LATEST NEWS
Sarah Palin turns comedian on Jay Leno - not bad at it either.......Kids take over control tower at New York's Kennedy airport......."Tiger will play Masters", so says Jack Nicklaus........Cancun returns to being King of Spring Break. Cancun was hit hard last year by the recession, but this year college students are returning in droves....
OSCAR AWARD PREDICTIONS
According to the latest poll on CNN, viewers say they like these winners for the upcoming oscar awards: Best Picture -- Avatar, Best Actor -- Jeremy Renner, Best Actress - Meryl Streep and Best Director --
James Cameron, Avatar
ANDERSON COOPER TALKING WITH CBS
Reports are circulating that Anderson Cooper is talking with CBS about an anchor role. And that role may be as Katie Couric's replacement. Couric's contract ends in less than a year, and CBS has remained third during her tenure as the lead CBS anchor.
HUGE EARTHQUAKE HITS CHILE
Another earthquake occurred but this time it was an 8.8 off the coast of Chile. Fatalities are said to be under 1,000 as the eathquake hit in a less inhabited area of Chile. Tsunami warnings were posted over many of the Pacific islands including Hawaii.
PARIS TOO HOT FOR BRAZIL?
Paris Hilton appeared in a beer ad that a few in the government found a little too erotic. Paris appeared in short black dress rubbing a bottle of beer. No word on whether the beer company will pull the popular ad.
DIAMOND SELLS FOR $35 MILLION
A rare diamond found in South Africa was sold today by Petra Diamonds for $35 million. The diamond was over 500 carats and garnered a higher price than any diamond in history. No word on who the buyer is and what they plan to do with the huge rock.
2010 OLYMPICS -- 2/25
Lindsey Vonn crashed in the first run of the Giant Slalom. As she lay on the ground recovering, teammate Julia Mancuso was already hurtling down the course on a record setting run. But as luck would have it, Mancuso was flagged down by officials half way down her run to prevent a serious problem, as Lindsey was still on the track....Mancusa was allowed to make her run over, but at that point, the course had been chewed up by other racers and Mancuso was only able to grab 18th place. A second Giant Slalom run will be held later.
2010 OLYMPICS -- 2/22
Once again the US doimnated the 2010 olympic medal count picking up a gold medal from Bode Miller who took first place in the Combined Sdownhill/slalom in Sundays action. In addition the US Hockey team beat the Canadian Hockey team 5 to 3.
HURT LOCKER TOPS AVATAR IN UK AWARDS
In a surprise, the movie "Hurt Locker" soundly beat "Avatar in a UK movie awards ceremony over the weekend. Plus Kathryn Bigelow (ex-wife of avatar director James Cameron), won Best Director award. This was the first time a Best Director award had been given to a female. The results may be a precursor to the upcoming Oscar awards which happen in two weeks, in Los Angeles.
DIRTY TRICKSTER IS NEW RNC CHAIR
When Michael Steele ran for Maryland's open US Senate in 2006, his backers hired 300 mostly poor African Americans from Philadelphia -- most if not all of them unemployed, many of them homeless -- fed them donuts and then packed the crew onto Trailways buses for an Election Day trip that would make a bit of political history.
The buses, which were draped in banners for Steele and then-Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich, headed across the state line into Maryland, where the day laborers were dispatched to predominantly African-American neighborhoods of the city of Baltimore and populous Prince George's County.
They spent Election Day handing out glossy fliers headlined "Democratic Sample Ballot" or "Official Voter Guide." The fliers employed the phrase "Ehrlich-Steele Democrats." And they featured images of prominent African Americans, such as former Democratic congressman and NAACP leader Kweisi Mfume, above the words: "These are our choices."
The implication that Mfume and other popular Democrats in the state were backing Steele, and Ehrlich, was hard to miss. But Mfume wasn't backing the "Ehrlich-Steele Democrats" ticket. Steele and Ehrlich weren't running as Democrats.
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PAT BUCHANAN
The latest from Pat Buchanan's Blog on the future for America. Not good, according to Pat. The great days are behind us. Is this reality or someone who's just bitter:
"This city (Washington DC) does not seem to grasp that the days of wine and roses are over. We are not in the 1950s or 1960s anymore. Then, we could throw open our markets to imports from the world. Then, we could dish out foreign aid and fight wars in Vietnam with 500,000 men, while maintaining 50,000 troops in Korea and 300,000 in Europe.
America is headed for a time when, like the British Empire, she is going to have to make painful choices, or have them forced upon us." ......p. buchanan
OBAMA APPROVAL ENDS FEBRUARY AT 50%
The President's approval rating ended the month of February at 50% which was slightly higher than the low for the month of 48%. Is Obama rebounding now that a vote on health care may be coming?
HEALTH CARE UP FOR VOTE
The President, wednesday, said he wants an up or down vote on the very contentious health platform he has been pushing for the last 8 months..
CHARLIE RANGEL TO GIVE UP SEAT
Facing more pressure from Democrats and Republicans, Representative Charles Rangel has decide to give up his Chairmanship on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. Rangel said the move was temporary, but continuing investigations over tax issues may turn this into a premanent situation.
Rangel was recently admonished for breaking House ethics rules over several trips he made that were paid for by corporate sponsers. Rangel said he was unaware that the trips were paid for by corporations.
SIX WAYS THE HEALTH CARE SUMMIT HELPED - David Brooks
One, President Obama did a good job in leading the discussion. He tried to keep things on topic and in a coherent direction.
Second, the usual Congressional leaders played less of a role. Brooks said that at least 2/3’s of the statements by the non-leadership tyoes were well-informed and helpful to the overall understanding of the topic.
Third, ”you got to see the Obama presidency encapsulated in one event. At the very end, the president summarized some possible points of agreement between the two parties, offered some concessions and asked Republicans to see if they could make some on their own.”
Fourth, you got to see the confidence of the republicans. They seem to be fine with Obama ramming the current, unpopular, health care bill through the congressional reconciliation process.
Fifth, was the one area of agreement: neither side would say how they plan to cut heatlh costs and increase revenue.
Sixth, according to Brooks” the summit illuminated one of the core mysteries of this whole debate: Are the two parties so fundamentally divided that there will never be any agreement, or is there at least the theoretical possibility of a compromise approach?
GOVERNOR PATTERSON MAY LEAVE RACE
Unnamed sources in New York say that Governor Patterson will be taking his name out of the Novmeber race for Governor. Patterson has been severly battered over the last few weeks over problems in this administration. Most recently one of his aides resigned over charges that his office was trying to influence the outcome of a possible suit. Many expect that the more popular son of former Mario Cuomo will take his place on the democratic side which many party officials prefer.
WHAT PART OF NO DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND - Ann Coulter
In her most recent opinion piece Ann Coulter discusses the current health care issue and suggests the following:
Americans don't want socialized medicine.......Republicans should remember the free market that gave us cheep cell phones, computers and glasses in one hour.....Get rid of medical malpractice lawyers like John Edwards......And Congress should remove state and federal mandates for health insurance and allow competition accross state boundaries.....
PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES $1 TRILLION HEALTH CARE PLAN
The White House is planning to initiate an almost $1 trillion health care plan that would would give the government the ability to roll back overly aggresive insurance premiums. The announcement was posted on the White House web site and added that an additional 31 million Americans would be covered without adding to the deficit. Ther plan omits the reference to the government plan previously brought forth by congressional liberals:
"WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is making a fresh attempt to rescue his health care overhaul by proposing a measure that would allow the government to deny or roll back egregious insurance premium increases that infuriate consumers.
Coming just days before a White House health care summit with congressional leaders of both parties, Obama's legislative proposal, which will be unveiled later Monday, likely represents the president's last chance to salvage his signature issue.
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity because details have not yet been officially released, said the insurance rate proposal would give the federal Health and Human Services Department - in conjunction with state authorities - the power to deny substantial premium increases, limit them, or demand rebates for consumers."
CPAC VOTES FOR RON PAUL
CPAC, the conservative conference held each year held their straw vote, something they do at the end of every annual session. Surprisingly, the group picked Ron Paul as their favorite candidate for president. Mitt Romney was second. Is a recount coming?
THE FIERCE URGENCY OF PORK, Charles Krauthammer
Catastrophe, mind you. So much for the president who in his inaugural address two weeks earlier declared "we have chosen hope over fear." Until, that is, you need fear to pass a bill.
And so much for the promise to banish the money changers and influence peddlers from the temple. An ostentatious executive order banning lobbyists was immediately followed by the nomination of at least a dozen current or former lobbyists to high position. Followed by a Treasury secretary who allegedly couldn't understand the payroll tax provisions in his 1040. Followed by Tom Daschle, who had to fall on his sword according to the new Washington rule that no Cabinet can have more than one tax delinquent.
The Daschle affair was more serious because his offense involved more than taxes. As Michael Kinsley once observed, in Washington the real scandal isn't what's illegal, but what's legal. Not paying taxes is one thing. But what made this case intolerable was the perfectly legal dealings that amassed Daschle $5.2 million in just two years.
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