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Army takes Sultanwas, kills 81; Mullah Fazlullah maybe titzup
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Page 6: Politix
2 00:00 M. Murcek [] 
2 00:00 Grenter, Protector of the Geats [] 
6 00:00 Phineth the Anonymous8743 [] 
9 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [] 
2 00:00 Jack is Back! [] 
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Page 4: Opinion
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2 00:00 Formerly Dan [1]
-Short Attention Span Theater-
City sends cease and desist order after exposé on council members...
City administrators have sent a letter to a local Website operator, ordering her to remove information related to municipal offices, City Council members learned at Monday's work session.

The cease-and-desist order was sent last week to Katie Schwartz, who oversees the everythingconneautohio.com Web site. The letter was authorized by City Manager Robert Schaumleffel Jr.

Ward 1 Councilman Dave Campbell, who has promoted the Web site, was outraged by the letter, calling it “garbage. We cannot dictate how she runs her business,” he said.

At the end of the meeting, Campbell made a motion that would order Schaumleffel to rescind the letter and apologize to Schwartz. The motion was defeated by a 3-3 vote. Voting yes were Campbell, Ward 2 Councilman Charles Lewis and Ward 3 Councilman Greg Mooney. Opposed were Council President James Jones, Councilman-at-Large Chris Castrilla and Ward 4 Councilman Tony Julio. Absent was Councilman-at-Large Jacob Chicatelli.

Schaumleffel said he did not want to see Schwartz's for-profit Web site be mistaken as the official city of Conneaut Web site, which is being overhauled by another individual. "We can't turn the city Web page into a commercial site," he said.

The manager said he would gladly create a link on the city page to Schwartz's site. “I’m trying to keep this on a business basis,” Schaumleffel said.

Disclosure of the cease-and-desist letter followed some terse words Schaumleffel directed at Schwartz at the beginning of the meeting. The manager said he understood Schwartz made accusations about him at a town hall-style meeting Thursday night.

Schaumleffel used Schwartz as a springboard to rail against what he said was an organized campaign among some to “dig up dirt” on his administrative staff. “I am tired of the dirt,” he said. “I don't know what the hell is going on. These personal attacks are going to stop. I'm really tired of the personal attacks.”

The manager also scolded council members who attended the meeting and didn't speak on his behalf, without naming names,

Schaumleffel said the same tactics prompted interim city manager Edward Somppi to abruptly resign last summer. “It didn't start with me and or end with me, but I'm going to try to put a stop to it,” he said.
Posted by: Fred || 05/20/2009 08:40 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Here is her website: http://www.everythingconneautohio.com/

Here is the letter, in two parts:

Part 1

Part 2

I find it particularly hilarious that the Law Director for the city is named - Lori Lamer.

Comedy gold, if it wasn't so gosh darn serious.
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/20/2009 9:14 Comments || Top||

#2  The manager also scolded council members who attended the meeting and didn't speak on his behalf, without naming names,


Need some cheese to go with that whine, Chief.
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/20/2009 9:15 Comments || Top||

#3  since when do city managers control the internet?
Posted by: funky skunk || 05/20/2009 9:59 Comments || Top||

#4  She has all the businesses advertised except Bail Bondsmen.

The city manager keeps this up he's going to need one.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 05/20/2009 10:15 Comments || Top||

#5  Sounds to me like the 'good city manager' is pissed because she was able to get a website up weeks before the 'offical' website (which probably sucks anyway).

I'm betting Mr. Manager is an avid Obama supporter too.

Here is a link to what appears to be the 'offical' site: http://www.conneaut.net/. Still under construction.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/20/2009 11:07 Comments || Top||

#6  Not to worry Seafarious -this is comedy gold and not at all serious, other than in the minds of the City Manager, the Law Director, and three councilmen.

It is a classic example of the private sector embarassing the pants off of the public sector, and likely at a very small fraction of the price.

It gets a bit serious with the coercive legal nature of the City's whining, and very serious as soon as anyone begins asking why Conneaut (pronounced as in "Connie ought", not "connote") even needs a city manager, a law director, and in all liklihood, a city council.

Alas, this former buckeye can only hope.
Posted by: Phineth the Anonymous8743 || 05/20/2009 17:45 Comments || Top||


Britain
Commons Speaker Martin to step down in June
Under-fire House of Commons Speaker Michael Martin this afternoon confirmed his resignation. In a short statement to a packed House of Commons, Mr Martin announced he would leave his post on June 21 with a new speaker to be elected the following day.

Mr Martin said: "Since I came to this House 30 years ago I've always felt the House is at its best when it is united. In order that unity can be maintained, I have decided that I will relinquish the office of Speaker on Sunday June 21. This will allow the House to proceed to elect a new Speaker on Monday June 22. That is all I have to say on this matter." Mr Martin then swiftly moved onto other business.

His spokesperson later revealed he would also stand down as MP for Glasgow North East on the same date, sparking a by-election in the traditionally safe Labour seat.

Mr Martin came under fire from critics for being the driving force behind repeated attempts by Commons authorities to block details of MPs' expenses from coming out under Freedom of Information legislation. His resignation came as Tory MP Douglas Hogg revealed he will not stand at the next election, following controversy over his own expenses.
Oh, dear.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said no MP who had defied the rules on expenses would be allowed to stand as a Labour candidate.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/20/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It began modestly enough back in 2005, when an American freelance writer and journalism teacher living in London, Heather Brooke, entered a request under Britain’s newly promulgated freedom of information act for details of the expense claims of British members of Parliament.
Ms. Brooke’s initiative to expose the politicians’ greed, now led by one of the country’s principal newspapers, The Daily Telegraph, has led to the biggest scandal to hit the House of Commons in decades.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 05/20/2009 1:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Now if Heather Brooke would just return to the USA and start FOIAing her way through our Congress.......
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 05/20/2009 6:36 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Benedict Arlen defends Pelosi, questions CIA's honesty
Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) took the opportunity Wednesday to defend House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has come under fire in recent weeks over a controversy surrounding when she was told of the use of enhanced interrogation techniques being used by the CIA.

"The CIA has a very bad record when it comes to — I was about to say 'candid'; that's too mild — to honesty," Specter, a former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a lunch address to the American Law Institute. He cited misleading information about the agency's involvement in mining harbors in Nicaragua and the Iran-Contra affair.

"Director [Leon] Panetta says the agency does not make it a habit to misinform Congress. I believe that is true. It is not the policy of the Central Intelligence Agency to misinform Congress," Specter said. "But that doesn't mean that they're all giving out the information."

Because of leaks that have come from Congress, Specter said, he understands the agency's hesitancy to disclose all its information.

"The current controversy involving Speaker Pelosi and the CIA is very unfortunate, in my opinion, because it politicizes the issue and it takes away attention from ... how does the Congress get accurate information from the CIA?" Specter said. "For political gain, people are making headlines."

Specter and Pelosi have worked together on health and human services legislation, and the senator characterized the Speaker as "reliable and very able." He said he agrees with mounting calls that notes about the meetings should be publicly disclosed.

"Speaker Pelosi wants the notes disclosed. I think they ought to be, in the interest of transparency," Specter said. "The Speaker's entitled to have as much light shed on this as possible, and so [is] the public. The public is entitled to know what went on there."

The new Democrat also said Wednesday that he will ask the eventual nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter what sort of cases he or she would allow to be heard.

"You can't ask the nominee how the nominee is going to decide a case. We all know that. But I think it's a fair question to say, 'What cases will you hear? What cases will you take?' " Specter said.

Four of the nine Supreme Court justices must agree to grant a writ of certiorari to hear a case. Specter said he was troubled by the current court's refusal to hear several cases dealing with executive authority, which he worried has been expanded too greatly since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Specter, who served as the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee during confirmation hearings for Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito, has been relegated to the most junior perch on the committee after switching to the Democratic Party.

But as a centrist Democrat, Specter will remain one of the key votes in the Senate as interest groups on both sides pressure him to support or oppose the eventual nominee. Specter has said he will remain an independent voice in the Senate, and in announcing his party switch affirmed that he still will oppose Dawn Johnsen's nomination to head the Office of Legal Counsel.

Only one other Democrat — Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.) — has taken the same position opposing Johnsen.

Specter has been involved in every Supreme Court nomination fight since being elected to the Senate in 1980. His questioning of Robert Bork is credited with helping take down President Reagan's nominee in 1987, and he played a key role in questioning Anita Hill during Justice Clarence Thomas's confirmation hearings in 1991.

Specter said aggressive questioning at confirmation hearings, which did not become standard procedure until the 1950s, is warranted.

"I'd let the process take its course. I don't think we have strayed too far. But then I participated in the Bork hearings," Specter said. "There are many in the Senate who take the position that there's not a whole lot of deference given to the president."

Since Bork's nomination collapsed,...
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/20/2009 19:01 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Phfft. He'd have done this even had he stayed "Republican."
Posted by: Iblis || 05/20/2009 19:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Soon, even a program will be useless...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/20/2009 21:05 Comments || Top||


House Dems hire speed reader to foist another one on the electorate
Democrats in the House Energy and Commerce Committee have taken a novel precaution to head off Republican efforts to slow action this week on a sweeping climate bill. They are hiring a speed reader.
Republicans on the committee have said they may force the reading of the entire 946-page bill -- as well as major amendments that measure several hundred pages -- all aloud. This is a procedure lawmakers have a right to invoke.
Yet another law our esteemed legislators will neither have written, read nor understood when they vote on it.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 05/20/2009 13:23 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Dumb move on their part! How do they think news of this will be received by the voters. These are the same voters who given Congress lower approval ratings than George Bush.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 05/20/2009 16:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Problem with congressional approval ratings are that you don't vote for Congress... you vote for your guy. As in:

"My guy's okay, I guess. It's that idiot over in [fill-in-the-blank] I'd like to see gone."
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats || 05/20/2009 16:25 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Reid mangles text, type, truth
But mostly truth ...
WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid became the latest Democrat to stray into rhetorical trouble Tuesday, botching statements on three subjects in one news conference - including the fragile health of the chamber's most senior members.

Reid mangled his party's position on the congressional news of the day, that Senate Democrats would join their House counterparts in withholding the money President Barack Obama needs to close the Guantanamo Bay prison until Obama comes up with a plan for relocating its prisoners.

But Reid went further than saying he wanted to see a plan for the money before Congress approves it. "We will never allow terrorists to be released into the United States," he said.

No one, of course, was talking about releasing terrorism suspects among the American populace. Imprisoning them, perhaps, but not releasing them.
Wrong, AP, this is one that Dingy Harry actually got right: Dhimmicrats are indeed trying to prepare the way to release the Uighers in the U.S., and give them welfare besides.
"Part of what we don't want is them be put in prisons in the United States," Reid clarified but digging himself into a bigger hole by departing significantly from some of his colleagues and administration officials. "We don't want them around the United States."

Did the administration put Democrats in an awkward position, asking for the money before setting out how it would be spent?

"Not at all," said Reid.

"Yes," his deputy, Sen. Dick Durbin replied to the same question.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/20/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If I was a Democrat congress critter I would be a little bit nervous about the California vote yesterday and the harbinger of things to come. They better be moving toward the center-right or they will see all their gains gone in 2010.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 05/20/2009 6:39 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm not so sanguine, Jack. There still isn't a real, organized opposition. Tea parties may be a beginning, but aren't there yet. Meanwhile, the Trunks are clueless. Perhaps TW could give them a taste of the Periwinkle Cluebat.
Posted by: Spot || 05/20/2009 8:29 Comments || Top||

#3  Spot,

Who organized California opposition? I don't think this is one where you have to be for anything - just against it. Taxpayers represent over 50% of the voters and are going to vote with their wallets. Don't underestimate taxpayer/voter anger no matter who is running - Dem or Repub.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 05/20/2009 10:18 Comments || Top||

#4  California ballot Proponents outspent foes 10 to 1

"Schwarzenegger helped behind the scenes to garner big contributions for the measure's proponents, who raised about $30 million and outspent foes by nearly 10 to 1. Among the big contributors were businesses hoping to avoid tax increases if state finances slumped further: oil companies, tobacco and alcoholic beverage firms, sports teams and Hollywood studios.

Despite a big advantage in cash and manpower, the campaign failed to gain traction from the start. Polls throughout the race showed all the ballot measures -- except Proposition 1F -- losing badly, as voters expressed equal parts confusion over the package and disdain for the Sacramento politicians who crafted it."
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/20/2009 10:39 Comments || Top||

#5  Jack - On the national level I'll believe it when I see it (Bambi hasn't raised taxes - YET). The 2010 elections will tell. I hope yer right.
Posted by: Spot || 05/20/2009 10:51 Comments || Top||

#6  California is so effectively gerrymandered that most Democratic representatives are safe short of committing rape or murder (and in some cases that also).

Posted by: DoDo || 05/20/2009 12:00 Comments || Top||

#7  I live in Sacramento and have zero confidence that the Dhimmicrat Socialists under the Capitol Dome even get this message! They will simply craft more tax increases via work arounds, and try and punish the taxpayers by cuts in those services that really are the role of government. They won't get it until they actually get ousted. The next step has to be a part time legislature, following the Texas model.
Sadly, many of the people who actually would support the basic government changes needed to save this state are working hard to get the hell out of it. The tipping point politically here has already passed. L.A. and S.F. dominate state politics so completely that true reform isn't possible. When cuts hit those centers, they will squeal hard enought that Zero will find a way to make Kansas and Iowa pay for the economic sump California has become, preventing the medicine from being actually swallowed.
I'm thinking Texas or Montana...
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 05/20/2009 12:23 Comments || Top||

#8  What struck me most about this nitpicking article is that an AP writer would write it about a leading Democrat. This is the sort of hypercritical parsing of words that I expect when the speaker is a leading Republican. Sarah Palin got tons of this kind of stuff from MSM writers, but I'm used to seeing the Dems getting away with far more rediculous misstatements. What gives? Reid probably isn't used to getting Palinized for minor misspeaks, as Republicans routinely are. How will he handle it? Peloski seems to be imploding over her tortoured comments about the CIA.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 05/20/2009 13:11 Comments || Top||

#9  "Reid mangles truth"

In other news, water is wet.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 05/20/2009 18:05 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2009-05-20
  Army takes Sultanwas, kills 81; Mullah Fazlullah maybe titzup
Tue 2009-05-19
  Prabhakaran dead as a rock!!!!!
Mon 2009-05-18
  Norks to nullify Kaesong agreements
Sun 2009-05-17
  Tamil Tigers say they surrender
Sat 2009-05-16
  Sri Lanka president declares victory in civil war
Fri 2009-05-15
  60 Talibs killed in Swat
Thu 2009-05-14
  Morocco dismantles Salafiya Jihadiya cell
Wed 2009-05-13
   113 deaders, thousands flee Somalia festivities
Tue 2009-05-12
  Pak commandos dropped into Taliban stronghold
Mon 2009-05-11
  200 Taliban killed in Swat operation
Sun 2009-05-10
  Scores dead as drone hits S. Wazoo Mehsud stronghold
Sat 2009-05-09
  1.2 million people leave Buner, Swat other areas
Fri 2009-05-08
  Gilani orders all-out war on Pak Taliban
Thu 2009-05-07
  Sufi Mohammad's son killed in Lower Dir shelling
Wed 2009-05-06
  Mashaal: Hamas wants 10 year cease-fire

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