Think 19th Century FRANCO-GERMAN WARS [Bismarckian], RUSSIA = FRANCE, ISLAMISM = "YOUNG TURK" IMPERIAL GERMANY, + RUSSIA = FRANCE DESIRES TO SET UP A "MAGINOT LINE" IN ASIA TO PRELUDE ITS OWN PERCEIVED FUTURE-STRATEGIC DEFEAT.
There is so much wrong with what Markov is saying here that I'll let you guys have fun with it...
The following is an exclusive Press TV interview with Russian State Duma Deputy Sergey Markov.
Press TV: The Russian president says Moscow is against military action and new sanctions against Iran. Will Russia veto any possible US attempt against Iran at the UN Security Council?
Markov: Yes. First of all, I think it is the general Russian strategy that the United Nations should not impose sanctions against Iran but to give Iran a sense of security and the major threat to the security of Iran is coming from the United States.
The United States warns of sanctions and other forms of pressure and threatens the country. We believe that this threat has not decreased Iran's willingness to get nuclear power but, on the contrary, has increased its willingness because Iran is afraid of a possible attack against it. This is one reason.
The second reason has come after this war in South Ossetia. We understood that US policies are too provocative and rely too much on force and violence. We think it is a big mistake by the United States. That's why we don't support such policies.
Press TV: Let us discuss the recent conflict between Russia and its smaller neighbor Georgia. Russia says the Georgian attack on South Ossetia was like the September 11 attacks on the United States. Does this mean Russia will continue the campaign until Mr. Saakashvili is gone? I especially love the twisting of facts to support a nice-sounding number for their little '9/11'
Markov: When Russia compares the "eight-eight-eight" attack with 9-11, the comparison is that the aggressor comes and kills thousands of citizens and that is why we get support from our partners. We give support to that state.
The United States gives support not to Russia but to aggressors. This is of major importance. Are you the representative of an Iranian TV or American propaganda when you talk about the relationship between Russia and other countries?
It is not a conflict between Russia and Georgia. It is a conflict between Russia and the United States. The United States, in fact, attacked Russia with Georgian hands. Mikheil Saakashvili, who is a war criminal, was used by crazy radicals from Washington, usually neocons headed by Vice-President Dick Cheney. Please do not follow US propaganda.
Press TV: We follow no propaganda, of course, Mr. Markov. Regarding the economic cooperation between Moscow and the West, will Moscow manage to keep its economic growth on track if it reduces its economic and energy ties with Europe?
Markov: Yes, of course. Russia will totally continue its economic policy, which leads to economic growth and also to the strengthening of relations between Russia and the European Union. But there is some difference in the economic policy which Russia is going to change and that is to spend more money for the development of high technology, including military technology. Russia needs its own aviation industry. Aviation for both the military and civilians.
#4
As per MILPOL DIALECTICISM + PROTECTION OF PAN-ISLAMIST NUCLEARIZATION [Govts-States + Groups]> it should be clear or obvious to the US-Allies, etc. that Radical Islam intends to carve out + destabilize ASIA, i.e. "WHERE THE US-NATO IS NOT", AMAP ASAP, even iff it means inducing GREAT POWER CONFRONTATIONISM INCLUD MUTUALLY DESTRUCTIVE REGIONAL-GLOBAL NUCLEAR WAR [ala "RADICAL/MAD MULLAHS"].
Russian submarines armed with intercontinental ballistic missiles will test fire their rockets in the north Pacific Ocean September 15-20.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2008 00:00 ||
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This would be an excellent time for our ABM/SDI weapon systems we have successfully tested to be fully deployed in the Northern Pacific. Okay, Vlad fire away!
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/15/2008 12:20 Comments ||
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Actually Jack - time for Boeing to field test their airborne laser.
Mikheil Saakashvili had long planned a strike to seize back the breakaway region of South Ossetia, former Georgian defense minister says.
Irakly Okruashvili, Georgia's leading political exile, said that the United States was partly to blame for the war, having failed to check the ambitions of what he called a man with democratic failings.
Saakashvili's days as Georgia' President were now numbered, he noted in an interview in Paris.
Okruashvili, a close Saakashvili ally who served as defense minister from 2004 to 2006, meanwhile underscored that he and the president worked together on military plans to invade South Ossetia and a second breakaway region on the Black Sea coast, Abkhazia. "Abkhazia was our strategic priority, but we drew up military plans in 2005 for taking both Abkhazia and South Ossetia as well," Okruashvili said.
There was however no immediate reaction from Saakashvili's office to his remarks.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2008 00:00 ||
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PRAVDA > PUTIN: RUSSIA PREVENTED A SECOND STRIKE IN THE CAUCASUS. Putin argues that NGO's in RUSSIA are intent on inducing the SEPARATION OF VARIOUS/NUMBER OF INTERNAL REPUBLICS FROM RUSSIA PROPER.
BY ACCUSING THE US ON GEORGIA, PUTIN IS BASICALLY ACCUS THE US = US-NATO OF ATTEMPTING TO DESTABILIZ AND BREAKUP THE NATIONAL INTEGRITY/UNION OF RUSSIA INTO DISPARATE SOVEREIGN ENTITIES???
ALso from PRAVDA > SOCIAL GAP [Econ/Wealth]BTWN MOSCOW [+ other Large Russ Cities] AND REST OF RUSSIA [Towns, Rural]BECOMES IMMENSE.
IICC One is pretty good in Moscow + other large Russ cities iff one makes approxi US$1000 per month = 22,000 Rubles.
#2
"Now, just a few more comments like that one over the next couple of weeks, and we'll let your family go unharmed and you may return to the capital to fulfill your duties to mother Russia.", said the KGB handler to Okruashvili after his recent statement.
With Sarah Palin helping John McCain make inroads among female voters, Democrat Barack Obama today announced a new group of women who are business leaders, astronauts, athletes, and elected officials.
The Obama campaign said the women give advice, speak on his behalf, and "where appropriate" push back on false attacks.
Change has never been easy, its always been hard-fought with bumps and bruises along the way, but these women leaders have had the tenacity to charge on. I am honored to have the support of such remarkable women who have broken down barriers and paved the way for change for my daughters and generations of women. In accepting their support I also accept the great responsibility to carry the torch by advancing womens rights and bringing the change women need, Obama said in a statement. For every Sally Ride, Tory Burch, or Billie Jean King, there are hundreds of young women out there whose dreams seem a little more possible. As president, I will work to safeguard and support those dreams for my daughters and future generations of Americans through policies that further opportunity for all.
#1
The Obama campaign is rolling out Joe Biden today to accuse Republicans of going into the gutter. They're getting sucked right into the partisan wars that Republicans are so adept at.
I highly recommend you drop the Freudian projection, dearie, it's getting old. You and yours have been very deep and ugly just as anything you try to tag the Trunks with. The American public is finally waking up to that FACT, which is why the Palin hatchet job is getting the opposite effect that your usual character assassins in the media thought would play.
Obama has a golden opportunity with the U.S. financial system falling apart at the seams.
Except your agent of change is deep in the mess. "The establishment media that sought every opportunity to tie the failure of Enron and its executives to George W. Bush has generally failed to note that Barack Obama is neck deep in money from issuers of subprime loans, even as he crusades against predatory mortgage lenders." You can google to find this stuff can't you?
Sen. John McCain's record of working with Democrats easily outstrips Sen. Barack Obama's efforts with Republicans, according to an analysis by The Washington Times of their legislative records.
Whether looking at bills they have led on or bills they have signed onto, Mr. McCain has reached across the aisle far more frequently and with more members than Mr. Obama since the latter came to the Senate in 2005.
In fact, by several measures, Mr. McCain has been more likely to team up with Democrats than with members of his own party. Democrats made up 55 percent of his political partners over the last two Congresses, including on the tough issues of campaign finance and global warming. For Mr. Obama, Republicans were only 13 percent of his co-sponsors during his time in the Senate, and he had his biggest bipartisan successes on noncontroversial measures, such as issuing a postage stamp in honor of civil rights icon Rosa Parks.
With calls for change in Washington dominating the campaign, both Mr. Obama, the Democrats' presidential nominee, and Mr. McCain, his Republican opponent, have claimed the mantle of bipartisanship.
But since 2005, Mr. McCain has led as chief sponsor of 82 bills, on which he had 120 Democratic co-sponsors out of 220 total, for an average of 55 percent. He worked with Democrats on 50 of his bills, and of those, 37 times Democrats outnumber Republicans as co-sponsors.
#2
Dear God I want to see the bloodletting when Sarahcuddah gets turned loose inside the Beltway. I feel certain that will be bipartisan too. (insert very very evil grin here)
#4
I think that in the old days, a politician of this ilk was called a 'statesman,' in that he put country before party. Other than McCain and Lieberman, name one. I cannot.
BOOSTED by the selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate, Republican John McCain has experienced a surge of support among women in heavily Democratic New York state - where he has closed the gap with Barack Obama, new private polls show. The internal Republican and Democratic polls, details of which were provided to The Post, have stunned members of both parties - and produced deep worries among Democrats.
One great concern for Democrats is that the data show a continuous movement toward the McCain-Palin ticket by women, a majority of whom traditionally favor Democrats.
The movement by women toward McCain is being credited to Democratic attacks on Alaska Gov. Palin, last week's "lipstick on a pig" crack by Obama and to the continuing unhappiness by female Democrats over Obama's failure to pick Hillary Rodham Clinton as his running mate.
"If it winds up being tight in New York, that means McCain wins the election nationally," said a prominent Democrat familiar with some of the polling data.
A prominent Republican familiar with the results said, "It really is something, because we just assumed Obama would carry such a heavily Democratic state like New York with no difficulty."
The private polls have consistently shown the Obama-Biden ticket still leading but with less than 50 percent of the vote in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by over 2.3 million voters.
The polls found McCain closing the gap with Obama during the past 10 days - in the wake of Palin's sensational GOP convention speech, Obama's crack that "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig," and amid a swirling controversy over Palin's credentials to be vice president.
The polling data track the findings of a little-noticed Marist College poll of likely New Jersey voters late last week that found Obama barely ahead of McCain, 48 percent to 45 percent. New Jersey generally votes Democratic, though its enrollment is not as heavily Democratic as New York state's.
The findings of the private polls will be tested by a series of public polls to be released over the next two weeks - starting with a Siena College survey of likely voters due out today. A Siena poll in August had Obama leading McCain 47 percent to 39 percent. McCain is expected to make a significant move over the 40 percent mark when the new numbers are released today.
The private polling also points to a closer battle for control of the state Senate. Because of the way many Senate district lines have been drawn, Republicans, fighting to hold their narrow majority, are expected to benefit most from a close New York presidential race, insiders agree.
McCain's surge in New York polling comes at a time when his national operatives have rebuffed requests from New York campaign chairman Ed Cox, a Manhattan lawyer and son-in-law to former President Richard Nixon, to spend some serious campaign money in the state. "Ed was told, 'You have no money for a campaign here, so why should we spend any?' " a nationally known Republican operative told The Post.
"The McCain people think of Ed as a nice guy, but there's no money for an organization in New York, so they ask, 'Why go in?' " the GOP operative continued.
The Republican operative, meanwhile, sounded downright gleeful about the political fallout from US Rep. Charles Rangel's failure to pay income taxes from the rental of his luxurious villa in the Dominican Republic. "Rangel has turned into a big liability for the Democrats, and his troubles are playing into the 'anti- politician' mood around the country," he said.
Wonder if that, along with Spitzer, the Ohio AG, etc. can be turned into the same tsunami the Pubs faced in the 2006 election ...
#2
Bush lost NY to Kerry by 25 points in 2004. However, if the Dinkins Effect is any indicator, Obama might be in trouble:
In the 1989 race for Mayor of New York, a poll conducted just over a week before the election showed black candidate David Dinkins holding an 18-point lead over white candidate Rudy Giuliani. Four days before the election, a new poll showed that lead to have shrunk, but still standing at 14 points. On the day of the election, Dinkins prevailed by only two points.
In 1993, just before Dinkins lost to Giuliani in the race for NYC mayor (by 8 points):
Oct. 26: Dinkins is leading Giuliani by 46 percent to 40 percent, still a statistical tie, according to a New York Times/WCBS-TV News poll.
#5
No longer. In Zogby polls they are nearly tied at electoral votes but if you check state by state you will see that a lot of those listed as Democrat or too close were polled in 08/08 a,nd have not been updated. Factor Mac Cain's august surge and the Palin effect and Mac Cain should have a comfortable lead.
#6
Obama, going down in flames. I can wait to hear the shrieking, wailing and let's not forget the gnashing of teeth when McCain is announced as the Da Prez™.
After all the nice things Sarah said about Russia, who would have expected Pravda to be so ungrateful?
sarc off/
The candidate for the Vice Presidency of the United States of America, whose experience in small town politics, mothersŽday dos and the local hockey club is her claim to fame, threatened to open the gates of Hell by attacking Russia in the event of another invasion of Georgia in a televised interview on ABC (shown today). One question for this self-opinionated upstart: Do you know what a nuclear holocaust is?
Sarah Palin, Mrs. Nobody know-it-all shreiking cow from Alaska, the joke of American politics, plied with a couple of vodkas before letting rip in front of incredulous audiences while McCain coos in the background, cuts a ridiculous figure as she strives to be taken seriously.
How can anyone whose husband is a member of the Alaska Independence Party and who is running for the Vice Presidency of the Union be taken seriously? How indeed can the Republican Party be taken seriously for not vetting this female, or have they not yet discovered the skeletons in her closet? We have.
So Sarah Palin, Mrs. Hockey Mom housewife-cum-small-town gossip merchant and cheap little guttersnipe, suppose you shut up and allowed real politicians and diplomats to do their work? Threatening Russia with a war is perhaps the most irresponsible thing anyone could do at this moment in time. Have you any idea what a nuclear holocaust is? Have you any notion of the power of Russias armed forces? Did you know that Russia has enough missiles to destroy any target anywhere on Earth in seconds?
And have you not forgotten, you pith-headed little bimbo from the back of beyond, that small detail about the slaughter of Russian citizens by Georgians, which started the whole debacle? So next time suppose you keep your mouth shut and while youre at it, make sure the members of your family keep their legs shut too. Your country has enough failed mothers as it
#4
OK - they know nothing of American politics, but I'm surprised that the tone veers so close to the editing standards of the KCNA. I thought Russia had a literary history and culture and all that.
#5
OK - they know nothing of American politics, but I'm surprised that the tone veers so close to the editing standards of the KCNA. I thought Russia had a literary history and culture and all that.
#7
They write Pravda for people at the educational level of the average Russian. That way average Russians can easily read it even after drinking their daily ration of vodka. It also has the effect of making it sound eerily like DU, Daily Kos or the National Enquirer.
Yeah, Pravda's in good company with the likes of Pam Anderson, Lindsay Lohan and Rosie O'Donnell.
#12
Is this what commie propaganda has deteriorated to? Man, back in the day, they had better style than this fourth rate crap. F+, the plus added for spelling his own name correctly.
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie, formerly known as Swamp Blondie ||
09/15/2008 20:25 Comments ||
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The editor of The Atlantic Monthly said Monday he is sending a letter of apology to John McCain after a woman the magazine hired to photograph the Republican presidential nominee posted manipulated pictures from the photo shoot on her Web site.
Photographer Jill Greenberg, who is vehemently anti-Republican and expressed glee that the photos would stir up conservative ire, took pictures of McCain for the cover of The Atlantic's October issue.
During the shoot, she took several other backlit pictures, which she then doctored and posted to her site. In one photo, she added blood oozing from McCain's shark-toothed mouth and labeled it with the caption "I am a bloodthirsty warmongerer." In another, a caption over McCain's head says, "I will have my girl kill Roe v. Wade," an obvious reference to his running mate Sarah Palin's anti-abortion positions.
Editor James Bennet said Greenberg behaved improperly and will not be paid for the session. He said the magazine is also considering a lawsuit.
"She has violated the terms of our agreement with her, of our contract with her so we're taking steps. So we're looking into what steps we can see to do something about that," Bennet told FOX News, adding that he is "already drafting a letter of apology" to McCain. "I mean this photographer went in there under our auspices to take a cover shot for us ... but while she was there she behaved in an incredibly underhanded and unprofessional way," he said. . . . We get into a lot of bashing of the MSM 'round these parts due to bias and unprofessionalism. It's good to see The Atlantic standing up for proper journalistic standards. If you're gonna bash 'em when they're wrong, you gotta be willing to give 'em props when they get it right.
Greenberg said that the cover shot for The Atlantic article was manipulated to leave McCain's eyes red and skin looking bad. But Bennet said the magazine stands by the picture that made the front cover. He said the artwork went through editors' hands before going to print, and it is accompanied by "a terrific story" that is a comprehensive look at McCain's foreign policy.
"I think the cover shot is very respectful of John McCain. I think it's a good picture. People have to judge it for themselves," Bennet said, adding that he rejects Greenberg's characterizations of the shot. Click through to see it. Apparently the Photoshop boys did a good job cleaning it up. He looks tough, determined, certain of himself.
"One of the nice things about this situation is people can look at the cover shot and make their own determination about whether or not it is fair to John McCain. I believe very strongly that it is," Bennet said.
Posted by: Mike ||
09/15/2008 14:36 ||
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#1
yes, it is nice to see them at least admitting that they hired a photographer who has embarrased them. However,it seems to me that they are only sorry they got caught.
Think about the Atlantic editors who do understand shadows and lighting looking at the proofs provided by this woman and picking this photo as the best available.
Had it not been McCain but their beloved Obama, I feel certain that they would have looked at the many proofs provided and not finding a suitable photo would have demanded a professional one and if she could not provide it - requested one from the McCain campaign.
The only reason they are backtracking now is because Greenberg bragged about it on her blog and posted those juvenile morphs and thus exposed what is now painfully obvious: that the Atlantic editors knowingly ran with the most unflattering portrait of McCain that they could reasonable get away with.
It is what it is. The Atlantic's Shocked!! Shocked!! is just meaningless damage control.
#3
This is not necessary, but it's a step in the right direction.
These journalists, especially the few who still have integrity, need to get a handle on their industry ASAP. They are already losing readership to the intertubes, and if they think their printable journalists draw alot of heat, wait until they are forced to pay some internet hack to write the online-only Atlantic Monthly.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
09/15/2008 16:24 Comments ||
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#4
They just saved themselves: I was going to call this afternoon and cancel the subscription I've had since 1984.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/15/2008 16:59 Comments ||
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#5
Good thing they are PROFESSIONALS with standards and editorial oversight and all of that journalism stuff.
#6
This is one of those Capt. Renault moments. (We're shocked, shocked, etc...)
I think the cover shot is very respectful of John McCain.
I think it looks like hell, but that seems to be typical of the photographer's work. You'll see that she was previously in a kerfuffle over her series of crying children called "End Times". Allegedly she got them to cry by offering candy and taking it away.
"The pieces were titled to reflect Greenberg's frustration with both the Bush administration and Christian Fundamentalism in the United States."
I must say that children crying over candy is an excellent metaphor for the mindset of Greenberg and her ilk.
#7
Betty and Angie are right. The photo is subtly shot to make McCain look old, mean and not quite healthy. This is an intentional hit job and the Atlantic is sorry only that it got called on it.
#8
According to Glen Reynolds at Instapundit , " James Bennet, -- who I know somewhat and think is an honest guy -- says they don't vet photographers for their politics, and they shouldn't. But this kind of pettiness and unprofessionalism is absolutely beyond the pale. Sadly, it's marked much of the media this election cycle."
It's really possible he had no idea this would happen and was embarresed by it. He has stated Greenberg would not be paid for this assignment. I don't know the guy but I'll take his word for it at the moment.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
09/15/2008 21:39 Comments ||
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#9
. . . she got them to cry by offering candy and taking it away
"She's not telling the truth when she told ABC neither she nor her husband pressured me to fire Trooper Wooten," said Walt Monegan, the Alaskan official whose dismissal by Sarah Palin is the focus of a state investigation known as "Troopergate". "And she's not telling the truth to the media about her reasons for firing me."
#1
Ok, first off this guy has an axe to grind. She fired him, now he's trying to do her dirty in return.
Secondly, this is on ABC. They've already done one hatchet job on Gov. Palin. This smells like strike two.
Thirdly, there was no fuss about this when it happened. If this person thinks he has something let him file a wrongful termination suit, just like anyone else would.
#4
Perhaps but just watch ABC and the rest of the MSM give it the 24/7 coverage.
Remember Abu Graib(sp?) was, in essence, only a few guards being stupid (and poor oversight - not to mention it was already being investigated) but that didn't stop the MSM from giving it daily coverage for 18 months (while not even mentioning the _real_ torture chambers of the enemy).
And given the way ABC twisted the Palin interview I wouldn't put it past them. They are desperate and don't seem to care (or most likely too self-abosrbed to see) that their credibility is going down the toilet.
. . . "You want to know the honest truth? I think she's like a bad actor from a B-list sex movie," said Paula Vanbuskirk, an Obama-supporting independent, whose contempt for the Alaska governor and self-styled "hockey mom" was shared by almost everyone questioned by the Financial Times.
If it was Mr McCain's intention to ignite a fresh "culture war" between middle America and east coast liberals by nominating Ms Palin, the evidence in Manchester suggested he has succeeded in spectacular fashion.
"I just do not trust the American people," said Eleanor Shavell, 58, a computer programmer, who, along with several others, joked she would move to Canada if Mr Obama loses. "I cannot believe that 80 per cent of this country thinks we're headed in the wrong direction yet 50 per cent are supporting McCain and Palin. I guess it's like at school, there's always got to be a bottom 50 per cent." . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
09/15/2008 12:05 ||
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#1
Anyone feel insulted by these folks comments?
A lot of liberal pundits comment on how unhappy the "public" is with the direction things are going. They think that everyone one wants to go to the left. Guess what folks; about half of them want things to go to the right.
#2
If you're a Democrat, you're in favor of coddling criminals, aborting the innocent, and wouldn't know a moral position if it came up and bit you in the rear. I WANT the Dems to start some crap after McCain gets elected, particularly the blacks who are threating widespread rioting in American cities. Lots of their dead bodies in the street might start to get them a clue about what is and isn't acceptable in America. They've been coercing the country with that threat ever since 1968. It's time to call their bluff.
#3
Outlets like NBC and the NY Times don't help in moderating the "super white trash" talk like this. Even in a Debroah Solomon interview in Sunday's Time with some EEE figure named Kennedy (never heard of her and could care less of her accomplishments), this "radical chic arugula eating Westsider" opined that she thought Palin was scary due to her banning books and talking about us being on God's mission in Iraq. I mean you cannot as a legitimate news source allow this kind of libel to go unanswered regardless of your editorial policy.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/15/2008 12:34 Comments ||
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#4
Once again reminded of the '72 quote from some journalist in New York: I can't believe Nixon won. I don't know anyone who voted for him!
Or something along those lines.
Leftocrats really do live on a different planet, and thus far NASA has failed in its mission to return them there...
That pretty much sums it up folks on the fundamental difference between left and right. Message - that's why we left Europe and its bankrupt hierarchical ruling caste/elite mentality and philosophies.
#10
Speaking for Non-moonbat black people, I don't want Obama elected, and I dont think there will be riots outside of inner cities if he is not elected. Mussolini thinks bodies in the street would be a eye-opener? I merely call to the FBI crime statistics to point out that bodies are already in the streets, and I can see no awakening of the masses. I love this website for it content and commentary, however I think the sometimes general "racial stereotypes" are a bit ignorant.
Posted by: Raider Ray ||
09/15/2008 13:23 Comments ||
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#11
I was born on the West coast and raised and currently reside on the East coast. Judging by my education (at a snooty boarding school and then an almost-as-snooty-but-far-more-liberal liberal arts college) and my peers, I should be one of these liberal elitists.
However, the truth is that I can't stand them. I don't hate them, in fact several of them are my siblings and good friends. I just can't stand their dismissive and holier-than-thou attitude about politics. They are Liberal Fascists in the truest sense of the term.
As demonstrated by one of their leading "thinkers" Janeane Garofolo, on Bill Maher's show the other night, they truly believe that liberals and "Democrats are just more decent than Republicans," and conservatives. If Ms. Garofolo had her way, and I'm paraphrasing here "we would be better off if we just threw them all [Republicans] in jail." How charming.
#12
I suspect that if there is any violence, its far more likely to come on or from the campuses [and their immediate neighborhoods] that breed and nurture the moonbat environments. The kids in the inner city already understand violence and what it really does. The kids on campus talk a lot, but are unlikely to have been up close and personal with it to understand the full consequences [other than those attending on their GI Bill money].
#14
Raider Ray, I think your point is well taken here although I admit it is easy to fall into stereotypes at times. As I once heard someone put it, "it's not stereotypically speaking, it's statistically speaking." Nontheless, we should make an effort to avoid them as they rarely serve to further the discussion in any meaningful way.
Whether or not African-Americans will riot if Obama fails to win the election remains to be seen. I think the likelihood is rather remote and I'm hopeful if not confident that it won't happen as long as the election remains a fair one. And I have no reason to believe it wouldn't.
That said, I live in Washington DC and I'm not going to take any chances. Illegal or not, come the election, you can bet I will have a firearm stored in my home for self-defense purposes should things get ugly. Better safe than sorry.
#15
Raider Ray, I agree with you on the racial stereotypes by some posters here. It is not acceptable IMO.
I believe that Obama would be a disaster for the black inner city community. Democratic policies have been counter-productive for that community for the past 40+ years. These policies have done much to destroy the family unit in these communities. Our country can and must do better. Those in the affected communities can and must do better.
#16
Raider Ray, I can see where you're coming from, but, I gotta say that 92% of Blacks voting for Obama and his commie-left progrissivism makes it hard not to stereotype. Not to mention the sycophancy of the MSM.
I can legitamately call myself one of the least racisist people in the world but it seems actions and words ain't enough if it doesn't support the looney left's hate America machine.
Hell, 3 of my 4 grandkids are probably blacker than Barry since they're 50% Black and I doubt that Barry's father was pure (lots of Arab there I bet). But because I love the USA I get labeled as a racist.
#17
The Left has this enduring fantasy that one day "poor people going rise up, and take what's theirs" (really, "what's everybody else's") in some sort of spontaneous Marxist revolution. Never happens, never will happen.
If Obama loses, there'll be a lot of disappointed wanabee revolutionaries wondering why the riot didn't happen. I'm sure that people who are heavily invested in him will be disappointed, but they won't go down the streets hurling Molotovs and screaming "OFF THE PIGS!" on Wednesday morning.
Sooner or later, we'll elect a "person of color" to national office. (I like the idea of Vice President Jindal taking the oath on 1/20/13 m'self.) Whoever it is will win because he or she is on the ticket that gets more electoral votes. It'll be a good thing when it happens, but not all that much a surprising one.
Posted by: Mike ||
09/15/2008 14:17 Comments ||
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#18
Rioting was only suggested by one or two columnists and it says a lot more about those columnists than anything else.
#19
Remember, we're just the "flyover people". We don't really count. We're all in the way of progress and don't know enough to know what's good for us.
Here's a shining example of leftist journalism, although you have to know a very little about the Lord of the Rings to really appreciate it.
#20
My gut feeling is that by the time the election is over, a lot fewer people will be so heavily invested in Obama, and they will simply be ridiculed if they try anything violent.
For example, I just posted a link, ":Co-workers: Obama Inflated His Resume" .
To me, Obama looks more and more like the Democrats very own Jayson Blair.
#23
They hate Sarah with white hot fury but feel neutral to slightly frowny about Al Qaeda (although if Al Q would drop the 'death to homosexual' line they might move to above neutral.
#24
I dont think there will be riots outside of inner cities if he is not elected.
Note that outside of inner cities. I fear he's right. And I wouldn't be surprised if there's riots either way, sort of like when the local football team wins the you-name-it bowl and the fans go on a drunken rampage. But especially if he loses. But it's only their own homes they'll burn. Just like every other riot.
#25
and I dont think there will be riots outside of inner cities if he is not elected
Obama has close ties with his cousin, the Islamist Odinga, and campaigned heavily for him and his "Orange Party". Odinga has first-hand ties to Al Qaeda and other nefarious characters.
After the election riots broke out, in which over 300 died. Odinga used this violence to Mau Mau his way back into government. It's not the manipulated rioters who are the main problem, it's the people behind them.
Let's hope we don't see a repeat in the US after the elections, should Obama fail,
People worry that Obama picked up his political skill from the Chicago Machine, I'm more worried he may have picked them up from Odinga.
#26
Hey wait a minute! We don't need any more liberals up here. Around these parts, they are know as fiberals or libranos.
We just tossed out a couple of AWOLs. Thought they could con us into thinking they were dodging the draft, little sh*its.
So keep the Shavell twit. At 58 she'll just be a drain on the pension and medical system, which despite what Michael Moore may have told her, is barely on life support.
Joe Biden will deliver a high-profile first attack in a sustained anti-McCain offensive in a speech called "Bush 44" Monday in the key battleground state of Michigan. "Saints preserve us! They've unleashed Joe Biden!"
"Those monsters!"
"Flee for your wretched lives!"
While the lines of attack have long been drawn, Biden will assert -- as the title indicates -- that a McCain presidency would amount to a third Bush term and will focus, in a verboserambling detailed, slightly unfocused comprehensive and SCREAMING IN UNCONTROLLED RAGE aggressive way, on John McCain's domestic policies and harsh campaign tactics, a campaign aide told Politico. "Is he going to say 'Stand up, Chuck'?"
"Up-chuck is right."
Biden will deliver the speech in St. Clair Shores, Mich., in Macomb County, the area whose voters inspired Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg to coin the term "Reagan Democrats." The RealClearPolitics polling average shows Barack Obama with a 2-point lead in Michigan, which Democrats won by slim margins in the last two elections.
The speech is touted as matching the aggressive new strategy "The Angry Left gets good and angry. This time . . . it's PERSONAL!"
the Obama campaign has promised to unleash in the remaining days of the campaign to counter the recent poll gains of McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
09/15/2008 10:48 ||
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...the Obama campaign has promised to unleash in the remaining days of the campaign to counter the recent poll gains of McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
Yeah, good strategy. Keep attacking. I mean, you aren't in free fall in the polls or anything. Gotta be a winning strategy. Especially letting Mr. Hairplugs/Gaffe machine going out on his own without handlers. You'll win lots and lots of votes that way. Really. Keep Bambi looking mad and flustered while flip-flopping too. Voters love it.
#3
Thanks, Joe. The campaign is in need of a little levity, at your expense, of course.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/15/2008 11:52 Comments ||
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#4
Basically, he is to paint a dark, dark picture of America and blame Bush and his fellow HitlerChimp, McCain. With an enabling media, he will succeed. It now depends on how well McCain and his team can come back on Biden as they have on Obama. Obama is really a "girly-man" for not doing this himself.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/15/2008 12:37 Comments ||
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#5
Actually, JiB it is the traditional roll of the veep candidate to sling the mud at the opponents presidential candidate so that his boss can appear more presidential.
Posted by: Scott R ||
09/15/2008 14:08 Comments ||
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#6
He will position the Obama camp as divisive and distinctly non-partisan and allow the McCain camp to point to the times they crossed the aisle (even if conservatives are still pissed that he did so). This will further underline the McCain/Palin=change slogan.
Americans are really fed up with the divisiveness. This tactics is stupid.
Rep. Charles Rangel, the powerful head of the congressional committee that writes the country's tax laws, blamed his own ignorance - and not being able to speak Spanish - for failing to report $75,000 in rental income from his Caribbean holiday home.
"We do make errors even though we consider ourselves experts," Rangel, a 19-term Democratic representative from Harlem, said today at a Capitol Hill press conference to discuss his dream getaway at the Punta Cana Yacht Club in the Dominican Republic. "I sincerely regret and take personal responsibility for these errors," said Rangel, who now has three matters before the House Ethics Committee.
The public apology was the first time Rangel took responsibility for the gaffe. Earlier, he blamed his wife and his accountant, and said it all didn't matter because he hasn't stayed at the villa on a regular basis. Today, he said he never spent more than four days in a row there.
The dapper Dem estimated he owed $10,700 in back taxes for 2004, 2005, and 2006 on rent he collected from the beachfront property that goes for $1,100 a night. His team of lawyers and accountants is working on 2007 and may go back to filings from the past 20 years, he said.
He will likely owe interest on the back taxes as well as penalties in the 25 percent range on the unpaid amount, tax attorneys say.
But, Rangel defied calls by House Republicans for him to step down as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. "I really don't believe that making mistakes means you have to give up your career," he said, although he admitted that as chairman he should be held to a higher standard.
He blamed the managers at the resort for not sending him annual financial statements, and when they did so, for sending them in Spanish. "Well, there always been a question in my wife's mind," Rangel said of his wife, Alma, who he said handles the finances. "I belittled the importance of the fact that I wasn't getting reports."
He added that he reached out to officials at the resort for more information to no avail. "Every time I thought I was getting somewhere, they'd start speaking Spanish," he said of his Dominican business partners.
Each year, the resort would credit rental income from the villa to pay off his mortgage on the property. Rangel said he incorrectly thought that he'd have no IRS liabilities because the resort was already paying Dominican Republic taxes. So, that money, Rangel said, was never reported as income on his annual tax filings - a relatively simple matter of filling out a line on his 1040 form.
Those excuses, especially the Spanish difficulties, didn't pass the smell test with tax lawyers. "This is tax preparation 101. You don't get to ignore stuff because it's in Spanish," said Bryan Skarlatos, a tax attorney with Kostelanetz & Fink, which is not connected to the case. "It's hard to say if this was purely an oversight. He was aware it was generating rental income and aware of the tax benefits related to the property by limiting the number of days he spent there," Skarlatos added.
Rangel insisted he never spent more than nine days a year at the villa. If he had stayed more than 14 days in a year, he could lose some tax breaks because the property wouldn't be considered an investment.
Fellow members of Congress also enjoyed the villa, Rangel said. "[They] spent their honeymoon there; Republicans have gone there for holidays," he said, but declined to name them.
Rangel further blamed a distant relationship with accountant for the tax mishap. "Quite frankly, the first time I talked in detail about this with my accountant is through my lawyer," he said.
Rangel had asked the House Ethics Committee to see if his tax fiasco violates congressional rules.
#3
Better shut your trap Charlie. Saying you can't handle your own family finances, having to depend on the little woman, is not reassuring. You are, after all, the head of the most influential finance committee in the entire gov't, Ways and Means in the House. You can't grasp basic finance ? You, like many other Dummos, are ready for retirement, right ?
#4
The US is one of the few countries around the world with an extra-territorial tax system. Maybe he should work on changing that. It is an illogical system to begin with.
. . . It's time to dump Biden and replace him with Sen. Hillary Clinton. I don't care how it's done. Campaign chief David Axelrod can figure that out. And the sooner the better. Because I'm starting to think that if Team-Obama doesn't do something dramatic fast, it's gonna lose this election. There's a worrisome shift in momentum and in the polls. The Palin phenomenon, while truly unfathomable to Democrats, has energized McCain's campaign and allowed him like Houdini to snatch Obama's "change" theme right out from under him. It's time to snatch it back.
Conventional wisdom says replacing Biden with Clinton can't be done. That it's too late. That it'll make Obama appear indecisive, (which he is)
impulsive (which he is)
and lacking good judgement. (which he is)
Many Democrats believe this would cause irreparable harm to the campaign, ringing Obama's death knell. But this couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, it'd be a freakin' coup for Obama, and would instantly melt Palin's undeserving outsize political ice cap.
To be sure, a Biden-Clinton switch would cause quite a stir in the media. They'd accuse him of all sorts of things, from being politically expedient (which it would be)
and flip-flopping (which it would be)
to being irrational (which he is)
and ill-equipped to be president. (which he is)
The talking heads on CNN, Fox and MSNBC would be locked in a non-stop frenzied orgy of derisive rhetoric. (they already are)
But we also know that it would make about 18-million Hillary voters ecstatic at the same time. So, honestly, who really cares what Joe Scarborough, Keith Olbermann, Wolf Blitzer or Brit Hume thinks? It would be fun to see Olbermann, who spent all spring condemning Hillary's very existence and calling her a racist and Republican, tie himself in knots rationalizing how he now supports Barack-Hillary 100,000%.
These pundits don't constitute an appreciable voting block. What they think and feel would be utterly dwarfed by the euphoria from Clinton's faithful supporters. It's a pretty safe bet that an Obama/Clinton ticket would capture virtually all of these loyal Clintonistas. Don't be so sure. It would also give the campaign the smell of desperation--not that it isn't already smelling a little desperate.
It's also a safe bet that many of those highly coveted 18-49-year-old women who polls show migrated to McPalin this past week would drop the spunky little hockey mom in a heartbeat for Hillary. . . . "And then Obama will ride in on his magical unicorn and give all the voters ice cream! We'll have peace, love, and fluffy bunnies!"
The HuffPo commenters are not nearly so enthusiastic:
McCain picked Palin as a gimmick. So now you think Obama should drop Biden??? THAT is ridiculous! It's not going to happen. Obama would be raked over the coals as indicisive and rightfully so. If I were Hillary, I wouldn't take it at this point. This article is counterproductive. I have supported Obama since Jan 2007 when he announced he was running. I could have accepted Hillary as VP if he picked her first. If he dropped Biden now, that would be the death knell for his campaign. Picking Hillary now would probably be the only thing that he could do to lose my support. IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN !!! GIVE IT A REST !!!
Andy Ostroy is coward for writing such a ridiculous article. Stop promoting division.
Did you not hear about the plane that Hillary loaned Obama and it almost crashed? Have you not paid attention to many of the Clinton opponents who have gone down in plane crashes? Don't you remember the Bobby Kennedy comment? Are you aware of the Clinton's legal troubles that they have been avoiding for years and the only way they can continue to avoid them is running and winning office? Did you know about them being fined for fraud? Did you read her Machiavelli type college thesis? Are you aware of her comment, "I'll do anything to win?" Did you hear about her getting fired for pursuing a strategy against Nixon which she knew was patently false? Don't make me bring up the paper shredding after somebody died? The claim of combat experience, such as "sniper fire", which again was untrue would get anybody kicked out of the military, and you want her to be second to commander in chief?
Posted by: Mike ||
09/15/2008 08:12 ||
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#1
Great that high school kids could make a new web site.
#3
Besides the usual socialists who backed the ONE in the beginning, his 'surge' was as much if not more due to the 'Anyone But Hillary' wing of the party. That's what got him to the position he is today. It's too big of a crowd to throw under the bus. Too many votes to lose than gain for November as the ABH crowd will just sit at home asking 'why the hell did I even try' [because you looked upon politics as a solution for your personal unhappiness and anger rather than seek professional help].
#4
Hillary's too busy planning for 2012. Not gonna happen.
Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields ||
09/15/2008 9:36 Comments ||
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#5
Cigar for Swamp Blondie! Obambi goes down in flames and Hillary rises from the ashes as the saviour for 2012. Campaign to begin Wednesday Nov. 5, 2008.
#8
My own thoughts, you don't like them, pull them down
The biggest problem with Obama is he thinks "Black", that means he thinks like a skinny street kid that "Bragging equals fact(And it doesn't)
Think what we've seen on the news, He's gonna this, and he's gonna that, but what has he really done? Nothing but run his mouth.
Problem as I see it, this kind of "Mouth" is so normal in the young blacks they see it as "Cool" and expected, but to White folks it comes of as "Loud mouth Braggart"(Directly translating as "Worthless N****r")
Then he had to team up with Shrillary, probably the single most worthless Female on the planet, at least he (or more likely his advisors) convinced him it was a death sentence to have her as Veep, (Shows smarts, but countered by not having enough smarts to avoid her from the beginning, I do not "know" Joe Biden so cannot comment)
Running total?
Jumped up N****R, worth only ignoring, poisons anyone he touches and not nearly smart enough to realise he's not squat.
Rant over
Jim: don't do this again. Folks at Rantburg aren't racists, don't want to be seen as racists, and don't want moonbats to froth over any perceived racism here. Mitch is absolutely correct in his response.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/15/2008 10:30 Comments ||
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#9
Why don't you twits just admit that ya screwed the pooch, huh?
#10
The VP choice is the most important single decision a Presidential Candidate can make. It says a lot about who they are. Obama decided he was inexperienced and needed experience on the ticket despite Biden having constant gaffs and no charisma. To change VP choices now compounds that mistake and would really make Obama look like indecisive.
Granted there would be big hoopla initially but I have to think HIllary is watching Obama slip with a bit of glee. She may still be the first woman President if Obama loses.
#11
Christ, Jim, could you keep any 'own goal' racial epithets to yourself? It's hard enough getting sensitive and uncertain people up here in the Pennsylvania "T" to vote against the glorious mirror-ball without some goddamned stereotype stomping around like a one-man Klan & tarring us all as racist hillbillies.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/15/2008 11:23 Comments ||
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#12
About the time I think the trunks are too stupid to win...the donks steal defeat from the jaws of victory. It's pretty sweet.
#16
If NY slips any more in the polls, O might have to do something.
Hey, he could appoint dual VPs. Joe and Hillary could share responsibilities. Even and odd days. Or Biden could take the day shift, and Clinton the 3:00am shift.
#17
That's how they win in the long run Redneck Jim, you can't even discuss race in this country, not really. And certainly not on fair terms with their own language. So we just retreat and call each other racists and keep doing what we do. They MUST be the victim or you're a racist, you have to watch every word you say or you are a racist, they can say anything, do anything, and WE are still the racist. Always, no matter what.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/15/2008 17:09 Comments ||
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#19
Jim & Bigjim: You don't need to use the N-word (or the F-word, for that matter) to critique Obama. In fact, I can do a much better job of persuading* people not to support him by not sounding like a cross between Daily Kos and Stormfront.org.
*The Kos Kidz are very interested in venting their white-hot rage so they can impress each other: "I hate Bush."
"Well, I hate 'im more!"
"No you don't, you pansy!"
"Who you callin' a pansy? I can out-hate you at twenty paces."
"I see your hate and raise you two loathings and a contempt!"
"You don't got two loathings to rub together, poser!"
"Oh yeah? Well, I hate Bush so much I roto-tilled all the shrubbery in my neighborhood. Top that!"
...and so on.
Posted by: Mike ||
09/15/2008 17:38 Comments ||
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#20
Jim: don't do this again. Folks at Rantburg aren't racists, don't want to be seen as racists, and don't want moonbats to froth over any perceived racism here.
So Although I DID NOT speak "Racist" we "Have to avoid the "Perception"
That sure puts a huge damper on the "Civil Well Reasoned Discourse" supposedly to be found here just hint the poster is racist and hint he'll be banned if he continues.
Read your own headline Sir "Salmon"
You're actively Banning Discourse, if Race is involved.
That's NOT "Moderating" It's Censorship.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/15/2008 19:25 Comments ||
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#21
No, they're banning offensive vulgarity. It's not censorship, it's civility.
#22
Nimble, I used asterisks, annd did not post the "Hated Word"
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/15/2008 19:34 Comments ||
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#23
That's how they win in the long run Redneck Jim, you can't even discuss race in this country, not really. And certainly not on fair terms with their own language.
Thank You BigJim, I was feeling kinda oppressed here in the supposed "Blog of free speech".
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/15/2008 19:42 Comments ||
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#24
Coyly using asterisks in that word is the flimsiest of covers. Knock it off.
#26
The fact is, Ar.is Katsa.ris, that his comments tar everyone else who comments at Rantburg as racist as well.
Posted by: Scott R ||
09/15/2008 21:02 Comments ||
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#27
I feel I must weigh in on the word Redneck Jim used. I'm a 5th generation Alabaman and I know the context Jim was using the word. I don't use that word but in his context it equates to the term "white trash". We allow the term white trash to be flung about with no repercussions. I do realize that for some people the word Jim used is taken to mean all people of African descent and is a very offensive racial slur and that is why I never use the word. I have blood relatives who are black and that's how they refer to black people they consider low-life, good-for-nothings. They do not use the term white trash to refer to white people of low character, however, they do call them honkeys. I hope I live to see the day when there are no African-Americans, Polish-Americans, etc, but we are just Americans. I am realistic enough to realize this most probably will never happen. It saddens me.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
09/15/2008 21:27 Comments ||
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#29
Deacon, from past posts I know that you grew up on the other side of Prattville from me, around the same years, one day I'd like to meet you, I think we'd be friends with very little effort.
(And No I don't give a damn what color you are, your brainpower shows, and that's enough for me)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/15/2008 22:03 Comments ||
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#30
Same here, RJ.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
09/15/2008 22:05 Comments ||
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#31
By the way Deacon, I'm planning to move back to the Millbrook area sometime around October, Mom's not doing well and I need to be nearer.
(Doesn't hurt to be out of the Hurricane area either. I'm tired of high heat, wind and rain.)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/15/2008 22:41 Comments ||
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Sounds like Plugz is getting lonely. A taste:
His plane, a blue chartered 737, now crosses the country with about three-quarters of its seats empty, rows and rows with nary a warm body to be found.
Biden's supporters maintain that he is connecting with voters and garnering positive media interest on a local level. They also say that Biden is a "governing" pick, not a "political" pick, unlike Palin. That is, Biden will actually be able to help Obama govern; he's not just a cynical selection to help his boss win the election.
Either way, as Air Joe flew from Wilmington to Charlotte Sunday, the only reporters onboard were off-air reporters from the five television networks and correspondents from NBC and Politico. There was only one camera crew. The back of the plane, reserved for press, sat totally deserted.
The New York Times? Gone. The Washington Post? Not seen since the first days of September. The otherwise ubiquitous Associated Press? Left even before that.
And when the senator spent two straight down days at his Delaware home this weekend, the press corps dwindled further, with some members bolting the "small wonder" state altogether, leaving Wilmington a media ghost town.
On Saturday, only four reporters were around to cover any Biden action. Not that there was any. LOL. A 737 three quarters empty? How efficient and global warmingish
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/15/2008 08:09 ||
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#1
That plane has what....around 130 seats, depending on the configuration? So he's hauling around an "entourage" of 40 or so?
Maybe he should consider a nice little Bombardier or even an Embraer for longer trips.
But I think he'd really get "bang for the buck" with this little beauty..... ;)
Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields ||
09/15/2008 10:30 Comments ||
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#2
Biden's supporters ... also say that Biden is a "governing" pick, not a "political" pick, unlike Palin. That is, Biden will actually be able to help Obama govern; he's not just a cynical selection to help his boss win the election.
I know you 'Burgers get it but, man oh man, the MSM and other Leftists really don't understand that our excitement over Gov. Palin is because of the way she has governed in the past. And that we are hoping she will continue to govern in the future.
#1
Of course if Trunks did something like this, the Donks would have Congressional investigations -
"After the release of the hostages on the same day as Reagan's inauguration on January 20, 1981, some charged that the Reagan campaign made a secret deal with the Iranian government whereby the Iranians would hold the hostages until Reagan was inaugurated, ensuring that Carter would lose the election.[2] Two separate congressional investigations as well as several investigative journalists looked into the charges, both concluding that there was no plan to seek to delay the hostages' release.[2]" - wiki
#2
According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July.
"He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington," Zebari said in an interview
Obama insisted that Congress should be involved in negotiations on the status of US troops - and that it was in the interests of both sides not to have an agreement negotiated by the Bush administration in its "state of weakness and political confusion."
First of all, isn't this against the Logan ACT - if it doesn't border on Treason.
#3
What I find of interest is that the Iraqi FM would make such a statement to an American columnist knowing it would have an effect on the election. So the whole world wants us to elect The One, except Iraq?
#4
I doubt we would have withdrawn before elections anyway, it will be McCain or Obama's job to clean it up.
The economy is my immediate concern, if our economy goes bad, so does our fighting ability. Oil is just 1 factor in our debt. Hunker down for the next 2 years!
#5
Its intermixed - the economy, oil, and WOT. If the democrats will allow us to develop our own sources for Oil (as well as solar, tidal, geothermal, etc...) it would boost the economy (less cost of transportation) and cut off terrorist funding.
#7
First of all, isn't this against the Logan ACT ....
Since the act and its Constitutionality range from very lightly to completely untested I don't think anyone can actually answer that question with any certainty. IIRC a number of years ago some Congress Critters went to Cuba and there were noises about invoking the Logan Act against them upon their return but it never happened. Were there an actual declaration of war Obama would be on very thin ice I think but lacking such he'll probably avoid even questions about his actions.
"Two separate congressional investigations as well as several investigative journalists looked into the charges, both concluding that there was no plan to seek to delay the hostages' release."
No need for Reagan to make a "secret" deal. He just passed the word on to Iran that once he was sworn in as President, we were coming for our people.
Iran (at least then) may be crazy, but they weren't stupid....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/15/2008 16:40 Comments ||
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#9
Yes Barbara, IIRC he referred to the Iranian holding our diplomatic personnel as 'barbarians'. They understood what the use of that terminology meant.
Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic Monthy
"Like others at the Atlantic, I was appalled to read about the actions of Jill Greenberg, the freelance photographer who took the cover portrait that illustrates my article about John McCain. Greenberg doctored photographs of McCain she took during her Atlantic-arranged shoot, which took place last month in Las Vegas. She has posted these doctored photographs on her website, which you can go find yourself, if you must. Suffice it to say that her "art" is juvenile, and on occasion repulsive. This is not the issue, of course; the issue is that she betrayed this magazine, and disgraced her profession. Here is a partial account, from the New York Post, of what she did, and of the Atlantic's reaction to what she did:" What this twit in her own, sophomoric way put another nail in the coffin of the Left wing in this country. Actually I thank her. It's individuals like Greenberg who condescendingly look down their noses at conservatives and yell "rule of law" and "abuse of power" yet hypocritically do the same thing when given the opportunity. Yes, Jill. I thank and applaud your lack of self awareness, your lack of wisdom, and lack of self control.
I sure would appreciate it if someone would explain to me how exactly Jill helped convince voters not to vote for McCain ...
"Greenberg also crowed that she had tricked McCain into standing over a strobe light placed on the floor - turning the septuagenarian's face into a horror show of shadows. Yeah. ha, ha, Jill. You are a real professional, aren't you. Jokes on you, Jill.
Asking McCain to 'please come over here' for a final shot, Greenberg pretended to be using a standard modeling light. The resulting photos depict McCain as devilish, with bulging brows and washed-out skin.
'He had no idea he was being lit from below," Greenberg said, adding that none of his entourage picked up on the light switch either. 'I guess they're not very sophisticated,' she said. And Jill you have no idea how much damage this will do...just like the other fools such as the twit from Air-America, ad-nauseum. The Atlantic opted not to use the distorted McCain shot on its cover, selecting instead a more straightforward portrait. 'We stand by the picture we are running on our cover," said Atlantic editor James Bennet. 'We feel it's a respectful portrait. We hope we'll be judged by that picture.' But I would hope she would never get another real job in photography again.
But Bennet was appalled by Greenberg saying she tried to portray McCain in an unflattering way. Then don't hire her again.
'We feel totally blind-sided,' he said. 'Her behavior is outrageous. Incredibly unprofessional.'
Greenberg later decided to use some of the images she was assigned to take to make a political statement.
No, really?
Her Web site now features a series of juvenile Photoshopped pics of McCain in some highly unflattering poses - including one that has a monkey squirting dung onto the Republican candidate's head. Another one reads 'I am a bloodthirsty warmongerer,' with McCain retouched to have needle-sharp shark teeth and a vicious grin, while licking blood-smeared lips." I hope this gets lots and lots of airplay.
"I don't know Greenberg (I count this as a blessing) and I can add nothing to what James Bennet told the Post except to say that Greenberg is quite obviously an indecent person who should not be working in magazine journalism. Every so often, journalists become deranged at the sight of certain candidates, and lose their bearings. Why, this has even happened in the case of John McCain once or twice. What I find truly astonishing is the blithe way in which she has tried to hurt this magazine." Jeff. She does not care. It's all about Bush-hate. It turns otherwise apparently sane people into irrational, self justifying maniacs. Hate does that.
This stuff is now coming out daily. The MSM will be the big loser in this election, worse than Rathergate because it is being demonstrated how the bias permeates the system, not just a few personalities.
Like the Atlantic doesn't know what photog it is hiring. Sure.
#3
This photographer will find her options limited to smaller publications because the big magazines don't want to be surprised. Still she'll be the belle of the ball for the little hate-republican rags and celebs so her income will be alright.
#4
At what point to politicians hire their own photographers and just present the photos. I don't think such a time is very far off after crap like this.
It's like Instapundit said recently, bring your own camera to an interview so you can post the raw footage if they play with the editing. The media is not a friend, don't treat them as one.
#5
Can you imagine the uproar if a "right-wing" nut did something analogous to the image of the Divine Mr. O? Look at how much play the New Yorker Obama cartoon cover got - and that was supposed to be a parody of the vicious smears made by conservatives.
Is this how people belonging to the party of FDR and Truman now treat war heroes? I'd love to know if Greenberg supports hate speech legislation and, if so, I'd love to hear her explain why her "work" doesn't qualify. I really can't say any more about how her behavior makes me feel without risking a visit to the sink trap.
#2
Sometimes, I wonder, if these folks have a bet (contest) going on among themselves, as to who will be the one that makes the most vile announcement that will be the one to bring Sarah down.
#9
Actually the McCain/Palin ticket is coming off as popular with a number of gays (at least in a way no Republicans had before) and Rosie might feel threatened on two fronts because of that (Palin threats traditional Democratic hold on Feminism as well).
#10
Didn't even read it. Can't read it. Won't read it. Nope. Nope. Won't go there. It's just like how I stopped reading the local rag. All it ever did raise my blood pressure. I finally got wise and just stopped.
#12
I think it was a tribe in Washington State. The Pacific NW Indians traditionally practiced Whale Hunting. But some Alaskian tribes might be included as well.
I think its a good idea - if they use the tools of the time (no guns, no cannon, no powerboats, etc...).
Former adviser to the ex-premier Zafarullah Khan Jamali and now the absconding district Nazim of Naseerabad, Fateh Ali Umrani, broke his two months silence on Saturday and confirmed the killing of two of his women relatives in the name of honour.
He, however, added that he would use his own resources to deal with PPP Minister Sadiq Umrani, who had actually unleashed a campaign against him, as he was not involved in this crime at all.
"Listen, this is against my traditions to use the forum of media to malign or target Sadiq Umrani, as he is doing now against me. I will deal with him in my own style," said a defiant Fateh Umrani while talking to The News by telephone.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2008 00:00 ||
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It's that time of year again...
At least 23 Indonesians were crushed to death Monday while trying to collect $4.25 in cash handouts from a rich family at a charity event marking the Islamic holy month, officials said. Eight others were critically injured in the stampede.
Several thousand people started gathering outside the house in Pasuruan, a town about 500 miles (800 kilometers) east of the capital of Jakarta, in the morning to collect their tithe, said local police chief Harry Sitompul.
Television footage showed the victims mostly women screaming as they were pushed into the fence outside the home. At least 23 died and eight others were hospitalized, Sitompul said, some after being trampled and others from lack of oxygen.
Under a system known as Zakat, the wealthy are required to give away a portion of their money to the poor, but distribution is often chaotic and sometimes deadly. Many donors choose to hand out gifts directly, worried that corrupt government officials will try to pocket some of the cash. Geez, 4.25? Could ya spare it?
"It's tragic and embarrassing," said Social Affairs Minister Bachtiar Chamzah. "It goes to show that we have to find a better way ... we have to fix this." Maybe next time he could just throw all the money up in the air?
The man behind Monday's charity event, reportedly a car dealer, was placed under police protection afterward to prevent reprisal attacks from relatives of victims, said Mayor Aminurohman, who like many Indonesians goes by a single name. No good deed...
The same man held a similar event last year that drew thousands of people and resulted in one death, with dozens injured, he said. Ah, don't worry. It won't happen this year...
"There was no coordination with police during the handout," the mayor said. "It's a shame he did not learn from his past mistakes and ask for help." Did you pocket your 4.25 like any good hack. Mr. Mayor?
A powdered drug which eases the symptoms of incurable genetic diseases could be on sale within two years, researchers say. They hope it could treat 2,400 conditions, including some types of cystic fibrosis and Duchenne muscular dystrophy, as well as the blood clotting disease haemophilia.
Many inherited diseases are caused by mutations in genes which stop cells from making vital proteins.
The new drug - known only as PTC124 - makes cells less sensitive to these mutations. Given early enough, PTC124 could even halt the progress of some genetic illnesses - many of which are incurable.
The drug comes as a vanilla-flavoured powder to make it easier for patients to take. This would be dissolved in water, milk or juice and taken with meals.
Researcher Dr Stuart Peltz said that there were many serious inherited diseases for which there is currently no effective treatment. 'We hope to be able to bring this to market not only quickly for cystic fibrosis but over time to many different patients with many different diseases for which there is no treatment,' he added.
In cystic fibrosis, a mutation stops the body producing a protein called CTFR. Its absence causes the body's fluids to become abnormally thick and sticky, causing breathing and digestive problems.
In tests on patients, PTC124 boosted production of the protein and improved breathing, the British Society for Human Genetics conference will hear today. It is thought that PTC124 could help 10 per cent of the 8,000 cystic fibrosis sufferers in Britain.
This was a phase II clinical trial, published in Lancet, and appears to be legitimate.
More trials are due to start soon. Tests on youngsters with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which affects 100 babies a year in the UK, have also been promising. In mice, the drug repaired muscle mass lost to the degenerative disease and it is hoped that PTC124 could help 13 per cent of human sufferers.
In all, the drug has the potential to treat 2,400 diseases - proving effective for between five and 70 per cent of those suffering from each condition.
Dr Peltz, of PTC Therapeutics, said: 'The difference between this and other drugs is it doesn't [just] treat the symptoms, it treats the underlying cause. The drug allows the body to make the lost protein.'
It is hoped the drug, which would have to be taken every day for life, could be on the market by 2010. PTC124 researcher Dr Lee Sweeney, of the University of Pennsylvania, said: 'This new class of treatment has the potential to help a large number of patients with different genetic diseases that have the same type of mutation.'
Dr Marita Pohlschmidt of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign said: 'PTC124 has previously shown encouraging results in clinical trials for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. However, as the drug applies to boys with a specific mutation, only 10-15 per cent of the 2,000 boys living with the condition in the UK might be treated.'
Between five and 15 per cent of inherited diseases are caused by 'nonsense mutations' - subtle, but potentially devastating, spelling mistakes in DNA.
Cells in the body contain machinery that 'reads' lines of DNA and uses the information to create proteins. However, a nonsense mutation sends out a rogue 'stop' signal before a cell has finished making a protein. The resulting half-finished protein is useless.
The drug PTC124 works by over-riding the nonsense mutation's stop signal - and letting the cell complete its job.
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie, formerly known as Swamp Blondie ||
09/15/2008 20:27 Comments ||
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#3
Don't worry, it will be so insanely expensive nobody will be able to afford it anyway. And no insurance company will want to start a kid on medicine he will have to take his whole life. So color me skeptical, but I don't see this being any more available than the new generation of cancer drugs that actually cure cancer, but at a breath-taking cost.
Thailand's acting prime minister lifted the state of emergency in Bangkok Sunday as the ruling party met to choose a new candidate for premier, but the nation's political crisis looked set to drag on. Not to worry. It'll be back. It always seems to be.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/15/2008 00:00 ||
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NEW YORK - Oil prices closed below $100 a barrel for the first time in six months Monday, tumbling more than $5 as the demise of Lehman Brothers and the sale of Merrill Lynch fed worries about the U.S. economy and sparked another dramatic sell-off. Crude prices have now given up virtually all their gains for the year, extending a steep, two-month slide from record levels above $147 a barrel.
Oil's pullback prices tumbled as much as $7 in a special trading session Sunday also came as early signs suggested that Hurricane Ike delivered less damage than feared to the Gulf Coast energy oil and gas infrastructure.
Light, sweet crude for October delivery fell $5.47 to settle at $95.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange oil's first settlement under $100 since March 4.
The latest sell-off in oil began Sunday and accelerated Monday as traders digested a day of dramatic upheaval on Wall Street: Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., a 158-year-old investment bank, filed for bankruptcy after failing to find a buyer and Merrill Lynch & Co. agreed to be bought out by Bank of America Corp. Lehman, Merrill and other big institutional investors were major participants in the commodities boom of the past year, helping push the price of oil, precious metals and grains to historic highs until a slowing global economy helped bring a halt to the rally. Oh. Well screw them then.
Investors were also awaiting damage assessments to Gulf energy infrastructure after Ike's passage. U.S. officials said Sunday that Ike destroyed at least 10 oil and gas platforms and damaged pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico. But that represents only a small portion of the 3,800 production platforms in the Gulf and pales in comparison to the catastrophic damage to energy infrastructure doled out by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita three years ago."Fears of widespread refinery damage have been allayed considerably and a number of facilities are coming back up in a timely fashion," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Ill. Still, power outages along the Gulf Coast were slowing efforts to restart some refineries. Meanwhile, virtually all oil production in the Gulf and about 92 percent of natural gas output remained shut-in as of Sunday, according to the U.S. Minerals Management Service.
The shutdown of Gulf refineries sent wholesale gasoline prices spiking last week and pushed pump prices back above $4 a gallon in South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and other states. Gasoline shortages were reported in Maryland, Virginia and North Caroline. On Monday, a gallon of regular rose half a penny overnight to a new national average of $3.842 up 16.7 cents from Friday, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express.
Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J., said supply shortages caused by Ike and Hurricane Gustav three weeks ago should last at least another two weeks. "That means we're looking at close to $4 a gallon for the rest of September," Kloza said. "People are going to observe more of this disconnect where retail prices move higher even though crude oil is trading below $100 a barrel." 3.57 here at my place, up from 3.35 Thursday.
Also adding to the selling pressure Monday was a slightly stronger dollar. A rising greenback encourages investors to unload commodities bought as a hedge against inflation or weakness in the U.S. currency.
Oil fell despite reports that militants have launched another attack Nigeria's oil infrastructure in a third day of violence.
#2
Lehman files chapter 11. AIG asks for a loan to be paid bank with asset sales (which they have plenty of) leaving Mashington Mutual to be dealt with.
Good news is, with all the panic selling, and funds having to sell millions of shares to cover withdrawals, we're getting near the end of the bear.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
09/15/2008 1:31 Comments ||
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#3
YOU ARE THERE, wid MTV HeadBangers Balls + QUEENSRYCHE > "SILENT LUCIDITY" [Search-And-Destroy-Armor]!
TWO DECADES-PLUS LATER AND THAT CHINESE GUY IN TIANENMEN SQUARE IS STILL STANDING IN FRONT OF MY PLA TANK - The World saw him on CNN from the rear; Myself, MADONNA, + TEXAS-SIZED ASTEROIDS saw him also from the front!
#4
And by the way, the DOW is a horribly constructed index. Its so bad they have to use that 'divisor' thing to make the numbers make sense after any stock splits etc.
Just venting.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
09/15/2008 1:33 Comments ||
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#5
Mike, you're not venting, JOSEPHMENDIOLA is venting!
(It scares me but I kinda like to watch it, though. Is that wrong? ;) )
Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields ||
09/15/2008 1:41 Comments ||
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#6
This is a stock deal, not a cash deal (BoA will be increasing stock supply) so this will be bearish. There are some heavy put positions on Citi, they're the next one to watch. Hopefully, their stock will get hammered also, causing more withdrawals and selling.
Provided the fed can get a handle on inflation, we could see an end of the bear in early '09 as commodities stabilize, withdrawals fall off and investors move from their inflation hedges back into equities.
Up big is my forcast for 09.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
09/15/2008 2:06 Comments ||
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#7
(It scares me but I kinda like to watch it, though. Is that wrong? ;) )
Joe or Lehman Brothers Swamp Blondie?
Swamp Blondie Ima real BAD too...
Cause I admit it, I enjoy watching the Big-Business Big-Shots when they are wearing Handcuffs and on the way to Prison!
The only problem as I see is that another 95% of the Corporate Thieves need to be doing HARD TIME also, like NO SUN LIGHT for 20-30 years.
[CLARIFICATION: NOT 95% of all Corporate officers just the thieving ones.]
But they don't even get Indicted let alone tried because of our Legal System..
BTW will someone explain why us little squeaks have to pay every CENT of our loans back to the Bank but these CEO CFO COO CVO CMO Bastards can loose Hundreds of Millions of someone elses Dollars and walk away with a pocket full of CASH, HOMES, JETS, and TROPHY WIVES?
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
09/15/2008 2:39 Comments ||
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#8
The various stock markets in EU countries are tumbling today; down about 4-7% each as of this post.
#9
Up big in '09? Every smart President starts with or is bequeathed a recession to get it out of the way and be able to blame it on the predecessor. This builds the base for growth through the rest of the administration.
And have you looked at the number of mortgages yet to adjust past their teasers? And every day more of them are under water.
And this Lehman deal is part of a significant reorganization of Wall Street as Broker/Dealers are disintermediated out of the system.
And Europe is headed into recession also as they keep rates high to protect the Euro from the resurgent dollar.
And boomers, who have been rushing from bubble to bubble for the last 15 years to build their nest egg, will now begin withdrawing liquidity from the system as the seek to preserve capital, retire and start drawing down those nest eggs.
Finally, the policy of governments is to spread these crises out over time so that they aren't so violent but short as in the 19th century. That means this one is likely to last longer
The sky is not falling, but we'll be lucky to be up in '10.
#10
Let's get the moonbats going, and say this is a Bush/Chaney design to suck the monies from the Obama empowerment fund done just before the election to hammer the trust fund babies poor and middle class from electing their master hero. :)
[It's got to be true, its on the net (well, now it is)]Heh.
#11
Practically speaking, I would seriously recommend that everybody withdraw a couple thousand dollars at the bank today. Just have physical cash in your home for a week or two.
If there is no catastrophe, you're out only a few dollars in interest, tops. After two or three weeks, you just put it back in your account.
#13
Anonymoose ... Are you saying that if someone has liquid funds available in a standard bank checking and/or savings account they will not be available for withdrawal if needed? Is this due to the physical printed cash shortage you referenced yesterday?
#14
NS, I, you and everyone else are aware that mortgages will continue to default in larg amounts until spring of next year some time. That's why it's already priced in.
Secondly, recession and bear markets don't have to coincide and they don't if the recession is long feared and therefore priced in.
The unwinding of failing banks still has to work it's course and we still have to see about inflation, but the other two are long price in. That's the reasing why the housing sector is actually up since this summer.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
09/15/2008 11:01 Comments ||
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#15
they will not be available for withdrawal if needed?
Some believe the bank runs are near. I have been following http://www.survivalblog.com/ for months now. They are not optimistic. Maybe some hyperbole on their part but I'll side with caution.
#16
If one bothered to ask people if they are planning on withdrawing a bunch of cash from their bank, only the paranoid ones would answer yes, so I suspect that's not enough to constitute 'a run'.
With all due respect to the underground shelters and soupcans crowd, you guys come out with this stuff all the time.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
09/15/2008 11:13 Comments ||
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#17
This is what you get when a Congress tries to make all the people happy all the time. Allowing banks and mortgage companies to loan no down/no doc loans at ridiculous rates and short terms (ARMS) to people who can barely spell their name has consequences. As does having the smartest guys in the room (wall street, The Fed, SEC, Fannies and Freddies) forget their primary mission of "due diligence" and let Congress dictate how to handle inner city and depressed economic zones as veritable gold mines is a big reason. Plus outfits like Obama's ACORN have a lot to do with it by coercing banks and FI's into making community grants (bribes, extortion) in order to open up branches in their 'hoods. But of all the reasons there is the primal impulse of greed - by lender and borrower both.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/15/2008 12:29 Comments ||
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#18
The problem is not that you don't have money, or that the banks don't have money. In a bizarre turn, it might mean that you literally cannot get your physical money from the bank to the retailer. No physical cash money at the bank to give you.
It is less an economic problem than an administrative problem.
Now, only about 5% of our money is backed by physical paper money. Both credit cards and cheques (Br. spelling for clarity), are credit instruments.
The US mints are currently printing paper money at 100% capacity. To increase production, temporary US mints will have to be put on military bases, if we can overcome the extreme shortages of the right kind of paper and ink.
Most small businesses and large corporations will immediately need high denomination bills, whose movement will be closely regulated by the government. Only the largest corporations will have credit "interfaith" among each other.
If suddenly, the credit card companies cancel their cards all at once, there will immediately be a huge number of cheque overdrafts, more than the banks can handle in their current condition. So only debit cards and automatic cheque withdrawl from the very few stores that offer it, who have the hardware to offer it, will be available.
Retailers will take common bank cheques for a short time, until they realize that a large percentage are overdrafts by people who have no credit cards. And unless they phone the bank to insure than the cheque is covered, they will have to refuse them. Again, except for the very few businesses who can automatically debit checking accounts electronically when they receive the cheque.
To make matters worse, just today, I read that one unnamed financial services organization is limiting its *debit* card purchases to $5000/day, because their corporate credit is under such strain.
All told, for weeks to months, there will be such incredible deflation that it will seem like nobody has any cash, even if they have hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank.
How many people would you guess have even $100 in cash in their homes? $500?
#21
Mike, you could be right about the market. I thought you were talking about the economy. One of my personal known unknowns is where the market will go.
#22
BTW will someone explain why us little squeaks have to pay every CENT of our loans back to the Bank but these CEO CFO COO CVO CMO Bastards can loose Hundreds of Millions of someone elses Dollars and walk away with a pocket full of CASH, HOMES, JETS, and TROPHY WIVES?
They're pirates, we're not. 4 days to National Talk Like a Pirate Day.
#23
Assuming what you say is true, 'moose (I'm not knowledgable enough to say one way or the other), would PayPal be affected? (Not the credit card part, the regular part.)
I wouldn't think so, since they have my "cash" sitting on their books and could transfer to or from bank accounts without needing physical money.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/15/2008 16:02 Comments ||
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#24
This is a fake panic, We don't use cash for anything but small purchases (Well, $100 and less.) and hve no real cash supply on hand.
My Mom (Who's losing it) had her bank change hands to BBC Centura.
Not wanting her money in "A foreign bank" went down to remove HER money. so she went in and wanted to cash out a CD, of one hundred grand( No I'm not joking) the bank didn't have the cash, (Of course) and she finaly had to settle for ten thousand in cash and a Cashier's check for the rest.
She was highly indignant "Think, a Bank that doesn't have enough cash to cover deposits" (Etc)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/15/2008 18:11 Comments ||
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#25
"Think, a Bank that doesn't have enough cash to cover deposits"
Of course the it doesn't: the money is loaned, how doesn she think the Bank can give her an interest.
#26
JFM, of course the bank loans it out, I mentioned Mom's loosing it, she really expected to walk out with a hundred grand cash Even brought my brother with her to "Talk some sense into the manager, Bro's a huge Biker type guy, friendly and easygoing, but quite fearsome to look at, he's the one wwho tried to explain to Mom that they wee'nt going to give her a hundred grand cash, and if they did , he and she couldn't carry it, they'd have to hire an armored truck (Bit of exaggeration, but it got through)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/15/2008 22:23 Comments ||
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#27
CNN > 'tis the first crisis/problem for the winner of 2008 POTUS Elex???
WASHINGTON (AP) House Republicans attacked a Democratic offshore drilling plan Friday for including a 50-mile coastal buffer that they said would leave untouched most of the 18 billion barrels of oil in waters now off-limits to energy companies.
A Democratic drilling proposal expected to be taken up by the House next week would allow energy development access to waters 50 to 100 miles from shore along almost all of the country's coastlines as long as a state agrees to drilling off its shore. Waters off Florida's Gulf coast and a nationwide 50-mile coastal buffer would remain out of bounds to energy companies.
But House Republican Leader John Boehner called the plan a "hoax on the American people," arguing that nearly 90 percent of the oil believed to be in the restricted offshore waters still would not be available. House Republicans have called for lifting the offshore drilling bans everywhere with no protected buffer.
"Keep in mind, we're opening up millions of more acres (to drilling) at a time when the industry claims they don't have the drills to explore the resources they have," said Drew Hammill, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
While drilling between 50 to 100 miles from shore would require state approval, areas beyond 100 miles where drilling also is banned would be opened without such restrictions under the Democrats' plan.
The Interior Department estimates that waters now under drilling bans off the Pacific and Atlantic coasts and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico contain nearly 18 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil with more than half that found off California. House Republicans on Friday cited data from Interior's Minerals Management Service that show that of the 9.75 billion barrels of oil believed to be off California only 5 percent lies beyond 50 miles. None of the 400 million barrels believed to be off Oregon and Washington is outside the protected buffer.
Of the estimated 3.5 billion barrels of oil believed to be recoverable off the Atlantic coast from Virginia to Georgia, 2.8 billion barrels would be available for drilling, but more than half of that would beyond 100 miles of shore where access would be more difficult, according to the Interior Department maps. About 700 million barrels is found within the 50-mile buffer.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/15/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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#1
The offshore drilling ban continues under a different name.
#2
You can drill offshore, cuz that's what the polling says we should. However, we've found a workaround that allows us to be on the right side of polling numbers and still not accomplish anything by restricting the drilling to areas where there isn't any oil.
/donk strategist.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
09/15/2008 2:25 Comments ||
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#3
Why solve problems when you can half ass everything?
The ass O' crat party.
Making losers of Americans since 1959.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/15/2008 7:40 Comments ||
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#6
Well, we know the Chinese are certainly not deterred by the Donks as they begin their drilling off the Keys. Where's all the 'gloom and doom'(tm) being directed at them? [still awaiting another shot to the 'reelection' funds from the Buddhist monastery?]
#7
Keep in mind, we're opening up millions of more acres (to drilling) at a time when the industry claims they don't have the drills to explore the resources they have," said Drew Hammill, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
So, it will be unused. Where's the harm then?
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
09/15/2008 10:56 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) found unnecessary delays made in every stage of approval of power projects, purchase of equipment and wholesale irregularities in meter installations and extension of electric lines based on political influence.
ith what Markov is saying here that I'll let you guys have fun with it...
Mikheil Saakashvili had long planned a strike to seize back the breakaway region of South Ossetia, former Georgian defense minister says. 
BOOSTED by the selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate, Republican John McCain has experienced a surge of support among women in heavily Democratic New York state - where he has closed the gap with Barack Obama, new private polls show. The internal Republican and Democratic polls, details of which were provided to The Post, have stunned members of both parties - and produced deep worries among Democrats.
Financial Times
Victoria McGrane, Politico
Rep. Charles Rangel, the powerful head of the congressional committee that writes the country's tax laws, blamed his own ignorance - and not being able to speak Spanish - for failing to report $75,000 in rental income from his Caribbean holiday home.
WASHINGTON (AP) House Republicans attacked a Democratic offshore drilling plan Friday for including a 50-mile coastal buffer that they said would leave untouched most of the 18 billion barrels of oil in waters now off-limits to energy companies.
