Category: News

Jul 17 2008

Ninth Circuit: Supreme Court Handgun Case Doesn’t Cover All Weapons

The Ninth Circuit issued an unpublished decision in the case U.S. v Gilbert on July 15 holding that the recent Supreme Court Second Amendment case does not give people the right to own automatic weapons and sawed off rifles. The court stated

The Supreme Court’s recent decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. ___ (2008), holding that the Second Amendment protects a limited individual right to possess a firearm-unconnected with service in a militia-does not alter our conclusion.  Under Heller, individuals still do not have the right to possess machineguns or short-barreled rifles, as Gilbert did, and convicted felons, such as Gilbert, do not have the right to possess any firearms.  Id., Slip. Op. at 27.

Since the Supreme Court decided the Heller case there has been much speculation regarding the scope of the ruling. Would this open the flood gates to unrestricted ownership of handguns and permit the ownership other types of weapons, like assault rifles. The Ninth Circuit opinion says that it does not.

(Crossposted at DailyKos.)

Jul 16 2008

Four at Four, at Five

Special guest host?  Nah, It’s just me.

Special edition?  You bet.  We’re in Central time now, folks.

Welcome to the Four at Four, at Five (Four Central).

  • George Bush has decided that the House of Representatives may not have access to documents from the CIA leak investigation, because the documents contain classified interviews with the Vice President and other White House officials, which are protected by executive privilege.

    So the FBI can ask questions, and write down the answers…but they can’t tell anybody about what was said…because of executive privilege…so, what was the purpose of that investigation, if no one but the President is allowed to see the findings?

    Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), the panel’s chairman, said in a statement today that Bush’s claim of executive privilege in the case is “ludicrous” and vowed to move ahead with a contempt citation against [Attorney General Michael B.] Mukasey.

    “This unfounded assertion of executive privilege does not protect a principle; it protects a person,” Waxman said. “If the vice president did nothing wrong, what is there to hide?”

    Exactly.  Thank you, Mr. Waxman.  Now do something about it.

  • The Consumer Price Index, a measure of inflation, among things, has risen 5% over the past year, and in June rose at the highest rate in 17 years…since the end of the last Bush’s reign, in fact.  This report comes just a day after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that inflation posed a serious risk to the US economy.

    The report reinforces what many economists, including those at the Fed, have warned about for months: Americans are being forced to pay significantly higher prices even as the job market weakens and big employers like General Motors are laying off thousands of employees.

    “There’s not enough lipstick to put on this pig,” Richard Moody, an economist at Mission Residential, wrote in a note to clients. “No matter how one slices and dices,” he added, “the bottom line is that U.S. workers are falling farther and farther behind.”

    I have no idea what pigs wearing lipstick have to do with this; all I know is, it doesn’t sound good.

  • A meta-analysis of existing research has concluded that monthly breast self-exams do not necessarily lead to cancer detection or prevention, and may instead result in unnecessary medical procedures.

    “At present, screening by breast self-examination or physical examination [by a trained health worker] cannot be recommended,” two of the study authors, Jan Peter Kosters and Peter Gotzsche of the Nordic Cochrane Centre, stated in the review.

    …

    The current review included two studies of almost 400,000 women in Russia and China. Women who did self-exams had 3,406 biopsies compared with only 1,856 biopsies in the group that did not do the exams. Differences in biopsy rates did not translate into differences in breast cancer mortality.

    The China study found that rates of mastectomy and lumpectomy (or “breast-conserving” surgery) were similar regardless of whether women were doing self-exams or not.

  • Kirk Radomski, who has been convicted of distributing steroids, found and turned in evidence against Roger Clemens while moving a broken television.

    “The investigators knew from day one that I sent a package to Clemens’ house,” Radomski told ESPN.com. “They knew before the Mitchell report was released and before Brian went before Congress. So this is nothing new to them.

    “I just couldn’t find the receipt. And just by [accident] this weekend, I moved my TV and whatnot and I found the package, an envelope, and it had [Clemens’] receipt and about seven or eight other receipts.”

    It sounds a little staged, but if it isn’t real I’m sure his attorney will figure it out.

    • Bonus story!

  • Analysis of new pictures obtained by the satellite orbiting Mars indicates that Mars used to be very wet.

    The key to the finding is the discovery that rocks called phyllosilicates are widespread on at least the planet’s southern hemisphere. The water present on Mars from about 4.6 billion to 3.8 billion years ago transformed some rocks into these phyllosilicates, which include clays rich in iron, magnesium or aluminum, mica, and kaolinite (an ingredient in Kaopectate).

    “In a phyllosilicate, the atoms are stacked up into layers, and all of the phyllosilicates have some sort of water or hydroxyl [oxygen and hydrogen group] incorporated into the crystal structure,” said study team member Scott Murchie of Johns Hopkins University.

    Previous data from an instrument called OMEGA – Observatoire pour la Mineralogie, l’Eau, les Glaces et l’Activite on the Mars Express spacecraft had revealed only a few large outcrops of phyllosilicates, suggesting they were a relative rarity on Mars.

Jul 16 2008

The Morning News

The Morning News is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Obama, McCain clash on what to do about Iraq war

By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent

31 minutes ago

WASHINGTON – The two major presidential rivals sharpened their long-standing dispute over the Iraq War on Tuesday, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama calling it a costly distraction that must end while Republican Sen. John McCain insisted it is a conflict the United States has to win.

“Iraq is not going to be a perfect place, and we don’t have unlimited resources to try and make it one,” Obama said in a speech in which he also said the United States must shift its focus to defeating the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan.

Rebutting swiftly, McCain said Obama “will tell you we can’t win in Afghanistan without losing in Iraq. In fact, he has it exactly backwards.”

Jul 15 2008

Docudharma Times Tuesday July 15



We Always Look

For

That Which

Isn’t There




Tuesday’s Headlines:

Bush officials’ ‘lack of recall’ thwarted Tillman, Lynch probes

Mercenaries join Mugabe’s ruthless terror campaign

For Darfur, a step toward justice?

Grave mistake to attack Iran, warns Syria

Police: Iraq suicide bombers kill 28 army recruits  

Georgia leader Mikhail Saakashvili: Russia is a menace to peace

‘Dangerously thin’ climbers face ban

Foreign Office urges caution as Kashmir tries to lure back tourists

Japan fishermen go on national strike

Brazil bucks global economic downturn

Indonesia regrets E Timor wrongs

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has expressed “remorse” for wrongs committed during East Timor’s vote for independence in 1999.

The BBC

He made the statement as he received the final report of their two countries’ Truth and Friendship Commission in the resort of Bali.

The report details systematic crimes against humanity – and lays much of the blame at the door of Indonesia’s army.

But the leaders of both countries say they are interested in moving on.

About 1,000 people are believed to have been murdered, and many others tortured, raped and displaced during 1999.

Neither country has expressed interest in prosecuting individuals on the basis of the report – though correspondents say it could strengthen such demands from campaigners.

The commission was boycotted by the United Nations, which has already blamed Indonesia and demanded that those responsible face justice.

Scramble Led to Rescue Plan on Mortgages



By STEPHEN LABATON

Published: July 15, 2008

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration hastily arranged the dramatic Sunday evening rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac after Wall Street executives and foreign central bankers told Washington that any further erosion of confidence could have a cascading effect around the world, officials said on Monday.

Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and other top officials were warned, after Fannie and Freddie lost nearly half their stock market value on Friday morning, that any more turmoil threatened to reduce the value of trillions of dollars of the companies’ debt and other obligations, which are held by thousands of domestic and foreign banks, pension funds, mutual funds and other investors, government officials said.

USA

Judge allows testimony by Guantanamo detainees

Alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and others can testify in the military trial of Osama bin Laden’s driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan.

By Josh Meyer, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

July 15, 2008

WASHINGTON — Osama bin Laden’s former driver can use testimony by alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and some other detained Al Qaeda operatives in his upcoming military trial at Guantanamo Bay because it might help exonerate him, a military judge said Monday.

Defense lawyers said at a hearing that they wanted to call Mohammed and seven other prospective witnesses in the case of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, the first detainee at the U.S. naval base in Cuba to be scheduled for trial. If the proceedings begin next week as planned, it will be the first time the U.S. has held a military tribunal since World War II.

Jul 14 2008

Four at Four, at Five

Special guest host?  Nah, It’s just me.

Special edition?  You bet.  We’re in Central time now, folks.

Welcome to the Four at Four, at Five (Four Central).

  • In a move that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi termed “a hoax,” President Bush lifted the White House’s ban on offshore drilling.

    “Today, I’ve taken every step within my power to allow offshore exploration,” Bush told reporters. “This means the only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil resources is action from the U.S. Congress.”

    Congress too has a ban on offshore drilling and while it expires on September 30, it could be renewed. Plus, federal officials say it would take years for any oil to be produced in those areas, together making Bush’s move largely symbolic.

    “Now the ball is squarely in Congress’ court,” Bush said after signing a memorandum reversing a presidential ban that was instituted by his father, then-President George Bush, almost two decades ago. “The time for action is now.”

  • Nearly 200 Taliban insurgents stormed a NATO base in Pakistan, executing a “well-planned, surprise attack” that left nine US soldiers dead and wounded 15.

    The insurgents, who were repulsed, came so close that some of their corpses were lying around the base afterwards, Tamim Nuristani, the former governor of the region said after talking to officials in the district. A Western official requesting anonymity also confirmed that the Taliban did breach part of the base.

    …

    American and NATO military officials said the attack reflected the Taliban’s resurgence from new bases in neighboring Pakistan and underscored the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, where war casualties have jumped this year.

  • The Belgium-based InBev has successfully purchased Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion, or $70 per share.

    InBev moved gently from the start, meeting with Anheuser Chief Executive August Busch IV in June 2 in Tampa to discuss a possible combination. It followed with an unsolicited offer on June 11 that included several concessions to soothe any pain for Anheuser-Busch.

    Among the concessions in the initial $65 per share bid, InBev offered Anheuser seats on the combined company’s board; promised to keep Anheuser’s St. Louis, Missouri, home as the North American headquarters; and have the merged company’s name reflect the heritage of the more than 150-year-old U.S. brewer.

    InBev also said it would keep Anheuser’s U.S. breweries open. The Belgian-based company kept all of those promises in the final agreement to buy Anheuser for $70 per share, creating the world’s largest brewer which would be named Anheuser-Busch InBev.

    No word yet as to whether InBev, which makes Stella Artois and Beck’s beers, will teach the Americans how to make actual beer in their breweries.

  • Nine British women, six British men, and six Greek men face charges after an oral sex competition in Greece last weekend.

    The women, who came to the popular resort on holiday, had been paid to take part in the competition, which was video recorded and was to be posted on the Internet, police said.

    The men were charged with encouraging obscene behavior.

    The women were charged with prostitution, as they were paid for their participation in the activities.

Jul 13 2008

Weekend News Digest

Weekend News Digest is an Open Thread

Updated!  Now with 85 stories!

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Officials: 9 US troops killed in Afghanistan

By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer

11 minutes ago

KABUL, Afghanistan – A multi-pronged militant assault on a small, remote U.S. base killed nine American soldiers and wounded 15 Sunday in the deadliest attack on U.S. forces in Afghanistan in three years, officials said.

The attack on the U.S. outpost came the same day a suicide bomber targeting a police patrol killed 24 people, while U.S. coalition and Afghan soldiers killed 40 militants elsewhere in the south.

The militant assault on the American troops began around 4:30 a.m. in a dangerous region close to the Pakistan border and lasted throughout the day.

Jul 09 2008

The Morning News

The Morning News is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Judge to Bush admin.: Guantanamo is top priority

By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer

25 minutes ago

WASHINGTON – A federal judge overseeing Guantanamo Bay lawsuits ordered the Justice Department to put other cases aside and make it clear throughout the Bush administration that, after nearly seven years of detention, the detainees must have their day in court.

“The time has come to move these forward,” Judge Thomas F. Hogan said Tuesday during the first hearing over whether the detainees are being held lawfully. “Set aside every other case that’s pending in the division and address this case first.”

The Bush administration hoped it would never come to this. The Justice Department has fought for years to keep civilian judges from reviewing evidence against terrorism suspects. But a Supreme Court ruling last month opened the courthouse doors to the detainees.

Jul 06 2008

G8 Leaders Face A Series of Crises

Let’s pretend for a moment that you are a country.  Well, the seminal head of a country, so to speak.  

As the mouthpiece and the conveyor of all information that the people of YOUR country would like YOU to communicate to the rest of the world, your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to make sure you truly speak for your fellow countrymen and countrywomen with one voice that soars the virtues of YOUR country and it’s ideals and passions!

OK, Hold that thought.  

G8 Crisis

From BBC News:

Rising food and oil costs, an uncertain global economy, climate change and Zimbabwe’s political crisis face the G8 leaders who are gathering in Japan.

The summit is being held at a secluded resort on the northern island of Hokkaido guarded by some 20,000 police.

Protesters have been gathering ahead of the three-day forum starting on Monday.

A US official said the gathering was likely to “strongly condemn” Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe over a disputed presidential election run-off vote.

The Group of Eight (G8) consists of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.

Jun 25 2008

The Morning News

The Morning News is an Open Thread

Science to follow.

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Housing rescue plan passes key Senate test

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writer

32 minutes ago

WASHINGTON – A massive foreclosure rescue bill cleared a key Senate test Tuesday by an overwhelming margin, with Democrats and Republicans both eager to claim election-year credit for helping hard-pressed homeowners.

The mortgage aid plan would let the Federal Housing Administration back $300 billion in new, cheaper home loans for an estimated 400,000 distressed borrowers who otherwise would be considered too financially risky to qualify for government-insured, fixed-rate loans.

An 83-9 vote put the plan on track for Senate passage as early as Wednesday, but President Bush is threatening a veto, and Democrats are fighting each other over key details. Those challenges will probably delay any final deal until mid-July.

Jun 18 2008

The Morning News

The Morning News is an Open Thread.

Surprise! I’m filling in for ek this morning and it’s Mishima’s day off. So to start your day, here’s 28 stories from home and around the globe. What else is happening?

USA

  1. WaPo – Halliburton Subsidiary Faulted For Hurricane Work

    Reports of problems with defense contractor KBR Inc. just keep piling up.

    The Houston-based company’s efforts to repair Navy facilities following Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina were deemed shoddy and substandard, auditors say, prompting one technical adviser to claim that the federal government “certainly paid twice” for many KBR projects because of “design and workmanship deficiencies,” according to a report (see PDF here) released today by the Defense Department’s inspector general.

    The report, released following a Freedom of Information Act request, says the U.S. Navy hired KBR, Inc., then known as Kellogg, Brown and Root, in July 2004 to repair Defense Department facilities after Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina. The federal government agreed to pay the company $500 million over five years.

  2. Des Moines Register – Some Cedar Rapids residents finally getting back into homes

    The record-breaking floodwaters are not holding Cedar Rapids hostage anymore. Water has cleared out of many downtown streets, which resembled rivers just two days ago. The Cedar River has fallen to 20.06 feet and continues to drop.

    Major highways, including I-380 and U.S. Highway 30, have reopened and so have some neighborhoods. City officials today finally opened some neighborhoods to residents after days of stops and starts. Only neighborhoods where water and debris had been cleared from the streets, and homes had been inspected for safety, were open.

    The city remains under a mandatory evacuation order, but residents got into their homes to gather belongings, size up damage and start cleaning up layers of mud and stench.

  3. WaPo – Red Cross Disaster Fund Is Depleted

    The American Red Cross said yesterday that it has depleted its national disaster relief fund and is taking out loans to pay for shelters, food and other relief services across seven Midwestern states battered by floods.

    Officials at the charity estimated that efforts in the Midwest will cost more than $15 million and warned that the total could surpass $40 million if the Mississippi River creates floods in St. Louis later this week.

    On the cusp of hurricane season, Red Cross executives said the charity has raised just $3.2 million for the Midwest floods and painted a dire picture of its overall disaster relief finances.

  4. The Hill – Clinton takes month off

    Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) is taking a month off from Congress to recuperate after her marathon run for the presidency.

    She is not expected to return to the Senate until July 7 or July 8 after the Independence Day recess, according to two Democratic sources.

    Clinton’s Democratic colleagues in the Senate are taking a sympathetic attitude toward her extended absence, which comes after a grueling 18-month formal bid for the White House and, according to some calculations, a decade or more of planning and positioning since the days when her husband was president.

Jun 11 2008

The Morning News

The Morning News is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Gates begins wartime transition to new leadership

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer

35 minutes ago

WASHINGTON – Anticipating the first wartime change of presidents in 40 years, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday he has begun laying the groundwork to enable his successor to manage the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – and other challenges – from his or her first day in office.

Gates said that over the past two decades it has become more difficult and time consuming to get key officials into Pentagon jobs early in a new administration. Doing it faster will be even more important this time, he said, in light of the complexities of the wars and difficult security issues elsewhere.

“I’ve been through a lot of these (transitions) and I’ve seen them up close and I want to see if we can improve on the past,” he said. Gates’ national security career dates to the Nixon administration and includes the transition in January 1993 from President George H.W. Bush to President Clinton.

Jun 08 2008

Weekend News Digest

Weekend News Digest is an Open Thread

57 Stories.  U.S. News (done), Politics (done), Business (done), and Science (done).

Final edition until June 28th unless someone picks it up.

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 War bill helps Iraqis, may ignore Katrina victims

By JOHN MORENO GONZALES, Associated Press Writer

2 hours, 16 minutes ago

NEW ORLEANS – A long way from Iraq and the war debate in Washington, Herman Moore sat outside a tent in a downtown New Orleans homeless camp, trying to make sense of a proposal that helps Iraqi war refugees but will likely exclude Hurricane Katrina victims.

“Messed up is not the phrase. I think you know the phrase,” Moore said. “This place has been forgotten, just forgotten.”

The 56-year-old lifelong city resident is referring to Congress’ plan to spend $212 billion to finance the war in Iraq. In the massive spending bill, $350 million is set aside to help Iraqi refugees while just $73 million has been allotted to help shelter physically and mentally disabled Katrina victims – and that money could be cut as early as Tuesday.

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