U.S. Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean, the main suspect in the killing of a 20-year-old pregnant Marine, has been captured in Mexico three months after fleeing North Carolina, the FBI announced Thursday. "I loved her," Laurean told a Mexican reporter who asked whether he killed Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach. Authorities are awaiting extradition to bring Laurean, who has been on the run since January, back to North Carolina. He has been indicted on charges of murder, ATM card theft, attempted card theft, fraud and robbery with a dangerous weapon.
Mexican authorities arrested Laurean at 7 p.m. Thursday in San Juan Vina, in Michoacan, about 120 miles west of the capital, after he approached a roadblock set up by the local anti-kidnapping task force, according to the Michoacan state attorney general's office.
Laurean, dressed in a red t-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes, gave authorities his real name, which was entered into a criminal database that alerted authorities to his fugitive status, Guzman said. Police said Laurean was calm and gave no resistance. He told police he had been sleeping in avocado groves and eating the fruit from the trees, Guzman said. Laurean, who grew a scruffy beard, appeared thin and unkempt, Guzman said.
"This is a clear message to all would-be fugitives from U.S. law that Mexico will not provide them refuge," U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Antonio O. Garza said in a statement. "Laurean fled to Mexico early this year in the hope of avoiding justice. Despite his attempts to elude apprehension, international police cooperation and cutting edge technology led law-enforcement officials to his capture."
However, if Laurean chooses to fight extradition, it could take two years to return him to North Carolina, said Dewey Hudson, district attorney for Onslow County, North Carolina. "I'm very happy he was caught today in Mexico, but I'm disappointed we didn't catch him in America," Hudson said. Mexico's extradition policy prohibits U.S. authorities from seeking the death penalty against fugitives who are turned over by Mexican authorities.
A law enforcement official said federal authorities recently seized a computer belonging to Laurean's sister-in-law, which Laurean's wife was using to communicate with Laurean while he was on the run. Laurean apparently told his wife in e-mails that he wanted to return to the United States, the official said. Authorities also seized the wife's diary.
"It's clear she's still deeply in love with him and she is vacillating between loving him and being angry at him for not being faithful to her," the official said. "It's not necessarily illegal for a wife to talk to her husband, but if she had tried to help him in any way, there would have been a problem."
#1
Mexico's extradition policy prohibits U.S. authorities from seeking the death penalty against fugitives who are turned over by Mexican authorities.
This policy makes Mexico a preferred destination for perpetrators of capital crimes especially if the perps are Mexicans themselves. Not only do they have a better chance of escaping punishment altogether, they know that they will never get the death penalty if they can just make it across the border. The downside, of course, would be that they could end up spending a considerable amount of time in one of Mexico's prisons.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/11/2008 15:12 Comments ||
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Regularly, my readers worry that John McCain won't have the instinct for the jugular in this election. They see him campaigning with Joe Lieberman, and hear him singing the praises of bipartisanship, and fear that their party's candidate, who can fight his own side with relish, won't have the nerve to really rip into his Democratic opponent once he has one.
Rest easy, my friends. McCain knows how to twist the knife in the most subtle of manners, and most unusual of venues.
Like last night's "American Idol." Hillary, Obama, and McCain taped appearances. It sounds like there was a mix-up with the Obama campaign, as he referred to events that are scheduled for tomorrow night as "tonight." Not a big deal, but he and Hillary offered standard-issue hooray-for-charity-work mini-speeches.
McCain did that, but more: "'American Idol' is a lot like a presidential primary election. Except for people in Michigan and Florida their votes actually count."
Zing. Think about how many completely apolitical people watch American Idol, who have completely tuned out the details of the presidential race, who will likely ask their friends/fellow Idol watchers what that meant. They'll learn about the mess on the Democratic side, and how they're set to have only 48 states represented at their convention, while the Republicans worked out the issue on their side quickly and fairly equitably.
Finally, McCain added: "Then, at the end McCain said he had to get back to work on his immigration reform bill and British judge Simon Cowell better watch out."
He's jokingly threatening to deport the sour, sneering, designated villain of the most popular show on television. That should lock up the Simon-hater vote.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/11/2008 15:11 ||
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#1
I predict that very heavy precipitation could cause flooding in low lying areas, and that as we approach the summer months a warming effect will be seen in the northern hemisphere.
#4
What I read would give any real scientistt a headache, "The temperature's still rising which caused all the recent cold weather" HUNH?
Fucking idiots.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/11/2008 10:28 Comments ||
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#5
Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said that unless action was taken 250m people in Africa would be short of water for drinking and for crops by 2020.
I predict that Bob Mugabe will single-handedly accomplish this by 2015! There, I can "predict" events too!
Posted by: BA ||
04/11/2008 11:26 Comments ||
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#6
Jim
Watched a program on National Geo last night, The Little Ice Age. Years 1300-1850. One "expert" said it ended when the Industrial Revolution started polluting in 1850.
Another so called "expert" stated that our current Global Warming could cause another Ice Age. Go figure.
#7
So those 'experts' showed all the Roman, Chinese and Toltec heavy industrial sites that accompanied the warm earth before the Little Ice Age? Obviously their economic collapse shut those industries down allowing Mother Gaia to cool and initiate that Little Ice Age.
#8
I suspect that the next decade or so will be "colder than a mofo". The quietude of the sun is going to make the northern latitudes think that the concept of "summer" is over.
#9
WND > Pert - Temper drops expectant due to CYCLIC 30-YEAR ROUGH FLUXES in SOLAR RADIATION LEVELS. Pert is more worried about addition of 3.0 Bilyuhn People by 2050 via Population Growth.
WAFF.com > FT.com - NATIONS MAKE SECRET DEALS OVER GRAIN/FOOD SUPPLIES. Rise of BILATERAL, CUSTOMER/NATION-To-NATION SPECIFIC FOOD PROVISION AGREEMENTS including reservation of Origin State-specific arable lands to raise specific food crops for specific State customers.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and the main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, are due at this weekend's emergency summit of southern African leaders, summoned by the president of neighboring Zambia, to discuss the electoral and political crisis, spokesmen for the two men said.
Preparations for the summit came as Zimbabwe's main opposition party claimed victory Thursday for Tsvangirai in last month's disputed presidential election and ruled out taking part in a runoff vote against Mugabe.
The secretary-general of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change, Tendai Biti, warned that the opposition would not accept a second round of voting. "Morgan Tsvangirai won this election without the need for a runoff, and we will not accept any other result except one that confirms that we won this election," The Associated Press quoted him as saying.
Zimbabwe has not released the official results from the March 29 presidential election. The Movement for Democratic Change has petitioned Zimbabwe's High Court to force the electoral commission to release the results, but the effort has stalled at nearly every turn. Zimbabwe is under international pressure to release the results amid concerns of heightened political tensions.
The state-run newspaper, The Herald, has indicated that neither Mugabe nor Tsvangirai received enough votes in the election to avoid a runoff. A candidate must receive 50 percent plus one vote to win the election without a runoff.
Diplomatic sources inside and outside the country say they believe that Mugabe's government has dispatched more than 200 militia members throughout the country to carefully control any new round of voting. Some of the militias, loyal to Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party, have been seen in small huddles of four or five, wearing civilian clothing. The sources say they are not hopeful for a quick resolution to Zimbabwe's political crisis and are looking to other southern African nations to exert influence on the government in Harare.
The election is the most formidable challenge to Mugabe's 28-year rule, and Tsvangirai has said Mugabe may use the delay in announcing the results -- as well as the possible runoff -- to find ways to cling to power.
Zimbabwean Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu confirmed Thursday that Mugabe would attend a one-day summit in Zambia sponsored by the 15-member Southern African Development Community.
Zambian President and SADC Chairman Levy Mwanawasa called for the "extraordinary summit" on Wednesday "to discuss ways and means of assisting the people of Zimbabwe with the current impasse, as well as adopt a coordinated approach to the situation in that country." Why not do like the UN would do? Wait for the country to implode and famine and drought to grip the land. Wait another year for good year. Then mount an unfocused, confused, lackadaisical attempt to provide relief until the suffering masses die off or el nino passes and they start growing their own food or something. Then declare that they have solved the problem.
Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has accused President Robert Mugabe of mounting a "de facto military coup" in the wake of elections whose results have not been fully disclosed, citing the deployment of troop into rural areas ahead of a presidential runoff election the ruling party appears determined to stage.
Tsvangirai, whose branch of the Movement for Democratic Change says he won the presidential ballot with at least 50.3% of the vote, was in South Africa Thursday for the second time in several days pursuing a regional diplomatic offensive in the crisis.
Sources said Tsvangirai was set to meet late Thursday with President Thabo Mbeki, but it was unclear whether that meeting came about. Mr. Mbeki was said to be on his way to Mozambique on Friday to meet with President Armando Guebuza ahead of a summit Saturday of the Southern African Development Community.
Harare has confirmed President Mugabe will attend the summit. Tsvangirai said he expects to be in Lusaka, Zambia, to present his side of the situation.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2008 00:00 ||
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Okay, Bob. What do I do next?
Ya got any war veterans?
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Government officials accompanied by National Guard troops seized control on Thursday of 30 sugarcane plantations in central Venezuela that have been classified as "idle" under a nationwide land reform initiative, officials said. Welcome to Government Sugarcane Farm No. 22. Farmino B. Hardo: Proprietor.
Authorities seized control of the plantations spanning 5,900 acres as part of a land reform program aimed at turning dormant farmlands over to peasants. For the people!
Juan Carlos Loyo, president of the National Land Institute, denied the government of President Hugo Chavez was trampling on private property rights, saying those operating the plantations lack legal documents proving ownership of the lands. "When a measure like this is taken it's because we are sure that the private ownership of this property cannot be demonstrated," Loyo told the Globovision television channel. "All the studies and inspections that were done showed there was no production."
But Alfredo Jose Arevalo, director of Venezuela's Sugarcane Producers Association, accused the government of illegally confiscating the plantations. The owners possess documents showing their rightful ownership of the lands, he said. Officials say the lands are not being put to adequate use or lack documents to prove ownership dating back as far as 1847.
Critics of the reform effort, including Venezuela's largest business chamber and cattle ranchers association, argue it violates property rights guaranteed under the constitution. Loyo justified the presence of troops during the takeover, saying soldiers were "safeguarding" the plantations and "providing security" for authorities responsible for the seizure. Just trying to help out, amigo...
Chavez argues the land reform initiative that began more than six years ago is an essential step toward making this oil-rich yet poverty-stricken South American country self-sufficient in food production. Venezuela, which continues to import most of the food it consumes, has struggled over the last year with sporadic food shortages, which have made it difficult to find products such as fresh milk, chicken, beef and sugar in supermarkets. Coming up next: the 10 Million Bolivar Bill...
#4
Your thinking Juan Valdez and his magic donkey which allows him to pop and and out of pantries, closets, grocery stores, and single women's apartments worldwide....
House Democrats exhibited unity on Thursday in voting to stall a trade pact with Colombia pushed by President Bush, but that vote masked deep party divisions on trade, an issue certain to become even more highly charged given consequential trade deals with South Korea and other countries in the pipeline.
An influential bloc of Democrats continues to favor expanded trading relationships with nations willing to meet labor and environmental conditions, putting them at odds with fellow Democrats allied with unions who blame free trade for the loss of thousands of American jobs since the 1970s. The fight has flared in the presidential campaign as well.
There has been a split within the party, I think, that has become pretty evident, said Representative Joseph Crowley of New York, who has backed previous trade deals. He attributes deepening Democratic resistance to trade agreements to what he calls the Dobbsian effect named for the CNN broadcaster and trade critic Lou Dobbs.
But Mr. Crowley and others inclined to entertain free trade agreements sided with Speaker Nancy Pelosi in voting 224 to 195 to put off consideration of the agreement with Colombia until the speaker decides the time is right a move that infuriated the administration and House Republican leaders. All but 10 Democrats backed Ms. Pelosi while 6 Republicans joined in stalling the agreement.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2008 00:00 ||
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WAFF.com [paraph]> NYT - EUROPE VOTES DEMOCRAT, BUT ASIA VOTES REPUBLICAN.
#2
Just like the infight between 'victim groups' as played out in the primary field, this is another 'come home to roost' issue. Columbia already gets reduced tariff taxes through other another South American trade treaty. This is about reducing the tax on American goods going to Columbia which means more exports and more jobs for Americans. However, the great liberal 'show is more important than substance' once again bites the people they claim they championing. Paying homage to their, hardly working class, Union bosses is more important than the actual working man or woman.
#5
The press will always cover Socialist dictators. They are dear to their cold, shriveled hearts after all. More than likely they will just ignore this.
Would it be OK if I were pro-China? Would it be OK if I were pro-Tibet?
Athletes who display Tibetan flags at Olympic venues including in their own rooms could be expelled from this summers Games in Beijing under anti-propaganda rules.
Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said that competitors were free to express their political views but faced sanctions if they indulged in propaganda.
Continued on Page 49
#2
The American team also refused to dip its flag to Edward VII during the opening ceremony
When did the US ever dip its flag to a personage at the Olympics? I thought the Olympics was about the athletes, not some grandiose circus paying homage to rulers. Oh, wait, never mind....
#4
The flag should never be dipped to any person or thing, unless it is the ensign responding to a salute from a ship of a foreign nation. This tradition comes from the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, where countries were asked to dip their flag to King Edward VII: the American team flag bearer, Ralph Rose, refused, famously proclaiming that "this flag dips to no earthly king."
#5
See this link for rules for the Flag:
http://www.usflag.org/uscode36.html
click on the 'flag ettiquette' link for more topical info ( no dips. period)
The Turkish prime minister has said that he will not rule out amending the constitution if a top court moves to close the ruling AK Party. "If it is necessary such a step will be taken but if it is not necessary the legal process will be followed just as it is," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a joint news conference with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
A chief prosecutor asked the Constitutional Court this month to shut down the Justice and Development Party (AKP) that has the majority of seats in Turkey's parliament for what he said was the party's attempt to create a so-called Islamic state in predominantly Muslim Turkey.
Turkey's top court agreed last week to take up the case, which also seeks to ban 71 party officials, including Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul, from politics for five years.
The AKP, denies the charges and its leadership has said the case is politically motivated. Turkish financial markets have fallen on fears of renewed political tensions in Turkey.
The case was brought to the court by the radical secular elite after parliament passed a constitutional amendment to lift a ban on female students wearing the Muslim headscarf at universities. Turkey's secular establishment claims the headscarf, worn by a majority of women in predominantly Muslim Turkey, is a symbol of political Islam.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The Army will make that call, Yippy
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/11/2008 10:14 Comments ||
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I won't even comment on this one, it's so serious to me. Good on the Feds to allow this, though (he didn't meet the criteria for burial). The guy's 107, for Pete's sake. Entire article below.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Friends of the last living American-born veteran of World War I have persuaded federal officials to allow the 107-year-old to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery when he dies. Frank Woodruff Buckles, who met with President Bush in Washington, D.C., last month, had been eligible for cremation and placement in a columbarium at Arlington, but daughter Susannah Flanagan said Thursday that he preferred a burial.
To be buried underground, Buckles would have had to meet a variety of criteria, including earning one of five medals, such as a Purple Heart. Buckles never saw combat.
After Flanagan first raised the issue with her father last year, friends took up the cause, privately calling and e-mailing the Pentagon, the White House and others in the federal government for an exception.
"I wasn't asking for this," Flanagan said. "I had asked to find out if he was eligible."
First, she received a phone call from Army Lt. Gen. David H. Huntoon Jr. Then, on March 19, a letter arrived at Gap View Farm in Charles Town, informing Buckles that upon his passing, he could be buried in the cemetery where many of his friends lie. Two days later, an official certificate in a blue, leather-bound book arrived, signed by Huntoon.
Buckles responded in his typically understated style: "He was like, 'No kidding,'" his daughter said with a chuckle. "He didn't jump up and down."
"He had an exception to policy," said cemetery spokeswoman Phyllis White.
Born in Missouri in 1901 and raised in Oklahoma, Buckles visited a string of military recruiters after the United States entered the "war to end all wars" in April 1917. He was rejected by the Marines and the Navy, but eventually persuaded an Army captain he was 18 and enlisted.
Buckles spent his tour of duty working mainly as a driver and a warehouse clerk in Germany and France. After Armistice Day, he helped return prisoners of war to Germany. And in January 1920, he returned to the States aboard the USS Pocahontas.
When his wife died years ago, she was cremated. And about a year ago, Flanagan began to wonder where her father would ultimately rest. When she asked his preference, he said, "Well, what about Arlington?"
It's a place where many of his friends are buried, and a place he has visited many times. So he was "surprised and pleased" by word that he, too, could be buried there, she said.
Posted by: BA ||
04/11/2008 13:22 ||
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A smart political operative said within earshot of me yesterday that if Hillary has more metaphorical bombshells to drop on Obama and this operative has heard secondhand that she does she'll do so between April 16, the date of her next debate with Obama, and April 22, Pennsylvania's primary day. The timing, of course, is so she doesn't get asked about it by the moderator or confronted by Obama.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/11/2008 08:52 ||
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#1
We'll see. So far, everything except the tear has backfired on her. I don't think she has the political savvy to pull it off.
#4
I keep waiting for the Team Clinton nuclear option, but that is an awful narrow window to change enough votes to save PA from being just a "little single digit win".
April 16th is Friday, and the Pope masses will be the lead story (thats where the reporting resources are being sent anyway). Sat-Sunday are wasted from a news cycle perspective, so that leaves only one day for political tittilation... Unless Obama is Client #10, I think Hillery has reached her last couple of downs, and she isn't even at the 50 yard line.
#9
I don't think Hill needs any more bombshells. I think Wright's anti-white racism blew such a big hole in Obama's boat that no damage control team on earth could stop it from going down. There are still a lot of white Dems and I don't see many of them voting for 'Bama.
#10
And, yet, STILL no one's running with the Obama-Bill Ayers connection. The former head of the "Weather Underground" that bombed the Capitol, Pentagon and NYPD HQ. And, Mr. Ayers himself *supposedly* wrote a NY Slimes hit piece about how he did all those deeds and wished he'd done more, ON 9/11/2001 NO LESS!
Posted by: BA ||
04/11/2008 21:09 Comments ||
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#11
it's hit, and the Obamessiah did it hissownself.
Here's more with links back to HotAir...it's big. What an asshole
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/11/2008 21:17 Comments ||
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#12
And its not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who arent like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations. Obama
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is asking federal officials to rethink their policy on workplace immigration crackdowns that involve established businesses and to focus on employers that mistreat workers instead. You mean established business whose pockets are deep enough for you to get into?
The mayor said in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that work-site raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement could have "severe and long-lasting effects" on the local economy, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday. They "could", but they won't.
ICE made more than 4,900 work-site arrests nationwide in fiscal 2007, a 45-fold increase over the number in 2001, authorities said. And about 450 times less than the number they should be shooting for.
More than 130 undocumented workers were arrested at a San Fernando Valley manufacturing company in February and over 60 workers were arrested for immigration violations at South Bay-area warehouses last week.
Los Angeles companies such as clothing manufacturer American Apparel Inc. have reported being questioned by ICE officials about their hiring procedures.
Villaraigosa accused federal officials of targeting "established, responsible employers" in industries that rely on "workforces that include undocumented immigrants." The word responsible in the above sentence fits in like an illegal worker in the US economy.
"In these industries, including most areas of manufacturing, even the most scrupulous and responsible employers have no choice but to rely on workers whose documentation, while facially valid, may raise questions about their lawful presence," he wrote in the March 27 letter. Yeesh! Waders don't fail me now!
He said ICE should spend its limited resources targeting employers who exploit wage and hour laws. No, ICE should go after employers who hire illegals and subvert the economy, not chase after your red herrings.
Chertoff has not responded to the mayor's letter, but Homeland Security spokeswoman Laura Keehner said the department believes its priorities are correct. So do most who aren't illegal aliens. Or under their control.
She said work-site investigations focus on national security and public safety and that the agency also investigates companies it believes may have committed visa fraud, money laundering, and other violations.
Mayoral spokesman Matt Szabo said Villaraigosa and Los Angeles business leaders hope to discuss their concerns with Chertoff in person next week during an annual business trip to Washington. The allusion in this conversation will probably be thick enough to cut with a knife.
#1
illegal immigration is simply immoral. Those who support it should be ashamed. It is simply the allowing of an entire section of our society to remain a shadow class of labor that remains outside the realm of the law. All of the arguments that support illegal immigration are the same arguements that were used to support slavery: the economy relies on it and would collapse if we abolish it; the participants are the only ones willing to do the work; the little brown folk are better off for their affliction, etc. This is all about keeping a cheap source of labor outside the realm of society so that that businesses do not have to pay them a fair wage for their efforts. It has NOTHING to do with anything altruistic or high minded. It is all about keeping a labor class down.
#2
If you can augment the labor force with enough illegals and underpaid workers you can skew the entire pay scale, and they have. There is only one reason to hire illegals, and you're right, it's to exploit them. There is no philanthropic aspect there, only greed.
#3
"In these industries, including most areas of manufacturing, even the most scrupulous and responsible employers have no choice but to rely on workers whose documentation, while facially valid, may raise questions about their lawful presence," he wrote in the March 27 letter.
Oh. You mean the identity theft amigos?
I'd have pulled the biggest LA ICE raid in history today after this bullshit.
#4
"In these industries, including most areas of manufacturing, even the most scrupulous and responsible employers have no choice but to rely on workers whose documentation, while facially valid, may raise questions about their lawful presence," he wrote in the March 27 letter.
So a scrupulous examination of the pay records will also show that they are in line with what 'legal' and commensurate local union rates would be in an similar environment in any other comparable major city? Don't bet on it.
ABC's Jennifer Duck reports: The White House responded angrily Wednesday to a suggestion from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA that she might change legislative rules to avoid a required vote the disputed free-trade agreement with Colombia.
According to existing rules, the Congress has 90 days to vote on legislation sent by the White House.
White House spokesperson Dana Perino reacted angrily to Pelosi's suggestion. "Speaker Pelosi today did something unprecedented in the history negotiating trade deals in announcing the democrats would change the rules in the middle of the game," Perino said.
The White House has aggressively pushed Congress to approve the trade deal with Colombia, arguing that supporting an ally in South America is in the best interest of the United States. But Democrats oppose the deal, which has been criticized by many labor groups and human rights organizations. The Democrats want to expand support for American workers displaced from their jobs by foreign trade before making more free trade expansion agreements.
"It is clear that there are many in the Democratic party who would like to kill this bill. and they would like to do it without having their fingerprints on it. They want to do it in a way where they don't have to take a vote," Perino said. "You can bet that President Bush is going to bring this up at 3:00 when he sees the leaders."
The President is scheduled to meet with congressional leaders, including Pelosi, at the White House Wednesday afternoon to discuss the trade deal and other matters.
However Speaker Pelosi explained her move saying she thinks the bill would lose if it were brought to the floor immediately and it would send the wrong message to the world about the U.S. positiosn on trade. "I thought there was a risk (in) the President sending it to the Congress now. If brought to the floor immediately, it would lose. And what message would that send?" Pelosi said earlier today.
She called Pelosi's suggestion "awful precedent" and said it was "terrible" for this administration and all future administrations. Perino said the White House has "worked tirelessly" and they "have bent over backwards to make this happen" adding "it will be interesting to see how the president deals with that today."
Speaking about the Speaker's move Perino said sharply, "The fact that they don't even want to have a vote should maybe tell you something because maybe she's not so confident of the votes they have."
After several minutes of Perino's criticisms of Pelosi, ABC's Ann Compton noted that the Press Secretary seemed "a little angry" about the sequence of events today. Perino responded, "I think we're pretty fired up about it. It is the right thing to do. The Free Trade Agreement with Colombia is the right thing to do and they know it. And that's why they don't want to take a vote on it because their special interests are pressuring them not to let this deal go through."
#1
I suspect that this game will play out much like all other games played before by Pelosi. All bluster and no meaningful action. If I was a democrat, I'd be tired of hearing Nancy posture and then get her ass whipped by reality. If it wasn't for the press covering for her, the democrats would have thrown her out long ago.
#2
I think we're about one "free-trade agreement" away from a depression. Fairly soon there won't be anyone with a job left to buy their cheap imported crap.
#3
However Speaker Pelosi explained her move saying she thinks the bill would lose if it were brought to the floor immediately and it would send the wrong clear message to the world about the U.S. Union owned and operated Democratic Party position on trade.
#5
big jim, you do realize that we already have the same rules on Columbian imports that this treaty codifies, don't you?
There's a rolling temporary deal that's been going on for quite a while. This does not improve Columbia's position at all, except to make the deal permanent.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot, this treaty also makes it MUCH easier for the US to export to Columbia.
#9
The only thing this bill does is eliminate the tarrifs on American goods going into Colombia. THe Unions say hop and Pelosi and a lot of other Democrats don't hesitate.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/11/2008 18:08 Comments ||
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Careful there, Dean. That frail, old-fashioned geezer is well on his way to kicking your a$$ come this fall. Because In case your thinking is a bit on the loose side, that means you have a little introspection to take care of.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Thursday that swing voters participating in focus groups commissioned by the D.N.C. bring up John McCain's age unprompted. "We didn't bring it up, but they volunteered it," said Dean who explained that voters have two concerns about McCain's age. "One was a health concern, the other was, and this is really interesting . . . that his views are old-fashioned."
At the age of 72, McCain would be the oldest newly elected president in U.S. history if inaugurated in 2009.
Referring to what Dean characterized as the party's most conservative focus group in Charleston, W. Va., the DNC chairman said "the women in that group were shocked that [McCain] believed health insurance shouldn't cover birth control pills and they were shocked about his belief in abstinence only education."
While knocking McCain's "old-fashioned" views, Dean maintained that the Democratic Party was unlikely to invoke McCain's age in the fall campaign. "I doubt we will bring it up in the election," said Dean, referring to the age issue. "There is somewhat of a higher ethical bar on what we do."
How in the world did his lips remain attached?
"We don't have any Lee Atwaters or Karl Roves on our side," he added.
"We don't have to," added D.N.C. spokeswoman Karen Finney. "I know the McCain campaign is saying he's a strong brand. He's not a strong brand. He's actually a pretty weak candidate."
"I don't think we have to bring up age," said Cornell Belcher, an Obama pollster who collaborated on the D.N.C.'s McCain poll. "I don't think we will."
Republican National Committee spokesman Alex Conant dismissed Dean's comments about McCain's age, saying the election would be about "judgment, character, vision and leadership -- all things voters associate with John McCain."
Dean made his comments to reporters at the D.N.C.'s "John McCain polling briefing".
Since the Democrats have not yet settled on a presidential candidate, Dean was joined in making the polling presentation by Belcher, one of Sen. Barack Obama's pollsters, as well as Allan Rivlin, whose polling firm does work for Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.
#4
So what was people's problems with you when you ran, Howard? Mental instability? Perceived incompetence? That smarmy way you had about you that made people want to kick you in the face? Oh, that's right. You still have that.
My name is Glenn Beck, and I am a recovering alcoholic.
It took me a lot of years and a lot of pain to be able to say those words and really believe them. Along the way, I was arrogant, greedy and self-destructive.
Sen. McCain interviewed on ABC's "The View," which airs Friday
McCain now has to tackle giant challenge: the gender gap
Pew study shows McCain lagging behind Clinton, Obama among women
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
FOX NEWS > Hillary can still win vv OBAMA + posibly MCCAIN iff her campaign can successfully + effec sway US women voters to vote for her in time of war???
#2
ION FOX > MCCAIN to face the politically saavy ladies of THE VIEW, an admittedly mostly PRO-DEMOLEFT show proven to be resiliently popular wid Amer's femme and stay-at-home demographic.
#5
The majority of women have statistically voted dhimocrat anyway, so if I were him I wouldn't waste much time on it. I'd stick to courting the conservatives that didn't like me by reasserting my foreign policy and having a plan for immigration that they would like. Then I would woo the centrists and liberals that are mad about their candidate not winning by pushing health care reform (not that I like socialized health care, but that is what I would do if I were McCain).
About 20,000 security personnel were deployed to patrol the streets, check vehicles and guard courthouses, schools and markets in Karachi, City Police chief Niaz Siddiqui told the AP news agency. Police had arrested three armed men in connection with the unrest, he said.
Death toll: A victim of Wednesdays violence in Karachi died in hospital on Thursday, increasing the death toll to 10.
Advocate Shehryar died of haemorrhaging during treatment at Civil Hospital, Police surgeon Dr Bashir Sheikh said. He said 29 people injured in the unrest were being treated in hospitals. The city remained peaceful on Thursday and police registered three separate cases regarding the Tahir Plaza arson and the clash between lawyers at the city courts.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Posted by: john frum ||
04/11/2008 18:18 Comments ||
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Mutual of Karachi will be busy tomorrow
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/11/2008 19:11 Comments ||
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Is it just me, or is this article totally incomprehensible? Since when do "UN" and might belong in the same sentence, unless might is a synonym for maybe? Is the pope just trying to stroke this impotent organization of clueless gabbers, or is he just using these tools as a platform to deliver a sermon to someone beyond them?
Pope Benedict is unlikely to discuss specific world trouble spots but will assail the notion that "might is right" when he addresses the United Nations next week, a papal envoy said on Thursday.
The German-born pontiff's speech in the General Assembly when he visits the United Nations on April 18 during a five-day visit to the United States is certain to be scrutinized for any reference to current political topics.
But the Vatican's permanent observer at the world body, Archbishop Celestino Migliore, said Benedict would focus on more general issues of peace and human rights. "Pope Benedict won't necessarily touch upon specific crises in the world: unfortunately, they are too many to be dealt with in a few minutes," he told an audience of nongovernmental organizations and journalists.
"But surely, coming to the U.N. as a pilgrim of peace, he will say that we cannot base our relations on the false notion that might makes right, that we cannot build our future on a simple balance of power," Migliore said. "No, our future must be based on respect for universal truths and our common humanity."
Benedict's U.N. visit will be the fourth by a pontiff. Pope Paul VI came in 1965 for the world body's 20th anniversary and Pope John Paul II in 1979 and 1995 for the 50th anniversary.
"It's quite normal to expect that, in the wake of his predecessors, Pope Benedict will speak of peace," Migliore said.
The Vatican has observer status at the United Nations. Migliore told questioners it preferred that to full membership because it enabled the Holy See to stay out of direct involvement in political, economic and military issues.
So they learned something from a thousand years ago ...
The archbishop noted that this year marked the 60th anniversary of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Benedict has often spoken of the need for respect for rights, including religious freedom. "The papacy ... works at the U.N. ... above all by highlighting and insisting on essential values and fundamental rights. I can anticipate that next week Pope Benedict will do just that," Migliore said.
#7
"Might isn't right" is something I would expect to hear from any Christian pulpit, along with loaves, fishes, and love thy neighbor. "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition" we save for more desparate times.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/11/2008 13:25 Comments ||
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#8
Perhaps this should be put under the heading of "Training lions to eat tofu".
Political scientist Behrouz Khosrozadeh portrays Iranian thinker Abdolkarim Soroush whose book, "Expansion of Prophetic Experience", which is due out in English this year questions the Koran and has brought him parallels with Salman Rushdie. "It is impossible to overestimate the radicalness of what he is saying. Even the most courageous Muslim reformist thinkers such as Nasr Hamid Abu Zaid and Mohammad Arkoun have never demanded more than historically-oriented reading of the Koran. Soroush has now broken the greatest taboo of Islamic exegesis. 'The Koran,' he says, 'is man's creation and potentially fallible.'"
DOHA: Prominent Qatar-based Muslim cleric Sheikh Yusuf Al Qaradawi has sparked controversy by issuing a religious edict allowing Muslims to consume tiny amounts of alcohol.
The latest fatwa caused confusion among people... we could have done without it, the editor of the Qatari daily Ash-Sharq, Abdullatif Al Mahmud, wrote on Thursday. In the edict published in the Al-Arab newspaper on Tuesday, the Egyptian-born Qaradawi said consuming drinks containing small quantities of alcohol that is constituted naturally through fermentation did not violate Islamic teachings.
But Ash-Sharqs editor said the fatwa will open the door to those who want to consume drinks containing small proportions of alcohol under the pretext that the proportion of alcohol that is banned or permitted has not been defined.
Qaradawi, told AFP on Thursday that his fatwa sparked controversy because it had not been properly understood. It came in response to a question about an energy drink available on the market, he said. A former dean of the Islamic law school at Qatar University, Abdul Hamid Al-Ansari, told AFP he agreed with the content of Qaradawis fatwa
This article starring:
Abdul Hamid Al-Ansari
Abdullatif Al Mahmud
YUSUF AL QARADAWI
Learned Elders of Islam
Posted by: john frum ||
04/11/2008 00:00 ||
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His nephew must have bought a beer distributorship.
#2
Heck, even apple juice that sits around on the shelf for a few days probably has some alcohol in it that developed by these natural processes he is referring to. This is probably what this guy is referring to.
Otherwise, muslims would have nothing to eat or drink, now would they?
#3
Egyptian Muslims have been drinking in Christian homes for centuries. And in Bosnia, a low alcohol stout - a Slavized Guinness - is sipped after Friday Prayers, although intoxication is cause for arrest. Similarly, in the UAE - which still uses UK civil law codes - some Westernized Muslims believe that the prohibition against alcohol consumption applies only in wartime. There are several sports bars in Dubai.
I know that somewhere in the Bukhari Hadith, there is a reference to a partially fermented drink being favored by the "prophet." Any fermentation yields some alcohol. Of course, there were no modern chemists around when Muhammad was spinning his yarns.
Posted under Non-WoT, but could very well be placed under WoT-Politix! Saw the magazine last night at store, so figured I'd share the "knowledge wealth" EXPANDING SUPPLY
These days everyone is worried about oil. The primitive black goo has been linked to climate change, economic disruption and other problems, but make no mistake: We still need oil, and lots of it. Not only is American demand risingthis year its expected to top 21 million barrels per daybut ascendant economies in India and China have developed huge appetites for the stuff. The stark reality is that the supply is finite. "Peak oil" theorists argue that production is already maxed out, meaning imminent shortages and sharper price spikes; more optimistic experts believe that day is 20 to 30 years away. Both camps agree that the task ahead is twofold: Develop new supplies while learning to stretch existing reserves.
The Relentless Search
There has not been a major find on U.S. soil since Prudhoe Bay in 1968, which means most major exploration has moved to the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, where drilling and production are difficult and expensive. Last year, a Chevron-led consortium announced the discovery of the Jack field, 270 miles off Louisiana. It may hold 15 billion barrels, which would more than double domestic reserves. Boy, howdy, that'd be a welcome relief.
"The technology that is being brought to bear is phenomenal," says energy writer Robert Bryce, author of Gusher of Lies. "What we are seeing today in offshore drilling is the terrestrial version of the space program." Bryce is among those pushing to open offshore leases along the East and West coasts currently under federal moratorium but estimated to hold as much as 19 billion barrels of oil and 86 trillion cu. ft. of natural gas. So, let me get this straight. We just found a Gulf reserve that could double our domestic reserves and there's another 50+% (on top of those 2 reserves) there in offshore "banned" areas (tripling our domestic reserves, without even tapping the oil shale out west)?
Tapping vast unconventional sources that dont flow to the surface is also hugely challenging. The oil sands of Alberta, Canada, contain 175 billion barrels of proven reservesthe largest in the world outside Saudi Arabiabut the oil costs as much as $15 per barrel to produce, compared to $2 for Saudi crude. Likewise, shale deposits in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming hold promise, but no one has yet figured out how to extract them at a profit. Royal Dutch Shell has placed a $200 million bet that it can unlock Colorados Green River Formation, which could produce 4 million barrels per day20 percent of current U.S. consumption. That doesn't even include the "light crude" in the recently announced oil-shale formation in the Dakotas??? Pretty cool how $100+/barrel can "spur" new finds, eh? More at link, including info on efficiencies of "Enhanced Recovery" wells, etc.
Posted by: BA ||
04/11/2008 10:43 ||
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The 'Dakota Find' has been known since the early '80's and Shell want to drill now. Problem is they cannot not get necessary Federal Permits even though they have been trying since 1987!
The Canadian oil we currently import (48% of our imports)comes from the same formation, just further north.
Don't want to hurt the Saudi's or Canadians do we...
Posted by: Herman Phusotle4913 ||
04/11/2008 13:51 Comments ||
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#2
Perhaps not drilling our own oil with all these refuges and protected areas is a long term ploy to make the world use up all their oil first...
Sadly, our government is nowhere near that smart. But one can dream...
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
04/11/2008 14:34 Comments ||
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#3
from my reading the independents are drilling in the Bakken, not Shell, not Chevron, not the majors
#4
Is there any candidate anywhere in the country proposing a $25/bbl tariff on the non-continental imported stuff? If we're gonna have a recession, let's at least use the chance to let the you know who's from you know where start paying our taxes.
Replace the ethanol tariff with a crude tariff, and move production back to this hemisphere.
Finally, set up a tollbooth (for clarity I suppose we could call it a blockade line) at the exit of the Persian Gulf, and start collecting tolls - maybe simply offset the amount from the purchase prices.
#5
s there any candidate anywhere in the country proposing a $25/bbl tariff on the non-continental imported stuff? If we're gonna have a recession, let's at least use the chance to let the you know who's from you know where start paying our taxes.
Replace the ethanol tariff with a crude tariff, and move production back to this hemisphere.
What makes you think that transferring even more massive amounts of money from the private sector to the government is going to help anyone but the government?
Ethanol and "alternative fuels" are a scan perpetuated by the government for thirty years. These "technologies" weren't ready then, they aren't ready now nor will they ever be ready.
Wanna know how I know?
Government is subsidizing these scams, the only way they have survived over the last thirty years.
Tariffs and tax increases in all their forms only helps government; No sector of any economy benefits but government; they will never solve a problem but they will always help to create newer and bigger problems.
Mashad: A top Shia cleric in Iran has said that unveiled women are a serious danger to Iranian society as they cause men to be "transformed into beasts".
Caught a glimpse of Patty Anne, did he?
Women without the veil are a danger that the authorities underestimate, said Hojatolislam Seyyed Ahmad Elmalhoda, a powerful cleric who leads the Friday prayers in Mashad, a site considered sacred for Shia Muslims as it houses the shrine of Imam Reza.
This situation is very serious in that if men see these bad women, they will turn into beasts, and then the whole of society will have to pay the consequences.
According to the Shia cleric, women who do not respect conservative Islamic dress rules are "sources of all that is bad in society."
Respecting the chador (a long, black cloak that covers the arms and legs and is usually worn with a hijab) is the law of the state and the authorities must severely punish anyone who does not respect this law, in the same way that they punish thieves and murderers, said Elmadhoda.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2008 00:00 ||
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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.
Rest easy, my friends. McCain knows how to twist the knife in the most subtle of manners, and most unusual of venues.
DOHA: Prominent Qatar-based Muslim cleric Sheikh 
