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WASHINGTON - Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is President Barack Obama's choice for secretary of health and human services, a White House source said Saturday.
The source, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said Obama will formally announce the nomination on Monday.
By CHARLES BABINGTON Associated Press Writer
Obama's approval ratings jump to 67 percent. But the more ominous development for the GOP: Republican approval went from 27 to 42 percent in a week. Cantor just got pwned.
The Associated Press has learned that James Dobson has resigned as chairman of the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family.Jim Daly, president and chief executive officer of the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based ministry, said Friday that Dobson will continue to host the organization's flagship radio program and speak out on moral issues.
The departure of the 72-year-old Dobson as board chairman is part of a succession plan. He founded the group in 1977.
It was open house at Pershing Elementary this morning, a time when neighborhood parents in the Preston Hollow area check out the public school prospects for their children.
But the day's most prominent visitors didn't have any kids in tow. Only Secret Service.
George and Laura Bush have mostly been rumors and fleeting glimpses through the passenger windows of black Suburbans the last few weeks. But the kids got a first-hand look this morning when their new neighbors took a tour.
The Bushes were scheduled to visit three classes, but they ended up popping in on any room with an audience.
Ducking in one room, Bush asked, "Hey kids, do you know who I am?"
Gasps all around, and then someone blurted, "George Washington!"
"That's right!" the visitor said. "George Washington Bush!"
Well, the middle initial was the same, anyway.
A little later, at an ESL class, Bush tried introducing himself in Spanish. Only it was a little too West Texas for the Spanish speakers. He tried again. Blank looks. Even held up three fingers. You know, a 'W." Still nothing.
Finally, Pershing's innovative, energetic principal, Margie Hernandez, stepped in with a Spanish introduction.
Ohhhhhhh.
The kids laughed at the confusion. The former president laughed. The principal laughed, out of relief, mostly.
Mayor who sent watermelon e-mail says he'll resign
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. (AP) — The mayor of a small Southern California city says he will resign after being criticized for sharing an e-mail picture depicting the White House lawn planted with watermelons under the title "No Easter egg hunt this year."
Los Alamitos Mayor Dean Grose issued a statement Thursday saying he is sorry and will step down as mayor at Monday's City Council meeting.Grose came under fire for sending the picture to what he called "a small group of friends." One of the recipients, a local businesswoman and city volunteer, publicly scolded the mayor for his actions.
Grose says he accepts that the e-mail was in poor taste and has affected his ability to lead the city. Grose said he didn't mean to offend anyone and claimed he was unaware of the racial stereotype linking black people with eating watermelons.
Located in Orange County, Los Alamitos is a 2 1/4-square-mile city of around 12,000 people.
AP Exclusive: Gregg, brother invested in redevelopment of base he aided as governor, senator
President Barack Obama's former nominee to become commerce secretary, Sen. Judd Gregg, steered taxpayer money to his home state's redevelopment of a former Air Force base even as he and his brother engaged in real estate deals there, an Associated Press investigation found.
Gregg, R-N.H., personally has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in Cyrus Gregg's office projects at the Pease International Tradeport, a Portsmouth business park built at the defunct Pease Air Force Base, once home to nuclear bombers. Judd Gregg has collected at least $240,017 to $651,801 from his investments there, Senate records show, while helping arrange at least $66 million in federal aid for the former base.
Gregg said he violated no laws or Senate rules.
But the senator's mixture of personal and professional business would have been difficult to square with President Barack Obama's campaign promise to impose greater transparency and integrity over federal budget earmarks — funding for lawmakers' pet projects. Gregg said that during his consideration for the Cabinet job, the White House did not know about his Pease earmarks, although the administration knew about his investments at Pease.
This is why we liberals are always so confused when the Repubs talked about being the party of freedom. Daniel Klein offers up a study that proves the obvious:
Conservatives say they are for small government and individual liberty, but a content analysis of leading conservative magazines shows that most have preponderantly failed to take pro-liberty positions on sex, gambling, and drugs.
Besides many anti-liberty commissions, the magazines may be criticized for anti-liberty omission—that is, failing to oppose anti-liberty policies.
Magazines investigated include National Review, The Weekly Standard, The American Enterprise, and The American Spectator.
We find that National Review has had the strongest record on liberty on the issues treated, while the others have preponderantly failed to be pro-liberty or have even been anti-liberty.
(updated below - Update II - Update III - Update IV)None of these updates actually relate to information unavailable at the time of his writing.
Karl Rove: Self-deluded or consciously dishonest?This is not left-wing advocacy that I can believe in.
"This is gonna be a disaster." -- Carla, 44, "Top Chef" finalist
"Joe the Plumber (no longer a plumber; first name actually Samuel) popped into [Washington, D.C.] yesterday evening to sell his new book and to remind people that he's still a plain and simple guy. Mission accomplished, on at least one of his missions."About 11 people wandered into the rows of seats set up hopefully in the basement of a downtown Border's bookstore to hear Joe speak. Joe addressed them from behind a lectern and with a microphone, but that seemed unnecessarily formal."
At least a few of the 11 didn't actually show up for Wurzelbacher, but were in the store anyway. One was reading "Dreams From My Father" upstairs and thought it was an amusing coincidence that "Joe the Plumber" was in Borders at the time.Wurzelbacher was scheduled to speak and sign books for three hours. He left after 55 minutes when no one else showed up.
The mayor of Los Alamitos is coming under fire for an e-mail he sent out that depicts the White House lawn planted with watermelons, under the title "No Easter egg hunt this year."
Local businesswoman and city volunteer Keyanus Price, who is black, said Tuesday she received the e-mail from Mayor Dean Grose's personal account on Sunday and wants a public apology."I have had plenty of my share of chicken and watermelon and all those kinds of jokes," Price told The Associated Press. "I honestly don't even understand where he was coming from, sending this to me. As a black person receiving something like this from the city-freakin'-mayor - come on."
The Orange County Register first reported the e-mail on its Web site Tuesday night.
Grose confirmed to the AP that he sent the e-mail to Price and said he didn't mean to offend her. He said he was unaware of the racial stereotype that black people like watermelons.
He said he and Price are friends and serve together on a community youth board
Democrats were outraged Wednesday morning when [Colorado] Republican state Sen. Dave Schultheis said he planned to vote against a bill to require HIV tests for pregnant women because the disease "stems from sexual promiscuity" and he didn't think the Legislature should "remove the negative consequences that take place from poor behavior and unacceptable behavior." The Colorado Springs lawmaker then proceeded to cast the lone vote against SB-179, which passed 32-1 and moves on to the House.
“I’m not saying this (homosexuality) is the only sin that’s out there. We have murder. We have all sorts of sin. We have adultery. And we don’t make laws making those legal, and we would never think to make murder legal.”
Holder Vows To End Raids On Medical Marijuana Clubs
Attorney General Eric Holder said at a press conference Wednesday that the Justice Department will no longer raid medical marijuana clubs that are established legally under state law. His declaration is a fulfillment of a campaign promise by President Barack Obama, and marks a major shift from the previous administration.
After the inauguration, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) continued to carry out such raids, despite Obama's promise. Holder was asked if those raids represented American policy going forward."No," he said. "What the president said during the campaign, you'll be surprised to know, will be consistent with what we'll be doing in law enforcement. He was my boss during the campaign. He is formally and technically and by law my boss now. What he said during the campaign is now American policy."
SAO PAULO — A Brazilian carnival queen famous for her skimpy attire is grabbing headlines again for painting President Barack Obama's face on her body.
Viviane Castro paraded nearly nude early Saturday with the U.S. leader's visage on her right thigh. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's face was on her left thigh.Castro's stomach read "for sale" _ a message she said represented the sale of Brazil's Amazon to the U.S. Many here fear the U.S. wants to control the resource-rich region.
Castro appeared in last year's Rio Carnival parade wearing nothing but a strategically placed piece of tape 1 1/2-inches (4-centimeters) long , violating a little-enforced nudity rule and drawing a penalty for her samba group.
She wore the same patch this year.
CPAC Agenda: Joe The Plumber To Advise Young Conservatives As Panelist
Louisiana has gotten $130 billion in post-Katrina aid. How is it that the stars of the Republican austerity movement come from the states that suck up the most federal money? Taxpayers in New York send way more to Washington than they get back so more can go to places like Alaska and Louisiana. Which is fine, as long as we don't have to hear their governors bragging about how the folks who elected them want to keep their tax money to themselves. Of course they do! That's because they're living off ours.
Palin must reimburse the state within 120 days, according to a settlement agreement filed by a special investigator hired by the Alaska Personnel Board to investigate an ethics complaint filed against her.
By ANNE SUTTON Associated Press Writer
GT12 is busy today earning the mortgage money but you should click and read andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/02/bipartisanship.html#more
We cannot make 'perfect' the enemy of 'good'
... Emanuel has played the central role in much of the Blue Dog dominance in the House and many (if not most) of the worst Democratic capitulations to the Bush agenda. Even in the four weeks that he's been in his current job, Emanuel has been the target of severe criticisms of his management skills from many precincts for his role in the Judd Gregg and Rod Blagojevich fiascoes and the Obama administration's questionable negotiating tactics in the stimulus package. Both Jane Hamsher and Howie Klein yesterday identified just some of the current and past controversies that Emanuel has triggered.
Despite all of that, The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza has written a very lengthy profile of Emanuel -- almost 5,300 words -- that is so reverent, one-sided, and glorifying that it is hard to believe it wasn't written by Emanuel himself. In fact, much of the piece consists of Emanuel praising himself and Lizza writing it all down uncritically. It's almost impossible to walk on the streets of Washington, DC, without bumping into a vehement critic of Emanuel, but Lizza doesn't manage to include any comments from any of them.
.... St. Patrick himself may have had a relationship tinged with homoeroticism. Tirechan, a late seventh century cleric who wrote about St. Patrick, tells the story of a man Patrick visited and converted to Christianity, who had a son to whom Patrick took a strong liking. Tirechan wrote that "he gave him the name Benignus, because he took Patrick's feet between his hands and would not sleep with his father and mother, but wept unless he would be allowed to sleep with Patrick." Patrick baptized the boy and made him his close lifelong companion, so much so that Benignus succeeded Patrick as bishop of Armagh.
Some liberal Democrats said that Emanuel and his team had made too many concessions to House Republicans, all of whom voted against the legislation. Meanwhile, conservatives complained that Obama had broken his pledge of bipartisan coöperation. Both
arguments infuriated Emanuel, who spent hours on the Hill during the negotiations, arranged private meetings with Obama in the Oval Office for the Republican senators Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, and Arlen Specter, whose votes were critical to the bill’s passage, and personally haggled over the smallest spending details during a crucial evening of bargaining that lasted until the early morning.
... As a senior aide in the Clinton White House, he successfully fought a Republican Congress to pass the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), which now provides health care for seven million kids. “I worked children’s health care,” he said. “President Clinton had pediatric care, eye, and dental, inside Medicaid. The Republicans had pediatric care, no eye and dental, outside of Medicaid. The deal Chris Jennings, Bruce Reed, and Rahm Emanuel cut for President Clinton was eye, dental, and pediatric, but the Republican way—outside of Medicaid. At that time, I was eviscerated by the left.” He slammed his fist on the desk, his voice rising. “I had sold out! Today, who are the greatest defenders of kids’ health care? The very people that opposed it when it passed,” Emanuel said. “Back then, you’d have thought I was a whore! How could we do this outside of Medicaid? They warned that it had to be in Medicaid—not that they gave a rat’s ass that the kid had eye or dental care. But, for getting it outside of Medicaid, we got kids’ eye and dental care. O.K.? That was the swap. Now, my view is that Krugman as an economist is not wrong. But in the art of the possible, of the deal, he is wrong. He couldn’t get his legislation.”
The stimulus bill was essentially held hostage to the whims of Collins, Snowe, and Specter, but if Al Franken, the apparent winner of the disputed Minnesota Senate race, had been seated in Washington, and if Ted Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer, had been regularly available to vote, the White House would have needed only one Republican to pass the measure. “No disrespect to Paul Krugman,” Emanuel went on, “but has he figured out how to seat the Minnesota senator?” (Franken’s victory is the subject of an ongoing court challenge by his opponent, Norm Coleman, which the national Republican Party has been happy to help finance.) “Write a fucking column on how to seat the son of a bitch. I would be fascinated with that column. O.K.?”
Obama’s decision to hire Emanuel says two things about his Presidency. First, like his decision to make Biden, an expert in foreign policy, his running mate, it shows that he is honest enough about what he doesn’t know to try to fill in the gaps in his own experience. There are people working for Obama who know as much as Emanuel does about the legislative process, and others who know as much as he does about running the White House, but there isn’t anybody who knows as much about both. Obama’s choice also says a great deal about the ethos of his White House. He recently characterized his team as a group of “mechanics,” which suggests an emphasis not on ideology but on details and problem-solving. In the Clinton White House, Emanuel’s specialty was helping to pass legislation that required centrist coalitions, like NAFTA, a crime bill, and welfare reform. “He’s a partisan in the sense that he’s a strong Democrat, but he’s not an ideological Democrat,” Stanley Greenberg said. “He’s not ideologically liberal. He comes out of Chicago politics, which is more transactional.”
"We must recognize the ineffectiveness of our current policy and deal with the Cuban regime in a way that enhances U.S. interests," wrote Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., in a report dated Monday.
By ANNE FLAHERTY Associated Press Writer
Utah state Sen. Chris Buttars (R) generated some attention for himself this week with a breathtaking anti-gay tirade in which he called gay people "the greatest threat to America going down I know of." He went on to compare homosexuality to alcoholism, and described gay people as "the meanest buggers I ever seen. It's just like the Moslems." Buttars concluded, "It's the beginning of the end.... Sodom and Gomorrah was localized. This is worldwide."
In an unexpected move, state officials in Utah actually chose to do something about this.
Utah Senate leaders stripped Sen. Chris Buttars of his position on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday in response to outrage and embarrassment from Buttars' anti-gay tirade to a documentary filmmaker.
A Republican elected official in Utah was punished -- by other Republicans -- for anti-gay vitriol.
Yes We Can
... Fred Phelps, best known for picketing the funerals of fallen U.S. troops and generally recognized as the most loathsome man in America, tried to enter the United Kingdom this week to protest a play about the death of Matthew Shepard. A U.K. Border Agency said Phelps and his daughter "have engaged in unacceptable behavior by inciting hatred against a number of communities," and were prohibited from entering the country.
Today, I realized that there are more framed pictures of my mom's dog than pictures of me around the house. FML
Today, my girlfriend and I were up late watching tv when an infomercial for "male enhancement" came on. I grabbed for my phone to make a call when my girlfriend said "O honey, dont buy that, it's okay that you're small." I was checking my voicemails. FML
Today, I called my girlfriend and she answered telling me how amazing the sex was last night and she can't wait to see me later. I didn't see her last night. FML
And, Today's Super Winner:
Today, I drunk dialed my mom and told her I was so high and drunk that I thought the KGB was coming after me. When I woke up this morning, my mom told me that she's no longer paying for college. FML
Court employees and lawyers say the rodents scuttle down corridors, munch legal papers and scratch behind the walls. Last week, one mouse ran around a courtroom floor for an hour during a burglary trial.
The Associated Press
The suit alleges that Yellowstone County jail staff placed "Christian natured greeting cards under (his) cell door," that said "Jesus was ready to save and accept him."
The Associated Press
Still, the petition drive, started by two black ministers only weeks after Cao took office, demonstrates the challenges he'll face if he seeks a second term in 2010.
By KEVIN McGILL Associated Press Writer
Allen, who is gay and performs in drag at nightclubs in the region, said he entered the homecoming contest as a joke, competing as Reann Ballslee, his drag queen persona.
The Associated Press
In a two-sentence court filing, the Justice Department said it agreed that detainees at Bagram Airfield cannot use U.S. courts to challenge their detention. The filing shocked human rights attorneys.
By NEDRA PICKLER and MATT APUZZO Associated Press Writers
It's what passes for inspiration at the National Review Online.A faction of black ministers plans to ask for Burris' resignation following revelations that the senator tried to raise money for the disgraced governor who appointed him, one of the ministers told The Associated Press on Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity because a meeting with Burris had not yet been scheduled.
By TAMMY WEBBER Associated Press Writer
The move comes after Sweden turned down GM's request for government help for Saab.
By KARL RITTER Associated Press Writer
Now, former President Clinton says he thinks President Barack Obama should talk more optimistically about the prospects that the nation will recover from its current deep economic woes.
The Associated Press
The Nevada Democrat in an interview with The Associated Press said the Senate will take up energy legislation in a couple of weeks "and then later this year, hopefully late this summer do the global warming part of it."
By H. JOSEF HEBERT Associated Press Writer
U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., said he was insulted when the governors of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and his home state, which have large black populations, said they might not accept some of the money from the $787 billion stimulus package.
By PAGE IVEY Associated Press Writer
Many of the city's influential black pastors supported Burris because of his scandal-free reputation - even though he was appointed by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich three weeks after the governor was arrested for allegedly trying to sell the Senate seat.
By TAMMY WEBBER Associated Press Writer
Today, I told a girl I liked her. She replied, "Don't". FML
Today, I asked to borrow my fat friend's pants for a semi-formal activity tomorrow. I figured I'd just get a belt to hold the pants up. Turns out, the pants fit me. FML
Today, I was looking after a hamster for a friend. My dog ate it. FML
That would be nice.Little Steven tunes up for Springsteen tour
"This will take, I'm going to guess, five or six rehearsals, only because we have a new album," Van Zandt said of Springsteen's trek with the E Street Band in support of his recent chart-topper "Working on a Dream."
one of [Van Zandt's] labels may prove a logical place to reissue Van Zandt's back catalog, which includes several successful solo albums from the '80s. "We're in possession of all of those," said Van Zandt, who now owns the masters. "I just haven't had time to focus on it. We actually should, because my stuff is really not very available. Maybe we'll stick it into one big boxed set."
I Thought the only Justice
In this world
Came from an angry heart
The economic stimulus package ... signed [Tuesday] by President Obama includes one of the largest tax cuts in American history -- $282 billion in tax cuts over two years.
Steven Waldman made this point last week, but few others have picked up on it.
Marc Ambinder: "It's hard imagine we won't hear about this four years from now. And if that's not boxing a future Republican candidate in ahead of time, I don't know what is. Think about how many potential Republican arguments are going to be pre-empted by that nice little fact?"
A bonus for Democrats: Nearly every Republican in Congress voted against it.
A new AP-GfK poll finds that 62% of Americans believe President Obama is cooperating "about the right amount" with congressional Republicans, while just 27% think the same about the GOP's work with Obama.
Conversely, 64% think Republicans are not cooperating enough with Obama, while only 30% believe Obama is not collaborating enough with the GOP.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
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TOLEDO, Ohio - A man held a woman captive in handcuffs and an adult diaper for three days while he read Bible passages to her, police said.
Troy Brisport, 34, was charged with kidnapping and felonious assault. Bail was set Tuesday at $400,000.
The Associated Press
His goal is to prevent millions of American families from losing their houses because they can't make mortgage payments.
By MARK S. SMITH Associated Press Writer
The Project on Government Oversight found that the Food and Drug Administration has dramatically reduced inspections of "good laboratory practices" at facilities that do the earliest testing of medical devices. Such inspections declined from 33 in 2005, to seven in 2007, to just one last year, according a report the group was releasing Wednesday. No inspections are planned for this year, the report said.
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press Writer
Cheney reportedly "furious" with Bush over Libby
Former Vice President Dick Cheney may not be in office anymore, but he can, apparently, still hold a leftover grudge or two.
The New York Daily News' Tom DeFrank, one of the better-connected reporters out there, writes Tuesday that at the end of the Bush administration Cheney "launched a last-ditch campaign to persuade his boss to pardon Lewis (Scooter) Libby -- and was furious when President George W. Bush wouldn't budge...
"Several sources confirmed Cheney refused to take no for an answer," DeFrank reports. "'He went to the mat and came back and back and back at Bush,' a Cheney defender said. 'He was still trying the day before Obama was sworn in.'"
Bush reportedly became so frustrated with his vice president that he announced he'd no longer discus the matter. The whole experience has left Cheney "really angry," or at the very least angry enough that his loyalists are leaking the story to reporters.
People loyal to Bush, meanwhile, are firing back, with one telling DeFrank, "At some point you have to accept the decision of the guy who appointed you. I think Cheney was over the top."
As Gallup points out, the increase is mostly due to Democrats, who are increasingly happy with the job their party is doing in the majority. In early January, only 18 percent of Democrats said they approved of the job Congress was doing; now, that number is 43 percent. But independents, too, now see Congress in a more favorable light; the approval number went up 12 points among that group last month.
Republicans, however, are less happy with Congress; the Legislative Branch's rating declined four percentage points among self-identified GOP'ers.
"No. I don't want to get into detail about that, ... But I think abstinence is, like -- like, the -- I don't know how to put it -- like, the main -- everyone should be abstinent or whatever, but it's not realistic at all."
It seems Lieberman played a crucial role in talking several Republicans off the ledge, thereby vindicating President Obama's refusal to bevindictive toward the Connecticut Senator.... Lieberman has always been a moderate-progressive on economic issues so his vote should not be a surprise -- but his active lobbying for the bill has to be considered directly attributable to the grace with which Obama treated him. Those who wonder about the President's efforts to be nice to Republicans -- a singularly ungracious lot, cult-like in their devotion to failed economic policies past -- should bear this particular example in mind as we go forward.
REPRESENTATIVE DURKIN: Did you talk to any members of the Governor's staff or anyone closely related to the Governor, including family members or any lobbyists connected with him, including let me throw out some names, John Harris, Rob Blagojevich, Doug Scofield, Bob Greenleaf, Lon Monk, John Wyma, did you talk to anybody who was associated with the Governor about your desire to seek the appointment prior to the Governor's arrest?MR. WRIGHT: Give us a moment.
MR. BURRIS: I talked to some friends about my desire to be appointed, yes.
REPRESENTATIVE DURKIN: I guess the point is I was trying to ask, did you speak to anybody who was on the Governor's staff prior to the Governor's arrest or anybody, any of those individuals or anybody who is closely related to the Governor?
MR. BURRIS: I recall having a meeting with Lon Monk about my partner and I trying to get continued business, and I did bring it up, it must have been in September or maybe it was in July of '08 that, you know, you're close to the Governor, let him know that I am certainly interested in the seat.
MSNBC's First Read lists among its winners "the Republican Party (which demonstrated unity after its big losses in November), and No.2 House Republican Eric Cantor (who raised his profile during the debate)." Reid gets a win, Pelosi gets a loss.
Chris Cillizza also declares Eric Cantor a victor for maintaining party discipline (although he tags him a loser too for the AFSME ad). Reid gets a "win" her too, and House Democrats are deemed losers, because "it appeared as though this was a Senate-run production."
Fox News unsurprisingly says "Republican lawmakers may turn out to be winners. Most of them voted against the package, and in their largely unified opposition, they found an issue to galvanize the party after two consecutive dispiriting electoral defeats." Reid and Pelosi don't exist.
Liz Sidoti also says the Republicans win: "Adrift after back-to-back electoral losses, they found their voice against a Democratic speaker and an expanded majority. They held to the GOP's cornerstone of fiscal conservatism as they led the effort to define the package as too costly and too quick." Likewise, Jon Boehner: "He strengthened his hold on his job, keeping his rank-and-file united against the House version." Again, Reid gets a win. She gives Pelosi and Mitch McConnell losses.
FAVORABLE UNFAVORABLE NET CHANGE
PELOSI: 42 (39) 39 (37) +5
REID: 32 (33) 42 (41) -2
McCONNELL: 22 (29) 50 (46) -11
BOEHNER: 18 (21) 55 (47) -11
CONGRESSIONAL DEMS: 39 (36) 53 (53) +3
CONGRESSIONAL GOPS: 19 (24) 69 (64) -10
DEMOCRATIC PARTY: 56 (53) 37 (39) +5
REPUBLICAN PARTY: 31 (32) 61 (60) -2
Paternity test for boy, 13, who says he's a dad
Two other British teens have also come forward, saying they're the fatherLONDON - A DNA test will be performed to determine if a 13-year-old boy fathered a baby with his 15-year-old girlfriend, his spokesman said Monday.
The test comes after a Sunday tabloid newspaper reported that two other teenage boys have come forward claiming to be the father of the newborn baby girl.Spokesman Max Clifford said the parents of Alfie Patten, 13, said the tests would be done "as soon as possible" to determine paternity.
the Nelly account shows that health professionals are right in the thick of the torture and abuse of the prisoners—suggesting a systematic collapse of professional ethics driven by the Pentagon itself.
The Bush White House vehemently objected to provisions of the law dealing with rape by instrumentality. When House negotiators pressed to know why, they were met first with silence and then an embarrassed acknowledgement that a key part of the Bush program included invasion of the bodies of prisoners in a way that might be deemed rape by instrumentality under existing federal and state criminal statutes.
Monkeys and apes have a basic sense of right and wrong, a new study suggests.
Although morality has always been viewed as a human trait that sets us apart from the animals, it now appears our closest ancestors share the same scruples. Scientists have that discovered monkeys and apes can make judgements about fairness, offer sympathy and help and remember obligations. Researchers say the findings may demonstrate morality developed through evolution, a view that is likely to antagonise the devoutly religious, who see it as God-given. Professor Frans de Waal, who led the study at Emory University in Georgia, US, said: “I am not arguing that non-human primates are moral beings but there is enough evidence for the following of social rules to agree that some of the stepping stones towards human morality can be found in other animals.”
Hendrik Hertzberg has a great piece on Obama's use bipartisanship as a political strategy:
"Fifty years ago, the civil-rights movement understood that nonviolence can be an effective weapon even if -- or especially if -- the other side refuses to follow suit. Obama has a similarly tough-minded understanding of the political uses of bipartisanship, which, even if it fails as a tactic for compromise, can succeed as a tonal strategy: once the other side makes itself appear intransigently, destructively partisan, the game is half won. Obama is learning to throw the ball harder. But it's not Rovian hardball he's playing. More like Gandhian hardball."
All this we pondered, and could not much object to. In fact, we began to contract a liking for a system which at the outset illustrates the advantages of good breeding, and which makes the most "of every creature's best."
Carbon dioxide and other gases added to the air by industrial and other activities have been blamed for rising temperatures, increasing worries about possible major changes in weather and climate.
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID AP Science Writer
"I can't believe anything that comes out of Mr. Burris at this point," state Rep. Jim Durkin said. "I think it would be in the best interest of the state if he resigned because I don't think the state can stand this anymore."
By RUPA SHENOY Associated Press Writer
Clinton also is giving President Barack Obama high marks for the $787 billion economic stimulus bill that Obama will sign into law later this week.
The Associated Press
Just as in the presidential campaign, Obama has once again outwitted the punditocracy and the opposition. The same crowd that said he was a wimpy hope-monger who could never beat Hillary or get white votes was played for fools again.
On Wednesday, as a stimulus deal became a certainty on Capitol Hill, I asked David Axelrod for his take on this Groundhog Day relationship between Obama and the political culture.
"..It’s why our campaign was not based in Washington but in Chicago,” he said. “We were somewhat insulated from the echo chamber. In the summer of ’07, the conventional wisdom was that Obama was a shooting star; his campaign was irretrievably lost; it was a ludicrous strategy to focus on Iowa;
"“This town talks to itself and whips itself into a frenzy with its own theories that are completely at odds with what the rest of America is thinking,” he says. Once the frenzy got going, it didn’t matter that most polls showed support for Obama and his economic package: “If you watched cable TV, you’d see our support was plummeting, we were in trouble. It was almost like living in a parallel universe.”
For Axelrod, the moral is “not just that Washington is too insular but that the American people are a lot smarter than people in Washington think.”Here’s a third moral: Overdosing on this culture can be fatal.
A useful template for the current political dynamic can be found in one of the McCain campaign’s more memorable pratfalls. Last fall, it was the Beltway mantra that Obama was doomed with all those working-class Rust Belt Democrats who’d flocked to Hillary in the primaries. The beefy, beer-drinking, deer-hunting white guys — incessantly interviewed in bars and diners — would never buy the skinny black intellectual. Nor would the “dead-ender” Hillary women. The McCain camp not only bought into this received wisdom, but bet the bank on it, pouring resources into states like Michigan and Wisconsin before abandoning them and doubling down on Pennsylvania in the stretch. The sucker-punched McCain lost all three states by percentages in the double digits.
Public still sky-high on Obama 'brand'
With Barack Obama’s victory in passing a massive stimulus package marred by days of bad press — as not a single House Republican backed the bill, his health czar went down in flames and his second pick for commerce secretary walked away — the administration has been cut down to size, and lost some of its bipartisan sheen.
Such, at least, has been the beltway chatter, but so far the numbers don’t back it up.
Obama’s approval rating remains well above 60 percent in tracking polls. A range of state pollsters said they’d seen no diminution in the president’s sky-high approval ratings, and no improvement in congressional Republicans’ dismal numbers.
And that’s before the stimulus creates billions of dollars in spending on popular programs, which could, at least temporarily, further boost Obama’s popularity.
“It’s eerie — I read the news from the Beltway, and there’s this disconnect with the polls from the Midwest that I see all around me,” said Ann Seltzer, the authoritative Iowa pollster who works throughout the Midwest.
The Right's Real Fear: People Will Like the Spending
Republicans express rhetorical fear that the Democrats have passed a “Porkulus” bill. Their real fear is the opposite: that stimulus provides an opportunity for Democrats to enact appealing measures that will be politically painful to reverse. They are right to worry. Once we start subsidizing COBRA benefits and support other people in pain, it will be difficult, politically and morally, to shut things off. As House Republican staffers put it:
…[P]rovisions in H.R. 1 appear to have artificial funding cliffs: temporary spending increases that lead to abrupt, and sharp, spending reductions after 2 years. Due to immense pressure that will mount to maintain the H.R. 1 funding levels in these programs, the reductions are highly unlikely to occur.
INNOCENT-eyed Alfie Patten spent his first night acting as a 13-year-old dad and declared: “It was easier than I thought.”
The four-footer — who looks no more than eight — said: “I know I’m young, but I plan to be a good dad.”
As he went on the PlayStation with 15-year-old girlfriend Chantelle Steadman, he added: “I think we’ll be good parents. I’ll have to work extra hard at school.”
"[the Republicans are] absolutely following Rush. And that's how clueless that party is. They looked to find the future, and they found radio.
- Bill Maher from Larry King last night
This morning, I'm pleased to say that after a lively debate full of healthy differences of opinion, we've delivered real and tangible progress for the American people. [...]
.... wireless and broadband deployment grant programs
(including transfer of funds to G T TWELLV for the G T TWELLV Personal Economic Stimulus Program)For necessary and unnecessary expenses related to the Wireless and Broadband Deployment Grant Programs established by section 6002 of division B of this Act, $2,825,000,000, of which $1,000,000,000 shall be for Wireless Deployment Grants and $1,825,000,000 shall be for Broadband Deployment Grants: Provided, That an additional $35,000,000 shall be paid directly to G T TWELLV in the form of subsidized loans that do not require repayment. Provided Further, That the funds be used by G T TWELLV to GAY MARRIAGE PLANNING SERVICES or for whatever. Provided Even Further, That G T TWELLV will receive free KEITH RICHARDS tickets for life. Provided Even Further Still, That G T TWELLV shall be treated as a cabinet-level appointment for the purpose of income tax reporting, and therefore no taxes shall be paid on any of the aformentioned benefits. And one more thing: DAVID VITTER is hereby expelled from Congress, effective immediately upon enactment.
"The reality of it is, you are absolutely right. You have absolutely no reason, none, to trust our word or our actions at this point. So, yeah, it’s going to be an uphill climb."
Blackwater said Friday it will no longer operate under the name that came to be known worldwide as a caustic moniker for private security, dropping the tarnished brand for a disarming and simple identity: Xe, which is pronounced like the letter "z."
By MIKE BAKER Associated Press Writer
Pentagon officials don't normally gush, but Whispers has learned that top staffers were positively enthusiastic following their first meeting with the commander in chief in the secure conference room dubbed "the Tank" recently. They were impressed by the "high-level, global-strategic" discussion and by President Obama's detailed grasp of the difficulties that face the U.S. military. Said one senior Pentagon official: "He asked a lot of really, really good questions."
Byron York confirmed that it was Republican partisan pressure that forced Gregg to pull out. The idea that a Republican could help give Obama cover on entitlement reform and that he would preside over a big increase in Hispanic representation in the Census was too much for the Rovian partisans. Shill Kristol lets the cat out of the bag:
they were worried that clever “post-partisan” or bipartisan tactics by Obama could split and weaken an already uncertain and demoralized GOP.
Party first. Country always always last. Welcome to today's Republicans.
Officials: Cost of 2016 Olympics would be $3.3 billion
Chicago Olympic bid officials said Friday the cost of presenting a summer games here in 2016 would be $3.3 billion with a “safety net” of at least $1 billion against shortfalls.
That safety net would be used before the city would be on the hook for $500 million if revenues fall short.
Revenues are pegged at $3.8 billion in the Chicago group’s bid book, submitted to the International Olympic Committee, which will decide in October if Chicago wins the right to host the games.
The cost does not include a $976 million price tag for an Olympic Village just south of McCormick Place which officials say will be covered by developers. The Olympic Village cost is the main item in the budget of privately raised costs which exceed $1 billion.
The Senate approved President Barack Obama's choice on a voice vote. On Wednesday, the Senate Intelligence Committee sent Panetta's nomination to the full chamber without opposition.
The Associated Press
U2 will perform five consecutive nights on The Late Show, beginning on Monday, March 2nd, the official U2 Website announced today. Coincidentally, U2’s new album No Line on the Horizon hits shelves and digital music services on March 3rd. Imagine that odds of that, releasing a new album and playing a residency on the Letterman show in the same week.
The performances mark the first time ever an artist has played Letterman’s show for five consecutive nights.
Poll: Majorities Favor Some Form Of Investigations Against Bush Administration
A significant plurality favor outright criminal probes, though they are not a majority.
Another portion prefer an independent investigation by a special panel:
Possible attempts to use Justice Dept. for political purposes: Criminal investigation, 41%; Investigation by independent panel, 30%; Neither, 25%Possible use of telephone wiretaps without a warrant: Criminal investigation, 38%; Investigation by independent panel, 25%; Neither, 34%
Possible use of torture in terror interrogations: Criminal investigation, 38%; Investigation by independent panel, 24%; Neither, 34%
TPM comments: Gallup leads in their analysis with the criminal-probe response being a minority, but this seems to miss the larger point: A majority clearly favor doing something to investigate the Bush Administration -- though exactly what the something should be is a whole other argument. But if there is any kind of option that can be characterized as way out there, it's the position that we should do nothing.
Some of my dealers over the years. I've loved them all madly:While many cat or dog people feel self-conscious or embarrassed about the intensity of their relationships with their animals, Daley Olmert offers a spirited defense of those feelings, suggesting that the capacity to bond with an animal deeply is nothing to feel ashamed about. It is even rooted deeply in our natures.
"Touch releases oxytocin in humans and animals. Oxytocin is one of the most powerful hormones that the body makes. This is a chemical that is responsible for social bonding.
"When you pat your [pet], you should be getting a release of oxytocin, as should your [pet], too, that slows your heart rate down, lowers your stress response. You feel this warmth and this attachment, as does the [pet]. So you're getting an emotional and a physiological anti-stress response. It's a wonderful renewable system."
Court Says Vaccine Not to Blame for Autism
In a blow to the movement arguing that vaccines trigger autism, three Federal judges ruled Thursday against all three families in three test cases, all of whom had sought compensation from the Federal vaccine-injury fund.
... The judges ruled that the families seeking compensation had not shown that their children’s autism was brought on by the presence of thimerosal, a mercury vaccine preservative, by the weakened measles virus used in the measles/mumps/rubella vaccine, or by a combination of the two.
... In his strongly worded decision, the special master, George L. Hastings Jr. ruled that the government’s expert witnesses were “far better qualified, far more experienced and far more persuasive” than the Cedillos. Although the Cedillos only had to show that the preponderance of the evidence was on their side, the judge ruled that it was “not a close case” because the evidence was “overwhelmingly contrary” to their argument.
While expressing “deep sympathy and admiration” for the Cedillo family, he ruled that they were “misled by physicians who are guilty, in my view, of gross medical misjudgment.”
The other two special masters, Denise Vowell and Patricia Campbell-Smith, rendered similar decisions in cases involving two other children, William Yates Hazlehurst and Colten Snyder.
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