Don’t know exactly what to do with this stuff, so here it is (turned out to be a bigger post than I thought)…Three men were charged with involvement in Politkovskaya's murder while an officer from the Federal Security Service, the FSB, faces charges of extortion and abuse of office, the Investigative Committee said in a statement. The four have been held since their arrests last August.One of the things I never understood in this case is how Russian investigators think anyone would take seriously the claim that Politkovskaya’s murder was ordered by Boris Berezovsky, since both of them were fierce critics of the Kremlin and our ol’ buddy Vlad Putin.
Politkovskaya, 48, was shot to death in her central Moscow apartment building in October 2006. Colleagues believe her murder was linked to her work reporting on abuses by Russian troops in Chechnya.
By the way, this tells us that the deadliest countries for journalists are Iraq (of course), Algeria (bit of a surprise) and Russia (undesirable company for Medvedev, Putin et al to say the least).
Colombia's coca crop – the basis for cocaine – grew by 27 percent last year, the United Nations reported Wednesday, calling the increase “a surprise and a shock” given major U.S.-funded eradication efforts.Gee, any idea as to why that happened?
Eradication of the crop in Colombia, the world's No. 1 cocaine-producing nation, has been the cornerstone of a multibillion-dollar U.S. aid package.
Some Democrats in the U.S. Congress are criticizing the heavy military focus of U.S. aid to Colombia. About 80 percent of the money goes to the military while only 20 percent is dedicated to social projects designed to wean farmers off coca.Of course, no one could have predicted this (and this post notes why we should have no parts of a free-trade deal with Colombia; I don’t see the point of such a pact if the farmers can’t grow enough non-cocoa to compete anyway).
In two news conferences, Dodd said he interpreted his inclusion in this program as a "courtesy" for being a longtime Countrywide customer — not as special treatment because of his Senate position.The story also notes the following quote from Dodd on whether he thought he was getting a special break offered to him and whether or not he picked up any such sign…
"There was no red flag to me that we were getting any special treatment," he said.
He also insisted again that even though he was told he was in (the) VIP program, he did not receive a special deal on his family's two home mortgages, as suggested in media reports last week. He said that his loan refinancing was handled through a regular loan officer — not a corporate executive.
“I was born at night, but not last night.”Good one.
I’ve read elsewhere that the amount in question is about $17,000. Well, my standard for Republican corruption was established by former House Speaker Denny Hastert, who took about $70K of Jack Abramoff money and wrote earmarks into legislation that ultimately netter him about $2 million in a land deal, as noted here. Given that, the money Dodd received (assuming it was a special deal, and I don’t see the evidence) doesn’t even qualify as chump change.
And by the way, Dodd was also criticized on this (indirectly) by Repug Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas (can't locate the story at the moment).
Yep, this Jeb Hensarling.
Update 6/23/08: And speaking of Denny...
Many boomers, as we all know, cherish and chase youth, and many of them, not surprisingly, could be found at Mr. Obama’s rallies this fall, the political equivalent of a 50-year-old man wearing a baseball cap backward. Yet, at a time when many Americans live into their 80s and beyond, those who are beginning to contemplate their first Social Security check can simultaneously embrace the belief that they will remain active members of society for years, even decades, to come. For these voters, Mr. McCain may seem as much a barrier-breaker as either Mr. Obama or Mrs. Clinton.The preceding has been brought to you by the Republican National Committee (oy!).
You know, I can make up all kinds of stuff too and put it up here, but I can think of two immediately developments if that happened: 1) I would lose the readership I have because it would cease to be of interest to anyone whatsoever (and as always, thanks to those who visit), and 2) I’d actually have a hard time looking myself in the mirror (for real).
And Nagourney apparently could not find (or didn’t bother to look for) Democratic political consultants, since he quotes two Republican operatives and a historian to support his argument that McCain is “vulnerable to a double standard” on age, though it appears to have given him “an opportunity in the election”…
Mr. Obama struggled with older voters in the primaries. Combined exit polls from all the primaries plus the Iowa and Nevada caucuses found that Mrs. Clinton won 59 percent of voters age 65 and older, compared with 34 percent for Mr. Obama.We’ll see what older voters do in the general, but I think this post by Sam Stein is worth nothing because he tells us that Obama closed the gap between himself and Hillary Clinton in the six weeks between the Ohio and Pennsylvania primaries last spring among seniors (and whites also).
The Nagourney piece also recounts a little history about the presidential campaign of BobDole BobDole BobDole in 1996, stating the toughest questions Dole faced came from members of his own age group (Dole was 73 when he ran for president). The column also recounts a time Dole “tumbled off a stage” because a guard rail wasn’t secured, apparently, and the incident reinforced the perception was Dole was too elderly to handle the job.
I don’t know about that, but I do know this.
Bob Dole had nothing to run on. Zip. Nada. All he had was tax cuts (sound familiar?) and indignation over Bill Clinton’s actual and alleged extramarital antics. I can distinctly recall a campaign event he attended where the band played “Hail to the Chief” as he was introduced (typical sickening Repug arrogance).
And as a result, he got wiped out. It had little to do with his age; more precisely, it had just about everything to do with his inability to offer an intelligent alternative as a presidential candidate during a period of prosperity.
To imply that McCain is somehow breaking ground (following in Dole’s footsteps) on the issue of age as Obama is on race and Clinton did on gender is truly farcical. But what else can I expected from the individual who helped to concoct this?
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