RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - An Air France jet with 228 people on a flight to Paris vanished over the Atlantic Ocean after flying into towering thunderstorms and sending an automated message that the electrical system had failed. A vast search began Monday, but all aboard were feared killed.
Military aircraft scrambled out to the center of the Atlantic, far from the coasts of Brazil and West Africa, and France sought U.S. satellite help to find the wreckage. The first military ship wasn’t expected to reach the area where the plane disappeared until Wednesday.
KMBC-TV9, Kansas City’s ABC affiliate, has emerged victorious in the recently completed May TV sweeps period in the Kansas City market again by being the most watched station at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and the most important news segment at 10 p.m.
During the March ratings period not only was KMBC the top-rated station in the KC market, but it was the highest rated ABC affiliate in the nation. It was also the first ratings period without long-time KC sports icon Len Dawson was not a regular fixture on the news.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A man with “political and religious motives” killed a soldier just out of basic training and wounded another Monday in a targeted attack on a military recruiting center, police said. The shootings were not believed to be part of a broader scheme.
The soldiers completed basic training within the past two weeks and were not regular recruiters, said Lt. Col. Thomas F. Artis of the Oklahoma City Recruiting Battalion, which oversees the Little Rock office.
Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s political arm, was traveling through eastern Tennessee after giving a Sunday morning sermon when he heard that late-term abortion doctor George Tiller had been gunned down.
Wasting no time, Land dialed a press aide on his cell phone as he drove west on I-40 and dictated a statement condemning the act.
“If the perpetrator of this violence proves to be someone who was acting in the name of the pro-life movement, everyone in the pro-life community must swiftly and soundly repudiate him and his actions,” Land said.
Christian conservatives who would not have defended Tiller in life were among the quickest to acknowledge his right to live after he was killed.
Nadal’s résumé, as noted in today’s Daily Fix and elsewhere, was far superior to the 25th-ranked Swedish player’s. That was true historically - six Grand Slam titles to none - and head-to-head - Nadal led their series, 3-0, winning all five sets they’d played on clay while dropping just 10 games. But sometimes during a tournament we see an upset coming, or think afterwards that we saw it coming, because a player had been faltering in earlier matches. In this case, Nadal didn’t leave any clues.
A lineup of five Republican candidates has formed in Kansas’ 1st Congressional District since November, when Rep. Jerry Moran announced his candidacy for the state’s 2010 open Senate seat.
The partisan history of the district makes it easy to understand why so many GOP candidates are applying for the job.
The mostly rural 1st District - which sprawls across more than 57,000 square miles, or 70 percent of the state’s land area - is one of the nation’s most stalwart Republican strongholds. Even as Democrat Barack Obama won the national election for president in 2008, Republican rival John McCain ran up 69 percent of the vote in Kansas 1. That was down just a hair from the 72 percent taken in 2004 by President George W. Bush .
At the local level, Moran won the 1st District seat the last time it was open in 1996 with 73 percent of the vote, and that turned out to be his lowest score in his seven House contests. He took 82 percent in defeating Democrat James Bordonaro in 2008.
The White House is trying to rev up the economy, pass a big health-care overhaul and change the nation’s energy profile. That’s pretty obvious.
Less obvious but highly intriguing is how, in the process, Team Obama also is trying to create a new and durable Democratic coalition with friendly segments of the business community. It’s far from clear how far such a partnership can get, but it has the potential to alter both the political and policy calculus of Washington.
This picture is the dog that caught the car: finally we are carried into the future where the post-nuclear dystopian world is filled with killer robots on a constant hunt. This is what we have been (well, I have been) curious to see since the very first of these pictures. Turns out, though, that a bunch of anonymous killer robots aren’t much more interesting than a bunch of trees in the wind or a bunch of cars in traffic. You gotta have a personal story to make the movie take off-you gotta have a conflict so clear it bats you in the head, for instance, the marketing campaign for a big summer movie about killer robots from the future. (more…)
Bogus allegations of temperament were used by Democrats in the Bush administration to sink the Miguel Estrada nomination and delay the John Bolton appointment. There would be no question that two of the leading conservative judges, Antonin Scalia and Frank Easterbrook, have sharp tongues from the bench, but no one sensible would suggest that this is somehow disqualifying. Let’s establish a precedent that there’s nothing wrong with the sharp tongue: Oral argument is overrated, and that an advocate is interrupted is hardly grounds to disapprove of the judge who interrupts.
A Quinnipiac University national poll released last month — one of the most comprehensive on the subject of gay rights ever done and with a sample size double the usual national survey — found that 55% opposed legalizing gay marriage in their own states, while 38% approved of it. (more…)
In 2006, Ted Strickland (D) cruised to the governor’s office in Ohio after scandals had crippled the state Republican Party, which controlled the office for 16 years. So it was interesting to hear John Kasich criticize both parties as he launched his campaign today.
“We have to face facts: we’ve drifted in Ohio, and it hasn’t just been one political party,” the former Congressman and Fox News Channel host said at a rally in his home town of Westerville, which was streamed live on the Internet.
North Korea’s latest round of saber-rattling will be front and center in the coming national debate over missile defense, perhaps prompting some lawmakers to think twice about the Obama administration’s plan to reshape the military.
After the hermitic Stalinist country set off a nuclear device and test-fired several short-range missiles this week, conservative lawmakers and former officials linked the event to their decades-long drive to increase funding and support for a worldwide missile “shield” designed to detect and destroy ballistic missiles fired at the United States or its allies.
These advocates need all the help they can get to fight Obama’s plan to cut several components and reduce funding for the Pentagon’s largest program, which received over $12 billion last year. Proponents believe that by portraying Obama’s plan as weakening America’s defenses in the face of North Korea’s aggressiveness, they can convince the public and some Democrats to oppose the changes.
“North Korea’s brazen act of aggression should strengthen our resolve for a multi-layered missile-defense system capable of protecting our nation and our allies,” said House Minority Leader John A. Boehner , R-Ohio.
Obama’s job approval is in the mid-50s to the mid-60s; wouldn’t one expect that if you’re an Obama fan, you’re pretty much on board with the pick? Are there any pockets of Obama supporters who are wary or disappointed with this selection?
Yet Mr. Netanyahu doesn’t want to get pushed too fast toward a peace process that could disrupt his fragile governing coalition. So he has refused to do two things Mr. Obama would have liked. He won’t say he favors a “two-state solution” to the Palestinian problem, which would imply accepting a Palestinian state with full powers, including power to raise an army. And he won’t agree to an outright settlement freeze; he said Sunday that he would allow existing settlements to expand. A standoff there. (more…)
SEATTLE — The City of Seattle has been cracking down on bad behavior at its libraries, and there doesn’t appear to be any shortage of it.KIRO Team 7 Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne discovered security has already ejected 432 patrons in the first four months this year for offenses like assault, drug dealing, intoxication and lewd conduct.If that pace continues, it would far exceed any other year.On Wednesday evening, the library board amended some of its “code of conduct” rules to better identify the most dangerous offenses.They range from simple alterations — like redefining the violation for “sleeping” to “appear to be sleeping”– to more serious matters, like kicking out repeat offenders for two years.Seattle’s library employees just want to help people find books they love, but along the way, put up with being assaulted, threatened and spit upon.
On Fox News Sunday, debating Sen. Jon Kyl (R, AZ), Sen. Ben Nelson (D, NE) was incoherent on Guantanamo Bay. He wants us to try war criminals and then, once they’re convicted, he’d have us … send them to other countries (where they’d likely be released). But, he said, those terrorists who violate American law can be incarcerated in the U.S.
Certainly the number of Washington decision-makers with military experience continues to decline. In its profile of the Congress that convened at the beginning of the year, the Congressional Research Service notes that it continues a long-term slide in the number of lawmakers in Washington who have served in the military:
“In the 111th Congress there are 121 Members who have served in the military, five less than in the 110th Congress. The House has 96 veterans (including two Delegates); the Senate 25. These Members served in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War,
Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kosovo, as well as during times of peace. Some have served in the Reserves and the National Guard. Several Members are still serving as Reservists. As noted above, one Senator is a former Secretary of the Navy.
“The number of veterans in the 111th Congress reflects the trend of a steady decline in the number of Members who have served in the military. For example, there were 298 veterans (240 Representatives, 58 Senators) in the 96th Congress (1979-1981); and 398 veterans (329 Representatives, 69 Senators) in the 91st Congress (1969-1971).”
The proximate cause of the bankruptcy was supposed to be the inability of GM and the government’s auto task force to reach an accommodation with GM’s bondholders. But late last week, the bondholder problem was moving toward rapid resolution, and was clearly resolvable. Why then are GM and its multibillion government financier proceeding with bankruptcy? (more…)
In picking Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama has confirmed that identity politics matter to him more than merit. While Judge Sotomayor exemplifies the American Dream, she would not have even been on the short list if she were not Hispanic.
She is not one of the leading lights of the federal judiciary, and far less qualified for a seat on the Supreme Court than Judges Diane Wood and Merrick Garland or Solicitor General Elena Kagan.
To be sure, Sotomayor has a compelling story: a daughter of working-class Puerto Ricans raised in Bronx public housing projects, diagnosed with diabetes at 8, losing her father at 9, accolades at Princeton and Yale Law, ending up on the federal bench.
Judges who decide cases in this manner abuse their office and undermine the rule of law. They also generate policies that are harmful to our economy, dangerous to our national security, and destructive to our social fabric. Liberal activism on the bench has these effects even when the offending judges are geniuses. The nominee’s approach to judging is more important than her IQ, and it is on that subject that senators ought to be trying to shed light. And they should take their time doing it. Thanks to years of activism, Supreme Court justices have more power than most senators. We should spend at least as much time learning how they would exercise it as we do for Senate candidates.
Barring some shocking revelation, we know the outcome of these hearings. Some Republicans say that we could have done worse: Given what we know of her judicial craftsmanship and temperament, she is unlikely to have influence on the Court beyond her vote. But such musings are neither here nor there. The choice for Republican senators is not between Sotomayor and some hypothetical more dangerous Obama nominee; it is between her being confirmed with their consent and her being confirmed without it.
That consent should probably not be given, and should certainly be withheld for now.
The use of online classifieds sites, such as Craigslist, has more than doubled in the past four years, according to a study published Friday by the Pew Research Center. At the same time that Web classifies are on the rise, the classifieds business that newspapers once depended on has collapsed, the Pew Internet & America Life Project found.
“Nearly half (49 percent) of Internet users say they have ever used online classified sites,” the Pew Center said in the report. In 2005, the percentage was 22 percent.
One out of 10 Internet users visits an online classifieds service each day, up from four percent in 2005.
Not that this is big news but the Pew Center helps to illustrate just how devastating online classifieds has been on newspapers. A graph of newspaper classified ad revenue since 1980 to last year (at bottom) shows that the industry saw a high in 2000 with about $19.6 billion. Last year, newspapers recorded $9.9 billion.
May 29 (Bloomberg) — U.S. ground-based interceptor rockets would “likely” knock out a long-range North Korean missile before it could reach the American mainland, the Pentagon’s independent testing official said today. (more…)
Former Speaker of the Kansas House Endorses Huelskamp for Congress
FOWLER - Former Kansas House Speaker and western Kansas farmer Representative Melvin Neufeld today announced his endorsement of state senator Tim Huelskamp for Congress. (more…)
State lawmakers are giving Gov. Paterson’s proposal to toughen enforcement of ethics laws a chilly reception.
Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) Tuesday offered to do little more than review the plan and hold hearings.
“He must be smoking again,” a Senate Democrat quipped after the governor unveiled his plan.
For baseball fans of a certain age, 1959 is remembered as the year the Yankees lost the pennant — the only such year from 1955 through 1964. More shocking than the Yankees’ failure to win the 1959 pennant was their inability even to make a race out of it. This was the result of a terrible start. On May 30, when they arrived in Washington for a double-header with the Senators, they were in last place with a record of 16-23 and trailed the Senators by 2.5 games. (more…)
According to a CNN poll released over a week ago, very few said it was important to have a Hispanic or black nominee. And almost as many women (58%) as men (65%) said it was not important for Obama to pick a woman. A Gallup poll from around the same time showed similar results.
But, now that Sonia Sotomayor has been named, a new Gallup poll shows a gender gap has emerged. Of the last four nominees, she has the largest gender gap in support. There isn’t male animosity toward Sotomayor, as they are evenly divided on her nomination. However, women are overwhelmingly supportive (54% excellent/good idea, 25% only fair/poor), with three times as many finding her an “excellent” pick as a “poor” one.
Gallup suggests this gap could stem from gender differences in party identification. But the gender gap in party identification has been consistent for some time, yet only Alito also evoked a gender gap (a smaller one, in the opposite direction). And it is not simply the nomination of any woman that spurs a gap, as Harriet Miers was not any more popular with women. It is likely the combination of both the nomination of a woman, and women’s Democratic proclivities that produce the gap.
But something else strikes me as important. Despite voters’ claims that a nominee’s gender or race is irrelevant, Sotomayor’s gender does seem to improve her standing with women. This suggests voters may be unwilling, or unable, to report preferences they may have for a candidate of a specific race or gender.
Bennett, who says he is taking Shurtleff “very seriously,” is hardly shying away from trumpeting his seniority as he rounds out his third six-year Senate term in the seat he first won in 1992. (more…)
Mr. Chairman - crazy suggestion for you. Instead of spending your Friday morning fielding calls on a talk show, why don’t you pick up your phone and try to find the RNC the cash it’ll need to compete next year? Or call up that marginal, would-be candidate one more time to talk him into running - perhaps by promising him the support from all the donors you’re about to call. This task might also be referred to as…your job description, which does not include posturing against your party for the satisfaction of your own vanity/ego while guest-hosting a talk show and serving as the party’s chief media whore pundit.
Suppose we decided to tackle the issue solely on the spending side. It turns out that total discretionary spending in the federal budget, if maintained at its current share of GDP in perpetuity, is 3 percent larger than the entitlement shortfall. So all we would have to do to fully fund our nation’s entitlement programs would be to cut discretionary spending by 97 percent. But hold on. That discretionary spending includes defense and national security, education, the environment and many other areas, not just those controversial earmarks that make the evening news. All of them would have to be cut-almost eliminated, really-to tackle this problem through discretionary spending. (more…)
The public air wars over Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor kicked off Wednesday as a liberal coalition announced the first television ad backing President Obama’s high court pick.
The Coalition for Constitutional Values is launching the ad, titled “Justice,” with what they call a “significant” six-figure budget on national cable and broadcast news.
The advertisement uses President Obama’s own words in touting Sotomayor’s qualifications, running through her academic and judicial résumé while calling her a “tough prosecutor” and “distinguished judge” with a “practical understanding of the law.”
It is the first but certainly not the last time the coalition will weigh in on Sotomayor’s side. The group is a collective of organizations including the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the Alliance for Justice and People for the American Way, among others - the leading liberal organizations that will spend money to advocate for President Obama’s judicial nominees.
Other groups are preparing to launch their own efforts in support of Sotomayor; the National Organization for Women announced shortly after Obama introduced Sotomayor that it would kick off a “Confirm Her” campaign.
President Obama spent loads of political capital early in his administration to push a behemoth $787 billion “spendulous” bill through Congress. In this promised era of transparency and accountability, Americans were supposed to rest safely in the assurance that the President would hold the line against fraud, waste and political kickbacks.
Apparently, Congressman John Murtha (D-PA) didn’t get the memo.
The John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport is tucked away on the outskirts of Johnstown, PA, a town with a population of approximately 21,000. On any given day the airport handles an average of 20 passengers on a total of three flights — all to Washington Dulles International Airport. A recent exposé by ABC News found the airport “virtually deserted” and dubbed John Murtha’s airport the “Airport for Nobody.”
Over the past decade, Congressman Murtha has secured at least $150 million in federal funding for his airport, in addition to a $147 per passenger annual government subsidy. Included in Murtha’s earmarks are an $8 million state-of-the-art radar system that has never been used and a $6.5 million three-story National Guard and Reserve training center that resembles a ski lodge. In 2006, Murtha siphoned off $17.8 million of defense spending to replace a 7,000 foot asphalt runway with a concrete reinforced bed. Add it all up, and so much pork has flooded into Johnstown, PA, that somebody ought to call FEMA.
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian security forces have arrested 104 “devil worshippers” and seized drugs and alcohol during a party in a southern city, a semi-official news agency reported Monday.
“Cutting (their own) skin and sucking up the blood was among the indecent behavior of the group,” Mehr News Agency quoted Colonel Abbas Hamedi of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in the city of Shiraz as saying.
He said a Guards intelligence unit launched an investigation into the all-male group about one year ago, leading to their arrest Sunday evening.
“The group’s aim was to promote irreligious behavior,” Hamedi, adding they had posted footage of their parties on the Internet.
The Islamic Republic, which bans alcohol and narcotics, last year said it would launch a crackdown on “indecent Western-inspired movements” such as rappers and satanists.
A suspect in this morning’s fatal shooting of George Tiller is in custody in Johnson County.
Authorities have yet to release more information about the arrest in Gardner. Wichita police have scheduled a 4 p.m. news conference to discuss the case.
Tiller, 67, was shot just after 10 a.m. in the lobby of Reformation Lutheran Church at 7601 E. 13th, where he was a member of the congregation.
