#1
See also BHARAT RAKSHAK > "THE ECONOMIST" MAGZ STUDY:GLOBAL RECESSION IS MAKING THE WORLD MORE VIOLENT; + UNICEF:OVER 400MILYUHN HUNGRY IN SOUTH ASIA [2007-2009], up from 309MILYUHN in 2004-2006. STUdy also indics that 33% of SOUTH ASIA's 1.8 BILYUHN PERSONS east less than the MINIMUM DAILY NUTRI REQUIREMENTS, + 3/4 live on less tha US$2.0 a day.
Just two weeks before his arrest on corruption charges, then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich floated a plan to nominate to the U.S. Senate the daughter of his biggest political rival in return for concessions on his pet projects, people familiar with the plan told The Associated Press.
Blagojevich told fellow Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin he was thinking of naming Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to the seat vacated when Barack Obama won the presidential election, according to two Durbin aides who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A Madigan appointment would have been a political shocker because the governor had been warring politically with her father, powerful Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, on and off for Blagojevich's two terms in office. The aides said the concessions Blagojevich wanted in return were progress on capital spending projects and a health care bill that were stalled in the Legislature.
Last November, Madigan said the chance was "less than zero" the governor would offer her the seat, adding that she did not believe she was even being considered. She is a likely contender in the 2010 governor's race.
It was already known that Blagojevich thought of her as a possible pick for the Senate seat but this conversation, unreported until now, provides details and shows he went as far as discussing the idea with at least one high-ranking fellow Democrat.
The 10-minute conversation took place Nov. 24 as Durbin was in his car using his cell phone, according to the aides. One aide said Durbin considered the idea an "innocuous compromise" and offered to help, but was told by the governor to "do nothing," and never heard more on the matter. The aides spoke on condition that their names would not be used out of respect for the custom that Senate aides most often allow their bosses to be quoted. They gave their account in response to questions as reports circulated as to exactly what was said by Blagojevich and others on tapes made by FBI agents who wiretapped Blagojevich's home and campaign offices last fall.
Blagojevich attorney Samuel E. Adam declined to comment Monday and Durbin's office would offer no further comment. Mike Madigan's spokesman Steve Brown did not immediately return a call and a spokeswoman for Lisa Madigan said she did not have any immediate comment.
According to the Senate aides, Durbin was delighted to hear that Blagojevich was thinking of naming Madigan to the seat. He believed she would be a popular figure in Illinois and stood perhaps the best chance of holding the seat against a Republican. Durbin volunteered to call the attorney general or the speaker to get the ball rolling and possibly broker an agreement, the aides said.
And that, as far as they know, was the end of the matter, the aides said. They said the Nov. 24 conversation was the only one between Durbin and Blagojevich last fall.
Blagojevich was arrested Dec. 9 and faces racketeering, fraud and other charges in connection with allegations that he sought to sell or trade the Senate seat, and that he used the political muscle of the governor's office to pressure people for campaign money. He has pleaded not guilty. He was impeached and thrown out of office in January.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/02/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
They are peeling the onion, but no one except the crooked pols are crying. Please continue.
U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel said it was "entirely inappropriate" to make a comment about President Barack Obama needing to be careful when visiting Harlem, where a black police officer was fatally shot by a white colleague last week.
Officer Omar J. Edwards was shot by a fellow officer late Thursday while in street clothes. In response to a newspaper reporter's query about what President Barack Obama should do during his New York City visit on Saturday, Rangel said the president should "make certain he doesn't run around in East Harlem without identification."
In a released statement, the congressman said "It was entirely inappropriate to bring the President and his wife into this discussion during their visit to New York, and I hope my off-the-cuff comment did not cause embarrassment to anyone."
"The tragic shooting of Officer Omar Edwards highlights the need for additional training of our police officers, and I am pleased that Commissioner Kelly recognizes a racial factor is involved," Rangel also said. "I am calling on Attorney General Eric Holder to review the problems in the New York City Police Department when black officers are killed by whites, which too often is the case."
Edwards' father, Ricardo, said something must be done so what happened to his son never happens again.
"If they can do that to their own people, who can they protect?" Ricardo Edwards said. "They are here to protect me, protect you, but if they can't protect their own people, who they gonna protect?"
Posted by: Fred ||
06/02/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Rangel is inappropriate.
But that's never stopped him yet....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/02/2009 1:39 Comments ||
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#2
Note to Rangel: It's entirely inappropriate not to pay your taxes.
#3
In the competition for the coveted "Snark of the Day" award, Barbara Skolaut has taken a commanding early lead . . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
06/02/2009 9:34 Comments ||
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#4
It gets better: After he offered his so called apology he then went on to say that Commissioner Kelley had indicated that the shooting was "racially motivated" but according to Kelley he never said anything resembling that.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/02/2009 9:44 Comments ||
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#5
"The tragic shooting of Officer Omar Edwards highlights the need for additional training of our police officers..."
Well, yes. The training should include instruction in how one should not point a gun at armed officers while in civilian clothing after being seen chasing someone down the street while brandishing a firearm.
I'm pretty sure that's what they mean by 'additional training' right?
Republican Norm Coleman asked the Minnesota Supreme Court on Monday to throw out a lower-court ruling that handed Democrat Al Franken a win in the state's U.S. Senate race. Coleman attorney Joe Friedberg argued that counties were inconsistent in the way they decided whether absentee ballots were filled out properly and should be counted. "Twelve thousand citizens who made good-faith efforts to vote were disenfranchised, with a variety of reasons," Friedberg said.
Franken attorney Marc Elias argued that Coleman's team has failed to show specific voters were disenfranchised, but only broad categories of mistakes that might have left some voters behind. "This isn't evidence, this is an argument," Elias said.
Coleman, whose term in the Senate expired in January, trailed Franken by 312 votes after a recount and his lawsuit challenging the results of that recount. He wants the justices to instruct the trial court to open more rejected absentee ballots.
Franken hopes the court sweeps aside the appeal and orders that he immediately receive the election certificate required to take office. Franken is the potential 60th vote for Democrats in the Senate, though two of those are independents. It wasn't clear how quickly the court would rule.
Several of the five justices immediately grilled Friedberg with skeptical questions. Justice Christopher Dietzen said he saw "no evidence or fraud or misconduct."
"It seems like you're offering little more than an opening statement in this case," Dietzen said. "Coleman's theory of the case, but no concrete evidence to back it up."
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/02/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Al Franken? You elected Al Franken? You state is full of nothing but idiots.
#2
Knock Franken all you want, but Coleman did not lose by 225 as per the State Canvassing Board or 312 as per the Election Contest Court, but by .... 63,209.
That's right - more than 63,000 McCain supporters did not want Coleman to get a second term. It was evident by the silence during Coleman's acceptance speech at the MN-GOP convention that the Republicans weren't happy with him. Coleman would have had a better chance if he would have appeared at any of the McCain rallies ... all it would have taken was to "rally" a few hundred people and he would have won.
Posted by: Minnesota Central ||
06/02/2009 9:00 Comments ||
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#3
To the MN voters supporting Franken, I believe this posting from yesterday must certainly apply.
#4
There is something in the water in Minnesota. This is the same state that also elected Jesse Ventura as Governor.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/02/2009 9:46 Comments ||
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#5
Of course there is no "evidence". The absentee ballots in question are SEALED. The whole point is that Coleman is asking to look them over so that he can present exactly the evidence that the court is asking for. The court is making a really dumb, circular and self-serving argument.
There are wide discrepancies between how absentee ballots were counted in the various counties. To no one's surprise, the Franklinstein leaning counties applied much looser rules. Coleman is asking that all counties count using the same standards. Franklinstein opposes this because he'd certainly lose such a count.
Also, I strongly suspect that a large percentage of the ballots Franklinstein doesn't want to count come from people serving in the military.
#7
Mojo - better that neither leave - Coleman lost because he's self-serving and corrupt. This is the guy who was SDS as a kid, ran for office as a democrat and then switched to GOP when he saw a chance to move up the political daisychain. The best thing for MN is if the case isn't settled until after the next election.
Unable to muster a last-minute legislative Hail Mary, Gov. Quinn came up empty-handed Sunday in his bid to increase the state income tax by 50 percent to stave off $7 billion in budget cuts.
Dealing Quinn the biggest legislative defeat of his 17-week governorship, the House voted 42-74 against his push to temporarily raise the income tax rate for individuals from 3 percent to 4.5 percent. Sixty votes were needed for passage.
"I'm a little disappointed tonight in our General Assembly, that we were not able to get enough revenue to have a balanced budget for the coming fiscal year," a visibly frustrated Quinn told reporters Sunday evening. "While we're disappointed, we are not in any way undaunted."
Unable to nail down the income tax increase, Quinn is in an epic bind. If he can't convert 29 Republican and Democratic income tax opponents to "yes" votes in the coming weeks, Quinn must cut billions of dollars in vital state services as he gears up for a 2010 gubernatorial run later this year.
The top House Republican pinned blame for the tax plan's failure on Springfield's ruling Democrats, who could not put together a balanced budget despite having comfortable House and Senate majorities and a governor with whom they can finally work after ousting ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
"They've clearly failed, no question about it," said House Minority Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego).
Others in Cross' party were celebratory. "People say 'just stop the spending,' and I agree with them. I claim a victory here for those folks," said Rep. Randy Ramey (R-Carol Stream).
The governor still has about 10 weeks of budgetary wiggle room before having to strike some kind of tax-hike deal or begin what one Democrat called an "apocalyptic" series of funding cuts.
To avert that budgetary bloodbath, Quinn said he intends to reconvene the four legislative leaders for more budget talks today, ruling out a special session and insisting he plans to bring no other funding options to the table beyond his tax-hike plan.
"I believe in the tax based on ability to pay: the income tax," Quinn said. "If we were here 100 years ago and Teddy Roosevelt was still alive, he'd tell you it follows a principle as old as the Bible. Taxes should be based on the ability to pay."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/02/2009 00:00 ||
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"Quinn must cut billions of dollars in vital state services"
No, he needs to cut expenditures. You know, like the rest of us have to when we don't have as much income as we used to.
He could start by cutting bullshit expenditures designed to make some leftie feel good, and political patronage "jobs," before even thinking about cutting truly essential services. But he won't. :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/02/2009 1:34 Comments ||
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"If we were here 100 years ago and Teddy Roosevelt was still alive, he'd tell you it follows a principle as old as the Bible. Taxes should be based on the ability to pay."
He'd also tell you, Gov. Quinn/Ceasar, you've been rendered stuck on stupid.
#3
This was basically a punt by the Ill. House to put off a decision until November at which time they will know if they will have any opposition in the next election (I voted not to raise taxes!). Then they will conveniently discover that the state desparately needs a tax increase and will vote for it. Same old same old in the Land of Lincoln Stinkin'.
#5
Besoeker, you intrigue me. What were the differences you saw?
Posted by: Jonathan ||
06/02/2009 10:09 Comments ||
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Downstate communities on the west side of the Wabash looked like they were suffering far more from the recession than those on the east bank. Farming communities on both sides. Maybe it was just a coincidence.
#7
"I believe in the tax based on ability to pay: the income tax," Quinn said. "If we were here 100 years ago and Teddy Roosevelt was still alive, he'd tell you it follows a principle as old as the Bible. Taxes should be based on the ability to pay."
Gov. Quinn just joined in the competition for idiot of the day. Talk about "stuck on stupid", this man is there. The role of taxes is to pay for the minimum government the people need to ensure their rights and property. ANYTHING ELSE is theft. That's why the US Congress is known as the biggest criminal group in the country.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/02/2009 17:58 Comments ||
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#8
The role of taxes is to pay for the minimum government the people need to ensure their rights and property
How refreshingly naive. The role of taxes is to bribe potential voters, reward supporters, friends and relatives, and provide unofficial remuneration for the permanent legislative class. Oh, and it's also handy for the occasional experiment in social engineering.
Posted by: The Democrats ||
06/02/2009 18:06 Comments ||
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Meet the poster child for ethical conflict in the Northeast: Connecticut Democrat Sen. Chris Dodd.
His dubious activities have produced two Republican opponents and a Democratic primary challenger, Air Force veteran and businessman Merrick Alpert. A Quinnipiac University poll last week showed him trailing former Republican Rep. Rob Simmons by 6 points in a head-to-head matchup.
Dodd seems inclined to carve out sweetheart deals for himself and his pals, and then dissemble when his hand is found in the cookie jar. He's got much to explain:
* Countrywide Financial: In 2003, Dodd received two cut-rate mortgages of nearly $800,000 in total from the subprime-mortgage lending giant.
The special mortgages apparently came about because the senator -- then a high-ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee and now chairman -- was dubbed a "Friend of Angelo," Countrywide co-founder Angelo Mozilo.
When this was first reported a year ago, Dodd promised prompt disclosure of all his records related to Countrywide. "Prompt" ended up being nearly seven months. When the records were "released," no copying was allowed. Dodd declines further comment.
* The "Irish Cottage": In further real-estate shenanigans, Dodd in 1994 purchased a one-third share of an Irish vacation home; the other two-thirds were bought by businessman William Kessinger, partner of one Edward Downe, who pleaded guilty to insider trading the same year.
As Bill Clinton was exiting the White House in 2001, Dodd successfully lobbied to have Downe pardoned. One year later, Dodd took full ownership of the Irish property from Kessinger -- at a mere fraction of its appraised value.
* AIG bonuses: In February, a Dodd amendment in the stimulus package guaranteed that executives of firms receiving government bailouts were still eligible for agreed-upon bonuses.
When the AIG uproar began weeks later, Dodd insisted that he inserted the language only at the urging of the Obama administration. That Dodd has received some $280,000 in contributions from AIG -- and that his wife once served as an outside director with an AIG affiliate in Bermuda -- cast doubt on that explanation.
After five terms, it seems that Chris Dodd may have been around too long. That, of course, will be up to the people of Connecticut. Happily, they will have choices.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/02/2009 00:00 ||
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After Chris Dodd is out, I hope a prosecuter steps in to finish his ass off.
Posted by: Clegum Protector of the Welsh4635 ||
06/02/2009 13:41 Comments ||
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Perhaps they could start...here?
In the court of public opinion, Countrywide Financial Corp. co-founder Angelo Mozilo is the chief villain in the mortgage crisis that has crippled the economy.
But, even with arrows in his back from politicians and pundits and an outraged public, he could still ride into the sunset mostly unscathed, several prosecutors and other legal experts say.
He also has chips to play. As the man allegedly behind an unofficial effort to provide discounted loans to favored borrowers, which is now under federal scrutiny, he knows which politicians and others may have received special treatment. He could use that information to bargain with prosecutors.
Anthony Salerno said attorneys from the Justice Department in Washington joined FBI agents and federal prosecutors from Los Angeles last fall in interviewing his client, Robert Feinberg, about what was known at the company as "Friends of Angelo." Feinberg, a 12-year Countrywide employee who processed the VIP loans, told investigators that it was standard practice to tell borrowers, "Your loan was specially priced by Angelo," according to a congressional report.
Salerno said the Justice Department appeared to be investigating whether the program amounted to improper influence peddling by Countrywide and whether the politicians had failed to publicly report favors from Mozilo. And that, legal experts said, could give Mozilo another strategy: a chance to cut a deal with prosecutors in exchange for his testimony.
"He's in a position, potentially, to say who else Congress had their hands out to," Levenson said.
President Barack Obama suggested that Iran may have some right to nuclear energy _ provided it proves by the end of the year that its aspirations are peaceful.
In a BBC interview broadcast Tuesday, he also restated plans to pursue direct diplomacy with Tehran to encourage it set aside any ambitions for nuclear weapons it might harbor.
Iran has insisted its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity. But the U.S. and other Western governments accuse Tehran of seeking atomic weapons.
"What I do believe is that Iran has legitimate energy concerns, legitimate aspirations," Obama said, adding that the international community also "has a very real interest" in preventing a nuclear arms race.
The president has indicated a willingness to seek deeper international sanctions against Tehran if it does not respond positively to U.S. attempts to open negotiations on its nuclear program. Obama has said Tehran has until the end of the year to show it wants to engage with Washington.
"Although I don't want to put artificial time tables on that process, we do want to make sure that, by the end of this year, we've actually seen a serious process move forward. And I think that we can measure whether or not the Iranians are serious," Obama said.
Obama's interview offered a preview of a speech he is to deliver in Egypt this week, saying he hoped the address would warm relations between Americans and Muslims abroad.
"What we want to do is open a dialogue," Obama told the BBC. "You know, there are misapprehensions about the West, on the part of the Muslim world. And, obviously, there are some big misapprehensions about the Muslim world when it comes to those of us in the West."
Obama leaves in the evening on a trip to Egypt and Saudi Arabia aimed at reaching out to the world's 1.5 billion Muslims. He is due to make his speech in Cairo on Thursday.
Obama sounded an optimistic note about making progress toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, although he offered no new ideas for how he might try to secure a freeze on new building of Israeli settlements. The United States has called for a freeze, but Israeli leaders have rejected that.
Asked what he would say during his visit about human rights abuses, including the detention of political prisoners in Egypt, Obama indicated no stern lecture would be forthcoming.
He said he hoped to deliver the message that democratic values are principles that "they can embrace and affirm."
Obama added that there is a danger "when the United States, or any country, thinks that we can simply impose these values on another country with a different history and a different culture."
#1
On June 4, Obama will apologize for Western opposition to: the first Muslim imperial phase against Byzantine Rome, et al; the Crusades; the anti-Reconquista; the Ottoman advance into Europe; Pirate pillage on the Barbary Coast.
And he will do that in al-Azhar University, where much of the anti-Crusades jihad direction was planned.
Will Americans discern the depth of the President's depravity?
#7
No, you see, Iblis, America has no right to nuclear power, or in fact, any power at all.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
06/02/2009 17:25 Comments ||
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#8
Does this jackass realize he's signaling "green light" to the Iranians to go nuclear and "red light" to the Israelis to stop them?
Sigh, stupid question I know...
Let's try again: Obama added that there is a danger "when the United States, or any country, thinks that we can simply impose these values on another country with a different history and a different culture."
Does he realize that Israel doesn't give a shit about his little game?
Posted by: regular joe ||
06/02/2009 17:34 Comments ||
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#9
If he was a muslim and intent on destroying the US with the support of the dems what would he do differently?
In a new overture to Iran, the Obama administration has authorized US embassies around the world to invite Iranian officials to Independence Day parties they host on or around July 4th.
I posted it to Home Front: Culture Wars and Seedy Politicians simply because there was no 'Administration Pro-Muslim Insanity' category listed.
Iranians in U.S. Embassies, it is the Carter Administration, Part 2.
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.
Just two weeks before his arrest on corruption charges, then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich floated a plan to nominate to the U.S. Senate the daughter of his biggest political rival in return for concessions on his pet projects, people familiar with the plan told The Associated Press.
Meet the poster child for ethical conflict in the Northeast: Connecticut Democrat Sen. Chris Dodd.
