Entries
Obama's China Envy
Obama used his SOTU address to lament that “China is building newer airports,” and imply that we should too. But do we really want an infrastructure race with China? Dandong is a city in Northeast China with a population about 780, 000. Here is a photograph I took of Dandong’s airport last fall – …
U.S. Official Kills Attackers in Pakistan
U.S. Official in Pakistan Kills Attackers BBC News reports: An American official in the Pakistani city of Lahore has shot and killed a Pakistani motorcycle rider and his pillion passenger, police say. They say that the consular employee fired his pistol in self-defence. US …
Jay Carney is New WH Press Secretary
Jay Carney: New WH Press Secretary CNN reports: Vice President Joe Biden's communications director Jay Carney is expected to be named the new White House Press Secretary, likely on Friday when a series of other big staff moves will be announced by President Obama, according to a …
Beck Denies Charges of Anti-Semitism
Beck Denies Charges of Anti-Semitism Huffington Post reports: Glenn Beck responded to charges that he is anti-Semitic on the same day that 400 rabbis took out a full-page newspaper ad calling for him to be "sanctioned" for his repeated invocations of Nazis and the Holocaust. …
Crisis Panel: Wall Street Missed Warning Signs
Crisis Panel: Wall Street Missed Warning Signs Wall Street Journal reports: One of the most important findings in a blue-ribbon panel report on the 2008 financial crisis is that more steps could have been taken to help prevent the meltdown, Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission …
Rhee: 'Really Thought Fenty Would Win'
Rhee: 'Really Thought Fenty Would Win' Politico reports: Michelle Rhee turned up at work last Sept. 15 utterly stunned. “I really did think he was going to win, ” she told the staff of her boss, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty. “Yes, we know you did,” came the reply. Rhee …
Giffords to Begin Speech Rehab
Giffords to Begin Speech Rehab The AP reports: Rep. Gabrielle Giffords on Wednesday left intensive care for the first time since she was shot in the head in Arizona more than two weeks ago, the latest big step in the long road to recovery. With her progress moving at "lightnin…
McConnell, Reid Reach Senate Rules Deal
McConnell, Reid Reach Senate Rules Deal Huffington Post reports: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have reached agreement on a set of relatively small changes to the upper chamber's rules, including an informal pact to reduce …
TARP Makes $12.3B Profit on Citigroup
TARP Makes $12.3B Profit on Citigroup Wall Street Journal reports: The U.S. is set to record a net $312.2 million from its sale of its final 465.1 million warrants to purchase common shares of Citigroup Inc., the Treasury Department said Wednesday. The sale of the warrants, …
McCain Writer is "O" Author
McCain Writer is "O" Author Time reports: McCain wordsmith revealed as "anonymous" author of "O" the novel. Confirmed by sources, but there were lots of in-plain-sight clues that led to Salter's Maine door. --Simon and Schuster topper Jonathan Karp was Salter's editor on …
ElBaradei Returns to Egypt
ElBaradei Returns to Egypt Reuters reports: Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog turned Egyptian reform campaigner, arrived in Cairo Thursday after saying it was time for President Hosni Mubarak to quit. ElBaradei, 68, arrived from Vienna, where he …
WH Announces Staff Shakeup
WH Announces Staff Shakeup ABC News reports: Sources tell ABC News that President Obama will announce a number of staffing changes this afternoon, including the appointment of two new deputy chiefs of staff: current head of the White House Office of Health Reform Nancy-Ann DeParle …
Who's Bigger: Senate Tea Partiers or GOP Centrists?
The GOP Senate Tea Party caucus may grab the headlines, but the moderate GOP Main Street Caucus has the members. The GOP Main Street Caucus has more members in the Senate (4) than the Tea Party caucus does. At Politico , Manu Raju and Scott Wong write : [S]o far, the entire group …Scheuer's New Bin Laden Bio
Michael Scheuer was once head of the CIA's bin Laden unit, but what's most arresting in his new book is that the man detailed to catch bin Laden couldn't even speak Arabic. The mailbag brings a copy of Michael Scheuer's new biography of Osama bin Laden. I am not an admirer of Michael …Protests Spread to Yemen
Protests Spread to Yemen The Guardian reports: Thousands of Yemenis today took to the streets of the capital, Sana'a, to demand a change of government, inspired by the unrest that has ousted the Tunisian leader and spread to Egypt. "The people want a change in president," …
Report: Social Security Fund Empty by 2037
Report: Social Security Fund Empty by 2037 The AP reports: Sick and getting sicker, Social Security will run at a deficit this year and keep on running in the red until its trust funds are drained by about 2037, congressional budget experts said Wednesday in bleaker-than-previous …
Rabbis to Fox News: Stop the 'Nazi' Talk
Rabbis to Fox: Stop the 'Nazi' Talk Washington Post reports: A coalition of rabbis wants Fox News chief Roger Ailes and conservative host Glenn Beck to cut out all their talk about Nazis and the Holocaust, and it's making its views known in an unusual place. The rabbis have …
Protesters Blame U.S. for Mubarak's Rule
Protesters Blame U.S. for Mubarak Eric Trager writes in the New York Daily News : Last night, as the second day of popular demonstrations that have gripped huge chunks of downtown Cairo and beyond continued past dusk, a hundreds-strong crowd outside the Lawyers Syndicate suddenly …
Govs Look to Slash State Jobs
Govs Look to Slash State Jobs CNN reports: There will be lots more state workers joining the unemployment line this year. Public employees are getting hit hard in the latest round of spending cuts as state officials look to close billion-dollar deficits. Governors across the …