* 5/5/09--The Obama Administration has signalled a tougher approach towards Israel ahead of fresh talks on the Middle East peace process by insisting it must endorse the creation of an independent Palestinian state. --TimesOnline.
* 5/6/09--Health-nut-in-chief President Obama -- who regularly rises before dawn to work out -- stunned diners at a Beltway burger joint yesterday when he strolled in and ordered up some beef patties with Vice President Joe Biden. "Who wants a burger?" Obama asked reporters following him as he walked into Ray's Hell Burger in Arlington, Va.--NY Post (Ronald Reagan refused a hotel room numbered 666. Is this an 'Omen'? See next entry.)
* 5/7/09--In 1775, the First Continental Congress called for a National Day of Prayer. In 1952 Congress established the NDP as an annual event by a joint resolution, signed into law by President Truman. In 1988, the law was amended to designate the first Thursday in May for NDP, and was signed into law by President Reagan. The mission of the National Day of Prayer Task Force is to communicate with every family the need for personal repentance and prayer, and to mobilize families to personal and corporate prayer, particularly on behalf of the nation and those in leadership on all levels of local, national, church and educational areas of influence. In 1800, John Adams wrote in a letter to his wife Abigail, "I Pray Heaven to Bestow The Best of Blessing on THIS HOUSE, and on ALL that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof!" It was his last year in office, but the first year any president occupied the White House. Franklin D. Roosevelt had Adam's quote lettered in gold in the marble over the fireplace in the State Dining Room of the White House. Indeed, prayer is the only enduring path to hope and change, and our nation needs a lot of both right now. However, the current inhabitant of the White House will not be observing NDP. Robert Gibbs told his press club, "We're doing a proclamation, which I know that many administrations in the past have done," but Obama will not be inviting faith leaders to the White House (like Wright, Pfleger and Farrakhan?), or attending any of the events associate with NDP.-Patriot Post
* 5/7/09--Maine's governor signed a bill yesterday legalizing same-sex marriage, making the state the fifth to allow gay unions. Maine's Senate voted 21-13 for a bill that redefines marriage as the union of two people, rather than a man and a woman....Last month, Iowa and Vermont joined Massachusetts and Connecticut in allowing gay couples to wed. Legislation is also advancing in New Hampshire. In California, advocates are hoping to overturn Proposition 8, the 2008 constitutional amendment that banned gay marriages. --Reuters (Slouching Towards Gomorrah?)
* 5/7/09--WASHINGTON -- Iran is building weapons of mass destruction faster than government officials realize, according to Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau, whose office uncovered Tehran's efforts to obtain dangerous materials. "It's late in this game, and we don't have a lot of time to stop Iran from developing long-range missiles and nuclear weapons," Morgenthau testified yesterday before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The DA said his office made the discovery while sifting through the thousands of records detailing Iranian schemes to buy weapon materials.--NY Post
* 5/12/09--WASHINGTON (AP) - Casting aside their president's misgivings, Democrats are racing into hearings to criticize newly released Bush administration memos justifying harsh terrorism interrogations. So far, however, the biggest embarrassment has engulfed a Democrat, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. As Pelosi keeps trying to clarify when she initially learned of the interrogation techniques, a Senate Judiciary subcommittee scheduled a hearing Wednesday that was billed as the "first public hearing on torture memos since their release." The Senate's public hearing - and House hearings to come - demonstrate that even a Democratic president can't stop his party's lawmakers from delving into what they consider embarrassments of a Republican administration.
* 5/12/09--Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps has deployed mobile ground-to-air and ground-to-sea missile batteries in the Strait of Hormuz and other areas in the Persian Gulf, a senior Iranian official was quoted by Al Watan as saying on Tuesday. The source told the Saudi-based newspaper that the move was made after Iran received reports that the US and Israel were preparing to attack the Islamic republic's nuclear facilities.--Jerusalem Post
* 5/12/09--WASHINGTON -- With the economy performing worse than hoped, revised White House figures point to deepening budget deficits, with the government borrowing almost 50 cents for every dollar it spends this year. The deficit for the current budget year will rise by $89 billion to above $1.8 trillion -- about four times the record set just last year. For the current year, the government would borrow 46 cents for every dollar it takes to run the government. In one of the few positive signs, the actual 2009 deficit is likely to be $250 billion less than predicted because Congress is unlikely to provide another $250 billion in financial bailout money.--AP
* 5/14/09--WASHINGTON (AP) — In his first quarterly report on the nation's stimulus package, Vice President Joe Biden uses anecdotes to paint a glowing picture of an economy on the rebound. In reality, the picture is incomplete and the colors far more muted. It is not disputed that Washington is spending historic amounts of money at a rate far faster than normal. Workers are getting tax breaks, Washington is picking up a greater share of state Medicaid costs and road construction projects are beginning. Even Recovery.gov, the Web site that has yet to live up to its billing as a one-stop way to track every penny, offers more information than typical government programs, and faster. But the effect of that spending is less clear. Many of the claims the White House is making are based on anecdotes selected to fit the Obama administration's message. For instance, the report cites a newspaper article about workers being rehired at a factory in Chicago. That account is true, but is no more an accurate snapshot of the nation's economy than a story, not cited in the report, about a Roanoke, Va., railcar factory closing. Capturing the full effect of the stimulus at this early stage is difficult, but the administration has set high bars for success. In championing those successes, however, the White House plays a little loose with the facts....It's true, buyers are taking advantage of the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credits. But that hasn't provided an immediate turnaround in the market. Since February, sales of existing homes have fallen 3 percent and new home sales are down .6 percent. And the number of jobs in the real estate industry has declined by about 20,500, according to the Department of Labor. There are signs that the housing market is improving. But the numbers suggest that if the market bottomed out, it did so in January, before the stimulus was passed.
BIDEN SAID: Employment agencies are placing more workers in jobs, and demand is up since February.
THE FACTS: The report cites an interview with an employment service manager quoted in the same New Orleans business article. The anecdote may be true, but it's impossible to extrapolate that any further, even just to New Orleans. The city has lost more than 200 jobs since February. Overall, Louisiana lost 16,085 jobs over the same span, according to the Department of Labor.
THE WHITE HOUSE SAID: The stimulus has created or saved 150,000 jobs.
THE FACTS: Since February, the nation has lost more than 1.3 million jobs, according to the Department of Labor. To make the case that the country created jobs over that same stretch, the White House has put forward a benchmark of jobs created "or saved." The argument is that the job numbers would have been even worse had it not been for the stimulus, and the difference between those numbers is a net positive. To visualize that disconnect, consider this: The administration has promised to create or save 600,000 more jobs in the next 100 days. Even if the nation loses another 5 million jobs during that span (a highly unlikely prospect) the White House could still claim success. There are few hard numbers when it comes to tracking stimulus jobs. The Obama administration numbers are based on estimates by the White House Council of Economic Advisers, based largely on a formula Obama's transition team put forward. It estimates the effect of tax breaks, government spending and social programs on job growth. Spending money will put people to work. But spending has a cost. At some point, Washington will have to pay for this program, either by raising taxes or interest rates, and those policies typically hurt job growth. The Obama administration's job data do not take into consideration this back-end cost, an omission some economists, particularly conservative economists, say is a flaw in the analysis.
* 5/15/09--WASHINGTON -- After weeks of denials and years of misleading rhetoric, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi admitted for the first time yesterday that she knew about the waterboarding of terror suspects as early as in 2003....House Republican Leader John Boehner said the revelations were damning. "When you look at the number of briefings that the speaker was in, and other Democrat members of the House and Senate, it's pretty clear that they were well aware of what these enhanced interrogation techniques were," said the Ohio lawmaker. Pelosi's denials contradicted a memo, recently prepared by the CIA and sent to Congress, outlining the numerous briefings they held for Pelosi and other top-ranking members of Congress.
The chart released by the CIA says Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the top Intelligence Committee Republican, then-Rep. Porter J. Goss of Florida, were given a "description of the particular [enhanced interrogation techniques] that had been employed." The chart specifically notes a discussion of waterboarding in 13 briefings between February 2003 and March 2009, most attended by Democrats as well as Republicans. The revelations undermine four years of political attacks on former President Bush and Republicans in Congress by Democrats who suggested they had clean hands and were morally outraged to discover the techniques had been used on terror suspects.Caught in the eye of the political storm, Pelosi yesterday hit back, accusing the CIA of lying to Congress. --Charles Hurt, With NY Post Wire Services
* 5/15/09--Obama's Justice Department inexplicably dismissed a slam-dunk case against the New Black Panther members who intimidated voters and polling judges at a Philadelphia polling place on Election Day 2008. This, despite the fact that one civil rights lawyer said it was the most blatant form of voter intimidation he had ever seen and the fact that the defendants didn't even bother to file pleadings with the court or raise any defenses to the charges.--David Limbaugh
* 5/16/09--WASHINGTON -- In an astonishing broadside from a fellow Democrat, CIA Director Leon Panetta yesterday flatly rejected House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's charge that the agency had failed to fully inform her about the harsh interrogation techniques used against terror suspects. "Let me be clear: It is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress. That is against our laws and our values," he wrote in a message to his employees, which was later distributed to reporters. "As the agency indicated previously in response to Congressional inquiries, our contemporaneous records from September 2002 indicate that CIA officers briefed truthfully on the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, describing 'the enhanced techniques that had been employed,' " wrote Panetta, a former congressman from Pelosi's home state of California....Several hours after Panetta circulated his message, Pelosi issued a response that blamed the Bush administration rather than the CIA for any errors in connection with the briefings. "My criticism of the manner in which the Bush administration did not appropriately inform Congress is separate from my respect for those in the intelligence community who work to keep our country safe," it said. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich teed off on Pelosi in an interview with ABC News radio. "I think she has lied to the House, and I think that the House has an absolute obligation to open an inquiry, and I hope there will be a resolution to investigate her. And I think this is a big deal. I don't think the speaker of the House can lie to the country on national security matters," he said. "I think this is the most despicable, dishonest and vicious political effort I've seen in my lifetime. She is a trivial politician, viciously using partisanship for the narrowest of purposes." --Charles Hurt, NY Post
* 5/20/09--Disgraced Democratic donor Norman Hsu was convicted yesterday of illegally funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to top-tier political candidates including then-Sen. Hillary Clinton and now-President Obama. A Manhattan federal court jury pronounced Hsu guilty on all four counts after less than three hours of deliberations over two days.--NY Post
* 5/20/09--FORMER President George W. Bush's policy of encouraging Middle East democratization has just produced spectacular results in the Kuwaiti general election. In a major victory for the secular reformists over the Islamists, women -- four of them -- were elected to the 50-seat national parliament for the first time. The Islamists' share of Sunday's vote dropped almost 30 percent from the last general election, held just more than a year ago. The radical Muslim Brotherhood lost three of its four seats, while the hard-line Salafis dropped to two from four. The election of women represents a political earthquake in the Gulf Cooperation Council, a grouping of six oil-rich traditional Arab monarchies. Kuwait has had a parliament on and off since gaining independence in 1960, but the other GCC members entered the era of electoral politics largely due to pressure from the Bush administration. US pressure also played a crucial part in persuading Kuwait's leaders to enfranchise women for the first time in 2005. --Amir Taheri, NY Post
* 5/20/09--WASHINGTON — An unreleased Pentagon report concludes that about one in seven of the 534 prisoners already transferred abroad from the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has returned to terrorism or militant activity, according to administration officials. The conclusion could strengthen the arguments of critics who have warned against the transfer or release of any more detainees as part of President Obama's plan to shut down the prison by January. Past Pentagon reports on Guantánamo recidivism have been met with skepticism from civil liberties groups and criticized for their lack of detail. The Pentagon promised in January that the latest report would be released soon, but Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said this week that the findings were still “under review.” Two administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said the report was being held up by Defense Department employees fearful of upsetting the White House, at a time when even Congressional Democrats have begun to show misgivings over Mr. Obama’s plan to close Guantánamo. --NY Times
* 5/21/09--WASHINGTON -- President Obama hit his first major snag in Congress yesterday -- and got a staggering rebuke from his own party -- when the Senate voted 90-6 to block the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the United States and deny the administration the millions it sought to close the prison. The overwhelming vote -- paired with similar House action last week -- was a clear sign that Obama will face a tough fight getting the Democratic-controlled Congress to agree to help him deliver on his campaign promise to shut down the detention center and move the 240 detainees. The vote, which included 48 of 54 Democrats in opposition, came as FBI Director Robert Mueller bucked his administration and told Congress that bringing Guantanamo detainees to the United States could pose risks, even if they were kept in maximum-security prisons. --NY Post
* 5/21/09--WASHINGTON -- An aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the focus on a two-state solution to the Israeli/Palestinian problem "childish and stupid" -- just two days after President Obama strongly pushed the idea. The aide, Ron Dermer, spoke after Netanyahu returned home following a two-hour White House meeting with Obama, who publicly called for a stop to Israeli settlements and called for a two-state solution while appearing with Netanyahu.--Post Wire Services
* 5/21/09--TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran test-fired a missile capable of striking Israel, US Mideast bases and Europe yesterday -- a show of strength from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as he battles for re-election next month against more moderate opponents. The United States responded by saying Iran must choose between destabilizing the Middle East or accepting the dialogue offered by President Obama, who this week said Iran could face further international sanctions if it does not respond positively by year-end to US attempts to open nuclear negotiations. --AP
* 5/24/09--President Obama has checked the accounting ledgers and come to a disturbing conclusion: The government is broke. "We are out of money," Obama said during a lengthy interview with C-SPAN that aired yesterday morning. He was responding to a question about the country's $11 trillion national debt, which is the money the government borrows long-term, and the potential $1.7 trillion budget deficit, which is the gap between tax revenue and current spending. "We've got a short-term problem . . . We had to spend a lot of money to salvage our financial system. We had to deal with the auto companies and a huge recession which drains tax revenue," the president said. But America's immediate cash crunch won't derail efforts to overhaul the nation's health-care system, Obama insisted.--NY Post
* 5/26/09--WASHINGTON -- North Korea's underground nuclear blast yesterday was up to 20 times more powerful than the atomic detonation it set off in 2006, officials said as the test was condemned by President Obama and other world leaders. In fact, Russia said the blast was as large as the one created by the bomb the United States dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, at the end of World War II. The explosion set off by the reclusive and unpredictable regime registered 4.7 on the earthquake-measuring Richter scale, according to the US Geological Survey. Obama accused North Korea of "blatant defiance" and "reckless action." Speaking in the White House Rose Garden before a Memorial Day trip to Arlington National Cemetery, the president said North Korea's ballistic missile programs "pose a great threat to the peace and security of the world." The country's actions "are a blatant violation of international law, and they contradict North Korea's own prior commitments," he added. "We will work with our friends and our allies to stand up to this behavior and we will redouble our efforts toward a more robust international non-proliferation regime that all countries have responsibilities to meet." The statement signaled a commitment to continuing six-party talks with North Korea, and didn't mention the one-on-one negotiations that Pyongyang prefers. "We're heading for a full-blown crisis with the North," said Peter Beck, a Korean affairs expert who teaches at American University in Washington. North Korea also fired three short-range ground-to-air missiles yesterday in an effort to chase off US spy planes trying to photograph the blast site, according to a report by the Yonhap South Korean News Agency. The nuclear test was the latest provocation from North Korea, which last month tested a long-range ballistic missile, drawing condemnation and UN sanctions. It also is holding two Americans on charges of spying.--NY Post
* 5/26/09--TEHRAN -- Iran has sent six warships to international waters, including the Gulf of Aden, to show its ability to confront any foreign threats, its naval commander said yesterday. Adm. Habibollah Sayyari, quoted by the ISNA news agency, made the announcement five days after Iran said it test-fired a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 1,200 miles, putting Israel and US bases in the area within reach. Iran said on May 14 it had sent two warships to the Gulf of Aden to protect oil tankers against attacks by pirates, but ISNA did not make clear whether they were among the six Sayyari talked about. --Reuters
* 5/28/09--Now even a columnist for the Russian newspaper Pravda is happily mocking the United States. "It must be said that, like the breaking of a great dam, the American descent into Marxism is happening with breathtaking speed, against the backdrop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear reader, I meant people," writes Stanislav Mishin. He adds: "[Obama's] spending and money-printing has been record-setting, not just in America's short history but in the world. If this keeps up for more than another year . . . America at best will resemble the Weimar Republic and at worst Zimbabwe." --NY Post
* 5/28/09--SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea yesterday threatened military action against US and South Korean warships plying the waters near the Koreas' disputed maritime border, raising the specter of a naval clash just days after the pariah nation's underground nuclear test.--NY Post
* 5/31/09--Despite the ongoing recession, the Obama's have a night on the town in Manhattan, taking in dinner and a show. "Taxpayers footed the bill for the big night on the town, which included a total of at least $24,000 for the three aircraft used to ferry the Obamas, aides and reporters to New York and back. Dinner costs and orchestra seat tickets -- at $96.50 apiece -- were paid by the Obamas...The NYPD refused to divulge the cost of providing security, and the White House declined to say how much the trip was costing taxpayers."--Post Wire Services
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