CNN.com - Two men go hunting together, die of heart attacks
I thought this was interesting -- I just hope they truly loved hunting and would have chosen to be doing that when they passed.
WENATCHEE, Washington (AP) -- Two elderly men who had gone turkey hunting together died of apparent heart attacks just minutes apart, authorities said.
Elmer Sapp, 78, and Alfred Hurd, 70, were hunting south of East Wenatchee on Monday when Hurd got out of a pickup truck and chased a bird down an embankment.
Liberals celebrate the one year anniversary of the Abu Ghraib Scandal - event schedule can be seen
here (like a backyard barbecue celebration).
Ted Kennedy gets involved by releasing a celebration statement - (
via Drudge Report)
I suppose liberals are so desperate for a 'win' they consider this scandal the closest they have come in years so why not celebrate -- I say more power to them - if they want to celebrate the Abu Ghraib Scandal sobeit.
My Way News - Democrats Stage Rally for Social Security
Where are the alternative ideas? It has been well documented that even during the Clinton administration Democrats stated Social Security was in trouble, so they[Democrats] have stopped the "social security is not in trouble" line, but still have not introduced any alternative plan -- their plan as usual, go against anything BUSH and attack anything Republican...
WASHINGTON (AP) - From the buttoned-down confines of a Senate hearing room to a boisterous outdoor rally nearby, Democrats took on President Bush and his Social Security proposals with gusto on Tuesday and rebuffed pleas for bipartisanship from frustrated Republicans.
'If he's going out to push for privatization, let's help him pack,' Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said to cheers from a sun-splashed crowd on the lawn across the street from the Capitol. He was ridiculing Bush's heavily publicized 60-day tour to build support for his proposals.
'Personal accounts unravels the Social Security safety net in a way that makes it hard to find common ground,' said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, one of several Democrats who criticized the president's recommendations at a lengthy Senate Finance Committee hearing.
Here are some more quotes form Sen. Grassley, Iowa -R, you can read other
here.
"Those of you that are bad-mouthing every other suggestion out there, suggest your own plans," Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, the normally mild-mannered committee chairman erupted at one point during the hearing. "Doing nothing is not an option, because doing nothing is a cut in benefits," he added. "Grandpa Grassley gets Social Security, but my granddaughter, when she retires 56 years from now, if we do nothing, is going to get this cut that you're talking about."
Republican Blasts Dems on Social Security - Yahoo! News
I hope more Republicans come forward and shed light on Democrats lack of opinions, plans, and their inaction.
WASHINGTON - The Republican head of the Senate Finance Committee lambasted Democrats and other critics of Social Security overhaul Tuesday, accusing them of offering no ideas of their own on how to keep the system from crashing.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said that doing nothing will trigger at least a 28-percent cut in benefits by 2041, showing why the current Congress should work on changes to achieve "sustainable solvency."
"Those of you that are bad-mouthing every other suggestion out there, suggest your own plans," the 71-year-old part-time farmer exhorted, his voice rising. This came after a panelist at Grassley's initial hearing on the politically volatile issue of restructuring the retirement program suggested that benefit cuts and other changes triggered by creation of personal accounts would be more harmful than projected cuts under the existing structure.
USATODAY.com - Syria ends 29-year military presence in Lebanon
RAYAK, Lebanon (AP) � Surrendering to international pressure and Lebanese street protests, Syria ended its 29-year military presence in its smaller neighbor on Tuesday with a farewell ceremony near their shared border, where a Syrian commander told Lebanese troops: 'Brothers in arms, so long.' The soldiers responded, 'So long.
My Way News - Frist Defends Effort to End FilibustersGuess this will not produce the sound-bites Democrats hope for -- "judges deserve respect", but we will see how they spin it.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist was telling conservatives on Sunday that judges deserve 'respect, not retaliation no matter how they rule,' and he defended his effort to strip Democrats of their ability to block votes on President Bush's court nominees.
'I don't think its radical to ask senators to vote. I don't think its radical to expect senators to fulfill their constitutional responsibilities,' Frist said.
The spin has already started -- in a story about Senator Frist they writer still got his shots in at Tom Delay and attempted to make Frist look bad in doing so.
Instead, Frist seemed intent on steering clear of the views expressed by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and other conservatives in and out of Congress who have urged investigations and even possible impeachment of judges they describe as activists.
Some more words that want make a good "critical" sound-bite and ring true. By the way -- what is wrong with voicing your opinion about a decision you believe wrong - remember the continual out cry about the 2000 election from Democrats -- I guess this right as with many others are only reserved for the left.
"Our judiciary must be independent, impartial and fair," Frist said in his taped remarks.
"When we think judicial decisions are outside mainstream American values, we will say so. But we must also be clear that the balance of power among all three branches requires respect - not retaliation. I won't go along with that," Frist said.
Candid camera with Supreme Court justices - Politics - MSNBC.comWho would disagree with this analysis? Really -- Scalia stated honestly, what he sees/thinks and his words not scripted...
Some interesting points "If judges start interpreting the Constitution to suit political views" -- is this not the concern many have and therefore the following statement "the people in a democracy will try to seize control of it" indicates there should be no surprise... If the "seizure" or "retaining" of judicial power was not an issue why was it a topic in the MSM and of political debates leading up to the presidential election? Yes, Republicans and yes even the Democrates, who act surprised today -- knew this was a large issue, one might say bigger then demonstrated.
Scalia voiced concern that critics could try to 'seize control' of the Supreme Court because 'judges have become political entities much more than they ever were.'
'Something very fundamental has changed,' he said. If judges start interpreting the Constitution to suit political views, he added, then the Supreme Court 'becomes a very political institution and when that happens the people in a democracy will try to seize control of it.
For the record I am not for seizure of "judicial power" -- what I am for is a Supreme Court that actually does what it's purpose is -- interpret the law/constitution… What the Court has continued to do in my adult life more and more is legislate the law - change the law - taking this power away from the people… I will not forget just what Justice Scalia alluded to - democrats added to the "politicization" of the Supreme Court when they fought the 2000 election and both parties are guilty when blocking nominees is a political strategy or discussing nominees is a campaign topic. Basically, what are the Democrats acting shocked about -- they and the Republicans knew this battle was coming and both their goals is to achieve their agenda rendering most of the rhetoric partisan politics.
Top News Article | Reuters.comHardly news worthy but I am very interested in the Korean Peninsula so I always add my two cents. North Korea is riding this "war exercise" horse until it dies -- it is bogus, these exercises have been going on, in the same time-frame for decades -- if anything they have shortened in length and dwindled in size.
SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States has brought six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programs to a collapse, the chief of the general staff of the North Korean army said on Sunday.
Vice Marshal Kim Yong-chun, a member of the North's powerful National Defense Commission, told a national meeting his country would steadily bolster its nuclear capability to counter an invasion by the United States.
'The U.S. brought the six-party talks to a collapse and has staged large-scale madcap war exercises targeted against the DPRK after massively shipping ultra-modern war equipment and a nuclear strike group into South Korea in a bid to bring down our system,' Kim was quoted as saying by the official KCNA news agency.
Weather info could go darkThis is just stupid -- unfortunately I believe a Republican is repaying someone here... The commercial sites new NOAA existed when they started their business so this is a non factor or should be. Come on guys there are more important things to occupy your time and 'weather' is a public concern and should be available to the public -- if the 'pay' sites want more revenue provide the best service... You want to cancel a public service lets talk about 'public television':-).
Do you want a seven-day weather forecast for your ZIP code? Or hour-by-hour predictions of the temperature, wind speed, humidity and chance of rain? Or weather data beamed to your cellphone?
That information is available for free from the National Weather Service.
But under a bill pending in the U.S. Senate, it might all disappear.
The bill, introduced last week by Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., would prohibit federal meteorologists from competing with companies such as AccuWeather and The Weather Channel, which offer their own forecasts through paid services and free ad-supported Web sites.
Supporters say the bill wouldn't hamper the weather service or the National Hurricane Center from alerting the public to hazards — in fact, it exempts forecasts meant to protect "life and property."
But critics say the bill's wording is so vague they can't tell exactly what it would ban.
"I believe I've paid for that data once. ... I don't want to have to pay for it again," said Scott Bradner, a technical consultant at Harvard University.
He says that as he reads the bill, a vast amount of federal weather data would be forced offline.
CNN.com - Woman who claimed to find finger in chili arrestedWell looks like there is something fishing in the chili besides a fingertip.
SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- The woman who claimed she found a well-manicured finger in her bowl of Wendy's chili last month was arrested Thursday night in Las Vegas, police said.
Anna Ayala was taken into custody at her home, San Jose police spokesman Enrique Garcia said. He said police would not give any details until a news conference Friday afternoon. Las Vegas police also refused to comment.
You can read previous post
here,
here, and
here.
UPDATE: Read more
here.
CNN.com - Japanese PM apologizes for warInteresting - although I do not know how the South Korean government will respond but have it on good authority the populous will not be satisfied.
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has apologized for Japan's wartime activities in Asia during his speech at a summit in Jakarta on Friday.
Koizumi expressed Japan's ''deep remorse'' and ''heartfelt apology'' for its wartime past when he addressed the Asia-Africa conference, which was opened on Friday by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Koizumi's remarks appear to be aimed at smoothing relations with China and South Korea in particular, where there have been anti-Japan demonstrations recently.
Daylight saving push could save on oil, too
I really do dislike Daylight Savings time -- maybe because my grandfather did. Granddad called it 'man's time' and of course the other 'God's time' -- his contention was if you want more daylight get up earlier in the morning.
WASHINGTON -- When people go through the ritual of moving their clocks forward each spring ushering in daylight-saving time, they're also saving energy -- the equivalent of thousands of barrels of oil, in fact.
Congress says a good thing can be made better.
The House, in approving a massive energy bill, would extend daylight saving to the first Sunday in March and to the last Sunday in November. It now starts in early April and ends in late October.
USATODAY.com - Yahoo will give family slain Marine's e-mail account
I am not sure how I feel about this -- really what if the guy had skeletons he really did not want his family, especially his Mom and Dad to know about? This is a slippery slope in my opinion. Of course, your sentimentally for the parents - but what if?
WIXOM, Mich. (AP) - E-mail provider Yahoo has pledged to give the family of a Marine killed in Iraq full access to their son's e-mail account, ending a court battle that began after his parents sought messages he wrote before his death.
An Oakland County probate judge signed an order Wednesday directing Yahoo Inc. to provide the contents of the e-mail account used by Lance Cpl. Justin M. Ellsworth, 20, who was killed Nov. 13 while inspecting a bomb in Al Anbar province.
Sergeant convicted of attack on fellow soldiers
Is there a question weather this should call for the death penalty -- my opinion if any case deserved a death sentence this one does.
FORT BRAGG, N.C. - An Army sergeant was convicted Thursday by a military jury of premeditated murder and attempted murder in a grenade and rifle attack that killed two of his comrades and wounded 14 others in Kuwait during the opening days of the Iraq war.
Hasan Akbar, 34, now faces a possible death penalty, which the 15-member jury will consider at a hearing that begins Monday.
Prosecutors say Akbar told investigators he launched the attack because he was concerned U.S. troops would kill fellow Muslims in Iraq. They said he coolly carried out the attack to achieve “maximum carnage” on his comrades in the 101st Airborne Division.
Top News Article | Reuters.com
Little surprised at the ease of defeating this -- it's a good think
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States comfortably defeated a call to the U.N.'s top human rights body on Thursday to launch a probe into alleged violations at Guantanamo Bay.
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights rejected by 22 votes to 8, with 23 abstentions, a resolution brought by Cuba calling for the setting up of a special U.N. investigator for the detention center at a U.S. naval base on its territory.
European Union states on the 53-state commission sided with the United States in rejecting the resolution, saying that Washington was already in discussions with existing U.N. investigators about possible visits to the prison.
USATODAY.com - U.S. military: More than 12 rebels die in Afghan battleKABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - U.S. forces killed more than 12 insurgents in a clash in southeastern Afghanistan, the military said Thursday, while two former Taliban leaders joined a reconciliation drive that American commanders hope will undermine a three-year-old insurgency.
UPDATE: More information
here.
USATODAY.com - Allawi escapes car bombing; Al-Qaeda in Iraq claims blastFailed attempt -- is this good or bad? I see both pros and cons. It is bad that violence is escalating but not surprising with the governmental announcement that was due today (see story
here). Nonetheless, they failed proving yet again their lack of military skill and basic incompetence which leads to needless death (the insurgents overall goal I think) -- good, even better if he was guarded solely by Iraqi security.
BAGHDAD (AP) - Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the country's most feared terror group, claimed responsibility Thursday for a suicide car bombing that targeted interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's convoy but did not harm the Iraqi leader.
In a separate attack, a roadside bomb exploded on the highway leading to Baghdad's airport Thursday, heavily damaging three SUVs carrying civilians. Police Capt. Hamid Ali said two foreigners were killed and three wounded in the burning vehicles. But U.S. Embassy and military officials could not confirm the casualties.
Top News Article | Reuters.com
Well this is bad news although not tragic if you actually look realistically at developing a completely new government and use history as a lesson. Nonetheless, I am sure Democrats will be cheerfully displaying their gloom and doom theme today
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Last-minute disagreements appeared to have derailed Iraq's hopes of unveiling a government on Thursday, nearly three months after elections, with negotiations also strained by a surge in violence.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani told Turkish television he did not think a deal could be reached, reversing hopes he expressed on Wednesday. Disagreement remained evident among the main factions -- Shi'ite Muslims, Kurds and Sunnis.
'I think the government will not be announced today ... We want to see the Sunni Arabs represented as well ... Negotiations also continue over the allocation of some posts,' the Kurdish leader told Turkey's CNN Turk television in an interview.
CNN.com - Ethics chairman offers investigation of DeLay Is anyone surprised by this? Whine - whine - whine; all the way to at lest 2006 is the Democratic strategy I suppose or they simply know they have nothing that will hold up to scrutiny -- mind you I am nether a supporter or opposer of Delay - still making up my mind.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Republican chairman of the House ethics committee offered on Wednesday to begin an investigation of Majority Leader Tom DeLay to end a stalemate that has kept the panel from functioning this year.
Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Washington, made the proposal at a news conference flanked by three of the four other Republicans on the ethics panel. The evenly divided committee also has five Democrats.
Senior committee Democrat Alan Mollohan of West Virginia quickly rejected the offer, saying his party would continue blocking the panel from operating unless investigative rules imposed by Republicans were changed.
This is the second time in two weeks that Republicans tried to break the deadlock, while Democrats have held their ground and criticized the GOP-written rules for investigating lawmakers, passed in January without Democratic support. Democrats have accused the majority party of writing the rules to protect DeLay.
BBC NEWS | Americas | Judge to allow 9/11 guilty pleaHave not decided how I feel about this yet -- has there been an agreement, will details be publicly shared as part of the agreement, will he get the death penalty; questions that need to be answered... He should get the death penalty.
A judge has ruled that Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person in the US charged over the 11 September 2001 terror attacks, can plead guilty.
Judge Leonie Brinkema has scheduled a Friday hearing at Alexandria district court, in the state of Virginia, a statement by the court said.
