CIUDAD JUAREZ -- A gang of gunmen killed an off-duty U.S. airman and five other people early Wednesday at a bar in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, authorities said.
Meanwhile, gunmen assassinated an army general recently named police chief of Garcia, a town in the northern state of Nuevo Leon. It the latest attack against a military official appointed to take over municipal police forces, which President Felipe Calderon has acknowledged are plagued with corruption.
All 70 officers of the Garcia police force were questioned in the attack, Nuevo Leon Gov. Rodrigo Medina said at a news conference. He said soldiers and state police will be sent to patrol the town.
Continued on Page 49
#2
There are only a couple of reasons an American serviceman would venture into Juarez and neither of them are any good. A tragic object lesson to the rest however.
As defense attorney Joanne Cuccia discusses her client's sentencing hearing with the judge, Maricopa County Sheriff's Department detention officer Adam Stoddard walks up behind her, and begins sifting through one of her files, which she has placed on the defense table.
Remarkably, Stoddard then removes a document from the file and hands it off to another deputy, who then leaves the courtroom with it. They don't even bother to inform Cuccia, who has her back turned the entire time. The judge appears to have missed the incident as well.
#1
If this is an accurate portrayal of the hearing, stand back and admire the absurdity: Judge Donahoe is refusing to punish Stoddard for possibly violating Lozano's attorney-client privilege unless Lozano waives his attorney-client privilege.
Why is this anymore absurd than other daily actions of court procedures that have abandoned truth for ritual? /rhet question
A Brazilian bricklayer reportedly killed in a car crash shocked his mourning family by showing up alive at his funeral.
Relatives of Ademir Jorge Goncalves, 59, had identified him as the victim of a Sunday night car crash in Parana state in southern Brazil, police said.
As is customary in Brazil, the funeral was held the following day, which happened to be the holiday of Finados, when Brazilians visit cemeteries to honor the dead.
What family members didn't know was that Goncalves had spent the night at a truck stop talking with friends over drinks of a sugarcane liquor known as cachaca, his niece Rosa Sampaio told the O Globo newspaper. He did not get word about his own funeral until it was already happening Monday morning.
A police spokesman in the town of Santo Antonio da Platina said Goncalves rushed to the funeral to let family members know he was not dead.
"The corpse was badly disfigured, but dressed in similar clothing," said the police spokesman, who talked on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to discuss the case. "People are afraid to look for very long when they identify bodies, and I think that is what happened in this case."
Sampaio told O Globo that some family members were not sure the body was Goncalves.
"My two uncles and I had doubts about the identification," she told O Globo. "But an aunt and four of his friends identified the body, so what were we to do? We went ahead with the funeral."
The police spokesman confirmed there were doubts: "His mom looked at the body in the casket and thought something was strange. She looked and looked and couldn't believe it was her son," Sampaio said. "Before long, the walking dead appeared at the funeral. It was a relief."
The body was correctly identified later Monday, the police spokesman said, and has already been buried in another state. He declined to release the actual victim's name.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/06/2009 00:00 ||
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D *** NG it, I'm trying to recall the NEW BEER COMMERCIAL on TV.
Irish Sailor-Dude loses beer barrel, kisses his fav Babe goodbye and dives into the deep blue to save his Beer, encounters OCTOPUS-ZILLA, shows up at own funeral wid lost beer barrel.
AL BUNDY > I SAW A WHOLE BUNCH OF HOOTERS, A LARGE NUMBER/BUNCH OF GUYS GOT WIPED OUT, AND THE MOVIE HAD NO PLOT WHATSOEVER - [Sniff, sniff] THE MOVIE HAD EVERYTHING!
Photos
The new Miss England is runner-up Katrina Hodge who will assume the crown immediately. She happens to be a soldier in Iraq who was decorated for bravery and is now the luckiest beauty queen in England. Go Girl!
One a fighter, the other a Fighter. Go, girl! indeed.
Mexico's war on drugs took a grim twist this week, as a prominent mayor said he had created an undercover group of operatives to "clean up" criminal elements -- even if it had to act outside the law.
Batallón de Acción Rapida!!
BAR instead of Rab? That requires some thought...
Underscoring why the mayor may have felt compelled to take such steps, the new police chief in a neighboring town, a retired brigadier general, was shot and killed Wednesday, four days after taking up his post.
Time for someone to have an 'encuentro' ...
You're really enjoying this, I can tell.
The events shed light on the state of Mexico's battle to try to control powerful drug cartels and stop the turf wars between rival gangs that have killed an estimated 14,000 people since President Felipe Calderón took office in December 2006. Frustrated with the government's approach, Mexicans are searching for other solutions.
A 'fuego cruzado' sounds pretty good right now ...
Something is going to happen to you if you keep this up. Just a friendly warning...
Mayors and state governors across the country say they feel powerless to control the traffickers, who have corrupted local and state police to such a degree that they are considered part of the problem, rather than part of the solution. Mr. Calderón has sent 45,000 army troops to various Mexican states to try to stem the violence, but the killings have continued, with more than 6,300 people dead in drug-related violence so far this year, according to Mexican newspaper estimates.
So a separate, incorruptible paramilitary organization that settles things at oh-dark thirty might be just the ticket. They could call Bengladesh for details ...
I'm sure the Rab would enjoy a little field demonstration of their by-the-numbers technique. For some reason things have slowed down a bit over there.
On Wednesday alone, 29 people died in killings in Mexico believed to be drug-related, including the police chief.
#1
Probably no Shutter Guns or 'Round o' Bullet®' will be recovered, though.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
11/06/2009 13:25 Comments ||
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Cops/Narcos: two sides of the same coin in Mexico lindo...and unfortunately on our side of La Frontera...drug money speaks all languages and nationalities. Borgboy from tucson (currrently still part of the U.S.).
Looks like the Hondurans may have suckered Mel after all.
One of the most controversial aspects of the current crisis in Honduras is the reinstatement of ousted President Manuel Zelaya.
The decision is in the hands of the nation's legislature but the plenary of the Honduran Congress cannot call for a vote without prior consultation with the Supreme Court.
At the moment, all eyes are on the recommendation to come from the judiciary which, though not binding, is requisite to the Congress's defining of the country's future.
In an exclusive interview, lawyer and spokesman for the Supreme Court of Justice, Danilo Eyzaguirre talked to Cecilia Barria of BBC Mundo in Tegucigalpa.
Mr Eyzaguirre suggested it was unlikely that Mr Zelaya would return to power and said that the ousted president's negotiators had effectively "placed a noose around his neck" by accepting the terms of agreement signed under the auspices of the United States.
Long interview follows at the link.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/06/2009 00:00 ||
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As they say "From your mouth to the ear of G*d".
BUENOS AIRES, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Argentine government said Thursday that it would urge the international community to apply pressure on Honduras to restore ousted President Manuel Zelaya to power. This petition would be presented at the meetings of Foreign Ministers of Latin America and the Caribbean on Integration and Development and the Rio Group, which is being held in Jamaica on Nov. 4-6, according to a communique of the foreign ministry.
Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana will talk about the need to keep applying pressure on the de facto Honduran government led by Roberto Micheletti. "We are achieving the goal we set together with the entire international community: to avoid the coup to continue against the constitutional government of President Zelaya," Taiana declared before leaving for Jamaica.
"Since the first moment, Argentina and the rest of the international community agreed on requesting Zelaya's restitution, returning to full institutional normality and leaving the coup without effect," Taiana added.
Despite mounting international pressure, Zelaya's immediate restitution was discarded Wednesday by the Verification Commission of the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Agreement, reached by Zelaya and Micheletti to solve the political crisis.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/06/2009 00:00 ||
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Mebbe the Hondurans should insist on reinstating Peron in Argentina?
#4
borgboy, I'd like to seen an experiment in the appointment of dead men as heads of state. It's not like they can do anything, being dead and all. A totally nonfunctional head of state seems to be a good motion towards minimal governance.
Although I think the symbolism of a pumpkin or a turnip would be less misconstruable.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/06/2009 11:15 Comments ||
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#5
I don't think this will worry Honduras at all.
If the US will recognize the new elections then the Euros will and if the Euros will then most of the OAS will and if Argentina doesn't, well so what.
Posted by: lord garth ||
11/06/2009 12:09 Comments ||
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#6
"I'd like to seen an experiment in the appointment of dead men as heads of state"
If dead men can vote (Illinois), why shouldn't they be able to get elected?
Posted by: European Conservative ||
11/06/2009 14:35 Comments ||
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#7
Fascinating Peron quote: se hac"El conductor nace, no e!"
Via InstaPundit
All of those twentysomethings who voted for Barack Obama last year are about to experience the change they haven't been waiting for: the return of income tax bracket creep. Buried in Nancy Pelosi's health-care bill is a provision that will partially repeal tax indexing for inflation, meaning that as their earnings rise over a lifetime these youngsters can look forward to paying higher rates even if their income gains aren't real.
In order to raise enough money to make their plan look like it won't add to the deficit, House Democrats have deliberately not indexed two main tax features of their plan: the $500,000 threshold for the 5.4-percentage-point income tax surcharge; and the payroll level at which small businesses must pay a new 8% tax penalty for not offering health insurance.
This is a sneaky way for politicians to pry more money out of workers every year without having to legislate tax increases. The negative effects of failing to index compound over time, yielding a revenue windfall for government as the years go on. The House tax surcharge is estimated to raise $460.5 billion over 10 years, but only $30.9 billion in 2011, rising to $68.4 billion in 2019, according to the Joint Tax Committee.
Americans of a certain age have seen this movie before. In 1960, only 3% of tax filers paid a 30% or higher marginal tax rate. By 1980, after the inflation of the 1970s, the share was closer to 33%, according to a Heritage Foundation analysis of tax returns.
Posted by: ed ||
11/06/2009 15:32 ||
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The unemployment rate rose from 9.8 to 10.2 percent in October, and nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline (-190,000), the -190k is actually an improvement over the average for the past 6 months
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The largest job losses over the month were in construction, manufacturing, and retail trade.
In October, the number of unemployed persons increased by 558,000 to 15.7 million. The unemployment rate rose by 0.4 percentage point to 10.2 percent, the highest rate since April 1983. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has risen by 8.2 million, and the unemployment rate has grown by 5.3 percentage points. Frank G adds: yet the Donk dirtbags persist in job-killing Cap-and-trade, Obamacare, higher taxes....
Posted by: lord garth ||
11/06/2009 08:42 ||
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I should have noted that the second paragraph refers to the household survey, the first paragraph to the employer survey. That is why the two job loss numbers (190k vs 558k) are different.
Posted by: lord garth ||
11/06/2009 9:42 Comments ||
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"The underemployment rate â which includes discouraged workers and part-time staff that would like to work full time â climbed to 17.5%, the highest on records going back to 1994." - IBD
Their own ulterior standards are getting in the way of passing this off as legit, even to their own party.
In addition to a six-month wait to qualify for the health insurance program, there's a more fundamental issue -- whether $5 billion set aside for the three-year program is enough.
You're afraid your cancer is back, and a health insurance company just turned you down.
Under the health care bills in Congress, you could apply for coverage through a new high-risk pool that President Barack Obama promises would immediately start serving patients with pre-existing medical problems.
Wait a second. Read the fine print. You may have to be uninsured for six months to qualify.
"If you are a cancer patient and have cancer now, you can't wait six months to go into a plan because your condition can go from bad to death," said Stephen Finan, a policy expert with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. He called the waiting period in the Senate bill "unacceptable."
Advocates for people with serious health problems, as well as some insurance experts, are raising questions about one of the most important upfront benefits in the Democratic health care legislation: a high-risk pool for the medically uninsurable.
Obama proposed the pool in his September health care speech to Congress. Intended to serve the most vulnerable as a temporary fail-safe, it would stay in place until 2013. That's when insurance companies would be banned from denying coverage because of medical problems.
Government subsidies to make coverage more affordable for millions of uninsured would also start that year.
Now, concerns are being raised about the design of the high-risk pools. In addition to the six-month wait, there's a more fundamental issue -- whether $5 billion set aside for the three-year program is enough. The money would be used to help people in poor health pay premiums.
Obama credits his Republican presidential rival, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, for the risk-pools idea. But when the GOP candidate proposed it in 2008, the estimated cost was $7 billion to $10 billion a year.
The six-month wait is in the health care bill the Senate Finance Committee approved last month. To qualify for the pool, patients must be turned down for coverage because of a pre-existing condition and uninsured for at least six months.
"If you are somebody with cancer or a heart condition who needs immediate coverage and immediate treatment, that's not very helpful," said Karen Pollitz, a Georgetown University health policy professor.
Senate Finance staffers say the restriction is meant to prevent people switching from more expensive coverage to take advantage of government assistance.
But the House health care bill unveiled last week by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., doesn't include a waiting period. Instead, it would require insurance plans who "dump" seriously ill patients to repay the federal pool. "The House provision will provide immediate relief for people with high-risk conditions who have no alternative for coverage," said Finan.
It may be easier to fix the waiting period than the financing.
Both the House and the Senate Finance bills set aside $5 billion for the pools.
"It doesn't seem like it's near enough money," said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who was a top domestic policy adviser for McCain. The McCain campaign ultimately concluded it could take as much as $20 billion a year to properly run risk pools, he said. The White House says McCain's proposal was more elaborate and not directly comparable to Obama's.
If the Democrats' risk pool starts running out of money, the government may have to start a waiting list, raise premiums or take other unpopular measures. Congress could be asked for a bailout.
Several independent experts say concerns about the financing are valid.
"It would seem that ($5 billion) is going to be small relative to the need," said Thomas Buchmueller, a University of Michigan business professor.
Some 30 states now have risk pools for those who can't get health insurance on the private market, covering about 200,000 people at a cost of around $1 billion a year.
"This is clearly not going to be enough money to cover everybody," said Pollitz.
Insurance expert John Bertko, a visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution, said it may be possible to stretch the $5 billion, but there's a small margin for error.
Bertko said his "back of the envelope" math suggests there are about 1 million uninsured Americans in poor health, or five times the number currently covered by state high-risk pools. If all of them signed up for the new federal pool, it would burn through the $5 billion in a year.
However, people eligible for government benefits often fail to sign up. And if only one-third were to enroll, the budget could work.
That's cutting it close. "No doubt about that," said Bertko.
#1
But the House health care bill unveiled last week by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., doesn't include a waiting period. Instead, it would require insurance plans who "dump" seriously ill patients to repay the federal pool.
If anyone had any doubts that the ultimate intent of the House health reform legislation is anything less then a vehicle towards government controlled health insurance best take time to understand the effects of this single provision. Even if private insurance companies raise their premiums to cover their loss they still will not be able to remain viable long term under such a scheme. Even more pernicious is that the government will be extorting revenue along the way to fund their populist promises. Welcome to StealthCare comrade.
Election Day losses in Virginia and New Jersey have congressional Democrats focused like never before on jobs their own.
While the White House and party leaders are urging calm, Democratic incumbents from red states and Republican-leaning districts are anything but; Tuesday's statehouse defeats have left them acutely aware that their votes on health care reform and other major Obama initiatives could be career-enders in 2010 or beyond.
I should be nervous, said Rep. Parker Griffith, a freshman Democrat from Huntsville, Ala.
Griffith said the Democratic rank and file is very, very sensitive to the fact that issues being pushed by party leaders have the potential to cost some of our front-line members their seats.
House Democrats, forced to take a tough vote on a controversial cap-and-trade climate change bill in June, may have to vote as earlier as this weekend on the even more controversial health care bill. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team have struggled to get moderates on board for that vote, and Tuesday's results won't make the task any easier.
People who had weak knees before are going to have weaker knees now, said Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), a relatively liberal congressman who seemed safe in 2010 but now thinks a Republican challenger might feel emboldened by Tuesdays election results.
Democratic Sen. Jim Webb who watched Republican Bob McDonnell and other statewide candidates erase years of Democratic gains in his home state of Virginia said Tuesdays results show that Republicans are energized from what happened last year but also that people up here on our side need to get their message straighter, too. One of these days the moderate dems are going to figure out that they're guiding star is Lunacy.
Party leaders put their best face on Tuesdays results.
Pelosi, pointing to Democratic House victories in special elections in New York and California, said: We won last night. And monkeys shooting bottle rockets may fly out my a$$.
The office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid circulated an analysis arguing that gubernatorial races are primarily about local issues, and that its therefore hard to draw any direct comparisons between what happened in New Jersey and Virginia and what will happen in Congress.
But some Democrats werent buying the spin. Some? Judging by all the verdent denial, I'm sure it's all they think about. Except for Nancy, of course.
We got walloped, said Sen. Mark Warner, the junior Democrat from Virginia.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said it was nonsense to suggest that the results in New Jersey and Virginia represented a referendum on President Barack Obama. To the contrary, he argued that the results meant that Democrats should redouble their efforts to make sure we deliver on the promises of the last election.
But if Tuesdays results leave red-state Democrats nervous about health care reform, a climate change bill and regulatory reform, its going to be harder not easier for Van Hollen and his leadership colleagues to develop that record of legislative accomplishment.
And thats certainly where things seemed to be headed Wednesday. As Pelosis office ordered members to stay in town for a possible Saturday night House vote on health care, other Democrats were suggesting that it's time to take the foot off the gas.
As members came to grips with the election returns, Rep. Frank Kratovil Jr. (D-Md.) said he wants as much time as I possibly can [have] to review both sides and make the best decision I can make on the health care bill.
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), a big swing vote for Democratic leaders, said Tuesdays elections should tell Democrats that their agenda needs to be patterned towards the economy. A Donk with at least half a brain!
People need to be saying slow it down and dont add more to the deficit, Nelson said. And what have many of us been talking about? We dont want to see anything added to the deficit unless theres cost containment. Is "cost containment" another way to say "We should consier our job security"?
Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, the lone Republican to vote for a health care bill, said Tuesdays results should slow Democrats down on health care and certainly gives pause on how you approach things.
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), whos threatened to filibuster the health care bill if it isnt changed before it goes to a vote, said hes sensing that public fears over the rising national debt may affect the Democrats broader agenda, noting that theres been a very large and quick move of independents away from the Democratic Party and that public fears of the rising debt are at a tipping point.
According to exit polls, Republican gubernatorial candidates took 62 percent of the independent vote in Virginia and 58 percent of the independent vote in New Jersey.
Theyre feeling anxious and they want the government to do something to help them; theyre very worried that were going to spend more money, Lieberman said. I think one thing it says to me is that whatever we do, we better make damn sure its paid for.
Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, who chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in an interview that hes not concerned about next years races, calling Tuesdays results a mixed bag that was not the result of Obamas agenda.
But Menendez added: We need to be focused like a laser beam on the question of the nations economy and the issues of how we best can create jobs. Thats the laser-beam approach. If we do that, well be fine next year.
Other Democrats said not advancing health care legislation is not an option, with Karin Johanson, a former DCCC executive director, saying it would be foolish if Tuesdays results had a chilling effect on the health care debate.
I think people have to keep in mind that we will be judged on if we get a good thing going, said Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.). I think failure to get anything done will counted as a huge black mark against us, and rightfully so.
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) said the gubernatorial results said more about Virginia and New Jersey than they did about Congress. But still, she said she is well aware that voters are feeling anxious about what the Democrats are doing on Capitol Hill.
Theyre very concerned about some of the actions that are occurring here in D.C., and we have got to be very sensitive to the fragile economic recovery thats underway, she said.
#2
The "Blame Bush Shield"(tm) has shattered. The Donks are now exposed and have nothing to give them cover for their usual and predictable behavior. The two minutes of hate routine has lost its ability to mesmerize the cattle.
#3
Party leaders put their best face on Tuesdays results. Pelosi, pointing to Democratic House victories in special elections in New York and California, said: We won last night.
I see a contradiction in these two sentences
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/06/2009 9:42 Comments ||
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A controversial climate change bill cleared its first hurdle in the U.S. Senate on Thursday, allowing President Barack Obama to tout progress in the run-up to next month's global warming talks in Copenhagen.
Democrats on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee ignored a Republican boycott and used their majority to approve the legislation that would require U.S. industry to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases 20 percent by 2020, from 2005 levels.
"I think this is a great signal for Copenhagen that there's a will to do what it takes to advance this issue," committee Chairman Barbara Boxer told reporters after her panel voted.
The committee vote also came as international negotiators held a contentious climate change meeting in Barcelona, their final session before the Copenhagen summit starts December 7.
But Democrats are likely to fall far short of their goal of passing legislation in the full Senate before Copenhagen as Boxer's bill lacks enough support for full approval.
Senator John Kerry, who co-authored the committee-approved bill with fellow Democrat Boxer, is leading an effort with some Republicans and the White House to draft a compromise.
With all seven Republicans chairs empty, 11 Democrats voted to approve the bill. Only one Democrat, Senator Max Baucus, who chairs the powerful Senate Finance Committee that also will review climate legislation, voted no.
AREAS OF COMPROMISE
Before casting his vote, Baucus said he was committed to passing a bill to tackle global warming. But he said the goal of cutting carbon emissions from utilities, factories and oil refineries by 20 percent by 2020 was "too high."
Instead, Baucus said he would seek a 17 percent goal, with a "trigger" to hike it up to 20 percent if other countries "play by the same rules" in cutting their carbon emissions. Whoopee effing doo. Three percentage points holdback. Break out the champagne!
A climate bill that narrowly passed the U.S. House of Representatives in June sets a 17 percent target for 2020.
Baucus' vote against the bill reflected the difficulties ahead in crafting a measure that would have to attract the 60 votes needed for passage by the Senate.
Other senators from Midwestern and Southern states heavily reliant on coal will seek their own changes, which could upset liberals now supporting the bill.
There is widespread expectation in the Senate that for any climate control bill to pass, it will have to contain new government incentives for expanding U.S. nuclear power-generating capacity and offshore oil drilling, along with money to help develop clean ways to burn coal, which is in abundant supply in the United States.
Republicans complained that a detailed economic analysis of Boxer's bill had not been done -- a charge Democrats rebutted -- and that any work on the bill should await such analysis.
But Senator James Inhofe, the senior Republican on the committee, seemed to have enough information to conclude: "It is time for a different approach, one that grows, rather than shrinks our economy, creates, rather than destroys jobs, and strengthens, rather than weakens our energy security."
There were scores of amendments to Boxer's bill that environment committee members wanted to debate and vote on before approving it, but they were unable to because of the Republican boycott.
Under committee rules, at least two Republicans had to be present to debate and vote on changing the bill.
Boxer delayed work on the legislation for two days, saying she was giving Republicans the opportunity to collect more information from EPA officials and to offer their own amendments.
But Republicans did not take her up on the offer and by Thursday, Boxer had lost patience with the delay.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD that the speaker will not allow the final language of the health care to be posted online for 72 hours before bringing the bill to a vote on the House floor, despite her September 24 statement that she was "absolutely" committed to doing so.
House members are still negotiating important issues in the bill--whether it will provide taxpayer-funding for abortions, for example. Pelosi is pushing for a Saturday House vote, and a number of big changes will be introduced, likely less than 24 hours before the vote takes place (if in fact it does). The Rules Committee hasn't yet released its resolution, or rule, that must be passed before the bill can move from committee to the floor. The rule will set the terms of debate and determine what amendments are in order.
It seems likely that the rule will allow very few, if any, up-or-down votes on amendments on the House floor. Rather, the rule will include a series of amendments that will all be adopted at once if the rule passes.
On September 24, Speaker Nancy Pelosi told THE WEEKLY STANDARD that she was "absolutely" committed to putting the text of the final House bill online for 72 hours before the House votes:
TWS: Madam Speaker, do you support the measure to put the final House bill online for 72 hours before it's voted on at the very end?
PELOSI: Absolutely. Without question.
But tonight, when asked if Speaker Pelosi will leave the bill online for 72 hours after we see what's in the rule, Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly replied in an email: "No; [the] pledge was to have manager's amendment online for 72 hours, and we will do that." Oh. How, ... useful.
Apparently Pelosi's agreement to leave the "final" bill online "at the very end" of the process wasn't such a straightforward pledge. Warning: Don't smell the used car salesman's finger.
A-Pee article. Rest at link.
Senate Democrats have blocked a GOP attempt to require next year's census forms to ask people whether they are a U.S. citizen.
#2
I think it perfectly appropriate to count all persons, whether legal or not, as I believe Congressional apportionment is based on population, not legal or voting population (recall the infamous 3/5 compromise). However, I also think it perfectly appropriate to categorize whether the counted person is a citizen, legal resident, or illegal - those are a LOT more reasonable questions than 90% of the stuff they ask, like how many bathrooms you have.
#3
Glen, the 14th Amendment replacement to the 3/5ths compromise is still active. And it doesn't say citizens, it says persons, "excluding Indians not taxed".
I'm just surprised the Mexicans haven't tried for Indian nation status yet.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/06/2009 11:13 Comments ||
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#4
Glen, there's a difference between counting for representation and counting for program/funding allocations. When the fed allows in 10 million+ illegals which congregate in urban areas, they have effectively removed the proportional representation of not only those districts within states but between states.
#5
Mitch & Proco - that's why Vitter's amendment made sense: you count all persons, AND you count the different categories that would matter (legality, etc.) But no, can't have THAT - works against the agenda.
[Al Arabiya Latest] An Exxon Mobil-led consortium has beaten rival Russian, French and Chinese groups to bag initial rights to develop Iraq's West Qurna field, the oil ministry said, adding momentum to Iraq's bid to unlock its oil riches.
With reserves of 8.7 billion barrels, West Qurna is among the prized Iraqi fields eyed by Western oil majors as they face flat or lower output at home and stiff competition from Chinese and Indian oil companies in bidding for oilfields elsewhere.
"The consortium led by Exxon Mobil, which includes Shell, won the contract to develop West Qurna Phase One oilfield," Oil Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said on Thursday.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/06/2009 00:00 ||
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Dumb asses, don't you realise that after you "Develop" the oilfield, you'll be run out of the nation and your "Assets" seized?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/06/2009 13:11 Comments ||
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During his tenure as Thai prime minister, he was accused of corruption and later convicted of allowing his wife to buy state land at a discount price. In his sole season in charge of Manchester City the club recorded a loss of nearly £30m. But now Thaksin Shinawatra has a new job as an economic adviser to the Cambodian government.
Cambodia announced that the former Thai prime minister who last year was sentenced in absentia to two years' imprisonment in his home country will serve as an adviser on economic matters to both its government and prime minister, in a move that has immediately raised tensions in Thailand.
Thai officials said today that the country would recall its ambassador in Cambodia and "review all of the agreements" between the two countries following the announcement of Shinawatra's appointment yesterday.
State television in Cambodia confirmed last night that King Norodom Sihamoni had officially approved Shinawatra to take up his new role. The former Manchester City chairman, who was convicted of violating a conflict of interest law in 2008, was ousted as Thai prime minister in 2006 in a military coup. He has been living in self-imposed exile ever since.
Shinawatra is still a deeply divisive figure in Thailand, where officials claim he is trying to undermine the current government to regain power. And Chavanont Intarakomalsut, a secretary to the Thai foreign minister, confirmed that the country would recall its ambassador from Cambodia "to express our dissatisfaction" with the appointment.
"We will also review all of the agreements between the two countries along with any other cooperation with them," he said.
Cambodia's seeming adoption of Shinawatra represents the most severe diplomatic action so far amid ongoing tensions with Thailand. The two countries have been involved in a series of small but sometimes deadly skirmishes over the demarcation of their border in recent months.
Hun Sen, the Cambodian prime minister, angered his Thai counterpart, Abhisit Vejjajiva, ahead of a summit meeting of Asian leaders in Thailand last month by declaring that Shinawatra was welcome to take refuge in Cambodia. Thailand responded by saying it would seek to extradite Shinawatra if he went to Cambodia, who countered that such a request would be rejected, as Shinwatra's prosecution and conviction had been politically motivated.
His supporters in Thailand claim the country's political elite is ignoring the fact Shinawatra was twice democratically elected because it feels its own privileges are threatened.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/06/2009 00:00 ||
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See also WORLD NEWS > THAILAND'S SHADOWY SOUTHERN INSURGENCY.
ORLANDO, Fla. - One person was killed and at least seven others were wounded in a shooting incident inside a downtown Orlando high-rise building Friday morning, authorities said.
Quoting emergency dispatchers, NBC station WESH-TV of Orlando reported that the incident began about 11:30 a.m. ET on the fourth floor of the Gateway Center at 1000 Legion Place near Lake Ivanhoe.
All patients were taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center. At least four of the eight patients were reported to be seriously wounded.The Orlando Fire Department said no suspects had not been taken into custody, but it told NBC News said the situation was under control. It was not immediately clear whether that meant the shooter was among dead or wounded.
Gateway Center is a 16-story office building that was built in 1999.
Interstate 4 eastbound has been shut down while police converge on the area.
Update 12:06 CST Michael Droege, district chief for the Orlando Fire Department, told WESH that an unknown number of people were still in the building and could be injured. He said the SWAT team was still trying to pull people out of the building.
Orlando authorities said that no suspects had not been taken into custody and that the scene was not secure. SWAT officers were going floor by floor to secure the building, they said.
3:05 pm ET: Someone has just been arrested.
A suspect was in custody Friday afternoon after a man described as a opened fire in the offices of an Orlando architecture company that fired him 2œ years ago, killing one person and wounding five others, police and the company said.
Mayor Buddy Dyer announced the arrest but did not identify the suspect. Police had said they were seeking Jason Rodriguez, 40, of southeast Orlando.
Police said the suspect was arrested peacefully at his mother's home.
7:48 pm ET: The arrestee was Jason Rodriguez.
Asked by a reporter outside the police station why he did it, Rodriguez replied: Because they left me to rot.
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.
As defense attorney Joanne Cuccia discusses her client's sentencing hearing with the judge, Maricopa County Sheriff's Department detention officer Adam Stoddard walks up behind her, and begins sifting through one of her files, which she has placed on the defense table. 
A Brazilian bricklayer reportedly killed in a car crash shocked his mourning family by showing up alive at his funeral.
Election Day losses in Virginia and New Jersey have congressional Democrats focused like never before on jobs their own. 
A controversial climate change bill cleared its first hurdle in the U.S. Senate on Thursday, allowing President Barack Obama to tout progress in the run-up to next month's global warming talks in Copenhagen.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD that the speaker will not allow the final language of the health care to be posted online for 72 hours before bringing the bill to a vote on the House floor, despite her September 24 statement that she was "absolutely" committed to doing so.
