May 2008 News History Archives

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May 31, 2008 News URL: #May-31-2008-News
20080531 Saturday

- David Lee Hobson - Ohio - Real Estate - Politics - Lawmaker - Federal - Airport - Transportation - Construction
"Rep. David Hobson steered federal money to projects near properties he owns." ... "U.S. [United States Ohio Republican Representative] Rep. David Hobson of south-central Ohio has directed millions of taxpayer dollars to two Ohio projects near real estate he owned, a Plain Dealer review of congressional, personal-finance and real estate records shows." ... "One project used federal money to build a freight transfer center at a Columbus [Ohio's capital] airport to help move goods to and from central Ohio. Hobson co-owns an office building near the project, and his tenants -- among them U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and several freight companies, including FedEx -- use that freight center." ... "Since buying into the building in 2001, records show, Hobson has used his position in Congress to obtain more than $30 million in federal transportation money to build the freight transfer station, part of a conversion involving the old Rickenbacker Air Force Base outside Columbus." ... "In a separate project, Hobson obtained nearly $2 million from Congress to widen a road in Beavercreek [Ohio], near Dayton [Ohio], in front of a condominium development in which he was an investor, the review of records shows." ... "Neighbors of his investment properties say area real estate values rose, at least partly as a result of the projects he funded through Congress. Hobson is a senior member of a committee that determines how to spend federal money." ... "Members of the budget-writing committee decide in closed meetings which lawmaker-requested earmarks will get tax money and typically give themselves a greater share." -By Sabrina Eaton -PlainDealer

- Barack Obama - John McCain - Accounting - People - Families - US - Iraq - Military - Book - MT - Arizona - Wisconsin - 2008 Election
"Obama slams McCain on Iraq facts." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama isn't expected to speak until 7:45 pm ET at a rally in Great Falls, MT [Montana]. But his campaign has released excerpts of his remarks, which go right after [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain's "pre-surge levels" misstatement yesterday. They also invoke Scott McClellan's new book." ... "[Barack Obama:] "There are honest differences about how to move forward in Iraq, just like there were honest differences about whether or not we should go to war," Obama is supposed to say. "John McCain was for the invasion of Iraq; I opposed it. John McCain wants to continue George Bush’s war in Iraq indefinitely; I want to end it. So there’s going to be a clear choice for the American people this November."" ... ""But that’s not what John McCain’s been talking about the last few days. He’s been proposing a joint trip to Iraq that’s nothing more than a political stunt. He’s even been using it to raise a few dollars for his campaign. But it seems like [Arizona Senator] Sen. McCain’s a lot more interested in my travel plans than the facts, because yesterday – in his continued effort to put the best light on a failed policy – he stood up in Wisconsin and said, 'We have drawn down to pre-surge levels' in Iraq."" ... ""That’s not true, and anyone running for commander-in-chief should know better. As the saying goes, you’re entitled to your own view, but not your own facts. We’ve got around 150,000 troops in Iraq -- 20,000 more than we had before the surge. We have plans to get down to around 140,000 later this summer -- that’s still more troops than we had in Iraq before the surge. And today, Sen. McCain refused to correct his mistake. Just like George Bush, when he was presented with the truth, he just dug in and refused to admit his mistake. His campaign said it amounts to 'nitpicking.'"" ... ""Well, I don’t think tens of thousands of American troops amounts to nitpicking. Tell that to the young men and women who are serving bravely and brilliantly under our flag. Tell that to the families who have seen their loved ones fight tour after tour after tour of duty in a war that should’ve never been authorized and never been waged."" ... ""It’s time for a debate that’s based on the truth, and I can’t think of anything more important than how many Americans are in harm’s way. It’s time for a debate that’s based on how we’re going to end this war -- not a debate that’s based on raising a few dollars for John McCain’s campaign."" ... ""The American people have had enough spin. Just this week, we were reminded by President Bush’s own former spokesman of how it was deception -- not straight talk -- that misled the American people into war. It’s time to cut through the tough talk so that we can be straight with the American people about a war that’s cost us thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars without making us safer. It’s time to end the political game-playing so that we can finally end this war. That’s what I’ll do in this campaign. And that’s what I’ll do when I’m President of the United States."" -From Mark Murray and Athena Jones -MSNBC

- Scott McClellan - Books - Counterterrorism - US - Iraq - Military - Intelligence - Politics - Marketing
"Scott McClellan Apologizes for Bashing Richard Clarke." ... "In an encounter last night in the lobby of a New York hotel, former [Republican President Bush] White House press secretary Scott McClellan apologized for denouncing a former White House colleague, Richard Clarke, the former counterterrorism adviser, after Clarke wrote a book ["Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror"] highly critical of the Bush administration in 2004." ... "Now McClellan is facing a similar denunciation from the White House for his own highly critical book." ... "In 2004, McClellan said Clarke's book, asserting the Bush administration failed to take timely action against al Qaeda, was "flat-out wrong." He told reporters at a March 22, 2004 briefing, "Ask yourself why, one and a half years later, after he left the administration, he's all of a sudden, coming forward with these grave concerns? If he had such grave concerns, why didn't he come out with them sooner?"" ... "Now White House aides are saying much the same thing about McClellan's assertions, in his book "What Happened," that President Bush waged a deceitful propaganda campaign to promote the war in Iraq. " ... "Clarke appeared Thursday night on "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" to talk about his new book, "Your Government Failed You," and was asked about McClellan's criticism of him in 2004. "I think there is a box in the White House that, if anyone escapes and tells the truth, they break open for talking points about what to say," Clarke told Stewart." (1, 2) -By Brian Ross with contributions by Mark Mooney -ABCNEWS.com

- John McCain - Jon Kyl - 2008 Election - Arizona - Massachusetts - US - Iraq - Military - Terrorism - Politics
"In An Iraq-Related Hole, McCain Keeps On Digging." ... "Both the [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona] Senator [John McCain] and his aides sought to brush away his factually inaccurate statement that American troops in Iraq were down to pre-surge levels." ... "Reminded that troops in Iraq currently number 155,000, well above the pre-surge level of 130,000, McCain refused to acknowledge on Friday that he had misspoke." ... ""I said we had drawn down," the Senator declared during a press conference ([]watch video). "I said we have drawn down and we have drawn down three of the five brigades. We have drawn down three of the five brigades. We have drawn down the marines. The rest will be home the end of July. That's just facts, the facts as I stated them."" ... "But that isn't what he stated. On Thursday, in fact, he made a very specific measurement as to the extent of troop reductions." ... ""I can tell you that it [the mission in Iraq] is succeeding," said McCain. "I can look you in the eye and tell you it's succeeding. We have drawn down to pre-surge levels."" ... "And that was just the beginning. McCain's gaffe had already been exacerbated during a conference call earlier in the day, when aides to the Arizona Republican insisted that he had not misspoke, even while McCain surrogate [Arizona Republican Senator] Sen. Jon Kyl acknowledged on the same call that he had: "What he said was not entirely accurate. OK. So what?"" ... "During the same Thursday conference when he [McCain] misstated troop levels, he also argued that conditions were "quiet" in Mosul [Iraq]. That same day, three suicide bombers killed 30 in the city." ... ""It is very disturbing to have John McCain continue to raise questions about what he knows and what he bases his judgments on," [Massachusetts Democratic Senator] Sen. John Kerry said. "If you don't know the number of troops, it is difficult to make a judgment as to whether they are overextended. ... It raises serious questions about his comprehension of this challenge."" -By Sam Stein -HuffingtonPost.com

- John McCain - Randy Scheunemann - Political - Semantics - People - Accounting - US - Iraq - Military - Terrorism - 2008 Election
"McCain, the Surge, and 'verb tenses'." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain got ahead of events this week in claiming that the United States military has gone down to "pre-surge levels" in Iraq. That will not happen until later this year, even by the most optimistic scenario. He is also wrong about the city of Mosul [Iraq] being "quiet", unless you exclude car bombs and other mayhem. His advisers attempted to spin his remarks as a simple matter of "verb tense." But there is a big difference between "Mission Accomplished" and "We expect the mission to be accomplished soon."" ... "The Facts:" ... "The McCain campaign organized a rapid-response conference call with reporters in an attempt to limit the fallout from the senator's erroneous claim that "we have drawn down to pre-surge levels" in Iraq. The Obama folks pointed out that there are at present around 155,000 troops in Iraq, compared to a January 2007 force level of 128,569. The Pentagon is planning to get down to 140,000 by the end of July." ... "In a conference call with reporters, McCain foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann said the issue was a "question of semantics," and that McCain would have been right if he had said that the Pentagon had "taken a decision" to draw down the troops or was in the process of drawing them down." ... "But verb tenses matter, particularly in the case of Iraq, where it is very difficult to predict what is going to happen next week, let alone next month. By the Scheunemann standard of linguistic analysis, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the Bush administration's claim of "Mission Accomplished" back in May 2003. As we now know, a few things happened after that date to make the claim somewhat premature." ... "Taking a decision to do something and actually implementing it are two very different matters. To claim the contrary reminds me of the motto from the Ministry of Information in George Orwell's 1984: "He who controls the past controls the future; and he who controls the present controls the past."" ... "Similarly Orwellian is McCain's claim that all is "quiet" in the northern Iraqi town of Mosul, despite two car bomb attacks yesterday in the Mosul area that killed at least 20 people. News reports depict the town as the "last urban bastion of al-Qaeda" in Iraq. In the conference call, Scheunemann acknowledged that al Qaeda was still active in the area." [The Washington Post gives McCain's accounting numbers three Pinochio's out of a possible four, calling the statements by Candidate McCain "Significant factual error[s] and/or obvious contradictions."] -By Michael Dobbs with contributions by Alice Crites -WashingtonPost

- John McCain - 2008 Election - Wisconsin - Arizona - US - Iraq - Military - Terrorism
"McCain Declares Mosul "Quiet" On Same Day As Three Suicide Attacks (Video)." ... "Speaking about Iraq at a townhall event on Thursday evening in Greensdale, Wisconsin, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain declared, "I can tell you that it is succeeding. I can look you in the eye and tell you it's succeeding. We have drawn down to pre-surge levels. Basra, Mosul and now Sadr city are quiet and it's long and it's hard and it's tough and there will be setbacks..."" ... "McCain was wrong on two points. First, U.S. [United States] forces have not returned to pre-surge levels. Before the surge, there were 130,000 troops in Iraq; even if the scheduled troop reductions are carried out as planned, there will still be 140,000 troops in Iraq in August." ... "Moreover, McCain's claim that Mosul [Iraq] is "quiet" was disproved earlier today in grim fashion. Three suicide bombings -- two in Mosul and another in a surrounding town -- left 30 Iraqis dead and more than two dozen injured, according to press_reports. " -By Nico Pitney -HuffingtonPost.com

- Jim Gibbons - Nevada - Homes - Business - Health - Military - Investigation - Politics
"With the dirt flying, party backing away: GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] support for [Nevada Republican Governor] Gov. Jim Gibbons erodes after wife’s allegations revealed in filing." ... "Republicans say serious discussions are taking place around the state among political and business leaders about how to extricate the party from the increasingly messy divorce proceeding between Dawn and Jim Gibbons. They say Jim Gibbons has handled the matter poorly by attempting to evict the first lady from the mansion and not settling the matter quickly and quietly." ... "The governor’s short but eventful tenure has been marked by unforeseen challenges, as well as problems of his own making. His political appointments have drawn fire and he has been politically tone-deaf to severe problems facing the state, including the [home] foreclosure crisis and Southern Nevadans’ deteriorating confidence in the health care system following a hepatitis C outbreak at a well-known medical clinic. An FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] investigation of his relationship with a defense contractor remains unresolved." ... "The [divorce] filing comes after an editorial in the Elko Daily Press alleged that Gibbons was having an affair with an unidentified woman." ... "The court documents do not name Gibbons’ alleged mistress, calling her a frequent “bar, lunch, dinner, and even grocery store companion” with a “striking resemblance” to Chrissy Mazzeo, the woman who accused then-Congressman Gibbons in 2006 of getting drunk and making a pass at her in a Las Vegas [Nevada] parking garage during the final weeks of his race for governor." -By J. Patrick Coolican and David McGrath Schwartz -LasVegasSun.com

- John McCain - Rod Parsley - John Hagee - Military - Terrorism - Religion - Politicians - Homosexuals - Racism - Television - Media-Ohio - Texas - 2008 Election
"In Rebuking Minister, McCain May Have Alienated Evangelicals." ... "The [Republican televangelist, Reverend] Rev. Rod Parsley paces the stage, wiping his forehead and shouting to his congregation in a taped sermon that marriage is under attack by "tortured and angry homosexuals."" ... "During another of his nationally broadcast television shows, he compares Planned Parenthood to the Ku Klux Klan, saying that its goal is to "eliminate" blacks. And at another service at his 12,000-member World Harvest Church in Columbus, Ohio, he punches the air and calls Islam a "false religion" that God has told America to destroy." ... ""We were built for battle! We were created for conflict! We get off on warfare!" he adds." ... "Images of one of the nation's rising stars of television evangelism are widely available on DVDs and Web sites, with sermons that are almost certain to inflame some segment of the voting public. But in its quest to secure support from evangelical Christians, the campaign of presumptive [2008 Election] Republican presidential nominee John McCain did not note a long record of inflammatory statements by Parsley and the [Republican televangelist, Reverend] Rev. John Hagee of Texas, another TV evangelist, until long after McCain had accepted their endorsements." ... "The move backfired last week when clips of the ministers' sermons gained national attention, prompting McCain to reject their support. The candidate's abrupt turnabout brought criticism not only from secular viewers, who questioned why he had aligned himself with controversial religious voices, but also from evangelicals, who said he may have alienated a powerful bloc of potential Republican voters." ... "In February, McCain appeared with Parsley to accept his endorsement and called him a "spiritual guide."" ... "He [Parsley] and his family reside in a 7,462-square-foot house, valued at more than $1 million, on a 24-acre gated property." ... "In 2005, Parsley created a voter registration organization called Reformation Ohio, telling Christians that it was time to "lock and load" and to prepare for a "Holy Ghost invasion" of government." (1, 2) -By Kimberly Kindy with contributions by Alice Critics, Meg Smith, and Madonna Lebling -WashingtonPost

McCain Parsley McCain's "Spiritual Guide" Rod Parsley "We get off on warfare!"

- Scott McClellan - Book - Noteworthy - US - Iraq - Corporate - Media - Military - Government - Politics - Marketing - Television - History - Gore - Obama - McCain - Russert - Cheney
"Scott McClellan on the "liberal media"." ... "In a minimally rational world, this extraordinary passage, from the new book by Scott McClellan, would forever slay the single most ludicrous myth in our political culture: The "Liberal Media":"

"If anything, the national press corps was probably too deferential to the [Republican President Bush] White House and to the administration in regard to the most important decision facing the nation during my years in Washington, the choice over whether to go to war in Iraq."

"The collapse of the administration's rationales for war, which became apparent months after our invasion, should never have come as such a surprise. . . . In this case, the "liberal media" didn't live up to its reputation. If it had, the country would have been better served."

"I like [Bush]. Everybody sort of likes the president, except for the real whack-jobs, maybe on the left -- I mean -- like him personally."

- John McCain - Rick Renzi - Jon Kyl - Money - Politics - Federal - Investigation - Phoenix - Arizona - Real Estate - Land - Legislation - Nevada
"FBI interviews Arizona staffers." ... "Federal agents interviewed staffers for likely [2008 Election] Republican presidential nominee [and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain (Ariz. [Arizona]) as part of their corruption case against [Arizona Republican Representative] Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.[Republican-Arizona])." ... "[United States] U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona Diane J. Humetewa and fellow prosecutors disclosed the interviews with aides for McCain and fellow Arizona Republican [Senator] Sen. Jon Kyl in a written response to Renzi’s attorneys, who asked for the contents of the interview to help prepare for Renzi’s upcoming trial, which is scheduled for October [2008]." ... "The aides were interviewed about land exchanges, according to an April letter from Humetewa filed with the U.S. District Court of Arizona late last week." ... "A federal land swap critical to developing a $3 billion copper mine southeast of Phoenix [Arizona] is at the heart of the case against Renzi, who is facing 35 public corruption charges, including conspiracy, money-laundering, extortion and insurance fraud." ... "Renzi is alleged to have told executives for Resolution Copper Mining that he would not support a land deal the mining company was interested in unless they bought his former business partner’s property as part of the deal, according to the [February] Feb. 22 federal indictment." ... "Under the deal, 5,000 acres of non-federal land owned by Resolution Copper were to be exchanged for 3,025 acres of federal land. The federal land sits on a large copper deposit, and the exchange would have allowed mining on land for the first time since a 1954 executive order by [Republican] then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower." ... "Renzi allegedly wanted land owned by a business partner who owed Renzi money to be included in the deal. If the land had been included, prosecutors charge, it would have allowed the business partner to pay a debt to Renzi." ... "Resolution Copper refused to cooperate, but another company, Preserved Petrified Forest Land Investors LLC [Limited Liability Company] of Las Vegas [Nevada], agreed to buy the land. Prosecutors allege this netted Renzi more than $700,000." ... "Renzi twice introduced a land swap bill, in 2005 and 2006, before taking his name off of the measure after the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] raided his family business in April 2007. [Arizona Democratic Representiave] Rep. Ed Pastor (D-Ariz.[Democratic-Arizona]) then introduced the legislation on [August] Aug. 1, 2007, along with Arizona [Republican Representatives] Reps. Jeff Flake and John Shadegg, both Republicans, and Democrat[ic Representative] Harry Mitchell (D[Democratic])." ... "Sens. McCain and Kyl introduced companion legislation in the Senate, most recently in July 2007. " (1, 2) -By Susan Crabtree -TheHill.com

- Obama - McCain - Money - Housing - Working - People - Families - Arizona - Nevada - 2008 Election
"Obama Hits McCain on Closed Door Meeting with Bush." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama on Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain:] "Today, John McCain is having a different kind of meeting. He's holding a fundraiser with George Bush behind closed doors in Arizona. No cameras. No reporters," Obama said before a town hall in Las Vegas [Nevada], "And we all know why. Senator McCain doesn't want to be seen, hat-in-hand, with the President whose failed policies he promises to continue for another four years. But the question for the American people is: do we want to continue George Bush's policies?"" ... "Watch the VIDEO HERE." ... ""I don't think the American people want to continue the disastrous economic policies that have helped create catastrophes like the housing crisis that we're here to discuss today," Obama continued, "On issue after issue, John McCain is offering more of the same policies that have failed for the last eight years. That's the agenda that he and the President are raising money to support later today. But I'm here in Nevada because we know it’s time to turn the page."" ... "Obama referenced an economic address that [Arizona] Senator McCain gave last week, characterizing his comments as out of touch with working people, "Senator McCain is so out of touch with the struggles of working people that he gave a speech laying out his economic agenda last week, and he couldn't even be bothered to talk about the foreclosure crisis that has put so many families on the brink of financial catastrophe, and put our economy on the brink—or in—recession."" -From Sunlen Miller -ABCNEWS.com

- Barack Obama - History - Author - Foreign - Military - Terrorism - Torture - Guantanamo - Cuba - Iraq - US - 2008 Election
"Fukuyama backs Obama for US presidency." ... "He is one of America's most famous neo-conservatives and his ideas on the spread of democracy have informed the [Republican President] Bush administration's foreign policy." ... "But Francis Fukuyama, the author of The End of History and Professor of International Political Economy at Johns Hopkins University, is now a sharp critic of US President George W Bush and has even come out as a supporter of [2008 Election] Democrat frontrunner Barack Obama for president." ... "ELEANOR HALL: So what advice do you have for the next president of the United States on foreign policy?" ... "FRANCIS FUKUYAMA: I think that the US as a result of Iraq has really alienated itself from a good deal of the global public. Not just people in the Middle East where anti-Americanism is at an all-time high but from its European allies, from a lot of publics in places where there ought to be a lot of sympathy." ... "So I think the United States needs to reconnect with the world. It needs to do some symbolic things like, we shouldn't torture people, so as a first symbolic gesture I think the new president ought to close Guantanamo [Cuba] and I think in general what you need is a shift." ... "There needs to be great downplaying of the whole war on terrorism. To call it a war I think has over-militarised our objectives and the means that we have used to prosecute it, and I think there has to be a greater shift to the use of soft power in projecting American influence and then there are large areas of the world where we have kind of neglected thinking about things like east Asia where you have obviously got some very big changes going off. " -By Eleanor Hall -Yahoo

- John McCain - Rick Davis - Criminal - Government - Money - Politics - Foreign - Military - Satellite - Imagery - Technology - Israel - Ukraine - Russia - Switzerland - Arizona - US - 2008 Election
"Lobbying labyrinth in McCain camp." ... "Rick Davis, the manager of [Arizona Republican] Senator John McCain's [2008 Election] presidential campaign, is a typical Washington insider in many ways, having long worked as both a lobbyist and a political operative along the intersection of politics, policy and money." ... "Take Davis's involvement with one of his lesser-known lobbying clients, an Israeli company, Imagesat, which sells satellite imagery. Along with lobbying for it, Davis became a consultant to a private investment firm that had a financial stake in it. That connection opened the door for him to get in on the ground floor of other investments made by the firm, Pegasus Capital Advisors." ... "... Davis's business partner, Paul Manafort [of the Davis Manafort lobbying firm], has met with the United States ambassador in Ukrain    e, a time when he was advising Viktor Yanukovich, that country's onetime prime minister, a State Department official said. Yanukovich's party was opposed by both the [Republican President] Bush administration and McCain because it was closely tied to Vladimir Putin [Russia's former President]." ... "Davis Manafort received $120,000 from late 2004 to mid-2005 to lobby for Imagesat on both defense and domestic security issues. Davis and Christian Ferry, now McCain's deputy campaign manager, were the two lobbyists on the project, the records show." ... "Along with his work as a lobbyist, Davis at the time was also drawing a salary as the part-time president of the Reform Institute, a Washington group that McCain helped found to reduce "the influence of special interests" in politics and government." ... "In November 2005, Pegasus bought a stake in a company called Traxys, which trades in industrial metals." ... "In January 2006, just two months later, the subject of metals trading came up in association with a social meeting Davis helped arrange near Davos, Switzerland. At that meeting, first reported by The Washington Post, McCain met the Russian aluminum magnate, Oleg Deripaska, who has been barred from entering the United States apparently because of alleged criminal ties." (1, 2) -By Barry Meier with contributions by Kate Zernike and Andrew E. Kramer -NYTimes via -IHT.com

- Obama - McCain - Money - Politics - Legislation - Veterans - 2008 Election
"Obama criticizes McCain on veterans' benefits." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama told veterans Saturday that he can't understand why Republican [2008 Election Presidential Candidate] John McCain opposes legislation that would provide college scholarships to people who have served in the U.S. [United States] military." ... ""Now, let me be clear: No one can dispute John McCain's love for this country or his concern for veterans. But here's what I don't understand. I don't understand why John McCain would side with [Republican President] George Bush and oppose our plan to make college more affordable for our veterans," the Democratic presidential candidate said. "George Bush and John McCain may think our plan is too generous. I could not disagree more."" -AP via -MSNBC

- John McCain - Media - Politics - Arizona - 2008 Election
"Tight Control on Files and Shortened Question Period." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona] Senator John McCain released his medical records on Friday under tightly controlled circumstances, allowing them to be reviewed by a small group of reporters from news organizations that his campaign chose." ... "From 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Pacific time, about 20 reporters were permitted to view more than 1,000 pages of records in a room at a resort near the Mayo Clinic Scottsdale in Arizona. The reporters had three hours to review and take notes on the documents, from 2000 to 2008. They were not permitted to remove the documents from the room or photocopy them." ... "At 11 a.m., Mr. McCain’s doctors made themselves available in what was scheduled as a 90-minute conference call. But the questions were stopped after 45 minutes." -By Elisabeth Bumiller and Lawrence K. Altman -NYTimes

- John McCain - Barack Obama - Joseph Lieberman - Lindsey Graham - Finance - Laws - 2008 Election - Ad - Iraq - War - US - Connecticut - South Carolina - Arizona
"McCain advisers on '527' attacking Obama." ... "Both [2008 Election Presidential Candidates] John McCain and Barack Obama say they want to rein in the power of the so-called "527s," the independent political committees that skirt the campaign finance laws with unlimited financing and unregulated campaign attacks." ... "But two of [Republican] McCain's own campaign chairmen are serving on the board of an independent organization behind a new attack ad against [Democratic] Obama, "an apparent violation of the Arizona Republican's new conflict of interest policy,'' the Huffington Post notes." ... ""Sens. [Connecticut Independent Senator] Joseph Lieberman and [South Carolina Republican Senator] Lindsey Graham both hold chairs for the McCain camp as well as positions on the board of advisers of Vets for Freedom, an advocacy group that supports the Iraq war,'' the HuffPost reports. "A week ago these titles may not have been a political issue. But under McCain's newly-implemented ethics policy, Lieberman and Graham's role with Vets for Freedom is now proving problematic." -By Mark Silva -Sun-Sentinel.com

- John McCain - US_Debt - Money - Politics - Legislator - Military - Families - Housing - Construction - Iraq - Israel - Egypt - Jordan - Arizona - US - 2008 Election - Noteworthy
"McCain's Fantasy War on Earmarks." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain boasts that he can save $100 billion a year "immediately" by eliminating the so-called earmarks that legislators attach to spending bills to finance pet projects, usually in their home state. But he has refused to say exactly which projects he would cut, and his estimates of the amount of money that is being spent on earmarks have been challenged by independent experts." ... "The Facts:" ... "The Arizona senator is promising to balance the budget by the end of his first term, while simultaneously extending the [Republican] George W. Bush tax cuts, introducing billions of dollars of new tax cuts of his own, and remaining in Iraq as long as is necessary to stabilize that country. Asked how this miracle will be accomplished, McCain told George Stephanopoulos of ABC News This Week on April 20 that he could come up with $100 billion "tomorrow" by vetoing pork-barrel spending bills." ... "There are a number of problems with this magical budgetary balancing act. First of all, the suspiciously round $100 billion figure is largely a figment of the McCain campaign's imagination. I have not been able to find a single independent budget expert to vouch for it. McCain's economics adviser, Doug Holtz-Eakin, will not say how the campaign arrived at the figure, other than that it is an extrapolation from various studies, including a 2006 study by the Congressional Research Service available here [PDF]." ... "However, much of this money is tied to items such as foreign aid to countries like Israel, Egypt, and Jordan, that McCain says he will not touch." ... "By most definitions of the term, the amount of money spent on earmarks is much lower than the CRS study. The Office for Management and the Budget came up with a figure for $16.9 billion in the 2008 appropriation bills. Taxpayers for Commonsense, an independent watchdog group that focuses on wasteful spending, identified $18.3 billion worth of earmarks in the 2008 bills, a 23 per cent cut from a record $23.6 billion set in 2005 [when Republicans controlled Congress]." ... "The figure includes such items as $4 billion for the [United States] U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which could not be eliminated without halting hundreds of construction projects around the country. Another big chunk goes to military construction, including housing for servicemen and their families, which McCain has also promised not to touch." ... "McCain's talk about eliminating $100 billion a year in earmarks is largely fantasy." ... "To use a phrase coined by [Republican] George H.W. Bush, this is "voodoo economics," based more on wishful thinking than on hard data or carefully considered policy proposals." [The Washington Post gives McCain's accounting numbers four Pinochio's out of a possible four, calling the statements by Candidate McCain "Whoppers."] -WashingtonPost

- Oceans - Global - Climate - Science - Environmental - Atmospheric - Industrial - Factories - Cars - History - Animals - Seattle - Washington - California - Oregon - US - Canada - Mexico
"Acidified seawater showing up along coast ahead of schedule." ... "Climate models predicted it wouldn't happen until the end of the century." ... "So a team led by Seattle [Washington] researchers was stunned to discover that vast swaths of acidified seawater already are showing up along the Pacific Coast as greenhouse-gas emissions upset the oceans' chemical balance." ... "In surveys from Vancouver Island [British Columbia, Canada] to the tip of Baja California [Mexico], reported Thursday in the online journal Science Express, the scientists found the first evidence that large amounts of corrosive water are reaching the continental shelf — the shallow sea margin where most marine creatures live." ... "Off Northern California, the acidified water was only four miles from shore." ... ""What we found ... was truly astonishing," said oceanographer Richard Feely, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle. "This means ocean acidification may be seriously impacting marine life on the continental shelf right now."" ... "All along the coast, the scientists found regions where the water was acidic enough to dissolve the shells and skeletons of clams, corals and many of the tiny creatures at the base of the marine food chain. Acidified water also can kill fish eggs and a wide range of marine larvae." ... ""Entire marine ecosystems are likely to be affected," said co-author Debby Ianson, an oceanographer at Fisheries and Oceans Canada." ... "Though it hasn't received as much attention as global warming, ocean acidification is a flip side of the same phenomenon. The increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide from power plants, factories and cars that is raising temperatures worldwide also is to blame for the increasing acidity of the world's oceans." ... "Normally, seawater is slightly alkaline. When carbon dioxide from the atmosphere dissolves into the water, it forms carbonic acid — the weak acid that helps give soda pop its tang. The process also robs the water of carbonate, a key ingredient in the formation of calcium carbonate shells." ... "Since the Industrial Revolution, when humans began pumping massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, Feely estimates the oceans have absorbed 525 billion tons of the man-made greenhouse gas — about one-third of the total released during that period." ... "By keeping some of the carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, the oceans have blunted the temperature rise due to global warming. But they've suffered for that service, with a more than 30-percent increase in acidity." ... "The acidified water upwelling along the coast today was last exposed to the atmosphere about 50 years ago, when carbon-dioxide levels were much lower than they are now. That means the water that will rise from the depths over the coming decades will have absorbed more carbon dioxide and will be even more acidic." -By Sandi Doughton -SeattleTimes

- McCain - Obama - Clinton - Veterans - Education - Money - Legislation - 2008 Election - California
"McCain misses vote on a new GI Bill, scorns criticism from Obama." ... "Support for the troops returned as an issue to the presidential campaign yesterday with harsh words from both sides." ... "The Democratic National Committee accused [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain of being AWOL [Absent WithOut Leave] from the Senate vote yesterday for a new GI Bill to provide better education benefits for returning veterans. McCain was in California on a campaign and fund-raising trip, while both Democratic [2008 Election Presidential] contenders, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, left the campaign trail to vote for the bill, which passed by a veto-proof 75-to-22 majority." ... "On the Senate floor, Obama questioned why McCain opposed the bill. "I can't believe why he believes it is too generous to our veterans," Obama said. "There are many issues that lend themselves to partisan posturing, but giving our veterans the chance to go to college should not be one of them." ... "The bill, which [Republican] President Bush has threatened to veto, would pay tuition and other expenses at a four-year public university for anyone who has served at least three years since the 2001 terrorist attacks." -By Foon Rhee -BostonGlobe

- John McCain - Randy Scheunemann - Charlie Black - Money - Politics - Foreign - Russia - Macedonia - Republic of Georgia - Zaire is the Democratic Republic of the Congo - Military - Food - Indiana - Arizona - US - 2008 Election - Law
"Senior Aide's Lobbying Efforts Highlight Challenge for McCain." ... "For a decade, [lobbyist] Randy Scheunemann has been a campaign staffer to [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain, an ideological ally in the fight to contain Russian power -- and a lobbyist seeking the Arizona senator's support for former Soviet states." ... "The lobbying group Mr. Scheunemann founded in 2001, Orion Strategies LLC [Limited Liability Company], has earned $2.6 million from clients for whom Mr. Scheunemann directly lobbied [Arizona Senator] Sen. McCain and his staff, Justice Department records show." ... "In March, as scrutiny intensified, Mr. Scheunemann, who is the campaign's top foreign-policy staffer, sent a letter to the Justice Department's office for foreign-client lobbying registrations saying he had stopped working for clients such as Macedonia and [the Republic of] Georgia. However, his company's contracts with those countries, worth a combined $240,000, appear still to be in effect. A spokeswoman for the Georgian Embassy in Washington said the country's contract with Orion is active. The Macedonian contract is listed as active in Justice Department records." ... "Charlie Black, a McCain campaign senior adviser, has represented foreign leaders accused of corruption and human-rights abuses, such as Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire [now the Democratic Republic of the Congo]. He ended his relationship with BKSH & Associates Worldwide this year. Outside advisers and fund-raisers for the campaign include Wayne Berman, a registered lobbyist for an Indiana food-packaging company that sells to the Department of Defense." -By Mary Jacoby -WSJ.com

- John McCain - Randy Scheunemann - Money - Politics - Foreign - Republic of Georgia - Latvia - Macedonia - Romania - Ky - Arizona - US - 2008 Election
"Former Outside NRA Lobbyist Gives A Boost To McCain." ... "When he went to woo the National Rifle Association convention in Louisville, Ky. [Kentucky], on Friday, it did not hurt that presumptive Republican presidential nominee, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Senator] Sen. John McCain of Arizona, was accompanied by a former outside NRA [National Rifle Association] lobbyist turned campaign adviser, Randy Scheunemann." ... "Officially the top foreign policy and national security adviser to McCain’s campaign, Scheunemann told National Journal in March he has weighed in with advice on Second Amendment and firearms issues. He said he had stopped lobbying for all his clients early this year, and his lobbying registration forms show that the NRA work ended at the end of 2007." ... "But during that year while he was helping the [McCain] campaign, Scheunemann & Associates, one of two boutique firms he runs, received $40,000 in fees from the NRA. The NRA, one of his oldest clients, paid him the same amount for several prior years. Scheunemann, who started working for the campaign as a volunteer in early 2007, did not return four calls seeking comment for this story." ... "According to one NRA lobbyist who was at the convention, Scheunemann arrived and departed with McCain. Scheunemann spent most of his time at the event backstage -- where McCain had a brief meeting with NRA leaders, according to a lobbyist." ... "Scheunemann’s other lobbying firm, Orion Strategies, has worked for several foreign governments, including [the Republic of] Georgia, Latvia, Macedonia and Romania, who have joined or are seeking to join NATO." -By Peter Stone -NationalJournal

- John McCain - John Hagee - Terrorism - Racism - Politician - Military - Religion - History - Germany - Israel - Palestine - Book - Arizona - US - 2008 Election
"McCain Backer Hagee Said Hitler Was Fulfilling God's Will (AUDIO)." ... "[Republican televangelist] John Hagee, the controversial evangelical leader and endorser of [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain, argued in a late 1990s sermon that the Nazis [Germany] had operated on God's behalf to chase the Jews from Europe and shepherd them to Palestine. According to the Reverend, Adolph Hitler was a "hunter," sent by God, who was tasked with expediting God's will of having the Jews re-establish a state of Israel." ... "Going in and out of biblical verse, Hagee preached: "'And they the hunters should hunt them,' that will be the Jews. 'From every mountain and from every hill and from out of the holes of the rocks.' If that doesn't describe what Hitler did in the holocaust you can't see that."" ... "He goes on: "Theodore Herzl is the father of Zionism. He was a Jew who at the turn of the 19th century said, this land is our land, God wants us to live there. So he went to the Jews of Europe and said 'I want you to come and join me in the land of Israel.' So few went that Hertzel went into depression. Those who came founded Israel; those who did not went through the hell of the holocaust." ... ""Then god sent a hunter. A hunter is someone with a gun and he forces you. Hitler was a hunter. And the Bible says -- Jeremiah writing -- 'They shall hunt them from every mountain and from every hill and from the holes of the rocks,' meaning there's no place to hide. And that might be offensive to some people but don't let your heart be offended. I didn't write it, Jeremiah wrote it. It was the truth and it is the truth. How did it happen? Because God allowed it to happen. Why did it happen? Because God said my top priority for the Jewish people is to get them to come back to the land of Israel." (Listen to the audio below.)" ... "The sermon, which was first posted by Bruce Wilson on his site, Talk To Action, adds another element to Hagee's controversial stance on the state and history of Israel." ... "Since McCain secured the endorsement, both his campaign and Hagee have been pressed to explain a series of derogatory remarks the Reverend made about the Catholic Church, including his reference to the institution as "the Great Whore."" ... "As Wilson notes, in his 2006 book "Jerusalem Countdown", Hagee proposed the theory that "anti-Semitism, and thus the Holocaust, was the fault of Jews themselves -- the result of an age old divine curse incurred by the ancient Hebrews through worshiping idols and passed, down the ages, to all Jews now alive." He also wrote that "Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews."" -By Sam Stein -HuffingtonPost.com

McCain Hagee:

- John McCain - Randy Scheunemann - Money - Politics - Foreign - Macedonia - Republic of Georgia - Taiwan - Arizona - US - 2008 Election - Law
"McCain adviser's work as lobbyist comes to light." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain's top foreign policy adviser lobbied the Arizona senator's staff on behalf of the republic of Georgia while he was working for the campaign, public records show." ... "Randy Scheunemann, founder of Orion Strategies, represented the governments of Macedonia, Georgia and Taiwan between 2003 and March 1, according to the firm's filings with the Justice Department. In its latest semiannual report, the firm disclosed that Scheunemann had a phone conversation in November about Georgia with Richard Fontaine, an aide in McCain's Senate office." ... "Orion Strategies earned $540,000 from its foreign clients over the year ending on [December] Dec. 1, reports show. Scheunemann also received $56,250 last year from March to July from McCain, according to campaign finance records." ... "The campaign consulting fees ended at a time when McCain was under financial pressure to cut costs, but Scheunemann remained the campaign's top foreign policy adviser. He represented McCain throughout last fall — including an appearance at a Republican Jewish Coalition event during the same week he lobbied McCain's Senate office." ... "Georgia paid Orion Strategies $240,000 in the year ending Dec. 1, reports show." -By Matt Kelley -USATODAY

- Barack Obama - John McCain - Military - Terrorism - Iran - Palestine - Israel - Afghanistan - Foreign - South Dakota - Illinois - W.Va. - US - 2008 Election
"Obama criticizes McCain, Bush on appeasement talk." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama rebuked Republican [2008 Election Presidential] rival John McCain and [Republican] President Bush for "dishonest, divisive" attacks in hinting that the Democratic presidential candidate would appease terrorists, staunchly defending his national security credentials for the general election campaign." ... ""I'm a strong believer in civility and I'm a strong believer in a bipartisan foreign policy, but that cause is not served with dishonest, divisive attacks of the sort that we've seen out of George Bush and John McCain over the last couple days, " Obama told about 2,000 voters at a town hall-style meeting in a livestock barn [in South Dakota]." ... "Obama said McCain had a "naive and irresponsible belief that tough talk from Washington will somehow cause Iran to give up its nuclear program and support for terrorism."" ... ""They [Bush and McCain] aren't telling you the truth. They are trying to fool you and scare you because they can't win a foreign policy debate on the merits," said Obama. "But it's not going to work. Not this time, not this year."" ... ""That's exactly the kind of appalling attack that's divided our country and that alienates us from the world," Obama said." ... ""If they want a debate about protecting the United States of America, that's a debate I'm ready to win because George Bush and John McCain have a lot to answer for," Obama said. He blamed Bush's policies for enhancing the strength of terrorist groups such as Hamas [in Palestine] and "the fact that al-Qaida's leadership is stronger than ever because we took our eye off the ball in Afghanistan," among other failings." ... "Other Democrats accused McCain of hypocrisy Friday, saying the certain GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] presidential nominee had previously been willing to negotiate with the militant Palestian group Hamas." ... "In Charleston, W.Va. [West Virginia], speaking before Obama's speech, McCain told reporters: "I made it very clear, at that time, before and after, that we will not negotiate with terrorist organizations, that Hamas would have to abandon their terrorism, their advocacy to the extermination of the state of Israel, and be willing to negotiate in a way that recognizes the right of the state of Israel and abandons their terrorist position and advocacy."" -By Mike Glover with contributions by Glen Johnson -AP via -SeattleTimes

- US - Chinese - Torture - Intelligence - Politics - Guantanamo Bay - Cuba - Military - Government - Prison - Investigation - Law
"Report: U.S. Soldiers Did 'Dirty Work' for Chinese Interrogators: Alleges Guantanamo Personnel Softened Up Detainees at Request of Chinese Intelligence." ... "U.S. [United States] military personnel at Guantanamo Bay [Cuba] allegedly softened up detainees at the request of Chinese intelligence officials who had come to the island facility to interrogate the men -- or they allowed the Chinese to dole out the treatment themselves, according to claims in a new government report." ... "Buried in a Department of Justice report released Tuesday are new allegations about a 2002 arrangement between the United States and China, which allowed Chinese intelligence to visit Guantanamo and interrogate Chinese Uighurs held there." ... "According to the report by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine, an FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] agent reported a detainee belonging to China's ethnic Uighur minority and a Uighur translator told him Uighur detainees were kept awake for long periods, deprived of food and forced to endure cold for hours on end, just prior to questioning by Chinese interrogators." ... "Susan Manning, a lawyer who represents several Uighurs still held at Guantanamo, said Tuesday the allegations are all too familiar." ... "U.S. personnel "are engaging in abusive tactics on behalf of the Chinese," she said Tuesday. When Uighur detainees refused to talk to Chinese interrogators in 2002, U.S. military personnel put them in solitary confinement as punishment, she said." ... ""Why are we doing China's dirty work?" Manning said. "Surely we're better than that." " (1, 2) -By Justin Rood -ABCNEWS.com

- Kyle Dustin "Dusty" Foggo - Brent Wilkes - Randy "Duke" Cunningham - Money - Politics - Vacations - Intelligence - Federal - Va - Calif
"Former CIA official indicted anew in bribery case." ... "A new indictment of a former top CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] official alleges that he received bribes in the form of "sexual companionship" in exchange for helping a friend get an edge in landing multimillion-dollar contracts from the agency." ... "Federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Va. [Virginia], on Tuesday obtained a superseding indictment against Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, who as executive director held the CIA's No. 3 rank before leaving in 2006." ... "The indictment accuses Foggo of accepting tens of thousands of dollars in meals, vacations and other perks in exchange for helping friend Brent Wilkes obtain various contracts with the CIA." ... "Wilkes has already pleaded guilty to paying bribes to then-[California Republican Representative] Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif. [Republican-California], some of which came in the form of prostitutes." -By Matthew Barakat -AP via -SFGate.com

- Barack Obama - John McCain - 2008 Election - Montana - Illinois - US - Russia - Cuba - Iran - Military - Nuclear - History
"Obama Responds To McCain: "Strong" Presidents Aren't Afraid To Meet With Enemies." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama, in Montana, responded moments ago to [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain's  ridicule of the Illinois Senator for saying that Iran is a minuscule threat compared to the former Soviet Union [now Russia]." ... "McCain said this revealed Obama's "inexperience and reckless judgment." Here's the key part of Obama's reply..."

""Here's the truth: the Soviet Union had thousands of nuclear weapons, and Iran doesn't have a single one. But when the world was on the brink of nuclear holocaust, Kennedy talked to Khrushchev and he got those missiles out of Cuba. Why shouldn't we have the same courage and the confidence to talk to our enemies? That's what strong countries do, that's what strong presidents do, that's what I'll do when I'm president of the United States of America.""

-TPMElectionCentral.TalkingPointsMemo

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- John McCain - Charlie Black - Tom Loeffler - Rick Davis - 2008 Election - Politicians
"Top McCain Adviser Defends His Lobbyist Past." ... "[Lobbyist] Charlie Black, a senior adviser to [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain who has come under fire in recent days for his lobbying past, today sought to put an end to calls from the left for his resignation." ... "Tom Loeffler, a major fund-raiser for the McCain campaign and former U.S. representative from Texas, left the campaign on Sunday over his active lobbying firm The Loeffler Group." ... "Black said he has no income from either his firm or the campaign but joked about an allowance from his wife, Judy Black, who is a lobbyist." ... "When a reporter asked him if there was a possible conflict of interest with his wife, following reports suggesting she received clients because of Black’s ties to the McCain campaign, Black became agitated." ... "Black also defended [McCain's] campaign manager Rick Davis, who still holds a stake in his [lobbying] firm, Davis Manafort." -By Elizabeth Holmes -WSJ.com

- Intelligence - Secrets - Archives - Enforcement - Library - Government - Law - Politics
"Keeping Secrets: In Presidential Memo, A New Designation for Classifying Information." ... "Sometime in the next few years, if a memorandum signed by [Republican] President Bush this month ever goes into effect, one government official talking to another about information on terrorists will have to begin by saying: "What I am about to tell you is controlled unclassified information enhanced with specified dissemination."" ... "That would mean, according to the memo, that the information requires safeguarding because "the inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure would create risk of substantial harm."" ... "Such information -- though it does not merit the well-known national security classifications "confidential," "secret" or "top secret" -- is nonetheless "pertinent" to U.S. "national interests" or to "important interests of entities outside the federal government," the memo says." ... "Left undefined are which laws or policies generated the requirement for protecting such information, and which interests are pertinent." ... "Michael Clark, a contributing editor to the blog Daily Kos, who first wrote about the Bush memorandum, said the White House "seems to have used the crafting of new rules as an opportunity to expand the range of government secrecy." Steven Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy, described it as a "not even half-baked" exercise in policymaking." ... ""The changes will make labeling and sharing information more effective," said an administration official, and do away with other government designations such as "For Official Use Only" and "Law Enforcement Sensitive."" ... "The tough job of implementing the new system was assigned to the National Archives and Records Administration." ... "The Controlled Unclassified Information [CUI] designation was the product of a year-long government study of how to replace the "sensitive but unclassified" [SBU] category. "Among the 20 departments and agencies . . . surveyed, there are at least 107 unique markings and more than 131 different labeling or handling processes and procedures for SBU information," Ted McNamara of the office of the director of national intelligence told the House Homeland Security Committee in April 2007." -By Walter Pincus-WashingtonPost

- Vito Fossella - Money - Politics - Government - New York - Virginia
"Ethics complaint filed against NY Rep. Fossella." ... "A watchdog group asked lawmakers Monday to investigate whether New York [Republican Representative] Rep. Vito Fossella used government resources to conduct an extramarital affair." ... "The Staten Island [New York City, New York burrough] Republican has been under fire since his drunken-driving arrest at the beginning of the month led to revelations of an affair that produced a daughter. The 43-year-old congressman also has three children with his wife." ... "He faces five days in a Virginia jail if convicted of the drunken-driving charge." -By Devlin Barrett -AP via -Newsday.com

- Vito Fossella - Politicians - Family - Virginia - Law - New York - 2008 Election
"Signs Fossella May Run Again Unnerve G.O.P.." ... "All signs indicate that [New York Republican Representative Vito] Mr. Fossella, a Republican who was arrested in Virginia on May 1 on a drunken driving charge and then admitted to fathering a child out of wedlock, is leaning toward running for a sixth term in November [2008 Election]." ... "Mr. Fossella, the only New York City [New York] Republican in Congress, represents a district that includes [New York City, New York burroughs] Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn. It is the most conservative-leaning district in the city. And he has portrayed himself during his years in politics as a Republican moderate who exemplified traditional family values." ... "As a result, many politicians on Staten Island initially expected that he would resign shortly after the revelations of an extramarital affair and a daughter born from that relationship — or at least not run again." ... "Stephen A. Harrison, a Brooklyn lawyer who was Mr. Fossella’s Democratic opponent in 2006 and hopes to challenge him again this year [2008 Election], has stopped short of calling for Mr. Fossella to resign or step down after his present term. In a statement, Mr. Harrison said, “If he decides to run, the people will decide in November if his recent behavior and revelations should disqualify him from continuing in office.”" -By Jonathan P. Hicks -NYTimes

- Entertainment - Political - Humor - Corporate - Government - Military - Halliburton - Blackwater - Foreign - Law - Noteworthy - Women - Journalists - Writers - US - Iraq
"John Cusack: Outsourced Warfare Represents a "Radical, Dangerous, Disgusting Ideology": An interview with Cusack about his latest film, War Inc., which takes the outsourcing of military operations to the absurd." ...

-AlterNet.org

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- Alphonso Jackson - Criminal - Corporate - Government - Housing - Politics - Texas - Florida
"HUD Repeatedly Dismissed Staff Concerns About Contracts." ... "The small Texas property-management company had no experience overseeing hundreds of defaulted homes across the country. It did have two former [Republican President] Reagan administration officials at the helm and warm relations with senior Republican appointees at the federal housing agency." ... "During a few weeks in 2004, the three-employee company, Harrington, Moran and Barksdale Inc. [Incorporated] (HMBI), went from no government work to landing $71 million in contracts with the U.S. [United States] Department of Housing and Urban Development to oversee the upkeep and sale of defaulted homes. It had previously managed a handful of apartment buildings and development projects." ... "The company's meteoric rise -- and HUD's willingness to bend the rules to accommodate it -- surprised veteran agency contracting specialist Gloria Freeman." ... ""After you've been in the business awhile, you get to know the signs -- 'This is a friend; let's help him out,' " she said in an interview. Not long after Freeman complained to her supervisors, she was asked to return to her previous policy job." ... "Federal investigators are still sorting through HUD contract awards to friends of [Republican President Bush's Housing & Urban Development] Secretary Alphonso Jackson, who resigned last month amid a criminal probe. But some career staff members and agency observers say problems in the agency's contracting process run much deeper than Jackson and involve officials who promoted certain companies while rebuffing concerns about their performance and qualifications." ... "A Washington Post examination of HUD's contracts shows that HMBI and two other companies won hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts under Jackson while career contracting staff repeatedly raised questions." ... "A Miami [Florida] property-management company, National Housing Group, which contributed to President Bush's reelection and other Republican campaigns, won $50 million in contracts from 2003 to 2007. Now, its second in command [Wynee Joyner] has been indicted for allegedly falsifying reimbursement requests to HUD. Regional staff members at the agency had expressed concern about the company's small size and inexperience." ... "Jackson faced criticism in 2006 after acknowledging that he took note of political loyalties. He bragged in a Dallas [Texas] speech that he had canceled a contract with a business owner who said he didn't like [Republican President] Bush. "Why should I reward someone who doesn't like the president, so they can use funds to try to campaign against the president?" Jackson said. "Logic says they don't get the contract."" ... "Federal procurement laws forbid basing decisions on political views." (1, 2, 3) -By Carol D. Leonnig with contributions by Alice Crites and Julie Tate -WashingtonPost

- WATCH - John McCain - Iraq - Military - Disaster - Hurricane Katrina - New Orleans - Louisiana - US - Economy - Politics - Author -  - Media - 2008 Election
"McCain's YouTube Problem Just Became a Nightmare." [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain]

[John McCain]

[YouTube Video]

- Obama - McCain - Russia - China - Foreign - Military - Politics - History - Health-Care - Marketplace - Arizona - Illinois - Ore - US - 2008 Election
"Obama: Bush, McCain Should 'Explain Why They Have a Problem With JFK'." ... "ABC News Sunlen Miller reports: [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama went one step further today in his pushback against presumptive GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] presidential nominee [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain and [Republican] President Bush on appeasement, suggesting that both Republicans have a problem with presidents past who have engaged in direct diplomacy." ... ""If George Bush and John McCain have a problem with direct diplomacy, led by the president of the United States, then they can explain why they have a problem with [Democratic President] John F. Kennedy because that's what he did with [Soviet leader Nikita] Khrushchev, or [Republican President] Ronald Reagan, 'cause that's what he did with [Soviet leader Mikhail] Gorbachev, or [Republican President] Richard Nixon 'cause that's what they did with [Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung]," Obama said in Roseburg, Ore. [Oregon.] "That’s exactly the kind of diplomacy we need to keep us safe."" ... "Obama also blasted McCain's healthcare proposals during a town-hall meeting." ... ""Essentially his plan is we’re gonna dismantle the employer-based system and give everybody a tax break and then see if you can fend for yourself in the marketplace," Obama told the crowd. "He wants to give you the failed Bush health-care polices for another four years."" -ABCNEWS.com

- Obama - McCain - Osama bin Laden - US - Iraq - Iran - Palestine - Israel - Russia - China - Foreign - Military - Terrorism - Intelligence - Politics - History - Illinois - 2008 Election
"Obama Strikes Back at Bush On Diplomacy." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama pushed back Friday against [Republican] President Bush's implicit criticism of his approach to foreign policy, condemning his administration for not capturing Osama bin Laden and blaming its Iraq war policy for strengthening and emboldening Iran." ... ""If [Republicans] George Bush and John McCain want to have a debate about protecting the United States of America, that is a debate that I'm happy to have anytime, anyplace, and that is a debate I will win because George Bush and John McCain have a lot to answer for," the Democratic front-runner said." ... "At a news conference later Friday, Obama called it "disingenuous" to assert that he was not the clear target of the president's comments. Obama then used the exchange to link Bush's foreign policy record to McCain's stance toward the Middle East, and to outline the ways his own approach to the world's most vexing problems would differ from those of the current administration." ... "His list of grievances included a war fought on the premise of weapons of mass destruction that were never found, the failure to capture bin Laden and turning Iran into the "greatest beneficiary" of the Iraq war." ... "He said McCain will "need to answer" for a strengthened al-Qaeda leadership, Hamas's control of the Gaza Strip [Palestine], and Iran's ability to fund Hezbollah and pose "the greatest threat to America and Israel and the Middle East in a generation."" ... ""That's the Bush-McCain record on protecting this country," Obama said. "Those are the failed policies that John McCain wants to double down on."" ... "In a later appearance, Obama added that he is "puzzled" that the concept of meeting with controversial foreign leaders is a point of debate "when this has been the history of U.S. [United States] diplomacy until very recently."" ... "He pointed to [Democratic] President John F. Kennedy's meetings with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev when the United States and Russia were on the brink of nuclear war, and to [Republican] President Richard M. Nixon's meeting with China's Mao Zedong, "with the knowledge that Mao had exterminated millions of people." " -By Matthew Mosk with contributions by Perry Bacon Jr., Michael D. Shear and Dan Eggen -WashingtonPost

- Barack Obama - John McCain - Osama bin Laden - US - Iran - Iraq - Palestine - Foreign - Military - Terrorism - History - Arizona - Illinois - 2008 Election
"Obama Links Bush and McCain on ‘Failed Policies’." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois] Senator Barack Obama responded sharply on Friday to attacks on his foreign policy, linking [Republican] President Bush and [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona] Senator John McCain as partners in “the failed policies” of the past seven years and criticizing them for “hypocrisy, fear peddling, fear mongering.”" ... "Confronting a major challenge to his world view, Mr. Obama tried to turn the tables on his critics, saying they were guilty of “bluster” and “dishonest, divisive” tactics. He cited a litany of what he called foreign policy blunders by the Bush administration and accused Mr. McCain, the presumed Republican nominee, of “doubling down” on them." ... "“George Bush and John McCain have a lot to answer for,” Mr. Obama said at a midday forum here, listing the Iraq war, the strengthening of Iran and groups like Hamas [in Palestine] and Hezbollah, Osama bin Laden’s being still at large and stalled diplomacy in other parts of the Middle East among their chief failings." ... "“If George Bush and John McCain want to have a debate about protecting the United States of America,” Mr. Obama said, “that is a debate I am happy to have any time, any place.”" (1, 2) -By Larry Rohter with contributions by Michael Powell -NYTimes

- John McCain - Thomas Loeffler - Foreign - Politics - Saudi Arabia - French - Aerospace - Military - Manufacturing - Texas - US - 2008 Election
"Mccain vs. Lobbyists." ... "Stung by the news that two aides once lobbied for the Burmese junta, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain last week rolled out a sweeping new conflict-of-interest policy for his campaign, requiring all staffers to fill out questionnaires identifying past or current clients that "could be embarrassing for the senator."" ... "One top campaign official affected by the new policy is national finance co-chair Tom Loeffler, a former Texas congressman whose lobbying firm has collected nearly $15 million from Saudi Arabia since 2002 and millions more from other foreign and corporate interests, including a French aerospace firm [EADS] seeking Pentagon contracts. Loeffler last month told a reporter "at no time have I discussed my clients with John McCain." But lobbying disclosure records reviewed by NEWSWEEK show that on May 17, 2006, Loeffler listed meeting McCain along with the Saudi ambassador to "discuss US-Kingdom of Saudi Arabia relations."" ... "Another potential problem: Loeffler's firm started paying $15,000 a month last summer to one of its lobbyists, Susan Nelson, after she left to become McCain's full-time finance director, said a source familiar with the arrangement (who asked not to be identified talking about sensitive matters)." -By Michael Isikoff -Newsweek

- John McCain - Money - Politics - Real Estate - Arizona - Law - Federal - Military - Land - 2008 Election
"McCain Hit Again on Arizona Land Deals." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona] Sen. John McCain's ties to the real estate development arm of his home state's power company continued to prove nettlesome today, as a newspaper reported that McCain secured millions in federal funds for a land acquisition program that benefited the firm." ... "Earlier this month, The Washington Post reported that McCain had championed a deal to trade valuable federal land in northern Arizona to a rancher who then enlisted Tempe[Arizona]-based SunCor Development to build as many as 12,000 homes on the property." ... "SunCor's president, Steve Betts, is a longtime McCain supporter who has raised more than $100,000 for the senator's presidential bid." ... "Today's report, in USA Today, revealed that McCain inserted $14.3 million into a 2003 defense bill to buy land around Luke Air Force Base [Arizona]. SunCor sought the provision as the largest of about 50 landowners near the base. SunCor representatives, upset with a state law that restricted development around Luke, met with McCain's staff to lobby for funding, John Ogden, SunCor's president at the time, told the paper." ... "The Air Force later paid SunCor $3 million for 122 acres near the base, according to the report. It was the highest single land transaction of the private lots purchased by the government -- three times the county's assessed value and twice the military's estimated value." -By Matthew Mosk -WashingtonPost

- John McCain - Charlie Black - Money - Philippines - Myanmar - Military - Arizona - US- 2008 Election
"McCain Vets Staff for Lobbying Ties." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign is vetting its own staff members’ lobbyist connections—scurrilous or otherwise—after two aides recently left the campaign when questions arose over their prior lobbying work for Myanmar’s military junta." ... "A Democratic outside group, MoveOn.org, is targeting another McCain campaign senior aide in a new Web ad asking their supporters to call for the ousting of longtime Washington insider Charlie Black, who until recently was a lobbyist for BKSH Worldwide." ... "The ad charges that Black’s firm “made millions lobbying for the world’s worst tyrants,” including Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines and Mobuto Sese Seko of Zaire. “Charlie Black said he didn’t do anything wrong,” the ad states. “John McCain should tell Black he did.” " -By Susan Davis -WSJ.com

- Barack Obama - Communications -  - Radio - Media - Market - Government - Politics - 2008 Election
"Obama, Bush at Odds Over Media-Ownership Vote: Democratic Presidential Candidate Urges House of Representatives to Follow Senate's Lead, Scrap FCC's Media-Ownership-Rule Change." ... "The fight over the Federal Communications Commission's [December] Dec. 18 media-ownership vote set up a potential battle between the current president [Republican Bush] and a senator who wants to be the next one." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.[Democratic-Illinois]) Thursday urged the House to follow the Senate's lead and pass a resolution of disapproval, an unusual legislative maneuver that would invalidate the FCC's decision to allow TV and radio stations and newspapers to be co-owned in the top 20 markets, subject to some conditions." ... "After the Senate approved the measure, Obama, a co-sponsor of the bill, released a statement saying, "I urge my colleagues in the House of Representatives to expeditiously pass the legislation."" ... "He framed the vote, as he has before, as standing up to "Washington special interests," a campaign theme. "Our nation’s media market must reflect the diverse voices of our population, and it is essential that the FCC promotes the public interest and diversity in ownership," he said." -By John Eggerton -BroadcastingCable.com

- John McCain - Money - Politics - Government - Myanmar - Military - Arizona - US- 2008 Election
"McCain axes energy advisor." ... "[2008 Election] Republican presidential contender John McCain on Thursday fired an energy policy advisor who lobbies the federal government on behalf of energy clients, citing a new policy that seeks to quash influence peddling." ... "''The campaign recently severed ties with Eric Burgeson due to a new campaign policy that prohibits any registered lobbyist from participating in any policy discussions on the subjects in which they work,'' said McCain spokesman Jeff Sadosky." ... "The policy was developed following the recent dismissals of two campaign aides whose lobbying firm represented the military junta that runs Myanmar, widely condemned for thwarting rescue efforts after a deadly cyclone." ... "McCain's former energy advisor joined the firm of Barbour Griffith & Rogers [lobbyist firm] in Washington in 2006 after serving as the chief of staff at the Department of Energy. Burgeson's energy clients include Southern Company, which operates electric utilities and nuclear-power plants in the Southeast." ... "''Eric leads the firm's energy practice utilizing his domestic and international energy policy expertise and network of policy decision makers,'' the firm's website states." -By Beth Reinhard -MiamiHerald

- California - Gay - People - Parents - Politics - 2008 Election
"California Supreme Court overturns gay marriage ban." ... "The California Supreme Court struck down the state's ban on same-sex marriage Thursday in a broadly worded decision that would invalidate virtually any law that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation." ... "The 4-3 ruling declared that the state Constitution protects a fundamental "right to marry" that extends equally to same-sex couples. It tossed a highly emotional issue into the [2008] election year while opening the way for tens of thousands of gay people to wed in California, starting as early as mid-June." ... "The majority opinion, by Chief Justice Ronald M. George, declared that any law that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation will from this point on be constitutionally suspect in California in the same way as laws that discriminate by race or gender, making the state's high court the first in the nation to adopt such a stringent standard." ... "The decision was a bold surprise from a moderately conservative, Republican-dominated court that legal scholars have long dubbed "cautious," and experts said it was likely to influence other courts around the country." ... "But the scope of the court's decision could be thrown into question by an initiative already heading toward the November ballot. The initiative would amend the state Constitution to prohibit same-sex unions." ... "The court's ruling repeatedly invoked the words "respect and dignity" and framed the marriage question as one that deeply affected not just couples but also their children. California has more than 100,000 households headed by gay couples, about a quarter with children, according to 2000 census data." ... ""Our state now recognizes that an individual's capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual's sexual orientation," George wrote for the majority. "An individual's sexual orientation -- like a person's race or gender -- does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights."" (1, 2, 3) -By Maura Dolan with contributions by Patrick McGreevy, Rong-Gong Lin II, Jean-Paul Renaud, Francisco Vara-Orta, Molly Hennessy-Fiske, John M. Glionna and Lee Romney -LAtimes

- Opinion - John McCain - Clinton - Obama - US - 2008 Election - Israel - Palestine - Military - Terrorism - Politics
"[McCain] Hypocrisy on Hamas: McCain Was for Talking Before He Was Against It." ... "Two years ago, just after Hamas won the Palestinian parliamentary elections, I interviewed [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain for the British network Sky News's "World News Tonight" program. Here is the crucial part of our exchange:" ... "I asked: "Do you think that American diplomats should be operating the way they have in the past, working with the Palestinian government if Hamas is now in charge?"" ... "McCain answered: "They're the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another, and I understand why this administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas because of their dedication to violence and the things that they not only espouse but practice, so . . . but it's a new reality in the Middle East. I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, that they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that."" ... "Given that exchange, the new John McCain might say that Hamas should be rooting for the old John McCain to win the presidential election. The old John McCain, it appears, was ready to do business with a Hamas-led government, while both [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidates Hillary] Clinton and [Barack] Obama have said that Hamas must change its policies toward Israel and terrorism before it can have diplomatic relations with the United States." ... "Even if McCain had not favored doing business with Hamas two years ago, he had no business smearing Barack Obama. But given his stated position then, it is either the height of hypocrisy or a case of political amnesia for McCain to inject Hamas into the American election." -By James P. Rubin -WashingtonPost

- Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - New York - South Dakota - Illinois - Nevada - California - US - Israel - Iran - Syria - Military - Terrorism - Politics - History - 2008 Election
"Bush Assails ‘Appeasement,’ Touching Off Storm." ... "[Republican] President Bush used a speech to the Israeli Parliament on Thursday to liken those who would negotiate with “terrorists and radicals” to appeasers of the Nazis — a remark widely interpreted as a rebuke to [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois] Senator Barack Obama, who has advocated greater engagement with countries like Iran and Syria." ... "The comments created an angry tussle back home, as Democrats accused Mr. Bush of breaching protocol by playing partisan politics overseas." ... "Mr. Obama delivered a quick and pointed response, saying in an e-mail statement to reporters that he had no intention of dealing with terrorists and accusing Mr. Bush of using his visit, timed for the 60th anniversary of Israel’s independence, to “launch a false political attack.”" ... "On Thursday, other Democrats leapt to the Illinois senator’s defense. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, called Mr. Bush’s remarks “reckless and irresponsible.” Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said Mr. Bush had behaved in a manner “beneath the dignity of the office of president.” Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, chairman of the House Democratic caucus, accused Mr. Bush of violating the unwritten rule against playing politics overseas." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and New York] Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Mr. Obama’s rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, joined him in taking issue with Mr. Bush. Weighing in from South Dakota, Mrs. Clinton said: “President Bush’s comparison of any Democrat to Nazi appeasers is offensive and outrageous, especially in the light of his failures in foreign policy. This is the kind of statement that has no place in any presidential address.”" -By Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Jim Rutenberg -NYTimes

- John McCain - Marketing - Law - Politics - History - 2004 Election - 2008 Election
"McCain adviser ousted in conflict uproar." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain's campaign asked a prominent Republican consultant, Craig Shirley, to leave his official campaign role Thursday after a Politico inquiry about Shirley's dual role consulting for the campaign and for an independent "527" group opposing the Democratic presidential candidates." ... "Shirley, a conservative public relations veteran, doubled as a consultant to McCain and to the group Stop Her Now, a 527 group barred from coordinating its activities with presidential campaigns." ... "Shirley’s firm, Shirley & Bannister Associates, was paid more than $22,000 by McCain for work this February and March to win conservative support. Stop Her Now has paid the firm more than $155,000 since 2007 for public relations work." ... "He [Craig Shirley] was reportedly a member of the team that tarred [former Democratic Presidential Candidate] Michael Dukakis with the “Willie Horton” ads in 1988, and later he helped organize the first press conference with Paula Jones, who had sued [former Democratic President] Clinton for sexual harassment. In 2004, his company did public relations work for a mov[i]e attacking [former 2004 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Kerry for undermining the treatment of Vietnam Veterans, “Stolen Honor.”" -By Ben Smith -Politico.com

_2008 News News Reference May 2008 News
May 15, 2008 News URL: #May-15-2008-News
20080515 Thursday

- John McCain - Terrorism - Politics - Palestine - US - 2008 Election - Barack Obama - Illinois - Arizona
"Exclusive Video: McCain Was For Talking To Hamas Before He Was Against It...." ... "Two years ago, in an interview with James Rubin for Sky News, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain expressed a willingness to negotiate with the terrorist group Hamas [Palestine] -- the very group that McCain has been relentlessly_using to smear [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama over the last several weeks." ... "Rubin has written an op-ed in Friday's Washington Post about his exchange with McCain, and The Huffington Post has obtained exclusive video. Here's the key excerpt:"

"RUBIN: "Do you think that American diplomats should be operating the way they have in the past, working with the Palestinian government if Hamas is now in charge?""

"McCAIN: "They're the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another, and I understand why this administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas because of their dedication to violence and the things that they not only espouse but practice, so . . . but it's a new reality in the Middle East. I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, that they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that.""
WATCH "McCain on Hamas in 2006: Going to Have to Deal With Them"

- US - Iran - Military - Politics
"Gates: U.S. Should Engage Iran With Incentives, Pressure." ... "The United States should construct a combination of incentives and pressure to engage Iran, and may have missed earlier opportunities to begin a useful dialogue with Tehran [Iran's capital], [Republican President Bush's] Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said yesterday." ... ""We need to figure out a way to develop some leverage . . . and then sit down and talk with them," Gates said. "If there is going to be a discussion, then they need something, too. We can't go to a discussion and be completely the demander, with them not feeling that they need anything from us."" ... "In the meantime, Gates told a meeting of the Academy of American Diplomacy, a group of retired diplomats, "my personal view would be we ought to look for ways outside of government to open up the channels and get more of a flow of people back and forth." Noting that "a fair number" of Iranians regularly visit the United States, he said, "We ought to increase the flow the other way . . . of Americans" visiting Iran." ... ""I think that may be the one opening that creates some space," Gates said." ... "Gates was also a member of the bipartisan 2006 Iraq Study Group, which advocated reaching out to Iran." ... "A number of senior U.S. military officials have emphasized the need for robust diplomacy toward Iran, while not ruling out the use of force. "I'm a big believer in resolving this diplomatically, economically and politically," [Admiral ] Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a recent interview with The Washington Post. "The military aspect of this, which I think is a very important part of the equation and must stay on the table," Mullen said, is an option of "last resort."" -By Karen DeYoung -WashingtonPost

- Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - John McCain - Terrorism - Military - History - Israel - Iran - US - 2008 Election
"Barack Obama says President Bush falsely accused him of appeasement in speech in Israel." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama accused [Republican] President Bush of "a false political attack" Thursday after Bush warned in Israel against appeasing terrorists — early salvos in a general election campaign that's already blazing even as the Democratic front-runner tries to sew up his party's nomination." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain, the Republican nominee in waiting, said Obama was showing "naivete and inexperience and lack of judgment" in his willingness to meet with U.S. [United States] foes." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Rodham Clinton then called Bush's original comments "offensive and outrageous, especially in light of his failures in foreign policy."" ... "By tradition, partisan politics comes to a halt when a U.S. president is on foreign soil, and Bush's remarks led Obama to quickly cry foul. The first-term Illinois senator responded to the comments as if they were criticism of his position that as president he would be willing to personally meet with Iran's leaders and those of other regimes the United States has deemed rogue." ... ""It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel's independence to launch a false political attack," Obama said in a statement his aides distributed. "George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists, and the president's extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel.["]" ... ""It is time to turn the page on eight years of policies that have strengthened Iran and failed to secure America or our ally Israel," Obama said in his statement. "Instead of tough talk and no action, we need to do what (Presidents) Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan did and use all elements of American power — including tough, principled, and direct diplomacy — to pressure countries like Iran and Syria."" -By Liz Sidoti with contributions by Jennifer Loven and Glen Johnson -AP via -StarTribune

- Barack Obama - 2008 Election - US - Israel - Iran - Palestine - Terrorism - Military
"Obama attacks Bush over Iran barb." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama has accused [Republican] George W Bush of attacking him after the US president compared those in favour of talking to terrorists to Nazi appeasers." ... "The White House has denied that the remarks - from a speech to the Israeli parliament - were aimed at Mr Obama." ... "Mr Obama, who is the frontrunner to become the Democrats' presidential nominee, has argued in favour of negotiating with the Iranian regime." ... "But he has ruled out talking to militant organisations like Hamas [in Palestine]." -BBC/News

- John McCain - Money - Politics - Arizona - Real Estate - Law - Federal - Military - Land - 2008 Election
"Price of power: McCain action helped Arizona land developer." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain secured millions in federal funds for a land acquisition program that provided a windfall for an Arizona developer whose executives were major campaign donors, public records show." ... "McCain, who has made fighting special-interest projects a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, inserted $14.3 million in a 2003 defense bill to buy land around Luke Air Force Base [Arizona] in a provision sought by SunCor Development, the largest of about 50 landowners near the base. SunCor representatives, upset with a state law that restricted development around Luke, met with McCain's staff to lobby for funding, according to John Ogden, SunCor's president at the time." ... "The Air Force later paid SunCor $3 million for 122 acres near the base. It was the highest single land transaction of the private lots purchased by the government — three times the county's assessed value and twice the military's estimated value. SunCor also donated another 122 acres. Alan Bunnell, a spokesman for SunCor's parent company, Pinnacle West Capital, said the donation was meant to minimize the company's tax bill and enhance the value of adjacent property it owns." ... "McCain has long-standing ties to SunCor and Pinnacle West:" ... "• McCain's campaigns have received $224,000 since 1998 from donors connected to Pinnacle West, including $104,100 for his current presidential run, according to a USA TODAY analysis of campaign-finance data compiled by the non-partisan CQ MoneyLine. Donors include employees of Pinnacle West and its subsidiaries, employees' spouses and the company's lobbyists and political committees." ... "• Pinnacle West's Chief Executive Officer Bill Post, vice president and lobbyist Robert Aiken and former president Jack Davis, who retired in March, are fundraisers for McCain's current presidential campaign. SunCor President Steve Betts, who joined the company weeks after the military land deal, is a former campaign lawyer for McCain and has raised more than $100,000 for his current campaign." -By Matt Kelley -USATODAY

- WATCH - Noteworthy - Terrorism - Politics - War Crimes - US - Freedom - Iraq - Intelligence - Military - Families - Sports - McCain - 2008 Election
"Mr. President, the war isn’t about you — or golf: Olbermann: [Republican President] Bush's claim he gave up game to honor dead GIs is ludicrous." ... "President Bush has resorted anew to the sleaziest fear-mongering and mass manipulation of an administration and public life dedicated to realizing the lowest of our expectations. And he has now applied these poisons to the 2008 presidential election, on behalf of the party at whose center he and [Republican Candidate] John McCain lurk." ... "Mr. Bush has predicted that the election of a Democratic president could "eventually lead to another attack on the United States." This ludicrous, infuriating, holier-than-thou and most importantly bone-headedly wrong statement came during a May 13 interview with Politico.com and online users of Yahoo." ... "The question was phrased as follows: "If we were to pull out of Iraq next year, what's the worst that could happen, what's the doomsday scenario?"" ... "The president replied: "Doomsday scenario of course is that extremists throughout the Middle East would be emboldened, which would eventually lead to another attack on the United States. The biggest issue we face is, it's bigger than Iraq, it's this ideological struggle against cold-blooded killers who will kill people to achieve their political objectives."" ... "Mr. Bush, at long last, has it not dawned on you that the America you have now created, includes "cold-blooded killers who will kill people to achieve their political objectives?" They are those in — or formerly in — your employ, who may yet be charged some day with war crimes." ... "Through your haze of self-congratulation and self-pity, do you still have no earthly clue that this nation has laid waste to Iraq to achieve your political objectives? "This ideological struggle," Mr. Bush, is taking place within this country." ... "It is a struggle between Americans who cherish freedom, ours and everybody else's, and Americans like you, sir, to whom freedom is just a brand name, just like "Patriot Act" is a brand name or "Protect America" is a brand name." ... "But wait, there's more: You also said "Iraq is the place where al-Qaida and other extremists have made their stand and they will be defeated." They made no "stand" in Iraq, sir, you allowed them to assemble there!" ... "As certainly as if that were the plan, the borders were left wide open by your government's farcical post-invasion strategy of "they'll greet us as liberators." And as certainly as if that were the plan, the inspiration for another generation of terrorists in another country was provided by your government's farcical post-invasion strategy of letting the societal infra-structure of Iraq dissolve, to be replaced by an American viceroy, enforced by merciless mercenaries who shoot unarmed Iraqis and then evade prosecution in any country by hiding behind your skirts, sir." ... "Terrorism inside Iraq is your creation, Mr. Bush!" ... "Then came Mr. Bush's final blow to our nation's solar plexus, his last reopening of our common wounds, his last remark that makes the rest of us question not merely his leadership or his judgment but his very suitably to remain in office." ... ""Mr. President," he was asked, "you haven't been golfing in recent years. Is that related to Iraq?"" ... ""Yes," began perhaps the most startling reply of this nightmarish blight on our lives as Americans on our history. "It really is. I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the Commander in Chief playing golf. I feel I owe it to the families to be as — to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal."" ... "Golf, sir? Golf sends the wrong signal to the grieving families of our men and women butchered in Iraq? Do you think these families, Mr. Bush, their lives blighted forever, care about you playing golf? Do you think, sir, they care about you?" ... "You, Mr. Bush, let their sons and daughters be killed. Sir, to show your solidarity with them you gave up golf? Sir, to show your solidarity with them you didn't give up your pursuit of this insurance-scam, profiteering, morally and financially bankrupting war." ... "Sir, to show your solidarity with them you didn't even give up talking about Iraq, a subject about which you have incessantly proved without pause or backwards glance, that you may literally be the least informed person in the world?" ... "Sir, to show your solidarity with them, you didn't give up your presidency? In your own words  "solidarity as best as I can" is to stop a game? That is the "best" you can do?" ... "Four thousand Americans give up their lives and your sacrifice was to give up golf!" ... "The great Bushian sacrifice — an Army private loses a leg, a Marine loses half his skull, 4,000 of their brothers and sisters lose their lives — and you lose golf, and they have to pull you off the golf course to get you to just do that?" ... "If it's even true." ... "... CBS News has records of you playing golf as late as [October] Oct. 13 of that year, nearly two months later [two months after Bush claimed that he had given up golf "in solidarity" with the families of American troops.]." (1, 2, 3, 4) -By Keith Olbermann -MSNBC

- John McCain - Hillary Clinton - Barack Obama - US - Iraq - Afghanistan-Military - People - Money - Legislation - Politics - 2008 Election - Ariz - Ill - NY
"McCain, Military Oppose Expanding GI Bill." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. [Republican-Arizona], the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, seemed to give a thumbs down to bipartisan legislation that would greatly expand educational benefits for members of the military returning from Iraq and Afghanistan under the GI Bill." ... "Both [2008 Election] Democratic presidential candidates — Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill. [Democratic-Illinois], and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. [Democratic-New York], — have signed on as co-sponsors, and the bill has gained bipartisan support from 54 senators on Capitol Hill in addition to [Virginia Democratic Senator Jim] Webb. A vote on the proposal is expected before the summer." ... "But the bill, which would dramatically increase educational compensation for American troops, has run into some unexpected resistance, both at the Pentagon and now from McCain, who has remained silent on the issue, saying he had not studied the bill close enough." ... "Pressure had mounted on McCain to support the bill — a veterans group, which backs the legislation, delivered a petition to McCain's Senate office, signed by 30,000 veterans." ... "[Matt] Flavin joined the military out of patriotism shortly after 9/11, went to Officer Candidate School and, over the next five years, served tours in Bosnia, Afghanistan and with Naval special forces in Iraq." ... "While he did not join the military specifically to get benefits from the GI Bill and does not think most troops do, Flavin supports the legislation." ... ""We owe them something," Flavin said of his comrades. "They've given life, limb, everything there is to give. The people who bore the most pain and suffering are the people who could use these benefits."" (1, 2, 3) -By Z. Byron Wolf with contributions by Bret Hovell -ABCNEWS.com

- John Edwards - Barack Obama - 2008 Election - North Carolina - Illinois - Michigan - Clinton
"Edwards Endorses Obama." ... "John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina who bowed out of the [2008 Election] presidential race in January, endorsed [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois] Senator Barack Obama at a rally here tonight." ... "“The reason I am here tonight is because the Democratic voters in America have made their choice, and so have I,” Mr. Edwards said. " ... [WATCH: John Edwards: "There is one man who knows and understands that this is the time for bold leadership. There is one man that knows how to create the change, the lasting change, that you have to build from the ground up. There is one man who knows in his heart that it is time to create one America, not two, and that man is Barack Obama."]

Edwards Obama

[NYTimes photo]

-NYTimes

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- John McCain - Myanmar - Sudan - Oil - Corporation - Politics - Arizona - US - 2008 Election
"McCain On Wife's Sudan-Related Investment." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain, whose wife has come under fire for refusing to disclose her tax return documents, fielded tough questions about her investment in a mutual fund that deals in Sudan, as well as about the resignation of two McCain aides over their involvement in lobbying deals with the Myanmar junta." ... "The Arizona senator said that he was not aware of his wife's investment in two mutual funds that include holdings in Oil & Natural Gas Corp. [Corporation], which in turn does business in the genocide-ridden African nation. " -By Carrie Dann -NationalJournal

- John McCain - Secrecy - Sudan - People -  - International - US - 2008 Election
"McCain's wife urged to release tax returns." ... "[2008 Election] Republican presidential candidate John McCain came under criticism on Wednesday for his wife Cindy's refusal to release her tax returns." ... ""The candidate should get his wife to reconsider," The Washington Post wrote in an editorial on Wednesday. "The last thing the country needs in a new president is more secrecy."" ... "The McCain campaign also confirmed that Cindy McCain sold more than $2 million in mutual funds with investments in companies that do business in Sudan." ... "McCain has been a strong advocate for imposing international financial sanctions on Sudan because of the 5-year-old Darfur conflict, in which U.N. [United Nations] officials estimate as many as 300,000 people may have been killed." (1, 2) -By Steve Holland and Caren Bohan with contributions by Peter Cooney -Reuters

- John McCain - Politics - Editorials - 2008 Election - Arizona
"Disclosure Demands Build for Cindy McCain’s Tax Returns." ... "The pressure is mounting on Cindy McCain, the wealthy wife of the presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, to release her tax returns." ... "This week, the Washington Post, the Washington Times and the New York Observer published editorials calling for her to disclose her returns." ... "Democratic National Committee spokesman Damien LaVera faulted the Arizona senator. “How can John McCain expect the American people to trust him to lead our country if he is not even willing to apply the standards of openness and accountability he expects from everyone else to his own campaign?” he asked in a written statement." ... "Cindy McCain is, by far, the top breadwinner for the McCains. In 2006, Senate financial disclosure forms show she had an income of between $2 and $7 million. Her father’s company, which she now runs, reportedly is valued at $100 million." -By Elizabeth Holmes -WSJ.com

- John McCain - Sudan - China - India - Oil - Politics - International - US - 2008 Election
"McCain's wife sells Sudan investments." ... "The wife of [2008 Election] Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who has been a critic of the violence in Sudan, sold off more than $2 million in mutual funds whose holdings include companies that do business in the African nation." ... "The sale on Wednesday came after The Associated Press questioned Cindy McCain's investments in light of calls by her husband for international financial sanctions against the Sudanese leadership." ... "According to McCain's personal financial disclosure, Cindy McCain's investments include two mutual funds — American Funds Europacific Growth fund and American Funds Capital World Growth and Income fund — that are listed by the Sudan Divestment Task Force as targets for divestment." ... "Both funds have holdings in Oil & Natural Gas Corp. [Corporation], an India-based company that does business in Sudan. The American Funds Capital World Growth & Income Fund also has holdings in Petrochina, a Chinese government-owned oil company with vast investments in Sudan." -AP via -USATODAY

- Oregon - 2008 Election - Music - Entertainers
"Steve Novick: The One-Handed Progressive Candidate Pearl Jam, R.E.M. & Death Cab Want You to Know About." ... "[2008 Election Oregon Democratic Senatorial Candidate] Steve Novick is a 4'9" populist with no time for Big Money, a hook for a hand, and a beer named for his hook hand. And in this charming campaign ad [WATCH], he happily opens a brew for a pal…using his hook! Oh wait, did we mention that half of all of indie rock is backing the man’s Senate run?" ... "Novick is a Democrat running for Senate from Oregon. His supporters include R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard, Krist Novoselic, Death Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla, Corin Tucker, the Decemberists‘ Colin Meloy, and Rufus Wainwright." ... "If Novick wins the primary, Pearl Jam will play four east coast shows and donate the proceeds to Steve’s campaign." -MTV.com

- Barack Obama - Government - Financial - Law - Illinois - New York - 2008 Election
"Obama to Receive Endorsement Of 3 Former SEC Chairmen." ... "Three former chairmen of the Securities and Exchange Commission will publicly endorse Democratic [2008 Election Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama's bid for the presidency Wednesday, including one who served under [Republican] President Bush." ... "William Donaldson, who was SEC [Securities and Exchange Commissio] chairman for about 2½ years from early 2003, along with [Democratic President Bill] Clinton and [Republican President Ronald] Reagan appointees Arthur Levitt and David Ruder, will join former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker in endorsing Sen. Obama, his campaign said. Mr. Volcker endorsed Sen. Obama in January." ... "In a statement released by the campaign, the four men said they believed Sen. Obama would take a "reasoned approach" to "balanced regulatory reform."" ... "The endorsements, especially that of Republican appointee Mr. Donaldson, could give a boost to Mr. Obama in the general election this fall." ... "Mr. Donaldson, a former Wall Street banker, also is a former head of the New York Stock Exchange. In government, Mr. Donaldson's tenure was marked by his push for greater regulation of hedge funds. The SEC eventually passed a hedge-fund-regulation package, in the face of vocal critics. A federal court later overturned the regulation." ... "In an interview Tuesday, Mr. Donaldson said he was struck by a speech Sen. Obama gave calling for a revamping of regulation for any business that borrows money from the government. Sen. Obama, he said, saw the "need to take a good hard look at how things are organized" and "just exactly what went wrong in terms of the regulatory oversight that we have."" -By Christopher Cooper and Kara Scannell -WSJ.com

- Scott Bloch - Lurita Doan - Karl Rove - Politics - Government - Hatch Act - Investigation
"Six Degrees of Scott Bloch: A Scandal Scorecard." ... "Several [Republican President] Bush administration officials have become ensnared in an interlocking set of investigations into allegations of Hatch Act violations, whistleblower misconduct and other prohibited personnel practices. At the center of these investigations is Scott Bloch, head of the U.S. [United States] Office of Special Counsel. Characters drawn into the drama include former General Services Administration chief Lurita Doan, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and top Bush adviser Karl Rove." [SEE: "relationship each actor had with Scott Bloch."] -By Ross Gianfortune, Melanie Bender, and Robert Brodsky -GovExec.com

- US - Military - Families - Iraq - Afghanistan - Israel - Consumer - Business - Terrorism - Politics - History
"Bush Says He's Not A Golfer In Wartime." ... "[Republican] President Bush said yesterday that he gave up golfing in 2003 "in solidarity" with the families of soldiers who were dying in Iraq, concluding that it was "just not worth it anymore" to play the sport in a time of war." ... "Democrats have criticized Bush for allegedly not requiring Americans to sacrifice enough while waging wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and for urging people to keep shopping as a way to fight terrorism after the [September] Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Bush was also widely criticized in August 2002 when he decried terrorist bombings in Israel while golfing and then told reporters: "Now watch this drive."" ... "... [Presidential historian Robert] Dallek, who is critical of the current president's legacy, said Bush's remarks about Iraq "speak to his shallowness." Dallek added: "That's his idea of sacrifice, to give up golf?"" -By Dan Eggen -WashingtonPost

- Corporate - Environmental - Health - Politics - Investigation - Manufacturing - Water - Michigan - Illinois -Indiana - Minnesota - Ohio - Wisconsin
"U.S. Senators Probe Departure of EPA Midwest Administrator." ... "The circumstances surrounding the resignation of Mary Gade, formerly the U.S. [United States] EPA's [Environmental Protection Agency's]  regional administrator for the Midwest, are under investigation by an environmental committee of the U.S. Senate." ... "On May 2, the "Chicago Tribune" reported that two top aides to Johnson demanded that Gade resign or be fired by June 1, 2008. She has since submitted her resignation and is currently on administrative leave." ... "According to the Tribune's story, Gade believed her forced resignation was due to her efforts to push Dow Chemical Company to clean up dioxin contamination in Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron stemming from its Midland, Michigan chemical manufacturing plant. Dioxin is a known carcinogen." ... "The paper also reported that officials from Dow Chemical had met with EPA officials in Washington in January 2008 because they were unhappy with Gade's approach, and that Gade's handling of this issue became the subject of criticism from her superiors in Washington." ... "On January 4, 2008, Gade terminated negotiations with Dow Chemical aimed at a settlement to conduct a study and interim cleanup actions for dioxin contamination along the Tittabawassee River system, the Saginaw River and the Saginaw Bay. The negotiations under the Superfund Act began in October 2007 with the participation of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality." ... ""I am extremely disappointed with this outcome," said Gade on January 4. "EPA approached negotiations with high hopes and realistic expectations. Our team put in many long hours of good faith efforts that came to an unfortunate end today. EPA is now reviewing its options for ensuring that dioxin contamination in the river system and the Midland area can be fully addressed."" ... "An environmental attorney, Gade was appointed regional administrator of EPA Region 5 in October 2006 to oversee federal environmental programs in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin." -ENS

- Mississippi - Illinois - Louisiana - 2008 Election
"Childers victory gives Dems a third straight takeover." ... "Democrat Travis Childers won Tuesday’s Mississippi special election runoff for [Mississippi Republican Senator] Sen. Roger Wicker’s (R [Republican]) former House seat, handing Democrats the biggest of their three special election takeovers this cycle and sending a listless GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] further into a state of disarray." ... "Childers led GOP candidate Greg Davis 53-47 with more than 90 percent of precincts reporting. Turnout increased substantially over the 67,000 voters who cast ballots in the April 22 open special election, with more than 100,000 voting in the runoff." ... "Childers, who beat Davis 49-46 three weeks ago but came up just shy of a race-ending majority, joins new Democratic [Illinois Representative] Reps. Bill Foster (Ill. [Illinois]) and [Louisiana Democratic Representative] Don Cazayoux (La. [Louisiana]) to give Democrats a trifecta of upsets in conservative House districts over the last two months." ... "Wicker’s former district voted 62 percent for [Republican] President Bush in 2004 and, by that measure, is one of the most conservative seats Democrats have taken from the GOP over the last 18 months, including the 2006 election." ... "Davis and Childers will square off again in November [2008 Election], as they have already been elected their parties’ general election nominees." (1, 2) -By Aaron Blake -TheHill.com

- Richard Shelby - Corporate - Government - Politics - Housing - Law - Ala
"Housing Law in Hands of Senator with Strong Interest in Real Estate." ... "As the real estate industry nervously monitors Congress's response to the mortgage crisis, lenders and developers can breathe a little easier knowing [Alabama Republican Senator] Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala. [Republican-Alabama]) is among the lawmakers working on housing legislation. Shelby's strong ties to the real estate industry formed during his career as a successful title insurance executive, landlord and real estate developer. Now, as the ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, he is in a powerful position to influence the current overhaul of housing finance legislation, worrying some who say he has abused his power before, according to a story in Friday's New York Times." ... ""Over the years, his critics say, Mr. Shelby's ties to the mortgage industry and the Alabama real estate market, and the generous campaign donations he receives from financial services companies have distorted his perspective and led him to delay critical legislative remedies," the Times reported." ... "Generous campaign donations, indeed. Shelby has collected an impressive $920,100 from the real estate industry and $863,500 from commercial banks since the start of his political career, according to our research. The real estate industry is the second most generous industry giving to Shelby, after lawyers. He ranks fourth in the Senate in total contributions from mortgage bankers and brokers. With $232,900 from them, he is behind only three other senators, all of whom have collected money from the industry for presidential bids." ... "While serving on the Banking Committee, Shelby "financed an apartment complex he owns in Tuscaloosa [Alabama] with a $5 million loan from Freddie Mac, the same government-sponsored mortgage company whose regulation his committee is reshaping," the Times reported. He has also steered federal funds to the University of Alabama, which may have helped him increase the number of potential renters for apartments, the newspaper suggests." ... "Shelby has raised a total of $20.4 million since the start of his congressional career and, in 2006, reported his net worth to be between $5.2 million and $35.7 million, making him the 17th wealthiest member of the Senate." -By Lindsay Renick Mayer -OpenSecrets.org

- John McCain - Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - Environmental - History - 2008 Election
"Environmental Stances Are Balancing Act For McCain." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain's lifetime League of Conservation Voters score is 24 percent, compared with 86 for [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidates Barack] Obama and 86 for [Hillary] Clinton; Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund's conservation report card gave him 38 percent in the 108th Congress and 40 in the 109th. (McCain has missed every major environmental vote this Congress, giving him a zero rating.)" ... "When [League of Conservation Voters President Gene] Karpinski tells audiences about McCain's environmental scorecard rating, he said, "jaws drop. . . . I tell them, 'He's not as green as you think he is.'"" (1, 2) -By Juliet Eilperin -WashingtonPost

- Barack Obama - 2008 Election - Illinois - US - Israel - History - Terrorism - Politics
"House Republican Leaders Twist Obama Statement on Israel." ... "In an interview with The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. [Democratic-Illinois], talked a great deal about Israel. He was rather effusive in his support for the Jewish state." ... "Apparently given nothing of substance to criticize, House Republican leaders then took a statement Obama made and twisted it to act as if the Democrat had insulted the Jewish state. Which he had not." ... "After describing some of the first times he thought about Zionism, Obama said "the idea of a secure Jewish state is a fundamentally just idea, and a necessary idea, given not only world history but the active existence of anti-Semitism, the potential vulnerability that the Jewish people could still experience."" ... "He talked about how "the idea of Israel and the reality of Israel is one that I find important to me personally. Because it speaks to my history of being uprooted, it speaks to the African-American story of exodus, it describes the history of overcoming great odds and a courage and a commitment to carving out a democracy and prosperity in the midst of hardscrabble land."" ... "He assailed Hamas as a terrorist organization and said the United States "should not be dealing with them until they recognize Israel, renounce terrorism, and abide by previous agreements."" -By Jake Tapper -ABCNEWS.com

- Mother's-Day - Museum - West Virginia - Woman - Mother - People - Consumer - Marketing - Industry
"For the mother of Mother's Day, it's just never been right." ... "Anna Jarvis never had children, but she became the mother of Mother's Day, giving birth to the holiday during a serene church ceremony in her hometown [Grafton, West Virginia] 100 years ago." ... "At first, her creation was perfect and pure. People honored their mothers the way she envisioned it -- with a white carnation, a symbol of maternal purity, a handwritten note or a day off." ... "But then her holiday started acting like a rebellious teenager, selling out to the flower and card industry, leaving Miss Jarvis bitter and disillusioned. She ended her life in a mental asylum." ... "The story of Miss Jarvis and the holiday that she couldn't control come to life in two exhibits more than 20 miles south of Morgantown [West Virginia]. The International Mother's Day Shrine memorializes the first Mother's Day service on May 10, 1908, the anniversary of the death of Miss Jarvis' mother, Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis." ... "Four miles away from Grafton in Webster [West Virginia] is the Anna Jarvis Birthplace Museum, a lovingly restored wooden Civil War-era house." ... "Miss Jarvis likely would cringe if she could see Mother's Day today." ... "The simple white carnation handed out to mothers in the former Andrews Methodist Church 100 years ago has given way to modern marketing -- crowded department store Mother's Day sales, restaurant pitches for elaborate brunches and dinners, ornate floral bouquets and rows upon rows of Mother's Day cards, instead of the handwritten note she urged. On average, Americans are expected to spend $138 each on mom this Mother's Day, ringing up $15.8 billion in sales." ... "In her day, Anna Jarvis was a public figure and irresistible newspaper copy as she crashed confectioners' conferences, broke up a War Mothers' rally and threatened lawsuits -- all in the name of saving her beloved Mother's Day from encroachers." -By Cristina Rouvalis -Post-Gazette.com

- John McCain - DCI Group - Burma (Myanmar) - Military - Money - Politics - People - Human Rights - Weather - Disaster - Arizona - US - 2008 Election
"Two McCain Aides With Ties to Burma Junta Resign." ... "ABC News’ Jan Simmonds reports: Two of [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain' campaign aides resigned this weekend after media reports brought to light their ties to a lobbying group [DCI group] that once represented the military junta of Burma, which the regime calls Myanmar." ... "The aides, Douglas Goodyear, who was tapped as the GOP Convention Coordinator, and Doug Davenport, a regional manager focusing on the mid-Atlantic states, both worked for DCI. The firm was hired in 2002 to represent Burma’s military junta to try to begin a dialogue of political reconciliation with the United States." ... "The Burmese government has been strongly condemned by the State Department for its human rights record and has in recent days aroused an international outcry for its handling of the relief efforts in wake of a cyclone that according Oxfam [charity] could eventually claim 1.5 million lives if food, clean water and medical supplies are not rushed in to the devastated region. Relief agencies and governments that have offered assistance, including the United States, say the regime has frustrated their attempts to help the survivors of the disaster, tying up visa applications for aide workers in bureaucratic red tape and not allowing shipments of food and medical supplies into the country." -ABCNEWS.com

- John McCain - Rick Davis - Myanmar [Burma] - Military - Money - Politics - DCI Group - US - 2008 Election
"A Second McCain Aide Resigns." ... "Doug Davenport, the [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain's] regional campaign manager for the mid-Atlantic states, founded the DCI Group's lobbying practice and oversaw the contract with Myanmar [Burma] in 2002." ... ""Doug has tendered his resignation and we have accepted it," Jill Hazelbaker, McCain's communications director, wrote in a e-mail." ... "He joins former DCI Group CEO Doug Goodyear, who resigned yesterday from the post of convention CEO after Newsweek reported that DCI was paid more than $300,000 to represent Myanmar's ruling junta." ... "Goodyear and Davenport were recruited by McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, who has been accused by some current and former McCain advisers of take insufficient care of McCain's reformer brand by appointing lobbyists to key positions. Ironically, as Newsweek reported, Goodyear was asked to become convention CEO after Davis's lobbying firm partner, Paul Manafort, was nixed because of his own close ties to foreign governments and controversial companies." -Marc Ambinder -TheAtlantic.com

- Barack Obama - John McCain - 2008 Election - Oregon - Energy - Technology - US - Iraq - Military - Health Care
"Obama eager to campaign with McCain." ... "Acting even more like he has clinched the Democratic presidential nomination, [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama said on Saturday he would be willing to campaign jointly with Republican [2008 Election Presidential Candidate] John McCain and acknowledged he needed to better introduce himself to Americans." ... "After a stop at a solar technology company in this central Oregon town [Bend, Oregon], Obama was asked if he supported a suggestion that he campaign with McCain and hold joint town hall meetings in the run-up to the November [2008] general election." ... ""I think that's a great idea. Obviously we'd have to think through the logistics on this," Obama said. "Should I be the nominee, if I have the opportunity to debate substantive issues before the voters with John McCain, that's something I'm going to welcome."" ... "Obama, who took a commanding lead in the Democratic race last week, said he looked forward to pointing out his differences with McCain, including views on the energy crisis, the Iraq war and health care." ... ""We haven't finished this primary yet so it's premature to start projecting how the general election's going to play out," he said at the news conference." (1, 2, 3) -By Deborah Charles wtih contributions by by Chris Baltimore and Todd Eastham -Reuters

- John McCain - Burma [Myanmar] - Military - Money - Politics - DCI Group - Marketing - Human Rights - Oil - Arizona - US - 2008 Election - Saint Paul - Minn
"McCain's Convention Chair Worked for Burma's Military Junta." ... "John McCain's choice to manage the GOP convention this summer is lobbyist Doug Goodyear, whose firm once represented Burma's repressive regime." ... "After [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain nailed down the Republican nomination in March, his campaign began wrestling with a sensitive personnel issue: who would manage this summer's GOP convention in St. Paul, Minn. [Minnesota]? The campaign recently tapped Doug Goodyear for the job, a veteran operative and Arizonan who was chosen for his "management experience and expertise," according to McCain press secretary Jill Hazelbaker. But some allies worry that Goodyear's selection could fuel perceptions that McCain—who has portrayed himself as a crusader against special interests—is surrounded by lobbyists. Goodyear is CEO of DCI Group, a consulting firm that earned $3 million last year lobbying for ExxonMobil [oil corporation], General Motors and other clients." ... "Potentially more problematic: the firm was paid $348,000 in 2002 to represent Burma's military junta, which had been strongly condemned by the State Department for its human-rights record and remains in power today. Justice Department lobbying records show DCI pushed to "begin a dialogue of political reconciliation" with the regime. It also led a PR [public relations] campaign to burnish the junta's image, drafting releases praising Burma's efforts to curb the drug trade and denouncing "falsehoods" by the [Republican President] Bush administration that the regime engaged in rape and other abuses. " -By Michael Isikoff -Newsweek

- Richard Shelby - Government - Housing - Legislation - Politics - Alabama
"Senator’s Ties to Real Estate Draw Criticism." ... "He [Alabama Republican Senator Richard Shelby] has made millions as a title insurance executive, landlord and real estate developer in this college town [Tuscaloosa, Alabama], where the economy, despite trouble nationwide, is still growing nicely. Now, as a United States senator, with the mortgage mess fueling a national economic slowdown, Richard C. Shelby has more say over the revamping of housing finance laws than almost anyone else in Congress." ... "But over the years, his critics say, Mr. Shelby’s ties to the mortgage industry and the Alabama real estate market, and the generous campaign donations he receives from financial services companies, have distorted his perspective and led him to delay critical legislative remedies." ... "Indeed, Mr. Shelby’s legislative and business worlds have often intersected. For instance, while on the Banking Committee, he financed an apartment complex he owns in Tuscaloosa with a $5 million loan from Freddie Mac, the same government-sponsored mortgage company whose regulation his committee is reshaping." ... "Even his efforts to steer federal money to the University of Alabama, where a recently built $60 million science building is named after Mr. Shelby and his wife, Annette, have benefited him. The tens of millions in earmarks have helped the university, his alma mater, grow and attract more students. The tenants of his apartment complex are mostly students." ... "... Mr. Shelby has for years blocked legislation that would have restrained Freddie Mac and its sibling, Fannie Mae, on the grounds that the bills did not go far enough. In doing so, the mortgage financiers were able to expand rapidly." ... "The Mortgage Bankers Association and Mr. Shelby opposed a provision in a Senate bill debated this spring that would have allowed bankruptcy judges to lower the principal on certain loans for homeowners facing foreclosure." ... "Questions about the intersection of his two careers, in real estate and politics, have come up before. Just two blocks from the county courthouse here is the headquarters of Tuscaloosa Title, a real estate title insurance company Mr. Shelby has controlled since 1974." ... "When the Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2002 proposed rules to save homebuyers hundreds of dollars in closing costs by allowing a single, discounted package that would include items like the appraisal and title insurance, Mr. Shelby objected, saying the rules would hurt small businesses. Tuscaloosa Title, in a one-story office building that he owns, employs about a dozen people." ... "Last June, Mr. Shelby pronounced in a television interview that Congress should not increase the taxes on private equity firms like Blackstone Group." ... "Six days later, campaign finance records show, Mr. Shelby collected nearly $25,000 in donations from Blackstone executives." (1, 2) -By Eric Lipton and Eric Lichtblau -NYTimes

- Consumers - Food - Safety - Humans - Health - Law - Politics - Animals - Agriculture - Business - Kan - US - Japan
"Government asks court to block wider testing for mad cow." ... "The [Republican President] Bush administration on Friday urged a federal appeals court to stop meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease, but a skeptical judge questioned whether the government has that authority." ... "The government seeks to reverse a lower court ruling that allowed Arkansas City, Kan.[Kansas]-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef to conduct more comprehensive testing to satisfy demand from overseas customers in Japan and elsewhere." ... "Less than 1 percent of slaughtered cows are currently tested for the disease under Agriculture Department guidelines. The agency argues that more widespread testing does not guarantee food safety and could result in a false positive that scares consumers." ... "Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, can be fatal to humans who eat tainted beef. Three cases of mad cow disease have been discovered in the U.S. [United States] since 2003." -By Sam Hananel -AP via -SFGate.com

- US - Iraq - MRAPs - Vehicles
"Military adds armor to vehicles as roadside bombs surge." ... "The U.S. military is reinforcing the sides of its topline mine-resistant vehicles to shore up what could be weak points as troops see a spike in armor-piercing roadside bombings across Iraq, The Associated Press has learned." ... "The surge in attacks is putting the mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles (MRAPs) to the test, and so far they are largely passing. Statistics reviewed by the AP show that while bombings involving the deadly penetrating explosives have jumped by about 40 percent in the past three months, deaths in such bombings have dropped by as much as 17 percent." ... "Officials attribute much of the decline in deaths to the increased use of MRAPs, pronounced "M-raps." To date, about a half-dozen troops have died in incidents that involved the new bomb-resistant vehicles, and several of those deaths occurred in rollovers rather than from explosives penetrating the armor." -By Lolita C. Baldor and Chelsea Carter -AP via -SeattleTimes

- John McCain - Money - Politics - 2008 Election - Environment - History - Arizona - Nevada - Federal - Real Estate - Land
"McCain Pushed Land Swap That Benefits Backer." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain championed legislation that will let an Arizona rancher trade remote grassland and ponderosa pine forest here for acres of valuable federally owned property that is ready for development, a land swap that now stands to directly benefit one of his top presidential campaign fundraisers]." ... "Initially reluctant to support the swap, the Arizona Republican became a key figure in pushing the deal through Congress after the rancher and his partners hired lobbyists that included McCain's 1992 Senate campaign manager, two of his former Senate staff members (one of whom has returned as his chief of staff), and an Arizona insider who was a major McCain donor and is now bundling campaign checks." ... "When McCain's legislation passed in November 2005, the ranch owner gave the job of building as many as 12,000 homes to SunCor Development, a firm in Tempe, Ariz. [Arizona], run by Steven A. Betts, a longtime McCain supporter who has raised more than $100,000 for the presumptive Republican nominee. Betts said he and McCain never discussed the deal." ... "The Audubon Society described the exchange as the largest in Arizona history. The swap involved more than 55,000 acres of land in all, including rare expanses of desert woodland and pronghorn antelope habitat. The deal had support from many local officials and the Arizona Republic newspaper for its expansion of the Prescott National Forest. But it brought an outcry from some Arizona environmentalists when it was proposed in 2002, partly because it went through Congress rather than a process that allowed more citizen input." ... "Although the bill called for the two parcels to be of equal value, a federal forestry official told a congressional committee that he was concerned that "the public would not receive fair value" for its land. A formal appraisal has not yet begun. A town official opposed to the swap said other Yavapai Ranch land sold nine years ago for about $2,000 per acre, while some of the prime commercial land near a parcel that the developers will get has brought as much as $120,000 per acre." ... "In an interview, Betts said there is "absolutely no" connection between his contributions to McCain's presidential bids and the deal involving rancher Fred Ruskin and the Yavapai Ranch Limited Partnership." ... "Betts is among a string of donors who have benefited from McCain-engineered land swaps. In 1994, the senator helped a lobbyist for land developer Del Webb Corp. pursue an exchange in the Las Vegas [Nevada] area, according to the Center for Public Integrity. McCain sponsored two bills, in 1991 and 1994, sought by donor Donald R. Diamond that yielded the developer thousands of acres in trade for national parkland." ... "In the late 1990s, McCain promoted a deal in Arizona's Tonto National Forest involving property part-owned by Great American Life Insurance, a company run by billionaire Carl H. Lindner Jr., a prolific contributor to national political parties and presidential candidates." ... "In Arizona, SunCor is a subsidiary of Pinnacle West, the state's largest power company. Betts, as Ruskin described him, "politically is a very powerful guy in the state."" ... "Officials from the company and its subsidiaries have accounted for $100,000 in contributions to McCain's political campaigns over the years, records show." (1, 2) -By Matthew Mosk with contributions by Alice Crites -WashingtonPost

- Oil - Government - New York - Missouri - US - Euro - History
"Oil Climbs Above $126 to Record as Dollar Weakens Against Euro." ... "Crude oil for June delivery rose $2.27, or 1.8 percent, to a record closing price of $125.96 a barrel at 2:55 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract surged to $126.27 today, the highest since futures began trading in 1983. Prices are up 8.3 percent this week, the biggest weekly gain in more than a year. Futures have more than doubled in the past year." ... "The dollar fell 9.6 percent since Sept. 18, when the Federal Reserve began cutting rates to ease financial-market strains and stave off a recession. The U.S. [United States] central bank cut rates seven times while the ECB [European Central Bank] has left rates unchanged. The dollar fell 0.6 percent to $1.5483 per euro at 3:27 p.m. in New York." ... "``Fed policy is accommodating the rise in energy prices,'' said Bill O'Grady, director of fundamental futures research at Wachovia Securities in St. Louis [Missouri]. ``The Fed and federal government are putting more liquidity in people's pockets, which is being spent on expensive oil.''" ... "The U.S. government started sending $117 billion in tax rebate checks last week as part of its fiscal stimulus plan." ... "Heating oil for June delivery climbed 12.62 cents, or 3.6 percent, to close at a record $3.636 a gallon in New York." ... "Gasoline futures for June delivery rose 6.34 cents, or 2 percent, to $3.2012 a gallon in New York after reaching a record $3.2038 today." ... "Regular gasoline, averaged nationwide, rose 2.6 cents to a record $3.671 a gallon, AAA, the nation's largest motorist organization, said today." -By Mark Shenk -Bloomberg

- Mother's-Day - Politics - Women - Parents - Legislation - Kan -Fla
"Republicans Vote Against Moms; No Word Yet on Puppies, Kittens." ... "It was already shaping up to be a difficult year for congressional Republicans. Now, on the cusp of Mother's Day, comes this: A majority of the House GOP has voted against motherhood." ... "On Wednesday afternoon, the House had just voted, 412 to 0, to pass H. Res. 1113, "Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother's Day," when [Kansas Republican Representative] Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), rose in protest." ... ""Mr. Speaker, I move to reconsider the vote," he announced." ... "[Florida Democratic Representative] Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), who has two young daughters, moved to table Tiahrt's request, setting up a revote. This time, 178 Republicans cast their votes against mothers." ... "It has long been the custom to compare a popular piece of legislation to motherhood and apple pie. Evidently, that is no longer the standard. Worse, Republicans are now confronted with a John Kerry-esque predicament: They actually voted for motherhood before they voted against it. " (1, 2) -By Dana Milbank -WashingtonPost

- J Robert Flores - Politics - Federal - Juvenile - Justice - Investigation
"Former Justice Official Says Juvenile Chief Misled Her: Says Flores ‘misrepresented’ scores on grant proposals so that she’d approve his choices." ... "A former assistant attorney general says the head of the nation’s juvenile justice agency misled her into approving millions of dollars in grants to organizations that he favored." ... "Regina Schofield said Thursday that J. Robert Flores, administrator of the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), “misrepresented the rating scores” of bidders for the National Juvenile Justice Programs last year, hiding the fact that most of his choices received lower scores than many of the proposals that he rejected." ... "Schofield’s statement on Thursday could undercut a defense that Flores has given as a congressional committee investigates his agency’s grant making: that Schofield approved the grants." ... "Flores declined to comment about the allegation by Schofield, whose Office of Justice Programs oversaw the OJJDP. Flores has previously said that he followed proper procedures in awarding the grants. On May 2 he traveled to Capitol Hill to discuss the investigation with members and/or staffers of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, according to people familiar with the committee’s investigation." ... "At issue is a memo that Flores wrote to Schofield last July, in which he explained how he chose 10 winning proposals from among more than 100 bids for the National Programs grants. The memo repeatedly uses the phrase “highest scoring” to describe his choices, even though those choices ranked behind the top bids as scored by the OJJDP staff, and in some cases below dozens of proposals that didn’t get funded." ... "Here’s what explains the discrepancy: After the agency invited bids for the funds through a Request for Proposals, Flores created new criteria and categories for the grants. The incoming bids were assigned to those new categories." ... "Out of the 10 winning bids, eight were the only bids assigned to certain categories – and therefore were the highest-scoring bids in those categories. (For a detailed explanation, see “A Friend at Justice.”)" ... "For example: Under a criterion called “School-based outreach efforts directed at preventing high-risk activity (out-of-wedlock pregnancy),” Flores’ memo says the application of the nonprofit Best Friends Foundation [controlled by Elayne Bennett, Republican politician Bill Bennett's wife] “has the highest score that met the criteria.” The memo does not say, as other OJJDP documents show, that Best Friends was the only qualified bidder in that category, or that among all the bidders, it ranked 51st." -By Patrick Boyle -YouthToday.org

- Vito J Fossella - New York - Parent - Va - Law - Investigation
"Fossella Admits to Extramarital Affair." ... "[New York Republican] Representative Vito J. Fossella, a Staten Island Republican who was arrested on May 1 in Alexandria, Va. [Virginia], and charged with drunken driving, issued a statement on Thursday acknowledging that he had had an extramarital affair with Laura Fay, a former Air Force lieutenant colonel, and that the two of them have a 3-year-old daughter together." ... "The prospect that Mr. Fossella could face a mandatory jail sentence if convicted had already threatened to bring to an end his decade-long career in the House, where Mr. Fossella is the only Republican representing New York City [New York]." ... "He faces a mandatory five days in jail if convicted." ... "The House ethics committee also could open an investigation into the matter." ... "Mr. Fossella and his wife, the former Mary Patricia Rowan, married in 1990. They have two sons and a daughter." ... "“Vito Fossella’s behavior is a disgrace to himself, his family and to Staten Island,” said an anesthesiologist, Dr. John Ferguson, 44. “Given the fact that he votes along the Bush-Cheney line 90 percent of the time, which means he sees himself as a moral values candidate, I find his behavior completely, but not surprisingly, hypocritical. He should resign immediately.”" -By Jonathan P. Hicks with contributions by Sewell Chan, Carl Hulse, Maureen Seaberg and David Stout -NYTimes

- Vito J Fossella - New York - Parent
"Fosella Admits Fathering Child out of Wedlock." ... "Republican Congressman [New York Representative] Vito Fosella has admitted to having an affair and fathering a child out of wedlock. His confession today has some speculating that his seat in Congress might be in peril. WNYC's Kathleen Horan has more." ... "Fosella says he fathered a child three years ago and has had a relationship with the child's mother." -By Kathleen Horan -WNYC.org

- Oil - Corporations - Air - Environment - Ground - Water - Safety - Health -Science - Politics
"Chevron, 11 Oil Companies to Pay $423 Million in MTBE Lawsuits." ... "Water suppliers in 17 states will collect $423 million from Chevron Corp. [Corporation], BP Plc [Public limited company] and 10 other oil companies as part of a settlement of contamination claims involving the gasoline additive MTBE." ... "The suits claim the oil companies contaminated wells and underground aquifers across the country by adding methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, to gasoline as a way to reduce air pollution. They claim the oil companies hid information showing MTBE would cause ``massive'' contamination." ... "The settlement was filed yesterday with U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin in New York, who is presiding over the 59 settled lawsuits brought by 153 municipalities. The six oil companies and refineries that didn't settle include Exxon Mobil Corp. [Corporation], the world's biggest publicly traded oil company, according to Robert Gordon, a lawyer for the plaintiffs." ... "The municipalities ``will use the money to continue to treat water so that it is safe and pure,'' Gordon said in a phone interview." ... "MTBE reduces air pollution by making gasoline burn more completely in a car's engine. MTBE discharged into the air contaminates groundwater through rainfall. The additive has been banned in many states." ... "Estimates of the cost to treat contaminated water in the U.S. have reached $30 billion." ... "Scheindlin denied a request by the oil companies to dismiss the suits in 2005." ... "``Innocent water providers -- and ultimately innocent water users -- should not be denied relief from the contamination of their water supply if defendants breached a duty to avoid an unreasonable risk of harm from their products,'' Scheindlin said at the time." ... "The case is In Re: MTBE, 00-cv-1898, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). " -By David Glovin -Bloomberg

- Barack Obama - John McCain - 2008 Election - Military - Terrorism - Israel - Palestine - Iraq - Pakistan - US -Indiana - North Carolina
"Obama: McCain is 'losing his bearings'." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama chastised [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain Thursday for engaging in “smear” politics, and defended himself from critics who question whether he is capable of being commander-in-chief, during a wide-ranging interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer — his first sit-down since the Indiana and North Carolina primaries." ... "“This is offensive, and I think it's disappointing,” Obama told Blitzer, when asked his thoughts about McCain’s comments that the terrorist organization Hamas wants Obama to be president. “Because John McCain always says ‘I am not going to run that kind of politics,’ and to engage in that kind of smear is unfortunate, particularly because my policy toward Hamas has been no different than his." ... "“I’ve said it’s a terrorist organization and we should not negotiate with them unless they recognize Israel, renounce violence, and unless they are willing to abide by previous accords between the Palestinians and the Israelis. So for him to toss out comments like that I think is an example of him losing his bearings as he pursues this nomination. We don’t need name calling in this debate.”" ... "(Related: Obama: World wants to see U.S. lead)" ... "On the topic of national security, Obama said that the American people are looking for a leader with “good judgment” — a trait the Democratic presidential hopeful said he possessed." ... "“Whether it’s my judgment on Iraq and recognizing that that was going to be a strategic blunder, to my insistence that we need to talk not just to countries we like, but countries we don’t, to my assessment in terms of how we had over-invested in the Musharraf government in Pakistan and that was going to be setting us up for failure later on,” Obama said. “I think I’ve consistently displayed the kind of judgment that the American people are looking for in the next president.”" -By Mark Preston and Alexander Mooney -CNN

- Israel - Racism - Palestine - Families - Human Rights - Law - People - History
"Arabs say racism on rise as Israel turns 60." ... "Salwa Abu Jaber believes her story shows Israel discriminating against its Arab citizens, 60 years after the state was established as a haven for Jews." ... "The 32-year-old mother of four from northern Israel said her five-year-old daughter has never seen her father, who lives in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Separated from the man for five years, she says she has been forced to divorce him." ... "Thousands of families have been similarly split by a 2003 ban on Palestinians in the West Bank from reuniting with their families inside Israel, imposed citing security reasons after the Palestinian uprising or intifada began in 2000." ... ""In practical terms, Israel forced the divorce on us," Abu Jaber said. "We could not continue to live like this any longer. If this is not racism, then what is it?"" ... "This week, as Israel celebrates the anniversary of its foundation, its supreme court has said it found merit in the position of numerous petitions filed by rights groups against the law that keeps the families apart." ... "But Israeli Arabs -- those Palestinians who remained after hundreds of thousands fled or were expelled from their homes when Israel was created -- say institutionalized racism and illegal killings of Arabs have increased since the intifada started." ... "After 1948, about 120,000 stayed and were granted Israeli citizenship. Now about one in five Israelis is Arab, and many prefer to be called Palestinians like their kin outside Israel." ... "About 1.5 million Arabs reside in Israel with 5.5 million Jews, but 3.8 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem." (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) -By Mohammed Assadi with contributions by Samia Nakhoul, Sara Ledwith and Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem -Reuters

- Russia
"Russian parliament approves Putin as PM." ... "Russia's parliament has overwhelmingly voted to make Vladimir Putin the prime minister." ... "Putin's confirmation in the State Duma comes a day after he handed the presidency to his protege Dmitry Medvedev." -AP via  -USATODAY

- Vito J Fossella - New York - Virginia - Cops - Law
"Vito Fossella told cops he was on way to see 'my sick kid' at mystery gal's address." ... "When cops stopped [New York Republican Representative] Rep. Vito Fossella for drunken driving, the married congressman said he was rushing to see his sick daughter on nearby Grimm St. [Street, Alexandria, Virginia] - the home of the mystery woman who later plucked him from jail." ... "Fossella's spokeswoman has insisted the single mom, Air Force Col. Laura Fay, 45, was only a "good friend," but the Staten Island Republican implied to suburban D.C. cops that Fay's 3-year-old was his." ... ""The subject stated that he was driving down from Washington, D.C., to Grimm St. because his daughter was sick and needed to go to the hospital," a police report obtained by the Daily News reveals." ... "The report describes how Fossella, who has a wife and three children in New York, failed a sobriety test by reciting the alphabet wrong, swaying while standing on one leg and stumbling while trying to walk a straight line. " -By Rich Schapiro and James Gordon Meek, and Tina Moore -NYDailyNews.com

- Vito J Fossella - New York - Va - Law - Cheney
"After Fossella’s D.W.I. Arrest, District Is Puzzled and Torn." ... "Across Staten Island [New York] on Tuesday, voters were wondering what [New York Republican] Representative Vito J. Fossella was thinking when, the police say, he drove into a Washington suburb while severely intoxicated early one morning last week." ... "Prosecutors in Alexandria, Va. [Virginia], said Mr. Fossella, 43, was driving with a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit when he was pulled over just after midnight last Thursday. Since last week, tabloid newspapers and the blogosphere have been filled with accounts of Mr. Fossella’s night, and The Daily News has taken to referring to him as “Vino Fossella.”" ... "An ally of [Republican] President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney — who appeared at a fund-raiser for him last month — Mr. Fossella remains politically strong in Staten Island, but his margins of victory have been shrinking." -By Jonathan P. Hicks -NYTimes

- Water - Infrastructure - Human - Health - Safety - Enforcement - Environment - Underground - Money - History - Weather - Animals - Plants
"Aging systems releasing sewage into rivers, streams." ... "America's aging sewer systems continue to dump human waste into rivers and streams, despite years of fines and penalties targeting publicly owned agencies responsible for sewage overflows, a Gannett News Service analysis shows." ... "The analysis of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data found that since 2003, hundreds of municipal sewer authorities have been fined for violations, including spills that make people sick, threaten local drinking water and kill aquatic animals and plants." ... "DATABASE: Sewer treatment plant reports by state[.]" ... "Local governments across the USA plan to spend billions modernizing failing wastewater systems — some of which are more than 100 years old — over the next 10 to 20 years, EPA, state and local sewer authority officials said." ... "Those improvement efforts face a huge challenge mitigating problems in what the EPA estimates to be 1.2 million miles of sewers snaking underground across the USA." ... "Waste gurgles from manholes and gushes down streams and rivers somewhere in the USA almost every day, the EPA estimates." ... "Gannett News Service analyzed enforcement and compliance records compiled by the EPA and state regulators from January 2003 to February 2008." ... "The analysis found that at least one-third of the nation's large, publicly owned sewage treatment systems were the subject of formal enforcement actions by the EPA or state regulators for sewage spills or other violations. Those enforcement actions included fines as well as orders to fix problems or expand treatment capacity. Fines totaling $35 million were assessed against 494 of the nation's 4,200 municipal facilities that treat at least 1 million gallons of sewage daily, the analysis shows." ... "An EPA 2004 report to Congress estimated that 850 billion gallons of storm water mixed with raw sewage pour into U.S. waters every year from older, combined sewer systems that were designed to overflow in wet weather. These combined systems, built by cities in the 19th and early 20th centuries, are now considered antiquated and a threat to public health and the environment, according to the EPA and environmental groups." ... "The EPA's 2002 Clean Water and Drinking Water Infrastructure Gap Analysis reported the nation's municipal sewer authorities' capital needs to meet clean water requirements from 2000 to 2019 ranged from $331 billion to $450 billion. Based on that data, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies now puts that range at $350 billion to $500 billion for the next 20 years, association spokeswoman Susan Bruninga said." -By Larry Wheeler and Grant Smith with contributions by Robert Benincasa and Dan Klepal -USATODAY

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