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petak, 07.08.2009.

Rudd's wife discharged from hospital

THE wife of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Therese Rein, has been discharged from hospital after recieving treatment for a stomach bug.

07.08.2009. u 01:40 • 0 Komentara • Print • #

Della Bosca denies leadership challenge

NSW Health Minister John Della Bosca has denied speculation he is set to challenge Premier Nathan Rees' leadership.

07.08.2009. u 01:40 • 0 Komentara • Print • #

Clinton Vows New U.S. Support For Somalia

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the Obama administration will boost military supplies and other aid to Somalia's weak interim government as it struggles against Islamist extremists believed linked to al-Qaida.

07.08.2009. u 01:39 • 0 Komentara • Print • #

William Jefferson Convicted in Cash-in-Freezer Case

Filed under: Democrats, Scandal, Investigations

During his many years in Congress, William Jefferson accumulated power the quiet way. He walled himself off from the garish self-promotion that defines so many of his colleagues. Now, barring a successful appeal of his corruption conviction, he faces years behind the walls of prison.

Jefferson has been found guilty by an Alexandria, Va., jury of 11 counts, including soliciting and accepting bribes and using his official position to further a criminal enterprise. It was all connected to favors he granted in pursuit of African business ventures.

The case had various bizarre twists and turns over the years. The investigation was defined by $90,000 FBI agents found stashed in his home freezer.

Former colleagues in the House were somber. Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement after the verdict it was a "sad day for the family, but no one is above the law."

Prosecutors wanted Jefferson to be jailed immediately, but the judge allowed the former Democratic U.S. representative from Louisiana to remain free until sentencing Oct. 30. The maximum is a theoretical 150 years, but sentencing guidelines will call for much less time. Still, William Jefferson can expect to serve many years behind bars if he fails to win on appeal.

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07.08.2009. u 01:39 • 0 Komentara • Print • #

Pakistani Taliban chief likely killed: minister (Reuters)

Reuters - There is a strong likelihood that Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed along with his wife and bodyguards in a missile attack two days ago, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik told Reuters.

07.08.2009. u 01:39 • 0 Komentara • Print • #

Pterosaur's Wing, "Hairs" Unlike Any Living Animals'

New analysis of a well-preserved pterosaur fossil has revealed that the creature had uniquely complex wing membranes and a covering of fibers quite different from modern mammal hair.

07.08.2009. u 01:39 • 0 Komentara • Print • #

National Security Conservatives Remain on Sidelines Despite Obama's Vulnerabilities

When Navy SEALS rescued a cargo ship captain from Somali pirates on Easter, President Obama scored the kind of simple victory that every American could understand: Saving an American from the bad guys. Period.

The same was true yesterday, with the release of two journalists held captive in North Korea.

Both events fall under the rubric of national security/foreign policy and, interestingly, this is the one area where conservatives have not been able to gain any momentum in opposition to Obama. That's ironic -- one might have predicted that an inexperienced president with a history of "palling around with terrorists" would be most vulnerable in this regard.

Failure to gain traction on this front is bad news for conservatives, in that it is widely believed that lasting conservative success is contingent on motivating the three legs of the conservative stool (sometimes called the "Reagan coalition") -- social conservatives, economic conservatives and national security conservatives -- to focus on a common enemy and, thus, overlook the flaws they find in each other.

In the past, communism was the great unifier. It gave each leg of the movement a common enemy: Social conservatives could fear the godless communists; economic conservatives could fear the Soviet Union's anti-capitalistic system; and national security conservatives could look past their differences with the other wings of the movement to unite against the Soviet Union's nuclear threat and quest for global dominance.

Cliff May, president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, agrees with this assessment. But according to May, foreign policy conservatives have been largely silent because the Obama administration retained Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Gen. David Petraeus and Gen. Ray Odierno, Iraq has not been abandoned, and more resources are going to Afghanistan.

However, May believes there are very real reasons why national defense conservatives should be concerned with administration policies. May cites cuts to missile defense, efforts to close the Guantanamo detention center without an alternate plan, continued calls to prosecute former Bush officials and "a steady creep back to viewing the Islamist war against the West as merely a criminal justice problem."

Other worried national security conservatives note that while social spending is increasing at alarming rates, Obama is looking for savings in the area of national defense. For example, conservatives noted the administration's recent zeal in ending the F-22 Raptor program, effectively cutting production on the world's most advanced tactical fighter. And according to a recent op-ed by Adm. Paul Rohrer, "the Congressional Research Service (CRS) announced . . . a much greater shortfall in Navy and Marine Corps strike fighters than was previously estimated. Last year, CRS predicted a shortfall of 125 Navy fighter jets by 2017. They now predict that the shortfall will more be more than 300 jets."

But defense cutbacks -- no matter how egregious or dangerous -- are not likely to provoke much outrage from the general public.

A recent Quinnipiac University poll shows Obama's approval numbers slipping to just 50 percent. Social conservatives and economic conservatives have contributed to these numbers, but national security conservatives have thus far remained relatively quiet. One wonders what would happen if the Reagan Coalition were to unite in opposition to the president's agenda.

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07.08.2009. u 01:39 • 0 Komentara • Print • #

Dollar down on waning risk appetite

THE dollar has opened weaker after risk appetite waned slightly during offshore trading.

07.08.2009. u 01:39 • 0 Komentara • Print • #

Obama Pushing For More Aggressive Operations Aimed At Al-Qaida, Aide Says

John Brennan, Obama's counterterrorism adviser, says the president has pushed his team to be more aggressive in going after terrorists.

07.08.2009. u 01:39 • 0 Komentara • Print • #

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xyu1919

petak, 07.08.2009.

Rudd's wife discharged from hospital

Della Bosca denies leadership challenge

Clinton Vows New U.S. Support For Somalia

William Jefferson Convicted in Cash-in-Freezer Case

Pakistani Taliban chief likely killed: minister (Reuters)

Pterosaur's Wing, "Hairs" Unlike Any Living Animals'

National Security Conservatives Remain on Sidelines Despite Obama's Vulnerabilities

Dollar down on waning risk appetite

Obama Pushing For More Aggressive Operations Aimed At Al-Qaida, Aide Says

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