David Drake

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton failed to list on annual Senate financial disclosure forms the family charity she operates with former president Bill Clinton, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

Sen. Clinton, a Democratic presidential contender, has been an officer in the family foundation since it was established in 2001, but none of her ethics reports since then have disclosed that fact as required by congressional ethics rules, the newspaper said.

The foundation has enabled the Clintons to write off more than $5 million from their taxable income since 2001, while dispensing $1.25 million in charitable contributions over that period, the newspaper reported.

[...]

"The details of the Clintons' charitable family foundation and Senator Clinton's role in it have always been publicly available but, in an oversight that leaders of both parties have made, it was inadvertently omitted from her Senate filing, which has been corrected," Clinton's spokesman Philippe Reines told the newspaper.

Democrats in the US are planning a challenge to President George W Bush's handling of the war in Iraq.

Key senators are drafting legislation that would revoke the broad authority granted to the president in 2002 and replace it with a narrower mandate.

The text has not been finalised, but it is expected to restrict the role of US troops and start bringing them home.

It will face opposition from Republican senators, who have twice blocked a resolution criticising policy in Iraq.

Democratic aides have said the proposal could restrict US troops in Iraq to fighting al-Qaeda, training Iraqi forces and protecting Iraq's borders.

Officials say the precise wording is still being hammered out.

Some Democrats want to totally revoke the 2002 authorization which granted President Bush the power to use the armed forces to defend the nation against what the resolution described as "the continuing threat posed by Iraq." The reasoning now is that threat no longer exists.

Michigan Congressman Dave Camp, a Republican from Midland, says he supports the president's surge plan, saying reinforcements in Iraq are essential. To do otherwise, Camp said, would "handcuff" U.S. troops.

Harry Reid, Real Estate Mogul and Big Time lobbyist for Big Dairy and Big Lubricants - who also manages to find time to be the Democrat Senator from Nevada and Majority Leader - said he would not bring the resolution up again.

Reid, by saying he won't bring it up again, of course means it's just a matter of time until he reintroduces it or introduces a similarly themed resolution.

Dr Hegarty said after a 22-hour examination of the suspect that Mr Padilla had suffered from intense stress and anxiety following three-and-a-half years in custody as an "enemy combatant".

Mr Padilla claims he was tortured while being held on a brig at Charleston, South Carolina, a charge that officials deny.

The psychiatrist said Mr Padilla suffered from a facial tic, problems with social contact, lack of concentration and a form of Stockholm Syndrome, by which people in captivity sympathise with their captors.

State Rep. Phyllis Kahn is pushing to extend Minnesota's 6.5 percent sales tax to cosmetic surgery and appearance-enhancing procedures including chemical skin peels, laser hair removal, cosmetic injections and spider vein treatments.

Anybody who has the money for plastic surgery can afford to pay the tax, said Kahn, a Minneapolis Democrat.

"There aren't a lot of homeless people and there aren't a lot of people who don't have enough money for food who are getting optional cosmetic surgery," she said.

New Jersey is the only state that taxes cosmetic surgery, collecting an estimated $11 million this year. But plastic surgery taxes have caught the attention of lawmakers in Texas, Illinois and Washington in recent years as a potential new source of revenue.

Kahn said her proposal would raise about $7 million a year.

Most of that money would come from the bank accounts of hardworking women, said Dr. Richard D'Amico, president-elect of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons near Chicago. He said 90 percent of plastic surgery patients are female, with annual incomes averaging about $60,000.

"It hurts working women who save up their money and work hard and try to do something for themselves once in a while," he said.

[...]

"I think about how many South Carolinians have served in our military and who are serving today under our flag and I believe that we should have one flag that we all pay honor to, as I know that most people in South Carolina do every single day," Clinton told The Associated Press in an interview.

[...]

Other Democratic hopefuls, including Sens. Joe Biden and Chris Dodd, have said the flag should come down.

[Caretaker William] Sarpong alerted police to a large number of empty bottles of hydrogen peroxide left in bin bags for collection by Enfield Council refuse services. Hydrogen peroxide is said to have been a key ingredient in the manufacture of the bombs.

The jury also heard how police searches of the flat, after July 21, unearthed extremist Muslim material, along with CDs by artists such as Meatloaf and Michael Bolton.

Muktar Said Ibrahim, 29, is one of six men accused of hatching an extremist Muslim plot to kill commuters in a series of murderous bombings on the London transport system.

They are alleged to have tried to set off four bombs - made of hydrogen peroxide and chapatti flour - which all failed.

But the easy-to-make yet deadly chemical cocktails were embraced in the late 1990s by Palestinian militants and suicide bombers bent on killing large groups of people.

Now, Yeager says, the "Mother of Satan" explosives are considered the most likely weapon that terrorists will use against the U.S., more so than a nuclear or radiological "dirty" bomb.

"Every serious terrorist group knows about them and knows how to make them," Yeager said. The forensic scientist heads the explosives unit at the FBI's laboratory in Quantico, Va., about 35 miles south of Washington.

[John] Murtha has a different idea. He would stop the surge by crudely hamstringing the ability of military commanders to deploy troops. In an interview carried Thursday by the Web site MoveCongress.org, Mr. Murtha said he would attach language to a war funding bill that would prohibit the redeployment of units that have been at home for less than a year, stop the extension of tours beyond 12 months, and prohibit units from shipping out if they do not train with all of their equipment. His aim, he made clear, is not to improve readiness but to "stop the surge." So why not straightforwardly strip the money out of the appropriations bill -- an action Congress is clearly empowered to take -- rather than try to micromanage the Army in a way that may be unconstitutional? Because, Mr. Murtha said, it will deflect accusations that he is trying to do what he is trying to do. "What we are saying will be very hard to find fault with," he said.

Mr. Murtha's cynicism is matched by an alarming ignorance about conditions in Iraq. He continues to insist that Iraq "would be more stable with us out of there," in spite of the consensus of U.S. intelligence agencies that early withdrawal would produce "massive civilian casualties." He says he wants to force the administration to "bulldoze" the Abu Ghraib prison, even though it was emptied of prisoners and turned over to the Iraqi government last year. He wants to "get our troops out of the Green Zone" because "they are living in Saddam Hussein's palace"; could he be unaware that the zone's primary occupants are the Iraqi government and the U.S. Embassy?

It would be nice to believe that Mr. Murtha does not represent the mainstream of the Democratic Party or the thinking of its leadership. Yet when asked about Mr. Murtha's remarks Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) offered her support. Does Ms. Pelosi really believe that the debate she orchestrated this week was not "the real vote"? If the answer is yes, she is maneuvering her party in a way that can only do it harm.

...eight concerts were announced by ex-US Vice President Al Gore, whose global warming film An Inconvenient Truth is up for two Oscars.

Johannesburg, London, Shanghai and Sydney are among the host cities.

Three other concerts will take place in the US, Brazil and Japan, with the cities still to be decided. There will also be a concert in Antarctica.

Mr Gore made the announcement at a press conference in Los Angeles on Thursday, joined by actress Cameron Diaz and rapper Pharrell Williams, who will perform at one of the shows.

"We have to get the message of urgency and hope out," Mr Gore said.

"The climate crisis will only be stopped by an unprecedented and sustained global movement."

Seventeen of his Republican Party joined the Democrats in passing the non-binding motion 246 to 182.

[...]

"The president's escalation plan repeats past mistakes. The stakes in Iraq are too high to recycle proposals that have little prospect for success.

"The bipartisan resolution today may be non-binding. But it will send a strong message to the president - we here in Congress are committed to protecting and supporting our troops," [Said Speaker Nanny Pelosi)

House Minority Leader John Boehner had urged lawmakers to vote against the motion, saying it was "the first step towards a tragic, unthinkable goal".

"We face a sophisticated, determined enemy who wants to annihilate our way of life," he said.

[The] plans for placing conditions on how President George W. Bush can spend $93.4 billion in new combat funds would effectively stop an American troop buildup.

"They won't be able to continue. They won't be able to do the deployment. They won't have the equipment, they don't have the training and they won't be able to do the work. There's no question in my mind," [said Murtha].

[...]

"We're trying to force a redeployment not by taking money away, by redirecting money," Murtha said, adding he wants U.S. funds to be slanted more toward diplomacy and Iraq reconstruction.

"While American troops are fighting radical Islamic terrorists thousands of miles away, it is unthinkable that the United States Congress would move to discredit their mission, cut off their reinforcements and deny them the resources they need to succeed and return home safely," [said Republican John Boehner, House Minority Leader].

The plane was like a "sound-proofed coffin" when the windows were iced over, said Carolyn Faucher, another stranded passenger.

Greenberg said she and other passengers were getting testy because the flight attendants told them they couldn't hand out food or water until the plane had been grounded for at least four hours, citing a Federal Aviation Administration rule. At least two of the passengers were diabetic.

Another passenger said there was no power, and flight attendants had to keep opening the doors so they could breathe comfortably.

The company later apologized and said it would offer refunds and free flights to passengers delayed on-board a plane for more than three hours.

The story was front-page news for both New York tabloid newspapers and dominated local television coverage.

Barbra Streisand, actors Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Guest, Rob Reiner and Larry Hagman and the executive producer of television's "Saturday Night Live", where Franken got his start.

IN FACT, the former SNL writer and performer raised more than $1 million last year though his political action committee called Midwest Values.

He spent most of it, for political consultants, travel and fundraising.

Here is what you NEED TO KNOW. Franken's Midwest Values PAC gave $137,500 to Democrats running for office around the country last year, including here in Minnesota. The PAC gave $10,000 contributions to candidates Amy Klobuchar, Tim Walz, Patty Wetterling and Coleen Rowley.

And as his old partner Tom Davis observes, "He does have a conservative streak in him. When I first met him, he was actually pro-life."

[Franken] enlisted in the anti-war (Vietnam) movement, and avoided the military. Moreover, even though Franken practically brags about helping his brother to dodge the draft, he toured for the USO the last two holiday seasons.

The Treasury Department reported Monday that the deficit for the budget year that began Oct. 1 totals $42.2 billion, down 57.2 percent from the same period a year ago. The amount of revenues collected from October through January were up 9.7 percent from the same period a year ago, climbing to a record level for the period of $834.1 billion. Government spending also set a record for the period, but the growth was a slower 2.1 percent, pushing the total to $876.3 billion for the first four months of the current budget year.

The continued strong growth in revenues reflects the record profits corporations have been recording in recent years and low levels of unemployment, which means more Americans are working and paying taxes. For the full year, the Congressional Budget Office is forecasting that the budget deficit will shrink to around $200 billion. The deficit for the 2006 budget year, which ended last Sept. 30, was $247.7 billion, the lowest in four years.

February 8, 2007
You choose

As most of you know Al Franken is leaving AAR for other pursuits.

I'll miss Al and think there'd be no AAR without him, but I am psyched to have Thom Hartmann in the AAR lineup. Many of you know I am a big fan of his.

However, there's a rumor going around that Thom won't be carried by XM on the AAR channel. Instead they'll carry Ed Schultz. If I listened to AAR through XM- I'd be pissed.... let them know how you feel.

"Air America [is] rotten business people."[sic]

"If you listen to Air America, I don't want you listening to me."

"Mike Malloy is a hate merchant."

"Air America sucks!"

"[Air America] undercuts everybody."

"Air America lies."

"Air America sucks. They suck. They're mean and nasty."

"I wish Air America would go away and shut up."

"[Air America] has never sold an ad."

"Al Franken leaving is the best thing that ever happened [to Air America]."

"Air America is robbing people."

"I'm not going to be nice about Air America anymore."

"NJDC is deeply troubled by Governor Romney's choice of locations to announce his Presidential campaign. Romney has been traveling the country talking about inclusiveness and understanding of people from all walks of life. Yet he chooses to kick off his presidential campaign on the former estate of a well-known and outspoken anti-Semite and xenophobe. Mitt Romney's embrace of Henry Ford and association of Ford's legacy with his presidential campaign raises serious questions about either the sincerity of Romney's words or his understanding of basic American history," said NJDC Executive Director Ira Forman.