South Korean newspaper reports in recent days have noted that the Google Earth service provides images of the presidential blue house and military bases in the country, which remains technically at war with communist North Korea.
AUG. 31 3:25 P.M. ET The Bush administration agreed Wednesday to release oil from emergency stockpiles to help Gulf Coast refiners hobbled by a loss of shipments due to Hurricane Katrina. The administration also moved to temporarily ease some pollution standards on gasoline and diesel fuel to avert shortages.
In a column announcing a wide range of changes in the paper's opinion pages yesterday, Editor and Publisher David Stoeffler revealed that the paper was making the change.
'Many readers find her shrill, bombastic, and mean-spirited,' the new executive at the paper wrote. 'And those are the words used by readers who identified themselves as conservatives.'
In return for our allegiance to the United States, we certainly don't get the protection we're entitled to. Illegal immigration costs American taxpayers billions of dollars every year. In California alone the cost is $10.5 billion annually. The price for the rest of the country, especially border states, is staggeringly incomprehensible. Illegal immigration is also a public safety risk because aliens undergo no medical screening before entering. As a result, diseases once eradicated or virtually eradicated have resurged. Where is the so-called protection we're entitled to?
Well "whoopee do", Cindy meets Martin -- Martin Sheen you know another 'actor' that thinks he knows more then you or I... Well she did meet someone that 'portrays' a President and believes himself more important -- by the way, wasn't Martin Sheen suppose leave the country?CRAWFORD, Texas -Cindy Sheehan hasn't achieved a meeting with the president during her three-week war protest, but she met a man who plays one on TV.
Martin Sheen, who portrays the president on NBC's 'The West Wing,' visited Sheehan's makeshift campsite Sunday.
'At least you've got the acting president of the United States,' Sheen said as the crowd of more than 300 people cheered. 'I think you know what I do for a living, but this is what I do to stay alive.'
Sheehan arrived in President Bush's adopted hometown Aug. 6 and promised to stay until she could question Bush about the war that has claimed more than 1,870 U.S. soldiers' lives - including her son Casey. Bush's vacation ends Friday.
She was among a group of grieving families who met President Bush about two months after her son died last year, before she became a vocal opponent of the war. Bush has said she has the right to protest and he sympathizes with her, but his aides have said there are no plans to change his schedule to meet with her again.
NEW ORLEANS - Hurricane Katrina plowed into the Gulf Coast at daybreak Monday with shrieking, 145-mph winds and blinding rain, submerging entire neighborhoods up to the rooflines in New Orleans, hurling boats onto land and sending water pouring into Mississippi's strip of beachfront casinos.We need to remember the residents effected by this storm... If possible please make a donation -- although I have stated I do not support the Red Cross (dating back twenty years) all that matters is that what you donate gets to those that need it and used for the intended purpose...
CARBONDALE, Ill. - For two years, Carbondale residents have been riveted by the writing of a little girl imploring her father in Iraq: 'Don't die, OK?'(Hat tip Michelle Malkin)
Only now are they learning there was never any danger of that.
The Daily Egyptian, Southern Illinois University's student-run newspaper, today will admit to its readers that the saga - of a little girl's published letters to her father serving in Iraq - was apparently an elaborate hoax perpetrated by a woman who claimed to be the girl's aunt.
In fact, the newspaper will report today, the man identified as the girl's father was never in Iraq, and it was the woman who apparently wrote the letters and regular columns that were published under the little girl's name - and even impersonated the girl in telephone interviews.
Washington (CNSNews.com) - The Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., the current home of hundreds of wounded veterans from the war in Iraq, has been the target of weekly anti-war demonstrations since March. The protesters hold signs that read 'Maimed for Lies' and 'Enlist here and die for Halliburton.'
The anti-war demonstrators, who obtain their protest permits from the Washington, D.C., police department, position themselves directly in front of the main entrance to the Army Medical Center, which is located in northwest D.C., about five miles from the White House.
CRAWFORD - President Bush's supporters poured into Crawford Saturday by the thousands, for the first time outnumbering war protesters led by Cindy Sheehan, who began a vigil here three weeks ago, demanding a personal meeting with the vacationing president to talk about her son's death in Iraq.
WASHINGTON - Siding with the Pentagon, the base-closing commission voted Thursday to shut down the Army's historic Walter Reed hospital and move about 20,000 defense workers miles away from their offices just outside the nation's capital.
BAGHDAD, Aug. 13 -- U.S. troops raiding a warehouse in the northern city of Mosul uncovered a suspected chemical weapons factory containing 1,500 gallons of chemicals believed destined for attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces and civilians, military officials said Saturday.
Monday's early morning raid found 11 precursor agents, 'some of them quite dangerous by themselves,' a military spokesman, Lt. Col. Steven A. Boylan, said in Baghdad.
Seventy years ago today, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the law that created the Social Security system, but this year's great debate over the program's future has all but left behind President Bush's goal of maintaining the system's solvency through the baby boom's retirement.
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's military said on Saturday war games by South Korea and United States were a prelude to a U.S. military attack and a tactic to compel it to accept U.S. terms in six-party talks on its nuclear program.
Mississippi Judge Marcus Gordon granted Killen's release on $600,000 bond. A Neshoba County Sheriff's official said Killen was released after relatives and friends posted the bond.
With more heads rolling at Air America, I guess we are supposed to still believe -- "there was nothing to the scandal", RIGHT! Sources told the New York Post that acting executive director Lorraine Corva will be leaving her job Aug. 26, and that assistant executive director Jeff Aulenback also quit, effective immediately.Previous post - here, here, here, and here.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Sept. 11 commission knew military intelligence officials had identified lead hijacker Mohamed Atta as a member of al-Qaeda who might be part of U.S.-based terror cell more than a year before the terror attacks but decided not to include that in its final report, a spokesman acknowledged Thursday.Hmm, identified in 1999 and rejected the recommendation to turn information over to FBI in 2000 -- who was in charge then? Why was this over looked during the 9/11 commission? What did Sandy Berger remove?
[...]
a classified military intelligence unit called "Able Danger" identified Atta and three other hijackers in 1999 as potential members of a terrorist cell in Brooklyn, N.Y. Weldon said Pentagon lawyers rejected the unit's recommendation that the information be turned over to the FBI in 2000.
Mr Weldon told Congress:Should be interesting to see how this plays out. It may take awhile before the big media outlets decide to start reporting -- but it will be interesting.
"Mr. Speaker, I rise because information has come to my attention over the past several months that is very disturbing. I have learned that, in fact, one of our Federal agencies had, in fact, identified the major New York cell of Mohamed Atta prior to 9/11; and I have learned, Mr. Speaker, that in September of [b]2000[/b], that Federal agency actually was prepared to bring the FBI in and prepared to work with the FBI to take down the cell that Mohamed Atta was involved in in New York City, along with two of the other terrorists.
"I have also learned, Mr. Speaker, that when that recommendation was discussed within that Federal agency, the lawyers in the administration at that time said, you cannot pursue contact with the FBI against that cell. Mohamed Atta is in the U.S. on a green card, and we are fearful of the fallout from the Waco incident. So we did not allow that Federal agency to proceed. (Read more here.)
Remains of 12 Vietnam War MIA's IdentifiedWASHINGTON - When Army Sgt. Glenn E. Miller was listed as missing in action after a fierce gun battle in Vietnam in May 1968, his girlfriend figured he had been killed - even though there was never any proof. Thirty-seven years later, the remains of Miller, a Green Beret, and the 11 Marines who died alongside him have been identified and returned to the United States.
Discovery Lands Safely in CaliforniaEDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Discovery and its crew of seven glided safely back to Earth on Tuesday, ending a riveting, at times agonizing, 14-day test of space shuttle safety that was shadowed by the ghosts of Columbia.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The four-star general who headed the U.S. Army's training program has been fired after an investigation into sexual misconduct, officials said on Tuesday.
In a rare punishment of a four-star officer -- the highest rank in the military -- Gen. Kevin Byrnes was fired as commanding general of the Army Training and Doctrine Command at Fort Monroe in Virginia, the Army said in a statement.
Army officials did not rule out the possibility of criminal charges or additional administration discipline.
'The investigation upon which this relief is based is undergoing further review to determine the appropriate final disposition of this matter,' the Army said.
Google is expected to announce the acquisition of Meetroduction later this week, a source close to the transaction told internetnews.com.
Chicago-based Meetroduction launched the first version of Meetro, 'location-aware social networking software,' on Aug. 4. The idea of Meetro is to find people to hang out with in the physical world.
Google (Quote, Chart) has been rumored to be developing instant messaging capabilities, along with its moves into creating a more portal-like experience via My Google, the personalized start page Google introduced in May. A Google spokesman declined to comment for this story.
The Westchester County, New York District Attorney, Jeanine Pirro has announced she will challenge Clinton for the Senate seat. This ought to be interesting -- two women and one has dreams of running for President meaning that she will not be serving the people of New York for a minimum of 18 months during the term she is running for. ALBANY, N.Y. -- Jeanine Pirro, a high-profile prosecutor from the New York City area, said Monday she will seek the Republican nomination to challenge Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in her bid for re-election next year.and from The New York Times
'I am running against Hillary Clinton because New York state deserves a senator who will give her all to the people of New York for a full term, who will not miss votes to campaign in (presidential) primaries,' Pirro said in a statement.
'When Mrs. Clinton first came to us and said she wanted to be a New Yorker, she asked New York to put out a welcome mat and we did,' the Westchester County district attorney added. 'But now she wants us to re-elect her even though she won't promise to serve out her term and wants to use us as a springboard to the presidency. She's asking us to become her doormat. I believe we deserve better.'
Investigators allege oil-for-food kickbacks, what a shock and outrage - right, like this is new news. Maybe it is official now but U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan will go unscathed, of course. I would like to remind you that this is the organization that Kerry, Kennedy, and crowd want us to depend on for our safety and are so concerned about "what they (UN) think" - I don't think so. NEW YORK (AP) -- Investigators probing claims of wrongdoing in the Iraq oil-for-food program accused its former chief, Benon Sevan, of taking illegal kickbacks and recommended his immunity be lifted for prosecution.
The investigators said a former U.N. procurement officer sought a bribe and should have his immunity lifted as well. Alexander Yakovlev also was accused of collecting nearly $1 million in kickbacks outside the oil-for-food program."
ABC News Anchor Peter Jennings Dies at 67Peter Jennings, the urbane, Canadian-born broadcaster who delivered the news to Americans each night in five separate decades, died Sunday. He was 67.
Jennings, who announced in April that he had lung cancer, died at his New York home, ABC News President David Westin said late Sunday.
'Peter has been our colleague, our friend, and our leader in so many ways. None of us will be the same without him,' Westin said.
that might be because [of us at the New York Times] the military, the White House and the culture at large have not publicized their actions with the zeal that was lavished on the heroes of World War I and World War II.
Many in the military are disheartened by the absence of an instantly recognizable war hero today, a deficiency with a complex cause: public opinion on the Iraq war is split, and drawing attention to it risks fueling opposition; the military is more reluctant than it was in the last century to promote the individual over the group; and the war itself is different, with fewer big battles and more and messier engagements involving smaller units of Americans. Then, too, there is a celebrity culture that seems skewed more to the victim than to the hero.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi troops repelled a series of coordinated insurgent attacks in southern Baghdad, killing six rebels and capturing 12, the U.S. military said Saturday. There were no U.S. casualties.Although, I commend the writer for reporting success -- pay close attention to the article, he spent most of the article describing suicide bombers and insurgent (terrorist) rocket attacks - and yes, of course, he did get the all important "body talling"...
The fighting began about 8 p.m. Friday when insurgents attacked an Iraqi army position with mortar rounds and small-arms fire, the command said. U.S. attack helicopters engaged the insurgents with rockets and gunfire.
August 6, 2005 -- State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer yesterday opened an investigation into the Bronx social-services agency that made $875,000 in bizarre loans to Air America radio, The Post has learned.
'We are looking into it in consultation with the city's Department of Investigation,' Spitzer spokesman Darren Dopp revealed.
The highly unusual loans to the left-wing radio network were made by the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club -- which was visited by one of Spitzer's investigators yesterday, officials said.
Dopp said Spitzer's probe is examining 'the conduct of the board of [the] charitable not-for-profit organization. The question is: Was their action appropriate?'
Spitzer has jurisdiction because his office oversees charities in the state.
The Bush administration is negotiating the transfer of nearly 70 percent of the detainees at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to three countries as part of a plan, officials said, to share the burden of keeping suspected terrorists behind bars.
U.S. officials announced yesterday that they have reached an agreement with the government of Afghanistan to transfer most of its nationals to Kabul's 'exclusive' control and custody. There are 110 Afghan detainees at Guantanamo and 350 more at the Bagram airfield near Kabul. Their transfers could begin in the next six months.
[...]
"This is not an effort to shut down Guantanamo. Rather, the arrangement we have reached with the government of Afghanistan is the latest step in what has long been our policy -- that we need to keep dangerous enemy combatants off the battlefield," Matthew Waxman, deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, said shortly after leaving Kabul with Prosper. "We, the U.S., don't want to be the world's jailer. We think a more prudent course is to shift that burden onto our coalition partners."
LONDON - Prime Minister Tony Blair proposed strict anti-terror measures Friday that would allow Britain to expel foreigners who preach hatred, close extremist mosques and bar entry to Muslim radicals. 'The rules of the game are changing' following last month's bomb attacks, he declared. (Read more here)More information from BBC
The New York Times has been asking lawyers who specialize in adoption cases for advice on how to get into the sealed court records on Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' two adopted children.More from Drudge Report
There is no indication The Times had any evidence there was anything improper in the family's adoption of five-year-old Josie and four-year-old Jack, both born in Latin America. Sources familiar with the matter told FOX News that at least one lawyer turned the Times down flat, saying that any effort to pry into adoption case records, which are always sealed, would be reprehensible.
A task force headed by U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad agreed yesterday on guidelines for the withdrawal of U.S. and other forces, with two key troop contributors planning major drawdowns by year's end.
'The key consideration is the capability of Iraqi security forces,' said a U.S. military statement, which identified other members of the task force as U.S. Gen. George Casey Jr., the Iraqi ministers of interior and defense, Iraq's national security adviser and British Ambassador William Patey.
Al Qaeda deputy leader Aymen al-Zawahiri (search) marked the four-week anniversary of the deadly blasts in London's transit system by threatening more attacks on London and against the United States.
Al-Zawahiri, in a tape shown on the Al Jazeera satellite channel, warned that terrorists would strike again unless England and the United States withdraw troops from Iraq. The Al Qaeda leader, second in the organization behind Usama bin Laden, said British Prime Minister Tony Blair is to blame for the attacks in London.
WASHINGTON (Reuters): Democrats on Wednesday celebrated a closer-than-expected loss in a special House of Representatives race in Ohio and called it a warning sign for Republicans entering the 2006 congressional elections.But democrats have some bold things to say about this special election -- I actually laughed out loud when I read this next quote.
"Every Republican in Congress should consider himself put on notice," Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said of Tuesday's results.However, everyone needs to have hope so who am I to dash their hope even it if that hope is based on a "special" election, which historically have erratic turnout providing unreliable data -- by the way, the democrat did loose.
Air America's flagship New York City station is housed on Park Avenue at WLIB-AM, owned by Inner City Broadcasting. The company shunted aside its black-themed talk format at WLIB to accommodate Air America. In return, Air America made room for a few minority radio hosts and also entered into lucrative lease management agreements with Inner City Broadcasting, which owns and operates 17 radio stations in five markets.I also agree with this assessment.
The co-founder of Inner City Broadcasting is New York media mogul Percy Sutton, best known as Malcolm X's lawyer and former Manhattan borough council president. Sutton helped bail Sharpton out after Sharpton was ordered to pay former Dutchess County prosecutor Steven Pagones over the Tawana Brawley race hoax. Sutton also raised and donated money for Sharpton's 2004 presidential bid. Sharpton still broadcasts a Sunday radio show on WLIB. Sutton and Jackson are longtime friends and partners. Sutton served as Jackson's 1988 presidential campaign finance chairman. Jackson has lobbied on Sutton's behalf. Sutton sits on Jackson's Citizenship Education Fund. As original investors, Jackson and his wife reportedly hold more than 23,000 shares in Inner City Broadcasting.
Where are they? Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are the supermen of the civil rights establishment -- able to leap tall buildings in a single bound to get in front of a picket line. When victim politics calls, the demagogic duo leap into patented action: March. Boycott. Shakedown. Repeat.More from the "big liar" himself:
But the raging reverends are nowhere to be found as a scandal involving the liberal radio network Air America and a Bronx, N.Y.-based inner city charity for poor children brews. Why the silence?
[...]
Now you know why there will be no boycotts at Air America headquarters over the possible bilking of poor Bronx children. Race hustlers care about only one color: green.
Mr. Franken said he has learned details of the story only in the last week. He said Piquant LLC, current owner and operator of the radio network, found a record of the transfers while conducting a "forensic" investigation into the finances of the previous owner, Progress Media, which was run by Mr. Cohen. That internal probe was conducted before the city agency became involved, Mr. Franken said. Efforts by The New York Sun to reach Mr. Cohen for comment in recent days have been unsuccessful. (via The New York Sun)But was their investigation only started because of a legal investigation, or had they already discovered the "larceny" and just did not say anything -- I think so, but you can make up your own mind.
A spokesman for the Department of Investigation, Keith Schwam, said that if Air America discovered the transfers before the city probe began, "They neglected to tell anyone at DOI or in the city about it." (via The New York Sun)
SHANGHAI, Aug. 2 —The giant Chinese oil company Cnooc today ended its $18.5 billion takeover bid for the Unocal Corporation of America, citing fierce political opposition to its bid in Washington that it called “regrettable and unjustified."
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Ending a five-month standoff over a controversial nomination, President Bush on Monday used a recess appointment to name John Bolton the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
'This post is too important to leave vacant any longer, especially during a war and a vital debate about U.N. reform,' Bush said from the Roosevelt Room at the White House.
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's King Fahd died on Monday and Crown Prince Abdullah was swiftly pronounced monarch of the world's largest oil exporter and a key U.S. ally.
A Saudi source said the kingdom's oil policy would not change. Diplomats said they expected no major shifts in foreign policy under King Abdullah, who is at least 80 and has run day-to-day affairs since a stroke debilitated Fahd in 1995.
"With deep sorrow and pain, the royal court... mourns the death of The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd due to illness," said Information Minister Iyad bin Amin Madani, reading an official statement on state television.
Fahd, who was believed to be 83 and had been in poor health, had entered hospital on May 27 with acute pneumonia. A medical source said he died at around 6 a.m. local time (0300 GMT). (Read entire article here.)
