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Latest Articles: United States News
Will the Tea Party Save a Democrat?
Post Date: 2010-05-07 19:22:08 by Brian S
1 Comments
Virginia's liberal Democratic Congressman Tom Perriello faces one of the toughest re-election battles in the country. The freshman Democrat voted for cap-and-trade last summer. He voted for ObamaCare even after hearing out his constituents in more than 20 town hall meetings. Though 2008 was a boom year for Democrats, he managed to scrape out only a 727-vote victory over Republican incumbent Virgil Goode. No wonder the National Journal recently ranked Mr. Perriello's seat the 14th most likely Democratic seat to flip to the GOP. And Mr. Perriello's best hope of salvation? A fractious local Tea Party movement, which might just bail him out by backing an independent candidate and ...
Broader U-6 Unemployment Rate Increases to 17.1% in April (The Obama depression)
Post Date: 2010-05-07 14:55:03 by no gnu taxes
1 Comments
The U.S. jobless rate rose to 9.9% in April, the first increase in three months, but the government’s broader measure of unemployment ticked up for the third month in a row, rising 0.2 percentage point to 17.1%. The comprehensive gauge of labor underutilization, known as the “U-683; for its data classification by the Labor Department, accounts for people who have stopped looking for work or who can’t find full-time jobs. Though the rate is still 0.3 percentage point below its high of 17.4% in October, its continuing divergence from the official number (the “U-383; unemployment measure) indicates the job market has a long way to go before growth in the economy translates ...
100-Ton Box Lowered Into Gulf of Mexico Is Close Being Placed Over Oil-Spewing Wel
Post Date: 2010-05-07 12:44:57 by Brian S
6 Comments
ON THE GULF OF MEXICO (AP) - A 100-ton concrete-and-steel box has plunged toward a blown-out well at the bottom of the sea in a first-of-its-kind attempt to stop most of the gushing crude fouling the Gulf of Mexico. The quest took on added urgency as oil reached several barrier islands off the Louisiana coast, many of them fragile animal habitats. Several birds were spotted diving into the oily, pinkish-brown water, and dead jellyfish washed up on the uninhabited islands. Meanwhile, a radar image showed that oil was extending west to fishing areas around the Mississippi Delta. The image, taken Wednesday night by a Canadian satellite, showed an extension resembling a finger reaching out ...
Facebook turns on Sarah Palin
Post Date: 2010-05-07 12:23:53 by Skip Intro
5 Comments
Facebook turns on Sarah Palin Former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin's endorsement of Carly Fiorina in California's Senate race has prompted a fervent blowback on her Facebook page, long Palin's safe haven for delivering her message. The revolt is coming from Palin supporters who also back Chuck DeVore — a Tea Party favorite who is campaigning against Fiorina in the Republican primary. Palin’s Facebook page is littered with comments opposing her endorsement of Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard. “The only REAL CONSERVATIVE is Chuck DeVore. Fiorina is a RINO and we don't need any more of those in [California],” one irate commenter wrote. ...
Jobs Growth Figures 'Very Encouraging': Obama
Post Date: 2010-05-07 11:55:19 by Brian S
1 Comments
US President Barack Obama said Friday data showing the economy created 290,000 jobs in April was "very encouraging news" but he vowed to lead a "mission" to help those still unemployed to find work. Obama said the Labor Department monthly employment report was a "heartening" sign that his policies were working to revive the economy, which he inherited in the depth of the worst financial crisis in decades. The president also made a clear attempt to convince Americans still stuck in the grip of the downturn that he recognized their plight and would make jobs growth the priority of his administration. "Today, I'm happy to report that we received some ...
U.S. Stocks Retreat on Concern Over Europe, Trading Systems
Post Date: 2010-05-07 11:48:01 by war
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May 7 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks plummeted, with benchmark indexes erasing their gains for the year as concerns over Europe’s debt crisis and the integrity of American trading systems tempered optimism spurred by a surge in jobs growth. Hewlett-Packard Co. and Microsoft Corp. lost more than 4 percent each to lead the Dow Jones Industrial Average lower a day after the gauge plunged almost 1,000 points in intraday trading as waves of computerized trading exacerbated declines. Schlumberger Ltd. and Halliburton Co. paced a slump in energy shares as oil fell below $75 a barrel. Hansen Natural Corp. plunged 17 percent after reporting sales that missed analyst estimates. The Standard & ...
Sarah Palin endorses Carly Fiorina
Post Date: 2010-05-06 16:24:53 by Skip Intro
4 Comments
Sarah Palin endorses Carly Fiorina Former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin endorsed former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina on Thursday in the GOP contest for the California Senate nomination. Fiorina – a top surrogate to Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) presidential campaign – received the primary endorsement over tea party favorite Chuck DeVore, as well as former Rep. Tom Campbell. The endorsement also comes as something of a surprise given that Fiorina once said Palin was not qualified to run a “major corporation” during the 2008 presidential campaign. Fiorina later backed off the comment slightly, saying she didn’t think McCain or Barack Obama could run a major ...
While Oil Slick Spread, Interior Department Chief of Staff Rafted with Wife on "Work-Focused" Trip in Grand Canyon
Post Date: 2010-05-06 16:07:15 by WhiteSands
5 Comments
Though his agency was charged with coordinating the federal response to the major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Department of the Interior chief of staff Tom Strickland was in the Grand Canyon with his wife last week participating in activities that included white-water rafting, ABC News has learned. Other leaders of the Interior Department were focused on the Gulf, joined by other agencies and literally thousands of other employees. But Strickland’s participation in a trip that administration officials insisted was “work-focused” raised eyebrows among other Obama administration officials and even within even his own department, sources told ABC News. Strickland, who ...
Tea Party Midterm Update
Post Date: 2010-05-06 11:42:59 by Skip Intro
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Three states held Republican primary elections yesterday, which makes it a good time to check in on the Tea Party and their preferred candidates, to see how things now stand (as well as where they could head), as we get closer to the midterm elections in November. Now, the nebulous nature of who, exactly, is a "Tea Party candidate" -- as well as the decentralized nature of the Tea Party movement itself -- make it all but impossible to spot overall trends, or to make nationwide predictions. Some Tea Party candidates are self-professed Tea Partiers, but even some of these are rejected by Tea Party groups in their states. This leads to much confusion over who really is, and who is ...
2003 Report Warned Of Oil Equipment Problem; Adds To Doubts About Key Oil Rig Safety Equipment
Post Date: 2010-05-06 11:31:55 by Brian S
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WASHINGTON — As offshore oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere boomed, a 2003 report warned that the industry wasn't taking time to find and fix the problems that commonly plagued blowout preventers — the supposedly failsafe mechanisms designed to stop oil spills such as the one now threatening the gulf coast. The report, delivered at an industry conference seven years ago and uncovered by the office of Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., was co-authored by the then-director of technology development for Transocean, the company that owned the Deepwater Horizon rig that caught fire on April 20 and sank two days later. Though the accident's cause remains unknown, an ...
The 9.7% unemployment refuses to shrink (The Obama Depression)
Post Date: 2010-05-06 09:55:50 by no gnu taxes
2 Comments
The 9.7% unemployment refuses to shrink, showing a 12.79% increase from last year's levels. As a result, the number of people who have been unemployed for over half a year increased by 6.75% compared to last month's levels. The 6.55 million long-term unemployed individuals figure is 102% higher than that released in March 2009. More negative news on the employment front came from the U.S Department of Labor report where it was revealed that the number of first time unemployment insurance claims increased by 1.36% within the last month - although there was a 9.8% decrease in the last week of April.
Facebook Glitch Exposed Private Chats [ heads up to the many LF FaceBookers ]
Post Date: 2010-05-06 00:45:39 by WhiteSands
1 Comments
Facebook Inc. scrambled to fix a software flaw that gave users' unintended access to their friends' private instant messages. Jessica Vascellaro has breaking news that Facebook says it is fixing a bug that permitted some users' chat messages and pending friend requests to be made visible to their friends. The popular Internet hangout Wednesday temporarily shut down its instant-messaging function while it investigated the problem and patched its system. The Palo Alto, Calif., company said the bug was caused by an update to its software and was in effect "for a limited period of time," which a spokesman described as "hours." The spokesman said the company ...
Obama admin exempted BP’s Gulf drilling from environmental impact study
Post Date: 2010-05-06 00:32:21 by WhiteSands
2 Comments
Well, isn’t this quite the twist of events. Obama was the top recipient of donations from BP in 2008, and it looks like he favored them after all. He let BP’s gulf drilling be exempt from an environmental study last year. The Interior Department exempted BP’s calamitous Gulf of Mexico drilling operation from a detailed environmental impact analysis last year, according to government documents, after three reviews of the area concluded that a massive oil spill was unlikely. The decision by the department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) to give BP’s lease at Deepwater Horizon a “categorical exclusion” from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) ...
Graham v. Obama: Preacher's Kid Knocks President Over Islam Stance
Post Date: 2010-05-05 19:25:00 by war
15 Comments
Evangelist Billy Graham is 91 years old now and spends his waning days at his mountaintop retreat in North Carolina meeting -- when his health permits -- with fortunate pols like Sarah Palin, as he did last November, or Barack Obama, as he did last week. But "America's Pastor" largely stays out of partisan politics these days, preferring to meet leaders of either party for some spiritual counseling and a photo-op.
Not so Billy Graham's son and heir apparent, Franklin Graham. The younger Graham attended the April 25 meeting between his father and the president in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and afterward raised with Obama his frustration over the Pentagon's decision last month to uninvite ...
Truck Explodes At Texas Refinery, Driver Missing
Post Date: 2010-05-05 17:12:28 by Brian S
0 Comments
(05-05) 13:16 PDT SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- An 18-wheeler being loaded with fuel at a San Antonio refinery exploded Wednesday, setting off a chain reaction of smaller explosions and sending a towering plume of thick black smoke over the city's southeast side. One person was critically burned, and the driver of the exploding truck remained missing. San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said officials were trying to determine whether they could reach a shut-off valve at the AGE Refining Inc. facility to cut off the flow of fuel to the large tanks in the loading area. Several were heavily damaged in the blasts. "It's a very dangerous situation," said Hood, who noted they also were ...
60,000 Barrels A Day Worst-Case Scenario For Gulf Spill, BP Tells Congress
Post Date: 2010-05-05 17:02:28 by Brian S
4 Comments
Calm waters in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday allowed crews to step up efforts to contain the crude oil leaking uncontrollably into the sea and spreading toward the coasts of four states. Meanwhile, BP, the company responsible for fighting the spill, told members of Congress in Washington in a closed-door briefing that the leaking oil well five miles beneath the surface of the gulf could, in a worst-case scenario, spill as many as 60,000 barrels of oil a day, more than 10 times the estimate of the current flow. For now, weather patterns seem to be holding the giant oil slick offshore, and are expected to do so for several more days, temporarily sparing the coast. A containment dome is ...
Obama Expands Support To Vets' Caregivers
Post Date: 2010-05-05 14:29:14 by Brian S
2 Comments
(05-05) 10:42 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama has signed a bill that aims to keep severely wounded Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in their homes by providing billions of dollars in support to family members who care for them. At a bill signing event at the White House Wednesday, Obama said the government's responsibility to take care of veterans and their families is a "moral obligation." The bill instructs the Veterans Affairs Department to offer post-delivery care to female veterans' newborns and create a childcare pilot program. And, it includes expanded funding for programs assisting homeless and rural veterans. The price tag over five years is an ...
Coast Guard Gets Ready For Controlled Burn Of Oil Now That Weather Conditions Are More Favorable
Post Date: 2010-05-05 14:27:23 by Brian S
6 Comments
(05-05) 10:43 PDT Robert, La. (AP) -- The Coast Guard is preparing for a controlled burn of some of the oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico now that weather conditions are more favorable. Spokesman Petty Officer 3rd Class Brandon Blackwell at an oil command center in Robert, La., said Wednesday that boats will skim oil from the surface of the sea and burn it. Controlled burns are part of the toolbox of strategies officials are using to rid the Gulf of the spilled oil. Burning the oil removes it from the open water and protects the shoreline and wildlife. The Coast Guard says in a statement that a previous controlled burn on April 28 removed thousands of gallons of oil.
White House OIffers Detailed Spill Defense As Republicans Begin To Pounce
Post Date: 2010-05-05 14:20:01 by Brian S
2 Comments
Politico doesn't quote from '6,300 word opus' to balance GOP chargesObama's Katrina? Stuff that, the White House is basically saying.The White House on Wednesday made a new attempt to blunt criticisms that it acted too slowly to stem the Gulf Coast oil spill, releasing a detailed 7,000-word summary of its actions so far (White House link).Meanwhile, Politico reports, "A top House Republican said White House was 'slow to respond' in the first days after the Gulf oil rig accident, signaling that some Republicans are prepared to start casting partisan blame on the disaster."The document, written by the White House's deputy homeland security advisor Heidi ...
Obama's dereliction of duty on the oil spill -- The timeline
Post Date: 2010-05-05 14:03:35 by no gnu taxes
0 Comments
Follow it at the link. Apalling incompetence on display.
Americans Prefer ‘Progressive,’ ’State’s Rights’ To ‘Capitalism,’ Poll Finds
Post Date: 2010-05-05 13:20:46 by Brian S
2 Comments
Share /**/ Americans have a more positive response to the word "progressive" than they do "capitalism," according to a new Pew research poll.The poll, conducted Apr. 21-26 attempted to gauge Americans' honest responses to various concepts. Strikingly -- perhaps due to the recent financial crisis, repeated bank bailouts and ire at Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs -- more Americans have positive views of liberals than they do of capitalists."There is a substantial partisan divide in views of the word 'progressive,'" Pew researchers note. "However, majorities of Democrats (81%), independents (64%) and Republicans (56%) have a positive ...
Retired General: GOP Is Undermining National Security To Score Partisan Points
Post Date: 2010-05-05 13:18:01 by Brian S
1 Comments
In the wake of the arrest of alleged terrorist Faisal Shahzad, a number of Republican politicians have expressed outrage that the naturalized American citizen is being afforded the constitutional rights of citizenship.Major General (ret.) Paul Eaton told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann on Tuesday, "I am a little surprised that we're here to defend our Constitution against a Republican senator and a Republican representative's attack on it."Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and Representative Peter King (R-NY) have both suggested that it was an error to read Shahzad his Miranda rights and to keep him in the civilian justice system rather than immediately handing him over to the ...
Obama biggest recipient of BP cash
Post Date: 2010-05-05 12:10:56 by Skip Intro
22 Comments
Obama biggest recipient of BP cash While the BP oil geyser pumps millions of gallons of petroleum into the Gulf of Mexico, President Barack Obama and members of Congress may have to answer for the millions in campaign contributions they’ve taken from the oil and gas giant over the years. BP and its employees have given more than $3.5 million to federal candidates over the past 20 years, with the largest chunk of their money going to Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Donations come from a mix of employees and the company’s political action committees — $2.89 million flowed to campaigns from BP-related PACs and about $638,000 came from individuals. On ...
Delaware foreclosures are at an all-time high
Post Date: 2010-05-05 12:09:04 by no gnu taxes
2 Comments
The US economy is in the throes of a deep recession. Unemployment is at its peak of 10% As people lose jobs even those with very sound credit history are faltering on mortgage payments. Hence, foreclosures have become common. In Delaware, quarterly foreclosures have increased by 46.3 % In comparison, the nationwide figures have increased by 16 %. It may be noted that nationwide, one out of every 138 homes got a foreclosure notice. Foreclosures have increased by 8 per cent. This was pointed out by RealtyTrac. One out of 324 homes in Delaware has received a foreclosure notice. This is one of the worst records in USA. In Nevada, one out of each 33 houses is foreclosed. Banks too have become ...
From New Citizen to Suspect in a Year
Post Date: 2010-05-05 11:21:11 by Skip Intro
6 Comments
From New Citizen to Suspect in a Year Pakistan-Born Shahzad Faced Foreclosure in Connecticut and Disliked President Bush; an Invisible Man at His University Faisal Shahzad was losing his Connecticut home to foreclosure, disliked President George W. Bush, and was an almost invisible presence at the American university where he earned two degrees. Those are some of the details in the still-emerging portrait of the man who authorities say has implicated himself in the botched Times Square bomb plot. Details about the alleged Times-Square bombing suspect emerge. WSJ's Evan Perez joins the News Hub with details. Mr. Shahzad was born in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province, ...
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