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North Korea halts nuclear reactor disablement
Moves to denuclearise the Korean peninsular hit a brick wall today as North Korea halted the disablement of its nuclear facilities and accused the United States of reneging on a disarmament agreement.
The foreign ministry in Pyongyang said it would consider rebuilding its reactor and cooling tower in Yongbyon because the US had not lived up to a promise to remove it from a list of nations that sponsor terrorism.
In a statement carried by the Korea Central News Agency, the ministry said the US was insisting on extra inspections that would infringe upon its sovereignty.
"The US is gravely mistaken if it thinks it can make a house search in DPRK as it pleases just as it did in Iraq," said the statement, using the acronym for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "We have decided to immediately suspend disabling our nuclear facilities."
The statement is a blow to hopes for an easing of tension on the peninsular after a landmark agreement last year that committed North Korea to dismantle its facilities in return for energy supplies and a lifting of sanctions and its pariah status.
Optimism was high in June when the US began the 45-day process to remove Pyongyang from a list of nations that sponsor terrorism after North Korea blew up the cooling tower in Yongbyon and handed over a declaration of its nuclear programme.
But the inventory is short of US estimates, does not include nuclear weapons and makes no mention of a uranium enrichment program - which Washington has repeatedly accused Pyongyang of developing.
Earlier this month, the United States said it would not take North Korea off the terrorism blacklist until it was satisfied that a verification protocol is in place. Other nations involved in six party talks to resolve the issue called on the two sides to break the impasse.
South Korean officials lamented the North's move. "It's regrettable that this announcement came at a time when each side has been trying" to move the process forward, said Kim Sook, Seoul's chief nuclear envoy. "I hope North Korea will resume disablement measures at an early date."
But today's statement may indicate that Pyongyang has given up on the Bush administration and is now waiting to see whether the next president will pursue a different policy.
Moves to denuclearise the Korean peninsular hit a brick wall today as North Korea... more-
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Art exhibition makes Barack Obama an icon of hope
The Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell visits Manifest Hope, a Denver event inspired by the Democratic presidential contender.
Ironically, Sheppard Fairey/Obey is from Charleston, SC. A city not know for it's integration nor it's graffiti art scene. His stuff is incredible.The Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell visits Manifest Hope, a Denver event inspired by... more-
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Experience: How much does it weigh in for the Presidency?
Abraham Lincoln had little experience before his presidency. How much of it matters?-
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McCain Vs Barack - The Movie Trailer
When the fate of the country and the world hang in the balance, there is only one government agency we can turn to!!When the fate of the country and the world hang in the balance, there is only one... more -
Condoleezza Rice visits Georgia over South Ossetia conflict
Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, arrived in Tbilisi today to bolster Georgia's position after it was routed by Russia in the conflict over South Ossetia.
She told reporters travelling with her that the immediate goal was to get Russian combat troops out of Georgia leaving more difficult questions to be addressed later.
But she said she would never ask Georgia to agree to something that was not in its best interests.
Washington has already warned that the fighting could set back Moscow's relations with the west for years, but has ruled out engaging militarily in the region.
Rice's visit came after the US sent military transport planes with humanitarian and medical supplies to Georgia, coupled with a warning from George Bush to Russia not to obstruct the aid effort.
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, was also meeting the Russian president, Dimitry Medvedev, at the Black Sea resort of Sochi today as international efforts continued to reduce tensions.
Poland's agreement last night to station interceptor rockets at missile silos as part of a US missile defence shield in the Baltic region was today leading to even more frosty relations between Washington and Moscow.
The US says the shield is aimed at Iran, but Russia's Nato ambassador, Dmitry Rogozin, told Reuters news agency that "the fact that this was signed in a period of very difficult crisis in the relations between Russia and the United States over the situation in Georgia shows that of course the missile defence system will be deployed not against Iran but the strategic potential of Russia."
Despite a draft French-brokered ceasefire that required Russian and Georgian forces to return to preconflict positions, Moscow's forces today remained deep in what was Georgian-controlled territory, well outside the disputed regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Georgia has still not formally signed the ceasefire agreement, which allows Russian peacekeepers to remain in South Ossetia.
Russian troops were today still blocking the entrance to Gori, which sits on Georgia's main east-west road, although they allowed in some humanitarian supplies.
Georgia's president, Mikheil Saakashvili, warned that "Russia's invasion of Georgia strikes at the heart of western values". In an article for the Washington Post newspaper reprinted in today's Guardian, he said: "If the international community allows Russia to crush our democratic independent state, it will be giving carte blanche to authoritarian governments everywhere."
But the Kremlin has dismissed western insistence that Georgia's territorial integrity forms the basis of any settlement of the conflict, fuelling fears that it is bent on annexing South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The international organisation Human Rights Watch said today it had collected evidence of Russian warplanes using cluster bombs against civilian areas in Georgia, saying military aircraft killed at least 11 civilians and injured dozens of others in Gori and the village of Ruisi on Tuesday.
This was denied by the Russian general staff.
Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, arrived in Tbilisi today to bolster... more-
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US troops give to Obama 6x more than McCain
A new analysis shows the vast majority of US troops serving abroad have donated to candidates running on strong anti-war platforms, with presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama out-raising his Republican opponent by a 6-to-1 margin.
The Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks money in politics, analyzed donations from US troops in a report released Thursday.
According to an analysis of campaign contributions by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Democrat Barack Obama has received nearly six times as much money from troops deployed overseas at the time of their contributions than has Republican John McCain, and the fiercely anti-war Ron Paul, though he suspended his campaign for the Republican nomination months ago, has received more than four times McCain's haul.
Despite McCain's status as a decorated veteran and a historically Republican bent among the military, members of the armed services overall -- whether stationed overseas or at home -- are also favoring Obama with their campaign contributions in 2008, by a $55,000 margin. Although 59 percent of federal contributions by military personnel has gone to Republicans this cycle, of money from the military to the presumed presidential nominees, 57 percent has gone to Obama.
Only Marines are more likely to donate to McCain, according to the report, with Obama leading in fundraising from members of the Army, Air Force and Navy. The report found Obama raised about $60,600 from troops deployed abroad, compared to $45,500 for Paul and $10,600 for McCain; the Democratic candidate brought in more than $335,000 from all military personnel, compared to about $280,000 for the Republican.
"That's shocking. The academic debate is between some who say that junior enlisted ranks lean slightly Republican and some who say it's about equal, but no one would point to six-to-one" in Democrats' favor, Aaron Belkin, a professor of political science at the University of California who studies the military, told the Center's Luke Rosiak. "That represents a tremendous shift from 2000, when the military vote almost certainly was decisive in Florida and elsewhere, and leaned heavily towards the Republicans."
The military donations streaming to Obama, Rosiak reports, breaks a historical trend that saw Republicans lead among the enlisted ranks. According to the report, George W. Bush out-raised Al Gore by a nearly 2-to-1 margin in 2000 and brought in $1.50 from the military for every $1 raised by Democratic candidate John Kerry in 2004.
A new analysis shows the vast majority of US troops serving abroad have donated to... more-
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Obama jet incident FAA tapes reveal drama
August 14, 2008—
The incident involving Sen. Barack Obama's campaign plane last month was much more serious than the airline or the Federal Aviation Administration said, according to FAA control tower tapes obtained by ABC News.
At the time, an FAA spokesperson said the pilot did not declare an emergency and the airline owner, Midwest Airlines, said safety "was never an issue."
The tapes, broadcast Thursday on ABC News' "World News with Charles Gibson", show otherwise.
Just 41 seconds after discovering he no longer had full control of the plane's up and down movements, the pilot told an FAA air traffic controller "at this time we would like to declare an emergency and also have CFR [crash equipment] standing by in St. Louis."
An FAA spokesperson acknowledged today that its statements at the time of "no emergency" were wrong, based, the spokesperson said, on erroneous reports from FAA air traffic managers.
"We later learned there was an emergency declared," FAA spokesperson Elizabeth Cory said. The FAA had not publicly corrected the record until today, after being contacted by ABC News.
Obama's plane, an MD-81 chartered from Midwest, was diverted to St. Louis, shortly after takeoff from Chicago on July 7. Over the plane intercom system, the pilot told Obama and campaign staff and reporters there was "a little bit of controllability issue in terms of our ability to control the aircraft in the pitch, which is the nose up and nose down mode."
In contrast, the FAA tapes reveal the pilot reported he no longer had 100 per cent control, with only "limited pitch authority" of the aircraft.
A few minutes later, the pilot formally declared an emergency situation. (click here to listen to an edited version of the audio)
Asked by the St. Louis tower controller which runway he wanted to land on, the pilot responded, "Well, which one is the longest?"
The pilot then reported, "We have Senator Obama on board the aircraft and his campaign."
Unbeknownst to the pilot, an emergency evacuation slide had inflated inside the tail of the jet, affecting control cables there.
As tension mounted and the pilot rapidly descended from 32,000 feet, he was asked how many were on the jet.
"51 souls on board," he responded.
Then, at 10,000 feet, the pilot suddenly regained control.
"Ah, sir, we had a pitch authority problem. Now that we've come down to a lower altitude, it seems to have rectified itself. We do have pitch control of the aircraft at this time," the unnamed Midwest pilot reported to the St. Louis control tower.
As the jet landed safely in St. Louis, Sen. Obama called his wife and, apparently unaware of the drama in the cockpit, tried to laugh it off.
"Just thought we'd spice things up a little bit today," he told reporters.
Asked if he was afraid, Obama said, "Anytime a pilot says, you know, that something's not working the way it's supposed to, then you know, you make sure you tighten your seat belt."
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident. In a preliminary report, the NTSB said it detected "marks consistent with rubbing of elevator control cables" and a broken railing that "impinged upon elevator control cables."
A spokesperson for Midwest said the company would not comment on the incident while the NTSB investigation is underway.
The Obama campaign had chartered the MD-81 from Midwest while its current campaign plane, a Boeing 757 chartered from North American Airlines, was being reconfigured. It was put into use on July 20.
The McCain campaign also debuted a new plane last month, a Boeing 737-400, chartered from Team Jet. A spokesperson, Brian Rogers, said he was unaware if the incident with the Obama plane had led to any safety evaluations of Senator McCain's campaign plane.
August 14, 2008— The incident involving Sen. Barack Obama's campaign... more-
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Hillary to appear on ballot at Democratic convention
WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- The leadership of Democratic Party has decided to put Senator Hillary Clinton's name on the ballot alongside presidential hopeful Barack Obama at the party's national convention late this month.
The symbolic move was intended to soothe a lingering rift between Obama's camp and Clinton supporters, the website of New York Times reported Thursday.
The decision was reached earlier this week, and will be announced later in the day.
It comes after negotiations on both sides, with many Clinton supporters vigorously pushing for her candidacy to be validated by giving her delegates the chance to support her through a roll call vote.
Clinton was defeated by Obama in the presidential primary election early this year, but party rules allow her name to appear on the ballot at the convention in a symbolic voting which will formally give Obama the party's presidential nomination.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- The leadership of Democratic Party has decided to put... more-
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US inflation highest since 1991, oil and food
The cost of living in the US surged at twice the rate expected last month to the fastest annual level in 17 and a half years, official data showed today, due to spiralling food and oil prices.
The data adds to the gloomy economic news in the US coming from the slump in the housing market, falling growth and risk of a recession.
The Labour Department said that the consumer prices index of inflation, the key measure of inflation, rose at 0.8% in July, after a 1.1% jump in June. This was double Wall Street expectations.
The annual rate rose to 5.6%, the sharpest year-on-year increase since January 1991.
Record oil prices in July pushed up fuel inflation while food prices continued to edge up to 6% compared with a year ago.
Worringly for the US Federal Reserve, core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy items, rose 0.3% in July taking the annual pace to 2.5%.
Unlike the Bank of England, the Federal Reserve has cut interest rates agressively from 5.25% a year ago to 2% in an attempt to revive the flagging economy.
This month, the central bank left borrowing costs at 2% despite inflation fears, citing rising unemployment and the plunge in the housing market as the reasons for its decision.
Analysts said inflation may soften in the coming months as the recent slide in commodity prices takes effect.
"If we don't get an unexpected shock that pushes commodity prices back up, this might be the worst inflation news that we'll get for a while," said Gary Thayer at Wachovia securities.
"If inflation moderates along with the commodity markets, monetary policymakers will probably focus more on the housing problems and worry less about inflation. That will allow the Fed to hold interest rates steady into the early part of next year."
The cost of living in the US surged at twice the rate expected last month to the... more-
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Libya and US sign deal to compensate bomb victims
Libya and the United States signed a deal today to compensate US and Libyan victims of bombings, in the continued thaw between the two former antagonists.
The deal ends Libya's legal liability from multiple lawsuits of families of the US victims and clears the way for the restoration of full diplomatic relations between Tripoli and Washington. It may also lead to the opening of a US embassy and a visit by US secretary of state before the end of the year, according to the Associated Press.
The top US diplomat for the Middle East, David Welch, signed the deal today with Ahmed al-Fatroui, head of America affairs in Libya's foreign ministry, in a ceremony in front of reporters.
There were 26 lawsuits filed by American citizens against Libya and three by Libyan citizens against the US. Today's deal could lead to payouts running into hundreds of millions of dollars.
Compensation will be paid to US and Libyan victims and relatives of those who died in atrocities, which include the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie that killed 270 people and the 1986 bombing of a Berlin disco that killed three people and wounded 229.
Libyans who were killed in 1986 when US warplanes bombed Tripoli and Benghazi are also covered by the payout, according to Libyan officials. Libya said US strikes killed at least 40 people, including Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's adopted daughter.
Libya and the United States signed a deal today to compensate US and Libyan victims of... more-
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ExxonMobil CEO defends high profits
ExxonMobil CEO and chairman Rex Tillerson defended his company's staggering $11.7 billion in profits for the second quarter, saying that the company's earnings reflected the magnitude of its business operation.
"I saw someone characterize our profits the other day in terms of $1,400 in profit per second. Well, they also need to understand we paid $4,000 a second in taxes, and we spent $15,000 a second in cost," Tillerson told ABC News' Charles Gibson. "We spend $1 billion a day just running our business. So this is a business where large numbers are just characteristic of it."
ExxonMobil earned the best quarterly profit ever for a corporation, up 14 percent from last year but still below investors' expectations. While Wall Street was slightly disappointed by Exxon's earnings, some Americans were outraged by what they saw as big oil profiting at their expense. Tillerson recognized that consumers are angry about the escalating price of gas.
"I can understand why people are very upset and why they're very worried and concerned about their ability to deal with these high prices," Tillerson said. "It does bother me that much of that is directed at us. Our job is to provide energy, to provide it in a means that is reliable. And we hope we can provide it in a means that's convenient as well to the consumer."
When asked whether he agreed with Phil Gramm, Sen. John McCain's former economic adviser, who labeled America as a "nation of whiners," Tillerson said he empathizes with American consumers.
"I don't think there's any question that if these prices -- $3.50, $4 a gallon for gasoline -- and the follow-through effects on the cost of electricity [are] causing a lot of problems for a lot of Americans. ... Their budgets just are very difficult for them to accommodate this."
Supply and Demand
But Tillerson also said that the combination of new technology on the supply side and energy efficiency on the demand side will make gas more affordable for the average American.
"What we can do is add new supply and to provide means for people to use the energy more efficiently, which will help reduce demand," Tillerson said. "And that's what we're spending a lot of our effort doing, is working on both sides of the demand equation and the supply equation."
Tillerson's suggestions for energy efficiency echoed recommendations by presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama, who called for tire-inflation and proper car tuneups to provide relief to distressed voters.
"Things like providing lighter weight tires, tires that retain their pressure more efficiently, lighter weight plastics to go into vehicles to reduce vehicle weight" will help consumers use gas more efficiently, according to Tillerson.
Energy has been center stage on the campaign trail, with both Democrat and Republican sides attacking one another's proposals and calling for energy independence.
But Tillerson added that energy independence is "not realistic for the United States or almost any other country."
"I'm not sure that it's even desirable for the United States to pursue that as a goal," he said. "Our country's economy is so interdependent with the rest of the world in so many areas of, not just commodities, but capital markets. ... So I'm not sure why we would view energy any differently than the way we view the rest of our economy."
The Next Generation
...there's more....
ExxonMobil CEO and chairman Rex Tillerson defended his company's staggering $11.7... more-
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US foreclosure filings surge 55 percent
market jumped last month as foreclosure filings grew by more than 50 percent compared with the same month a year ago, according to data released Thursday.
Nationwide, more than 272,000 homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice in July, up 55 percent from about 175,000 in the same month last year and up 8 percent from June, RealtyTrac Inc. said. That means one in every 464 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing last month.
Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac monitors default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. More than 77,000 properties were repossessed by lenders nationwide in July, the company said.
Nevada, California, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, Georgia and Michigan had the highest foreclosure rates. Foreclosure filings increased from a year earlier in all but eight states.
The combination of weak housing sales, falling home values, tighter mortgage lending criteria and a slowing U.S. economy has left financially strapped homeowners with few options to avoid foreclosure. Many can't find buyers or owe more than their home is worth and can't refinance into an affordable loan.
As foreclosures soar, banks and mortgage investors are also facing a pileup of foreclosed properties on their books and are cutting prices dramatically.
RealtyTrac noted that it had more than 750,000 foreclosed homes in its database of properties for sale, equal to about 17 percent of the 4.5 million U.S. homes that were up for sale in June.
To speed up the disposition of the 54,000 foreclosed properties it owns, Fannie Mae is opening offices in California and Florida and is considering selling those properties in bulk to investors. "I do not think this is a time to be holding onto (foreclosed properties) hoping for a better day," CEO Daniel Mudd said last week.
It remains to be seen how much the government's intervention will stem the housing crisis. President Bush last month signed sweeping housing legislation that aims to prevent foreclosures by allowing homeowners to swap their mortgages for more affordable loans, but only if their lender agrees to take a loss on the initial loan.
The bill is projected to help about 400,000 households.
The number of foreclosures "could start to stabilize as early as the first quarter of next year if the government program gains any traction," said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac's vice president for marketing. "That's really the unknowable right now."
Even with government help, nearly 2.8 million U.S. households will either face foreclosure, turn over their homes to their lender or sell the properties for less than their mortgage's value by the end of next year, predicts Moody's Economy.com.
In the RealtyTrac report, the Cape Coral-Fort Myers area in Florida was the metro area with the highest rate of foreclosure, followed by three California cities: Merced, Stockton, and Modesto. Las Vegas ranked fifth.
market jumped last month as foreclosure filings grew by more than 50 percent compared... more-
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Colin Powell to reportedly endorse Obama
Retired Gen. Colin Powell, former Secretary of State under President George W. Bush, is to reportedly endorse Sen. Barack Obama.
Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol told FOX News of the endorsement on Thursday, and later, former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski repeated the same claim, adding that Powell might even "potentially speak at the Democratic National Convention," per the Huffington Post.
Kristol cited inside sources, according to FOX, but a Powell spokesperson "strongly" denied the report, saying "there's absolutely no truth to it whatsoever."
Powell, a former national security adviser himself, served as chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Pres. Bush's father and was the younger Bush's first secretary of state.
"An endorsement by Powell could go a long way to attracting moderates and wayward Republicans to the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate," the FOX report suggested.
Retired Gen. Colin Powell, former Secretary of State under President George W. Bush,... more-
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Obama 'Sings' Rick Astley's Hit
Barack Obama's never gonna give you up.
YouTube user Hugh Atkin pushed the rickroll meme a step further with Barack Roll -- an ingeniously edited video (embedded) that mashes together snippets of Obama dancing and talking to re-create the lyrics to Rick Astley's net-popular song, "Never Gonna Give You Up."
"Not that clever, and might be better executed, but it needed to be done," Atkin wrote on his personal blog. "Hope you like it."
Barack Roll is similar to DJ RX's 2005 mashup of President George W. Bush "singing" the words to the U2 hit "Sunday Bloody Sunday," and is quickly gaining in popularity. Since going live Saturday, the Barack Roll video has tallied nearly half a million views and skyrocketed to YouTube's Most Viewed Video slot for this week in Australia.
Shortly after posting Barack Roll, Atkin uploaded another clip juxtapozing the Obama video with the Astley original so fans could compare the two. Barack Obama's never gonna give you up. YouTube user Hugh Atkin pushed the... more -
Obama's tire-gauge solution is no joke
The Bush Administration estimates that expanded offshore drilling could increase oil production by 200,000 bbl. per day by 2030. We use about 20 million bbl. per day, so that would meet about 1% of our demand two decades from now. Meanwhile, efficiency experts say that keeping tires inflated can improve gas mileage 3%, and regular maintenance can add another 4%. Many drivers already follow their advice, but if everyone did, we could immediately reduce demand several percentage points. In other words: Obama is right. The Bush Administration estimates that expanded offshore drilling could increase oil... more-
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McCain brings in 'The Bullet' as White House race turns nasty
Paul Harris in New York The Observer, Sunday August 3 2008
Article history
The first warning sign was delivered in a phone call nine days ago, when John McCain's new senior adviser, Steve Schmidt, held a conference call with worried senior Republican party figures.
Schmidt told them that they would soon see McCain go on the offensive against Barack Obama. Some tough TV ads were coming, he warned. It was no lie. The first ad came barely 24 hours later. Others followed, and soon the US presidential election erupted into its most vicious fight so far. Both sides traded insults over patriotism, racism and allegations of becoming negative. It dominated the front pages and cable news shows, and there is little sign that the storm will abate quickly.
Many pundits saw the move as a sign of desperation from a McCain campaign humbled by Obama's triumphal world tour, behind in the polls and written off by some commentators. But the truth is very different.
McCain's aggressive strategy is a deliberate and well-thought-out ploy. It was developed and implemented by a coterie of advisers brought in last month who are protégés of the Republican political guru Karl Rove. Schmidt, who learnt his trade with Rove, heads the group and is now guiding the campaign.
The strategy is intended to turn McCain's ailing presidential bid around and give it a firm focus: one mostly fixed on attacking Obama. Schmidt and others believe they can do to Obama what the Republicans did to John Kerry in 2004.
'They know how to win a presidential election. If you can show a candidate's basic flaws, that is one way to win,' said Steve Mitchell, a Republican political adviser and chairman of Mitchell Research. McCain's new advisers believe they can define Obama in their own terms and leave him as damaged goods in the eyes of the electorate. If that sounds like a hard-headed, unpleasant, negative strategy, that is probably because it is. But Schmidt and his allies have also started to give Republicans the one thing that Obama had seemed to be monopolising - hope of winning.
Steve Schmidt is known as 'The Bullet'. Part of that is to do with his bald-headed appearance, but it is also as much to do with his hyper-aggressive political style. He was promoted to run McCain's campaign at the beginning of last month, after he and several other aides went to McCain and warned him that his presidential bid was in dire trouble.
McCain took the warning to heart and placed Schmidt in charge of the day-to-day running of his campaign operation. It was a bold move, but Schmidt is one of the rising stars of Republican politics. The New Jersey native cut his teeth under Rove and in the Bush White House. He ran the 2004 Republican war room that was responsible for taking down Kerry. He also worked hard on getting conservative judges through the process of appointment to the Supreme Court. Then he guided the re-election campaign of California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, to victory.
Schmidt has been joined by other key figures from the Rove-era Bush White House. They include the formidable figure of Nicole Wallace, a Bush campaign spokeswoman in 2004, and Greg Jenkins, a former Fox TV journalist who once worked for Bush's campaign. The group has sought to tighten an operation that was floundering under its previous leadership. They have also given it a sharply negative edge.
However, such a strategy is not without risk. Much of McCain's huge appeal to the middle ground relies on his popular reputation as a military hero and a decent man. Excessive negative campaigning could hurt that valuable political commodity. 'This is a first for McCain. This is a very different strategy to see in a McCain campaign,' said political scientist Tim Hagle, a professor at the University of Iowa.
.....there's more
Paul Harris in New York The Observer, Sunday August 3 2008 Article history The... more-
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Obama proposes rebate for consumers dealing with high fuel costs
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama today sought to reclaim the energy debate from Republican John McCain with an advert calling for a rebate to aid consumers struggling with high fuel costs and a call to tap America's strategic oil reserves to lessen fuel supply pressure.
In recent weeks, McCain has made repeated calls for an end to the US moratorium on oil drilling in coastal waters, and has portrayed Obama as unwilling to take the steps necessary to reduce the cost of gasoline.
Polls have shown a slim majority of Americans favour drilling in areas currently off limits, a response to gasoline prices that have topped $4 per gallon across the country. Since his tour of Europe and the Middle East last month, Obama has seen McCain erode his slim lead in head-to-head polling.
In a new advertisement unveiled this morning, Obama calls for a $1,000 per family rebate funded by a windfall profits tax on oil companies. The clip also highlights campaign contributions from oil company workers to McCain.
"After one president in the pocket of big oil, we can't afford another," the narrator intones as an image of president George Bush besides McCain floats across the screen.
The McCain campaign struck back, accusing Obama of distorting and exaggerating McCain's ties to oil companies. The advert claims "big oil's filling John McCain's campaign with $2m in contributions," though the McCain campaign points out that corporations are forbidden to contribute directly to presidential campaigns.
The Obama advert cited a report from the Centre for Responsive Politics, an organisation that tracks money in political campaigns, which says that oil and gas employees have donated $1.3m to McCain's campaign and $394,465 to Obama.
"Barack Obama's latest negative attack ad shows his celebrity is matched only by his hypocrisy," McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said. "After all it was Senator Obama, not John McCain, who voted for the Bush-Cheney energy bill that was a sweetheart deal for oil companies."
In addition to new drilling in US coastal waters, McCain backs increased use of nuclear energy and coal-fired power plants.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama today sought to reclaim the energy... more-
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Topless Women, Bikers, And John McCain
The town of Sturgis, South Dakota will witness, on Monday, the rare fusion of drunken debauchery, public stripteasing, motorcycle rallying, a live performance by Kid Rock, and - last but not least - a veterans-themed speech by presidential candidate John McCain. Seriously.
On Sunday, the McCain campaign announced that the Senator will participate in the Sturgis Rally 2008 at Buffalo Chip in South Dakota, an annual tribute to American veterans. The event is up the Arizona Republican's wheelhouse, attracting thousands of active duty and former servicemen, many who have a natural affinity towards the Senator.
But it is hard not to notice the evocative, non-political sideshows that will literally surround McCain's speech. As the presumptive nominee takes the stage, the "Ringin' Wet & Wild" women's wrestling event will be taking place on the main amphitheater. Two hours before then, the "Miss Buffalo Chip Beauty Pageant - Bikinis on the Beach" will be staged at a different venue. That affair is described by ESPN's Jim Caple as "essentially a topless beauty pageant. And occasionally bottomless, too."
"During a drenching rain Wednesday night, the contest broke up into smaller groups and one woman wound up dancing naked on a bar top. Her boyfriend/husband saw her and angrily dragged her away as she struggled to put her pants back on and muttered something about how, "It's only this one week a year.""
How sweet. Sadly, the pageant also sees its share of domestic abuse, which even the event's organizers admit to Caple is a major problem.
Following McCain's speech, country stars Kellie Pickler and Kid Rock will be taking the very same stage for their own live performances. Then at 12:30 a.m., there will be the semi-finals of the "Miss Buffalo Chip Beauty Pageant," this time featuring Hawaiian Tropic Models.
The cultural crossroads that is the Sturgis Rally could actually be fertile political ground for the Republican presidential nominee. Hosted in a town of 5,500, the event sees upward of half a million bikers over the course of a week. Many of them, the founder of the campground is quoted as saying, have expressed interest in seeing the Senator, whose POW background makes him a fan favorite. How the religious right will react is a whole other bag.
The town of Sturgis, South Dakota will witness, on Monday, the rare fusion of drunken... more-
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FCC backs 'Net Neutrality,' orders Comcast to cease tampering
WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided Federal Communications Commission has ruled that Comcast Corp. violated federal policy when it blocked Internet traffic for some subscribers and has ordered the cable giant to change the way it manages its network.
In a precedent-setting move, the FCC by a 3-2 vote on Friday enforced a policy that guarantees customers open access to the Internet.
The commission did not assess a fine, but ordered the company to stop cutting off transfers of large data files among customers who use a special type of "file-sharing" software. Associated Press reports on Comcast's activities led to the complaints filed with the FCC.
Comcast says its practices are reasonable — that it has delayed traffic, not blocked it — and that the FCC's so-called network-neutrality "principles" are part of a policy statement and are not enforceable rules.
Republican FCC Chairman Kevin Martin proposed the enforcement action and was joined by Democratic commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps in voting for approval. He was opposed by members of his own party, commissioners Robert McDowell and Deborah Taylor Tate, who both issued lengthy dissents.
The commission's authority to act stems from a policy statement adopted in September 2005 that outlined a set of principles meant to ensure that broadband networks are "widely deployed, open, affordable and accessible to all consumers."
The principles are "subject to reasonable network management," a concept the agency has not explicitly defined.
While the FCC action did not include a fine, it does require Comcast within 30 days of release of the order to disclose the details of its "discriminatory network management"; submit a compliance plan describing how it intends to stop these practices by the end of the year; and disclose to customers and the commission its new plan.
Martin said Comcast managers were not "simply managing their network, they had arbitrarily picked an application and blocked their subscribers' access to it."
The agency said that Comcast had a motive to interfere. Peer-to-peer applications are used to load video that "poses a potential competitive threat to Comcast's video-on-demand service," it said.
Martin was particularly critical of the company's failure to disclose to customers exactly how it was managing its traffic.
Comcast spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice said in a prepared statement that the company was "disappointed in the commission's divided conclusion because we believe that our network management choices were reasonable...."
She said the company believes the order "raises significant due process concerns and a variety of substantive legal questions."
The FCC's action means network operators are subject to the FCC's enforcement process and the agency will act on consumer complaints.
Martin told The Associated Press in an interview before the meeting that the agency will consider fines for future violations, but he declined to speculate on how large they would be.
The FCC action arose when bloggers reported that Comcast customers who used file-sharing software like BitTorrent were noticing their transmissions were aborting prematurely.
AP ran tests and reported Comcast "actively interferes" with attempts by some subscribes to share files online, and that the practice involved "company computers masquerading as those of its users."
The report led to a complaint by public interest group Free Press and others that the company was violating agency principles.
Comcast has said it did not block traffic, but delayed it, and only among users of the file-sharing, peer-to-peer programs that were responsible for taking up a disproportionate share of bandwidth and endangering service for other customers.
The company says it will stop using its network management practice by the end of the year and switch to a "protocol agnostic" technique that will not single out any particular type of traffic.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided Federal Communications Commission has ruled that... more-
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Obama says he opposes slavery reparations, apology
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama opposes offering reparations to the descendants of slaves, putting him at odds with some black groups and leaders.
The man with a serious chance to become the nation's first black president argues that government should instead combat the legacy of slavery by improving schools, health care and the economy for all.
"I have said in the past — and I'll repeat again — that the best reparations we can provide are good schools in the inner city and jobs for people who are unemployed," the Illinois Democrat said recently.
Some two dozen members of Congress are co-sponsors of legislation to create a commission that would study reparations — that is, payments and programs to make up for the damage done by slavery.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People supports the legislation, too. Cities around the country, including Obama's home of Chicago, have endorsed the idea, and so has a major union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Obama has worked to be seen as someone who will bring people together, not divide them into various interest groups with checklists of demands. Supporting reparations could undermine that image and make him appear to be pandering to black voters.
"Let's not be naive. Sen. Obama is running for president of the United States, and so he is in a constant battle to save his political life," said Kibibi Tyehimba, co-chair of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America. "In light of the demographics of this country, I don't think it's realistic to expect him to do anything other than what he's done."
But this is not a position Obama adopted just for the presidential campaign. He voiced the same concerns about reparations during his successful run for the Senate in 2004.
There's enough flexibility in the term "reparations" that Obama can oppose them and still have plenty of common ground with supporters.
The NAACP says reparations could take the form of government programs to help struggling people of all races. Efforts to improve schools in the inner city could also aid students in the mountains of West Virginia, said Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP's Washington bureau.
"The solution could be broad and sweeping," Shelton said.
The National Urban League — a group Obama is to address Saturday — avoids the word "reparations" as too vague and highly charged. But the group advocates government action to close the gaps between white America and black America.
Urban League President Marc Morial said he expects his members to press Obama on how he intends to close those gaps and what action he would take in the first 100 days of his presidency.
"What steps should we take as a nation to alleviate the effects of racial exclusion and racial discrimination?" Morial asked.
The House voted this week to apologize for slavery. The resolution, which was approved on a voice vote, does not mention reparations, but past opponents have argued that an apology would increase pressure for concrete action.
Obama says an apology would be appropriate but not particularly helpful in improving the lives of black Americans. Reparations could also be a distraction, he said.
In a 2004 questionnaire, he told the NAACP, "I fear that reparations would be an excuse for some to say, 'We've paid our debt,' and to avoid the much harder work."
Taking questions Sunday at a conference of minority journalists, Obama said he would be willing to talk to American Indian leaders about an apology for the nation's treatment of their people.
Pressed for his position on apologizing to blacks or offering reparations, Obama said he was more interested in taking action to help people struggling to get by. Because many of them are minorities, he said, that would help the same people who would stand to benefit from reparations.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama opposes offering... more-
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