Cheney Takes Aim At... Endangered Whales (It's No Joke)
THIS IS NOT A PARODY
Congressman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) just sent a letter to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs detailing how White House officials, including the office of Vice President Cheney, questioned proposed rules to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale from collisions with ships. Cheney’s office doubted whether new speed limits planned for large ships would help reduce the amount of collisions.
Only 300 of these animals remain alive today.
Albert Hofmann, 102 Takes Final Trip; Swiss chemist discovered LSD
Albert Hofmann was a synthetic chemist with Sandoz Laboratories, now Novartis, in Switzerland when in 1943 he stumbled on the hallucinatory effects of LSD. After it became seen by Harvard's Timothy Leary and others in the '60s as a pathway to spiritual enlightenment, and then as a major recreational drug, “Instead of a ‘wonder child,’ LSD suddenly became my ‘problem child,’ ” Hofmann said.
Iran dumps U.S. dollars in oil transactions
Iran had totally removed U.S. dollars in the country's oil transactions, an Oil Ministry official said on Wednesday. "The dollar has completely been removed from our oil trade....Crude oil customers have agreed with us to use other currencies (in the trade)," Oil Ministry official Hojjatollah Ghanimifard was quoted as saying by the state television.
"We make our transactions with euros in Europe, but yen in Asia," he added.
U.S. bringing second carrier to Mideast for first time since Iraq invasion
The deployment of the USS John C. Stennis to the Middle East will put two U.S. aircraft carriers in the volatile Gulf region for the first time since the 2003 Iraq invasion. Military officials say a second carrier group is meant as a plain warning to Iran.
The U.S. military's show of strength comes in response to Iran's recent anti-U.S. agitation in the oil-rich Persian Gulf. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday that Iran and other U.S. adversaries believe the United States has become vulnerable in Iraq.
"Iran starts selling Oil in Euro's, Second Aircraft carrier shows up in Persian Gulf the same day. Nothing to see here move along...." Willy Bova
After Records Reveal E-Voting Glitches, Florida Election Official Jokes She'll Stop Keeping Records
Kathy Dent, the election director in Sarasota County, Florida, was the target of controversy after the 2006 election when more than 18,000 ballots cast on ES&S touch-screen voting machines in her county showed no vote cast in the 13th congressional district race. The so-called undervote rate in that race was five times what is considered normal and resulted in two lawsuits filed by voters and the defeated candidate, Christine Jennings, who lost the congressional seat by fewer than 400 votes.
Documents that Wired.com obtained through a records request last year showed that voters in 19 precincts reported problems with the machines on Election Day, complaining that they had to press the ES&S screens repeatedly to cast their vote or that even after a machine registered their vote for Jennings on the ballot page, the vote had disappeared by the time they reached the review screen at the end of the ballot. Throughout the day, poll workers called in the complaints to Dent's office, where staff recorded the problems on the forms that Wired.com obtained.
Yet a video has emerged (above), which shows Dent telling an audience of election officials last year at the Pacific Northwest Election Conference that her office received no calls complaining about problems with the machines on Election Day. In the video, Dent says that voters came forward to complain about machines only after the election was over and their candidate had lost, suggesting that their motives were less than pure.
The Politics of Zoning in Florida
The Miami Herald questioned the value of the civics lesson, yesterday, at County Hall where hundreds of young students, residents, taxpayers and the lobbying class spent hours waiting to voice the support they were encouraged to evince, for breaking through the line on a map separating; open space in Miami from suburbia, the Everglades from infrastructure service areas, and the edge of common sense from its antithesis.
Long before the session ended, dispirited opponents of the majority of the commission had left. There was nothing new in their objections: not enough water, bad roadways and unbearable traffic, a declining quality of life—all on account of local decision makers failing to properly assess the costs of growth where they occur.
St. Augustine Man Invents Portable Solar Generator
Brian Bosley's dream started with a small boat in the waters off St. Augustine.
"I was going to sail around the world. That was my big dream back in the day," Bosley says.
He knew he wanted to power his boat with the sun. With an aviation background, Bosley understood the technology, but he had a problem.....
What Laptop does Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer Use?
"Microsoft Earnings down 11%, Apple Mac sales up 54%. Microsoft CEO caught using Apple Powerbook laptop for presentation, Priceless." Willy Bova
Opec chief warns of $200 a barrel oil price
The president of Opec, the cartel of oil-producing countries, has given warning that the price of crude could hit $200 a barrel, sparking fears that rising fuel costs will force more businesses into bankruptcy.
Chakib Khelil, the Algerian Energy Minister and president of Opec, said that the falling value of the US dollar would continue to drive up oil prices as investors sought to store their wealth in other assets.
Cheney lawyer claims Congress has no authority over vice-president
The lawyer for US vice-president Dick Cheney claimed today that the Congress lacks any authority to examine his behaviour on the job.
The exception claimed by Cheney's counsel came in response to requests from congressional Democrats that David Addington, the vice-president's chief of staff, testify about his involvement in the approval of interrogation tactics used at Guantanamo Bay.
Ruling out voluntary cooperation by Addington, Cheney lawyer Kathryn Wheelbarger said Cheney's conduct is "not within the [congressional] committee's power of inquiry".
Olbermann: McCain doesn't even play by his own ethical rules (Video)
Under the heading “Double Talk Express,” MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann reported on Monday that Sen. John McCain has twice crossed ethical guidelines laid down by his own campaign. “He’s such a maverick, he not only doesn’t play by other people’s rules, he doesn’t even play by his own rules,” stated Olbermann mockingly.
McCain accused of accepting improper donations from Rothschilds
A US campaign watchdog has accused presumptive Republican president nominee John McCain of violating election laws by accepting campaign contributions from two prominent Londoners.
At issue is a fundraising luncheon held in March at London's Spencer House, during McCain's swing through the United Kingdom. An invitation to the event lists Lord Rothschild and Nathaniel Rothschild as hosts, and indicates the event was made possible with their "kind permission"
America is The Saudi Arabia of Food
It’s not easy to find any silver lining in the dark cloud of spiraling food costs and hunger that hangs over the world’s poor. But there is some good news for Americans in the global food crisis.
The United States may have been a significant part of the problem -- with its annual $6 billion in subsidies to produce ethanol from corn. But the United States is also almost certain to be part of the solution because it is to food what Saudi Arabia is to oil: the swing producer that can most easily and swiftly increase the world’s food supply.
DynCorp Manager Used Armored Car To Transport Hookers in Iraq
Some explosive testimony this afternoon from a panel of whistleblowers testifying before a Senate committee on contractor abuse in Iraq.
A contractor died when a DynCorp manager used an employee’s armored car to transport prostitutes, according to Barry Halley, a Worldwide Network Services employee working under a DynCorp subcontract.
Here's a bad idea: Gas from trees
Industry lapdog. Dishonest shill. Shameless profiteer. These are some of the names I’ve heard people call Martin Jack Desmond after his April 20 guest viewpoint pushing cellulosic ethanol as a solution to the rising cost and dwindling supply of gasoline.
But I’m going to give Desmond the benefit of the doubt: I’m willing to believe he really thinks he’s doing a good thing. Of course, doctors in the 1950s also thought they were doing a good thing when they prescribed thalidomide to pregnant women.
Cash Before Chemo: Hospitals Get Tough
When Lisa Kelly learned she had leukemia in late 2006, her doctor advised her to seek urgent care at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. But the nonprofit hospital refused to accept Mrs. Kelly's limited insurance. It asked for $105,000 in cash before it would admit her.
Sitting in the hospital's business office, Mrs. Kelly says she told M.D. Anderson's representatives that she had some money to pay for treatment, but couldn't get all the cash they asked for that day. "Are they going to send me home?" she recalls thinking. "Am I going to die?"
" After seven years in office is this what President Bush's America has come to, hospitals refusing to treat cancer patients, unless they pay in advance...." Willy Bova
Orangutan attempts to hunt fish with spear
A male orangutan, clinging precariously to overhanging branches, flails the water with a pole, trying desperately to spear a passing fish.
It is the first time one has been seen using a tool to hunt.
Sharks Bite 3 Swimmers In 3 Days
NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Swimmers were again cleared from a New Smyrna Beach Monday after a third swimmer in three days was bitten by a shark and treated at a hospital.
The latest victim was the ninth recorded shark bite of the year in Volusia County, putting the number of bites ahead of the record breaking "Year Of The Shark" in 2001, according to beach records.
West Palm Beach supermarket shootout lands man in jail
It could've been a typical spat between grocery store customer and manager, with the customer announcing he planned to take his business elsewhere. But then the customer drew his gun. The store manager drew his and so did the assistant manager.
It all happened at 5 p.m. Monday at the IGA Supermarket at 1000 36th St. in West Palm Beach. And in the end, West Palm Beach police arrested customer Marshall Hugo Grant for attempted first-degree murder, shooting into an occupied dwelling, aggravated assault with a firearm and carrying a concealed firearm.
UW students push for right to concealed guns on campus
At first glance, the little black box clipped to Brian Yip's belt looks like a beeper. It's not.
It's an empty handgun holster, and the University of Washington senior wants it to be visible as he walks through the Quad on campus, sits at a classroom desk or makes a trip to nearby University Way for a bite to eat.
To Yip, it's a statement and a reminder that he and everyone else on the UW's three campuses aren't permitted to carry a gun -- along with students at most other college campuses in the country.
Roger Waters plays `Dark Side of the Moon,' unleashes giant pig
But Waters' biggest prop was an inflatable pig the size of a school bus that emerged while he played a version of "Pigs" from 1977's capitalism critique, "Animals."
The underside of the pig simply read "Obama" with a checked ballot box alongside.
The pig, which was led above the crowd from lines held on the ground, displayed the words "Don't be led to the slaughter" and a cartoon of Uncle Sam wielding two bloody cleavers. The other side read "Fear builds walls."
"By the way which one of you is Pink and which one is Floyd" Willy Bova
Pentagon suspends "Propaganda" Program for Military 'Media Analysts'
The Pentagon has suspended a public affairs program that has come under fire for using retired military "media analysts" as surrogates to get out its messages on the Iraq war, a spokesman confirmed Monday.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the program was undergoing an internal review following criticism that the retired officers offered Pentagon talking points as their own during the run-up to the Iraq invasion and thereafter.
In Your Face: The Globalists' Language is Hidden in Plain View
Fascinated by symbolism and numerology, the globalists' favorite tactic is to leave blueprints to their plans "hidden in plain view." From messages delivered to the masses through the media and films to Time Warner's all-seeing eye, we are repeatedly reminded by the illuminati themselves that they are controlling us and are omnipresent. World leaders from Clinton to Prince William have been photographed proudly flashing the sign of the devil. Architecture around the globe is laid out to represent their occult icons or structured based on occult numerology (like the pyramid Mitterand had constructed at the Louvre, which is made of 666 pieces of gold glass).
Ron Paul and Freemasonry
Ron Paul speaking at Georgetown Jesuit University, alma mater of Carroll Quigley and Bill Clinton. Note the Freemasonic symbols on the wall behind him.
I know this is a taboo subject among Ron Paul supporters, of which I was one myself in the very beginning of his presidential campaign. And even if it is proven beyond any doubt that he is a freemason, many will just put it aside and pretend it doesn’t matter “because he is such a decent and honest man” etc. But many others are very curious to know what RP’s status is regarding Freemasonry because it does matter, and I fully intend to find out myself. Therefore, it is high time we started talking openly about it and try to ascertain the truth, one way or another.
Disney leading kids to hell?
A new Disney book series for adolescent girls aptly named W.I.T.C.H. promotes witchcraft and magic, a development that adds to the arsenal of those who criticize the company for being anti-family.
"Mickey Mouse leading children to Hell" is the headline on one website alerting readers to the new books.
"[The books are] about five teenage girls (ages 13-14) who practice witchcraft. Disney is not only selling witchcraft, they are selling lust and astrology – to children! Look at the way they have them dressed!" shouts the site.
Exposed: the great GM crops myth
Genetic modification actually cuts the productivity of crops, an authoritative new study shows, undermining repeated claims that a switch to the controversial technology is needed to solve the growing world food crisis.
The study – carried out over the past three years at the University of Kansas in the US grain belt – has found that GM soya produces about 10 per cent less food than its conventional equivalent, contradicting assertions by advocates of the technology that it increases yields.
Autism Risk Linked To Distance From Power Plants, Other Mercury-releasing Sources
How do mercury emissions affect pregnant mothers, the unborn and toddlers? Do the level of emissions impact autism rates? Does it matter whether a mercury-emitting source is 10 miles away from families versus 20 miles? Is the risk of autism greater for children who live closer to the pollution source?
A newly published study of Texas school district data and industrial mercury-release data, conducted by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, indeed shows a statistically significant link between pounds of industrial release of mercury and increased autism rates. It also shows—for the first time in scientific literature—a statistically significant association between autism risk and distance from the mercury source.
Global fluoride and arsenic contamination of water mapped
Swiss researchers have mapped the levels of arsenic and fluoride in groundwater throughout the world. They hope this new global picture will provide a starting point for planning future drinking water projects, and help to avoid water contamination in developing countries.
The Bees Die...The Planet Dies
I am speaking about the extermination of the bees - on which depends 80 % of the pollination of cultivated plants - by Imidaclopride which Bayer sells under the name of Gaucho to the farmers to coat seeds and to protect them from certain diseases…
This product paralyses insects such as bees which cannot return to the hive and they therefore die. When they do succeed, the honey which results from it is toxic (because it’s poisoned). In less than three years, 450 000 hives were thus lost and production of honey fell from 45 000 tons to 25 000 tons in France. In Alsace, bee-keepers are regarded as disaster victims because of the Bayer products. In addition, it should be known that in Europe, approximately 4 000 vegetable species have their life assured thanks to pollination by bees.
Cloud Of Bees Swarming In 'Tornado Pattern' Chases Diners From Restaurant
A giant cloud of thousands of bees mysteriously appeared and began to swirl in a "tornado pattern" around a Central Florida Mexican restaurant.
Customers at Oxie's restaurant located near Highway 17-92 and Plymouth Avenue in DeLand said they noticed a cloud in the sky and thought it was raining. They then realized, the cloud was a swarm of bees.
Palm Coast bans feeding animals in parks
To stop residents from feeding feral cats on public property, the city erected signs at a dozen parks last week banning feeding any animals.
They're trying to keep the areas clean while re-evaluating a plan, pending an environmental study, to move the felines to a 2-acre sanctuary near the Flagler Humane Society, said Oel Wingo, assistant city manager.
St. Augustine woman pulls baby from submerged truck as others help
A St. Augustine woman rescued her year-old baby from their submerged truck this morning after the vehicle drove off S.R. 312 and crashed into a retention pond outside the St. Augustine Record building.
The Florida Highway Patrol said Shenna Johnson, 23, was driving west on S.R. 312, when she lost control of her vehicle about 2:30 a.m. The vehicle flew off an embankment and crashed into the 4-foot pond
Late-Night Jokes Of The Week (Video)
This week brought the Pennsylvania Primary, a Bush trip to New Orleans, and a slew of political jokes. Below is HuffPost's roundup of the funniest political jokes of the week, courtesy of Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, Conan O'Brien, and David Letterman.
Court: Government Must Reveal Watch-List Status to Constantly Detained Americans
Eight Americans of south Asian and Middle Eastern descent who were repeatedly detained at the border for questioning will be able to learn if they are actually on the government's terrorist watch list, a federal court in Illinois ruled last week, marking the first time that citizens have been able to learn whether they have been added to a sprawling and error-prone list used for screening at borders and traffic stops.
President Bush the jester pokes fun at candidates (Video)
President Bush expressed surprise that none of the remaining presidential candidates attended the White House Correspondents’ Association annual dinner in Washington Saturday, tweaking John McCain, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
If Celebs Moved to Oklahoma (Satire)
Morphed images of celebirties, Cruise, Travolta, Spears, Hilton, etc ........
Former British PM Blair caught riding without a ticket
Former prime minister Tony Blair was caught travelling on a train without a ticket and any cash to pay the fare, his spokesman said on Wednesday.
Blair was confronted by a ticket inspector as he travelled to London's Heathrow airport to catch a flight to the United States on Monday, spokesman Matthew Doyle said.
Biofuel: Bad for the Environment? Researchers Say Biofuels Could Do More Harm to the Planet Than Good
As the debate over what do about human-caused global warming increases and "green fever" sweeps the nation, many environmentalists and politicians have viewed biofuel as a logical replacement for fossil fuels.
But two new studies released Thursday call into question the global movement toward biofuel. According to these researchers, production of biofuel actually contributes to global warming, doing more harm than good.
Will Media Remember Gore's 1994 Tie-breaking Vote Mandating Ethanol?
As the international disaster of ethanol begins taking its toll on the planet -- and, maybe more important, as press outlet after press outlet finally begins recognizing it -- will media remember that Vice President Al Gore cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate requiring this oxygenate be added to gasoline?
After all, regardless of recent reports blaming ethanol for world hunger problems, rising food costs, and increased greenhouse gases, it seems highly unlikely green media will want to tie any of these problems to Nobel Laureate Gore.
Buy a Carbon Offset, Save the Planet? Or Is Green Movement's Newest Trend Just a Load of Organic Fertilizer?
Just a year ago, Gloria Estela Gonzalez, a professor in Middlebury, Vt., and her husband and two sons thought they were living the greenest lifestyle possible: They made compost, they drove a Prius, they recycled.
But when Gonzalez's then 10-year-old son Matias Van Order Gonazalez got upset after reading about global warming in a children's almanac, the family decided to do even more: Buy carbon credits.
Astrophysicist Links Temperature Change with Sun's Energy Output
Global temperature change can be attributed to slight variations in the sun's energy output, not man-made carbon dioxide emissions. That's according to astrophysicist Dr. Willie Soon, who was in Salt Lake City today to present his research to a crowd at The Sutherland Institute.
"When the sun is slightly brighter, meaning giving more light to Earth's system, the temperature warms in the Arctic," said Soon. "With the cooling that we observed in the Arctic from the 1940s to the 1970s, guess what the sun is doing? It's actually dimming slightly, ever so slightly. And then, guess what happened after the late 1970s? The sun brightens again."
The Pentagon Strangles Our Economy: Why the U.S. Has Gone Broke
The military adventurers in the Bush administration have much in common with the corporate leaders of the defunct energy company Enron. Both groups thought that they were the "smartest guys in the room" -- the title of Alex Gibney's prize-winning film on what went wrong at Enron. The neoconservatives in the White House and the Pentagon outsmarted themselves. They failed even to address the problem of how to finance their schemes of imperialist wars and global domination.
FBI wants widespread monitoring of 'illegal' Internet activity
The FBI on Wednesday called for new legislation that would allow federal police to monitor the Internet for "illegal activity."
The suggestion from FBI Director Robert Mueller, which came during a House of Representatives Judiciary Committee hearing, appears to go beyond a current plan to monitor traffic on federal-government networks. Mueller seemed to suggest that the bureau should have a broad "omnibus" authority to conduct monitoring and surveillance of private-sector networks as well.
MONITOR THIS (Satire)
Congress worries that .gov monitoring will spy on Americans
A new Bush administration plan to capture and analyze traffic on all federal government networks in real time is generating privacy worries from congressional Democrats and Republicans alike.
At a hearing convened here Thursday by the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, politicians directed pointed questions to Department of Homeland Security officials about their plans to expand an existing "intrusion detection" system known as Einstein. Among other things, the system will monitor visits from Americans--and foreigners--visiting .gov Web sites
"Mobsters without borders" are global threat: U.S
Crime groups operating as "mobsters without borders" have gained significant footholds in global markets and provide logistic support to terrorists, the United States said on Wednesday.
Launching a campaign against such international criminals, Attorney General Michael Mukasey said they were more adaptable and sophisticated than La Cosa Nostra and other syndicates the U.S. government set out to defeat half a century ago.
Criminals target energy, financial markets, Mukasey says
Attorney General Michael Mukasey warned Wednesday that organized criminal networks have penetrated portions of the international energy market and tried to control energy resources.
In a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, he said similar efforts have targeted the international financial system by injecting billions of illicit funds to try to corrupt financial service providers.
Florida man sentenced to 41 months in prison for $30M fraud
A Florida man was sentenced to 41 months in prison for his role in a scheme to defraud the U.S. government of $30 million, the Justice Department said Wednesday.
Daniel Curran, 53, was also placed on three years of supervised release, ordered to turn over $140,000 to the United States and pay restitution of more than $23 million to the U.S. Export-Import Bank.
Canadian study: Oil prices to double by 2012
The price of oil is likely to hit 150 dollars (Canadian, US) a barrel by 2010 and soar to 225 dollars a barrel by 2012 as supply becomes increasingly tight, a Canadian bank said Thursday.
The CIBC report says the International Energy Agency's current oil production estimates overstate supply by about nine percent, since it wrongly counts natural gas liquids -- which are not viable for transportation fuel -- in its numbers.
The View From Gate 14
America is in line at the airport. America has its shoes off, is carrying a rubberized bin, is going through a magnetometer. America is worried there is fungus on the floor after a million stockinged feet have walked on it. But America knows not to ask. America is guilty until proved innocent, and no one wants to draw undue attention. America left its ticket and passport in the jacket in the bin in the X-ray machine, and is admonished. America is embarrassed to have put one one-ounce moisturizer too many in the see-through bag. America is irritated that the TSA agent removed its mascara, opened it, put it to her nose, and smelled it. Why don't you put it up your nose and see if it explodes? America thinks.
Widespread Ghostwriting of Drug Trials Means "Scientific" Credibility of Pharmaceutical Industry is a Sham
The discovery that drug companies have been ghostwriting scientific studies using in-house writers, then paying (bribing) doctors and high-level academics to pretend they were the author of the article is making shockwaves across conventional medicine. This latest revelation of scientific fraud exposes a massive, widespread system of fraud involving not only the drug companies, but also hundreds of different peer-reviewed, "scientific" medical journals that have published these ghostwritten articles. This scam is the latest embarrassment to conventional medicine; a system built on such a foundation of scientific fraud that the admission of dishonesty no longer surprises anyone. The pharmaceutical industry, it seems, is now supported almost entirely by fraudulent science fabricated by marketing personnel.
Senate OKs bill barring genetic discrimination
A bill barring employers and insurers from discriminating against people based on their genetics won unanimous passage in the U.S. Senate on Thursday, moving one step from final congressional approval.
The Senate voted 95 to 0 to pass the bipartisan bill. It is supported by the White House and health insurers but opposed by business interests including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Oklahoma Unemployment Is Way Down. Will Media Look into Why?
Oklahoma's unemployment rate, which was a seasonally adjusted 4.3% and 4.4%, respectively, in September and October 2007 (4.1% and 4.2% unadjusted), has fallen to a seasonally adjusted 3.1% in both February and March of this year (3.5% and 3.2% unadjusted). The unemployment rate in most states has gone up from September 2007 to March 2008. In states where the rate has gone down, none has shown an improvement like that seen in the Sooner State -- not even close.
Why is that?
What has happened in Oklahoma that hasn't happened elsewhere? Well, one thing Oklahoma did last year was to pass an enforcement-focused immigration reform law.
FCC Reports Comcast P2P Blocking Was More Widespread
"'It does not appear that this technique was used only to occasionally delay traffic at particular nodes suffering from network congestion at that time,' Martin told the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. 'Based on testimony we've received thus far, this equipment was typically deployed over a wider geographic area or system, and is not even capable of knowing when an individual ... segment of the network is congested.'
Strong Mac sales lead Apple earnings growth
The highlight of the quarter was 2.29 million Macintosh computers sold, a 54% increase over the past year's second quarter. Barry Jaruzelski, a managing partner with Booz, Allen, Hamilton, said the results show that the Mac is now the driving the Apple machine.
"The Mac is on a tear," Jaruzelski said. "The halo effect of the iPod has resulted in a broader product portfolio, and now the Mac can pull the boat along for a while."
Snipes Headed to the Slammer
Wesley Snipes was sentenced to 36 months in prison Thursday, the maximum sentence allowed.
Wesley Snipes fought the law. Unfortunately for him, the law won.
Senior U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges has sentenced the tax-averse Blade star to three years in prison, resulting from his conviction on three misdemeanor counts of willful failure to file a tax return earlier this year.
The punishment is the maximum sentence Snipes could face after a federal jury found him guilty on Feb. 1.
Colbert: Hillary's campaign strategy like US Iraq strategy (Video)
he seemingly endless, intractable presidential campaign is a lot like the Iraq war, Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert joked during his show last night.
After winning Pennsylvania’s primary on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton’s vow to continue her bid carries more weight, but observers still say she faces next-to-impossible odds to defeat Barack Obama, who holds an effectively insurmountable lead in pledged delegates and votes.
“Hillary is doing well enough to stay in the fight, but there’s still no clear path to victory,” Colbert said.
Stewart: Clinton would win if Democrats were Republicans
Jon Stewart surveyed the aftermath of the inconclusive Pennsylvania Democratic primary on Wednesday’s Daily Show. Although he noted the overheated rhetoric of the media coverage, his sharpest jabs by far were aimed at Hillary Clinton.
“When the campaign started,” Stewart began, “the senator from New York was the clear front-runner.” He then offered a series of clips from Clinton’s speeches and interviews in which she offered an ever-shifting set of rationales for why she should still be considered the leading candidate, despite Obama’s victories.
Florida lawmakers debate offering a Christian license plate
Florida drivers can order more than 100 specialty license plates celebrating everything from manatees to the Miami Heat, but one now under consideration would be the first in the nation to explicitly promote a specific religion.
The Florida Legislature is considering a specialty plate with a design that includes a Christian cross, a stained-glass window and the words "I Believe."
Microsoft not ruling out Windows XP extension
Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer offered a glimmer of hope on Thursday to fans of the company's Windows XP operating system, saying the company may reconsider its decision to stop selling it soon.
But Ballmer was adamant that most people who buy PCs today buy them with XP's successor, Vista.
"Apple MAC sales are up 54%, in 2008. How much are Microsoft earnings up in 2008?" Willy Bova
Microsoft Earnings Decline 11%
-- Microsoft Corp. said profit declined 11 percent and gave a measured forecast for this quarter as sales of Windows software fell short, sparking concern about a slowdown in technology purchases and sending the shares down 4.5 percent.
Third-quarter net income fell to $4.39 billion, or 47 cents a share, from $4.93 billion, or 50 cents, a year ago. Revenue was little changed at $14.5 billion, matching analysts' estimates and disappointing investors looking for more after industry reports showed better-than-expected demand for personal computers.
No Change in XP Plan Despite Ballmer Comment, Microsoft Says
Comments by Steve Ballmer at a press conference in Europe today have led to speculation that Microsoft is reconsidering its June 30 deadline to stop selling most new Windows XP licenses. A spokeswoman from Microsoft's public relations firm said Thursday that there is no plan for a change in deadline, however.
"Our plan for Windows XP availability is unchanged. We're confident that's the right thing to do based on the feedback we've heard from our customers and partners," the spokeswoman said, reading from a Microsoft statement.
"When a company's CEO says one thing and the "Compnay"(Microsoft) has to correct him, it is no wonder their earnings are down 11% , and their main competitor's earnings (Apple) are up 36%." Willy Bova
Machine Gun-Toting Officers To Patrol NYC Subway
More protection against terrorists is coming to a subway station near you. Starting Thursday, special bomb teams, known as "Torch Teams," will be toting submachine guns and bringing bomb-sniffing dogs onto the platforms and into the trains. CBS 2 HD was out first thing Thursday morning on the lookout for these significant security measure improvements.
It's a first for mass transit in the United States. NYPD officers, armed with rifles, submachine guns, body armor and bomb-sniffing dogs will begin patrolling the city's subway system thanks to a 50 percent increase in a homeland security grant.
Life Expectancy Is Declining in Some Pockets of the Country
Life expectancy has long been growing steadily for most Americans. But it has not for a significant minority, according to a new study, which finds a growing disparity in mortality depending on race, income and geography.
