David Drake

Brian Jopek, the father of Ryan Jopek, the young soldier who tragically lost his life to a roadside bomb in 2006, recently said on a Wisconsin Public Radio show that his family had asked Barack Obama to stop wearing the bracelet with his son's name on it. Yet Obama continues to do so despite the wishes of the family.

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Radio host Glenn Moberg of the show "Route 51" asked Mr. Jopek, a man who believes in the efforts in Iraq and is not in favor of Obama's positions on the war, what he and his ex-wife think of Obama continually using their son's name on the campaign trail.

Jopek began by saying that his ex-wife was taken aback, even upset, that Obama has made the death of her son a campaign issue. Jopek says his wife gave Obama the bracelet because "she just wanted Mr. Obama to know Ryan's name." Jopek went on to say that "she wasn't looking to turn it into a big media event" and "just wanted it to be something between Barack Obama and herself."

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[Mrs. Jopek] wanted Obama to stop wearing the reminder of her son's sacrifice that he keeps turning into a campaign soundbyte.

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[Mrs. Jopek] has repeated that she asked Obama not to mention her son on the campaign trail and this AP report confirms that.

In a suspenseful vote of 205-228, the House of Representatives squashed a bill granting the Treasury $700 billion to shore up the U.S. financial system. Clearing the House was seen as the bill's biggest hurdle, and now the proposed bailout is thrown into disarray.

The bill had majority support from House Democrats, at around 140-95. It was killed by staunch opposition from House Republicans, 65-133. The voting was left open for several minutes, while congressional leaders tried to get members to change nay votes, and the tallies shifted slightly but not enough to pass.

By a margin of 55 percent to 31 percent, Americans say it's not the government's responsibility to bail out private companies with taxpayer dollars, even if their collapse could damage the economy, according to the latest Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll.

By a margin of almost two-to-one the American public thinks the government is doing the right thing in investing billions of dollars to try to keep financial institutions and markets secure. Reacting to initial reports of the federal bailout plan over the weekend, 57% said the government was doing the right thing, while 30% said it was doing the wrong thing. At the same time, only 19% of the public believes that the government is currently doing an excellent or good job in handling the financial problems on Wall Street.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - An intruder is dead after breaking into a northwest side home early Sunday morning.

His intended victim was a 17-year-old girl. Investigators say the girl's dad fought off 52-year-old David Meyers who turned out to be a registered sex offender. When police found Meyers he was in a choke hold inside a home on West 79th Street.

"He did not accomplish what his objective was," said Sgt. Matt Mount of the Indianapolis Metro Police Department.

Paramedics pronounced Meyers dead inside the house early Sunday morning.

"He had served a 10 year of a 20 year sentence for criminal confinement and sexual deviate conduct," said Sgt. Mount.

Before Meyers died he allegedly broke into the home. What police say he had on him is puzzling. According to police, the intruder had gained access into the house through a window next to the intended victim's bedroom. Police also say he wasn't wearing clothing except for a mask and latex gloves.

"He had in his possession a knife, some rope, some condoms," said Sgt. Mount.

Investigators say Meyers even made it to his intended victim's bedroom.

"She awoke, saw this naked man in the bedroom with the mask on. She started screaming," said Sgt. Mount.

Police say the 17-year-old girl's father heard her screams and ran to her help.

"His wife called 911 and that's when the police arrived and found him on the floor with his arm around the neck of Mr. Meyers struggling, holding him down," said Sgt. Mount.

Investigators say when the homeowner removed Meyers' mask, he recognized him.

"He was the nephew of the homeowner they were renting the home from. So he was familiar with the floor plan of the house," said Sgt. Mount.

Police started to put handcuffs on Meyers, but they realized he was not breathing.

"Don't know whether it was a heart attack or asphyxiation from the choke hold that was put on him," explained Sgt. Mount. "What could have been a very tragic situation for a 17-year-old girl has turned into the death of the assailant."

Police are calling Meyers' death a homicide, but say most likely no charges will be filed.

Meyers was wanted in Boone County for failure to register as a sex offender. Investigators say he was not registered in Marion County. The prosecutor will review the case Monday.

...this is what is called "Instant Karma"! Good job Dad! You protected your daughter, just like all good parents should protect their children from predators! Can we buy a steak from Ruth's Chris?

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Nelson says, HA HA.

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This man deserves to be honored at the sate capitol with a state event hosted in his honor- this is truly great news.

A filthy attacker killed in the act, never to victimize again, the daughter safe, and.... NO COST to taxpayers- this man should be nominated for president instead of OBAMA/MCCAIN nightmare we are living through. This guy is my HERO!

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Dead criminals seldom become repeat offenders.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Sunday gave his tentative support to a $700 billion Wall Street bailout proposal that has been brokered by the Bush administration and the U.S. Congress.

Since July, when Nebraska lawmakers passed a unique “safe-haven” law allowing parents to abandon children as old as 18, at least 16 children, some of them teenagers have been abandoned, making officials to consider revising the law.

“If we see another family being left off, then we’re going to have to do something immediately,” state Sen. Arnie Stuthman, who introduced legislation that was the basis for the law, said.

For now the “safe-haven” law permits parents to hand over their children to state-certified medical centers. Even though it aimed at protecting infants, the legal measure’s language was amended to contain the word “child,” which was left undefined. Therefore, many interpreted the law as referring to all minors, thus including all children under the age of 19.

The most troubling case of parental abandonment so far occurred Wednesday when Gary Staton left five boys and four girls aged 1 to 17 at Creighton University Medical Center’s emergency room. He has a 10th child as well, a daughter who is 18. According to his sayings, his wife died early last year after delivering their youngest child and he could not handle bringing his children up by himself.

Before Wednesday's drop-off, at least four children between the ages of 11 and 15 had been abandoned by parents since the law took effect.

In these conditions, Sen. Stuthman said lawmakers need to make clear the maximum age for children who can be handled over the state before January. However, it’s not clear whether Gov. Dave Heineman will call a special session to modify the law although he has said it should be changed.

The Bush Administration, in April of 2001 warned congress of a potential financial crisis. In their 2002 budget requests they declared the size of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac "A potential problem... and can cause strong repercussions in the financial markets."

In 2003, the White House upgraded the warning on real estate mortgage loans. Their experts said that the way loans were being handled could spread beyond the housing sector. In fall of 2003 the Bush Administration was pushing congress hard to create a new federal agency that would monitor and supervise Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; both are Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE).

John Snow, Treasury Secretary at the time called for regulations and supervision of GSEs. He said in September 2003 "We need a strong world-class regulatory agency to oversee the prudential operations of the GSEs and the safety and the soundness of their financial activities."

Snow was pushed back from this position, by then ranking member, but the eventual Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Barney Frank (D) from Massachusetts.

Frank denied there was any problem and was quoted as saying, "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not in crisis."

In fact, Barney Frank was encouraging the government to do more to get low income families into homes.

"The more people, in my judgment, exaggerate the threat of safety and soundness, the more people conjure up the potential for serious financial losses.... [a problem] I do not see. We see entities that are fundamentally sound financially and would stand some of the disastrous scenarios. But, even if there were a problem the government wont bails them out. The more pressure we see there then there is less, I think, we see in terms of affordable housing," Barney Frank said in September of 2003.

The creation of a regulatory agency to oversee GSEs was ultimately blocked.

In February of 2005, Alan Greenspan spoke about the dangers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac after Fannie leaders admitted to accounting screw-ups.

Greenspan said, "Enabling these institutions to increase in size, and they will, once the crisis in their judgment passes. We are placing the total financial system of [in] the future at a substantial risk."

Later that year Greenspan warned, "If we fail to place GSE regulation, we increase the possibility of insolvency and crisis."

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had some strong defenders. One of them was democrat New York Senator Charles Schumer.

In April 2005 Schumer said, "I think Fannie and Freddie have done an incredibly good job, and are an intrinsic part of making America the best housed people in the world. If you look over the last 20 or whatever years, they've done a very, very good job."

Senator John McCain co-sponsored legislation pushing for regulation of GSEs like Freddie and Fannie.

In a speech on the senate floor, McCain said, "For years I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.... and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market... the GSEs need to be reformed without delay."

In 2006, Barney Frank took over the chairmanship of the Senate Banking Committee and on his first day declared that he was going to work on making housing more affordable for low-income owners and that loans would be easier to get by relaxing loan regulations.

That bill (THE FEDERAL HOUSING ENTERPRISE REGULATORY REFORM ACT) made it out of the senate banking committee with a party line vote. All the democrats voted against it. By then there had been an election and democrats had won back control of the Senate.

Republicans, knowing they did not have the numbers to get the bill passed, did not even bring it up for a vote that 2006 session.

MCCAIN: 68% 263,307
OBAMA: 30% 116,347
NEITHER: 3% 9,817

Total Votes: 389,471

The London home of the publisher of a controversial new novel that gives a fictionalised account of the Prophet Muhammad's relationship with his child bride, Aisha, was firebombed yesterday, hours after police had warned the man that he could be a target for fanatics.

A petrol bomb is believed to have been thrown through the door of Martin Rynja's £2.5m town house in Islington's Lonsdale Square, which also doubles as the headquarters of his publishing company, Gibson Square. Three men have been arrested on terrorism charges.

The Observer has learned that police told Rynja late on Friday night to leave his property. His company recently made headlines when it announced it was to publish The Jewel of Medina.

Written by US journalist Sherry Jones, the book was due to have been published in August by US giant Random House. But amid controversy the company halted publication, a move denounced by Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses, as 'censorship by fear'.

Three men have been held under the Terrorism Act after a suspected petrol bombing at the publishing office which released a controversial novel, 'The Jewel of Medina', about the prophet Muhammad and a child bride.

The suspects, aged 22, 30 and 40, were arrested by armed police early yesterday in Islington, north London. It followed a fire at the offices of Gibson Square publishers, which is run by director Martin Rynja.

Four people were arrested in London yesterday over an alleged terror attack on the publisher of a controversial book on the prophet Muhammad.

The arrests are connected to a fire at a property in Islington, north London, which is used as the home and office of Martin Rynja, a publisher.

His company, Gibson Square, recently bought the rights to a novel which is considered by some to be more controversial than Salman Rushdie's book, The Satanic Verses. The new book, about the prophet Muhammad and his child bride, is entitled The Jewel of Medina.

The blaze yesterday, which led to people being evacuated from the house, may have been started by a petrol bomb pushed through the letter box.

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Random House US, the major publishing group, announced in May this year that it was dropping its plans to publish Sherry Jones's debut novel following warnings that it could incite acts of violence from radical Muslims. The Jewel of the Medina was also pulled from bookshops in Serbia last month after pressure from an Islamic group.

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Speaking before yesterday's attack, Mr Rynja said: "In an open society there has to be open access to literary works, regardless of fear. As an independent publishing company, we feel strongly that we should not be afraid of the consequences of debate.

"If a novel of quality and skill that casts light on a beautiful subject we know too little of in the West, but have a genuine interest in, cannot be published here, it would truly mean that the clock has been turned back to the dark ages. The Jewel of Medina has become an important barometer of our time."

Have I gone insane, or is KMOV in St. Louis, Missouri, actually reporting that "Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign is asking Missouri law enforcement to target anyone who lies or runs a misleading television ad during the presidential campaign"?

The report goes on to say that "prosecutors and sheriffs from across Missouri are joining something called the BarackObama truth squad."

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Look, politicians are all about lies. It may be annoying (I find it entertaining), but that's for their opponents and good-government groups to counter -- not law enforcement. That's especially true since whether or not criticism is "misleading" is open to debate. What's being said may be simply a different interpretation, a bit of spin -- or a better version of the truth than candidates and their friends like.

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By the way, if the report is accurate, it fits all too well with the legal threats the Democratic candidate's campaign is leveling against TV stations that run NRA ads critical of Barack Obama. John Lott, a noted economist and firearms scholar, has copies of the Obama campaign's cease-and-desist letters on his Website. He also defends the content of the ads (emphasizing the debatable nature of "misleading.")

Former President Bill Clinton defended Sen. John McCain's request to delay the first presidential debate, saying McCain did it in "good faith" and pushed organizers to reserve time for economy talk during the debate if the Friday plans move forward.

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"We know he didn't do it because he's afraid because Sen. McCain wanted more debates," Clinton said, adding that he was "encouraged" by the joint statement from McCain and Sen. Barack Obama.

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"I presume he did that in good faith since I know he wanted -- I remember he asked for more debates to go all around the country and so I don't think we ought to overly parse that." [McCain did want more debates, but Obama chickened out. - Drake]

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The former president thought Bush's address Wednesday night on the economic crisis had a "positive reaction".

"If we're trying to win in Florida, it may be that -- you know, they think that because of who I am and where my political base has traditionally been, they may want me to go sort of hustle up what Lawton Chiles used to call the cracker vote there," Clinton tells King. "But Sen. Obama also has a big stake in doing well in the Jewish community in Florida[.]"

"Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks. So, you just think this through."

Hastings spokesman David Goldenberg said the reference to “anybody toting guns and stripping moose” didn’t really mean “anybody” who totes a gun or strips a moose, but only meant Palin because “it’s how Sarah Palin defines herself.”

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“It was not intended to be a knock on any hunter or sportsman,” Goldenberg said. “It was intended to use Sarah Palin’s terms the way she defines herself.”

This cycle, with Democrats in control, [Fannie and Freddie are] giving [Democrats] 56 percent of their total $1.1 million in contributions. Similarly, Freddie Mac has given 53 percent of its $555,700 in contributions to Democrats this cycle, compared to the 44 percent it gave during 2006.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have also strategically given more contributions to lawmakers currently sitting on committees that primarily regulate their industry.

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Sen.Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) chairman of the Senate banking committee, has received the most from Fannie and Freddie's PACs and employees ($133,900 since 1989). Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.) has received $65,500. Kanjorski chairs the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government-Sponsored Enterprises, and Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs.

US Senator and vice presidential hopeful Joe Biden reportedly told Israeli officials three years ago that sooner or later they would have to reconcile themselves to the reality of a nuclear-armed Iran.

Israel's Army Radio reported on the remarks, which Biden is said to have made to visiting Israeli officials in his capacity as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

According to the report, Biden reaffirmed to the Israelis his rejection of military action against Iran, but also admitted that diplomatic efforts to halt Iran's nuclear program had little or no chance of success. In essence, Biden resigned himself to the idea of a nuclear-armed Iran and told the Israelis that they, too, would have to accept that outcome.

In a clandestine meeting with unnamed Israeli officials, which was partially covered by the US Jewish Army Radio, Barack Obama's vice-presidential nominee said, "Israel will have to reconcile itself with the nuclearization of Iran."