Articles of Interest 2-16-08
264 Days until Election Day
MORNING UPDATE:
Thousands of Republicans gathered in Lansing…ready to take on the Democrats this November. You could feel the excitement in the air!
Delegates from across the state were elected and will be confirmed today to participate at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis over the Labor Day weekend.
We will hear from Senator John McCain, First Lady Janet Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, Attorney General Mike Cox and others!!!
National Review says: “Conservatives and McCain should neither pretend that we have no differences nor obsess about those differences. We should instead work on the common task of building a center-right majority in this election year…”
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MjVlMzY3ZmM0MjYwYTk5ZjliOWNlNTFlZTk1ODc0MTg=
Five Ways for Mcain to beat Obama…great talking point for every activist:
http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2008/02/human-events-fi.html
Michigan is sending a full delegation to the National Convention and has a commitment from Senator McCain to seat our full delegation. With the leadership of Chuck Yob, Holly Hughes, Cong. Fred Upton…and Political Director John Yob….count on great seating on the floor of the convention and the best hotel! We’re counting on you!!!
THE REST OF THE STORY:
No more commentary today…summary coming later today following convention.
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080215/BIZ/802150373
Friday, February 15, 2008
Metro home sales up by 15%
Detroit leads gains with almost double amount of closings over same period last year.
Louis Aguilar / The Detroit News
Sales of residential and condominium units in Detroit nearly doubled in January, compared with the same month a year ago, and the region overall got a nearly 15 percent bump, according to real estate data firm Realcomp.
The city of Detroit led the gainers, posting a 45.5 percent increase in the month, with 736 closings.
Seven Realtors who deal primarily in downtown Detroit area property said they have enjoyed some of their recent best sale months in December and January. Sales of houses and condominiums in Detroit jumped by a 33.9 percent in December 2007, compared to December 2006. No other market in the Metro Detroit area came close to that kind of increase last year, according to Realcomp.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080216/NEWS06/802160376/1008
Granholm commutes 2 cocaine sentences
February 16, 2008
By DAVID EGGERT
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LANSING -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Friday commuted the sentences of two inmates convicted of delivering cocaine, the first time she has approved clemency requests for nonmedical reasons.
The Michigan Parole Board quickly paroled the prisoners, meaning they could be released within 30 days.
"Both the clemency council and parole board have deemed that these individuals do not pose a threat to public safety," Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said.
Granholm commuted inmates' sentences 18 times in her first five years in office, but only when a prisoner with health problems likely would not be alive much longer.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080216/NEWS01/802160347/1008
Recall petitioner's effort faces tough road
February 16, 2008
By ZACHARY GORCHOW
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
A petition seeking to recall Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick from office was filed Friday in the Wayne County Clerk's Office, the first such move since the text message scandal broke last month.
Douglas Johnson, 42, who moved back to Detroit four months ago from Sterling Heights, submitted the paperwork, listing eight reasons voters should remove Kilpatrick.
Johnson, who says he plans to run for City Council in 2009, lists the text message scandal involving Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff Christine Beatty as one of the reasons. But he cites other controversies:
Mayor Kilpatrick takes case to Michigan Supreme Court
City says legal principle, not politics, is at stake
February 16, 2008
By DAVID ASHENFELTER, ZACHARY GORCHOW and JOE SWICKARD
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick took his text message scandal to the Michigan Supreme Court on Friday, urging justices to strike down decisions from two lower courts to provide the public with secret documents he used to settle police whistle-blower lawsuits last year for $8.4 million.
The city filed the appeal under seal, but city law director John E. Johnson Jr. said in a statement the city asked the high court to consider the same arguments that were rejected Wednesday by the Michigan Court of Appeals and on Feb. 5 by Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert Colombo Jr., in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the Free Press.
http://blog.mlive.com/citpat_opinion/2008/02/former_speaker_reject_partisan.html#more
Former Speaker: Reject partisan politics
Posted by Jackson Citizen Patriot February 14, 2008 10:06AM
Categories: Voice of the People
LEROY — State Rep. Mike Simpson is an outstanding public servant who puts the people of mid-Michigan ahead of partisan politics. He has fought to strengthen schools at all levels, attract investments, create good-paying jobs and protect our special way of life.
Now, an extremist group wants to recall Mike — by any measure a dedicated public servant who has acted in the best interests of our citizens. This radical group wants to tear our community apart and divide our citizens through misrepresentations, distortions and deception. While Mike invests in our common future, this group wants to send Michigan backward.
http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/index.ssf/2008/02/genesee_county_to_cut_10_milli.html
Genesee County to cut $10 million
by Ron Fonger | The Flint Journal
Friday February 15, 2008, 7:51 AM
GENESEE COUNTY -- The county will have to cut another $10 million in proposed spending to balance next year's budget, Board of Commissioners Chairman Woodrow Stanley said Thursday in his first State of the County address.
But what's worse: that deficit is projected to continue swelling in coming years, Stanley said, rising to $34 million by 2011 without deep changes.
http://www.mlive.com/news/bctimes/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1203092119239450.xml&coll=4
STATE OF THE COMMUNITY - 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
Charles M. Brunner,
mayor, City of Bay City
Positives:
* The city 'is safe, has a vibrant downtown, we have many choices for dining, our housing stock, while older, has some very fine architecture.'
- Since 2003, the city has eliminated 82 positions, mainly through attrition, for a savings to the city of $5.5 million
http://www.record-eagle.com/opinion/local_story_045094513.html
Published: February 14, 2008 09:45 am
Editorial: Meijer's special tax break is just business as usual
We didn't need further proof that Michigan's legislative process is not only dysfunctional but ethically bankrupt. We got it anyway.
As reported by the Record-Eagle last week, state lawmakers crafted an $8.5 million tax break for Meijer, Inc. and millions more in breaks for a host of other businesses even as they were increasing income and business taxes on the rest of us suckers.
http://www.record-eagle.com/local/local_story_046094613.html
Published: February 15, 2008 09:46 am
Maxbauer, fellow commissioners clash
By Brian McGillivary
bmcgillivary@record-eagle.com
TRAVERSE CITY -- Grand Traverse County commissioners haven't evaluated county Administrator Dennis Aloia's job performance in five years. But there's no apparent hesitation to critique fellow Commissioner Christine Maxbauer.
Aloia and Commissioner Larry Fleis were among those who unloaded on Maxbauer Thursday for publicly expressing her thoughts about the county administration in comments to local reporters.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080216/NEWS06/802160363/1008
Schools try, but can't guarantee safety
February 16, 2008
By ROBIN ERB and CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
Will Williams had been there for a geography class just a few hours earlier, in the same Northern Illinois University lecture hall where a gunman opened fire Thursday, killing five students and injuring 16 others.
On Friday, the former Detroiter spent the day with his wife, Vonetta, and the television -- stunned by what happened and the timing.
"It just freaked me out. If he had decided on another time, it could have been me," the 30-year-old computer sciences major said.
Dyamond Moore, another NIU student from Farmington Hills, had the same thought. "It was just like I could have been in there," she told the Free Press' reporting partner, WDIV-TV Local 4.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080215/POLITICS01/802150437/1022/POLITICS
Friday, February 15, 2008
Raczkowski drops out of Senate race; Hoogendyk to challenge Levin
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Republican Andrew "Rocky" Raczkowski (ROCK-cow-ski) plans to abandon his U.S. Senate campaign because of military obligations, clearing the way for state Rep. Jack Hoogendyk (ho-gan-DIKE) to seek his party's nomination.
Hoogendyk is hoping to challenge longtime Democratic Sen. Carl Levin for the seat.
Raczkowski and Hoogendyk told the Associated Press they will discuss their intentions at the Republican State Convention in Lansing this weekend.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080216/OPINION03/802160359/1022/POLITICS
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Laura Berman:
'Hillary Effect' gets judges' vote
The Oakland County Courthouse is buzzing about what at least one judge waggishly calls the "Hillary Effect."
That's the phenomenon of judges' spouses running for judicial office -- with a 2008 twist. These judicial hope-to-bes are the husbands of sitting judges.
So far, at least two Oakland County lawyers, David C. Anderson and Mark Frankel, have collected enough petition signatures to officially file as candidates for the August primary in Oakland.
They're married to Oakland County Circuit Court Judges Martha Anderson and Nanci Grant.
http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/index.ssf/2008/02/kildees_reflect_democratic_div.html
Kildees reflect Democratic divide over Clinton, Obama
by Beata Mostafavi | The Flint Journal
Friday February 15, 2008, 11:44 AM
FLINT -- As a 6-year-old Dan Kildee looked up to his uncle Dale when he was elected to the state Legislature.
He later followed him into a career in politics , worked on his uncle's campaigns to serve in the Senate and Congress and calls the elder Kildee a great role model and friend.
But that doesn't mean they always agree.
As Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama battle in a tight race for the Democratic presidential nomination, the Kildees have taken different sides.
http://www.mininggazette.com/stories/articles.asp?articleID=10692
Dems, GOP work together to achieve economic stimulus goal
By DAN SCHNEIDER
DMG Writer
WASHINGTON — Democrats and Republicans found rare bi-partisan ground in approving the economic stimulus package, according to U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak.
In a teleconference with Michigan reporters Thursday, Stupak, D-Menominee, highlighted what has been happening on Capitol Hill, including the cross-aisle cooperation on the stimulus bill.
“I was pleased to see that Democrats, Republicans and the president were able to work together to pass this legislation,” Stupak said.
NATIONAL STORIES
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=25025
Five Ways for McCain to Beat Obama
by Jennifer Rubin
Posted: 02/15/2008
On Tuesday night the magnitude of the Barack Obama wave became clear. The MSM pundits’ eyes lit up and they seized the moment to -- guess what -- predict doom for John McCain and the Republicans in the general election.
“How would McCain possibly compete against such an eloquent man?” “Look at the giant screaming crowds!” One even went so far as to agree that McCain was right that Obama’s rhetoric was fluff but that it “didn’t work to run against hope.” McCain currently trails Obama in the polls and the huge turnouts in the Democratic primaries suggest that McCain will have his work cut out for him.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080216/POLITICS01/802160319/1022/POLITICS
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Elder Bush backs McCain
Nod helps candidate fend off GOP critics, but also lets Democrats tie him to current president.
Liz Sidoti and Calvin Woodward / Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- John McCain's embrace from the Republican establishment, once hard to imagine, is nearly complete.
Former President Bush's endorsement Monday will effectively give the future presidential nominee the stamp of approval of the Bush family -- both their blessing and their baggage.
Democratic presidential hopefuls aren't waiting for the outcome of their own race to lump the Arizona senator with the unpopular current president and the past.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080215145036.p9d86kfp&show_article=1
McCain says early withdrawal from Iraq would mean 'genocide'
Feb 15 09:50 AM US/Eastern
Republican frontrunner John McCain drew sharp distinctions with his Democratic White House rivals over Iraq, saying an untimely US withdrawal would bring about "genocide."
In an interview with CNN, the presumptive Republican nominee for president slammed Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who have said they would begin withdrawing troops from Iraq in their first months in the White House.
"Both Senator Obama and Clinton want to set a date for withdrawal. That means chaos. That means genocide," the 71-year-old Arizona senator told CNN's Larry King late Thursday.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080216/POLITICS01/802160320/1022/POLITICS
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Decision 2008
Labor tilts toward Obama
SEIU delays months before becoming second major union to pledge support in as many days.
Jesse J. Holland / Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Barack Obama won the support Friday of the 1.9-million member Service Employees International Union, his second endorsement in as many days from a large labor organization, and a fresh sign of his momentum in the Democratic presidential race against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
"There has never been a fight in Illinois or a fight in the nation where our members have not asked Barack Obama for assistance and he has not done everything he could to help us," Andy Stern, the union's president, told reporters in announcing the decision.
Stern said that in the months since union leaders met with several Democratic candidates last fall, "the excitement has been building and building for Obama."
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080216/OPINION01/802160314/1007/OPINION
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Editorial Quick Hits: Ours
Obama should play by campaign rules
The Detroit News
Supporters of presidential candidate Barack Obama have to decide whether they want to play by the Democratic Party's rules or change them. They want the party to enforce its threat not to seat the state's delegates to this summer's convention because Michigan moved up its primary in defiance of party rules. Sen. Hillary Clinton was the only major candidate who kept her name on the Michigan ballot, and she won most of the delegates. If those delegates are seated, along with those from Florida, which was similarly penalized, it could make the difference for Clinton in a close race. But Obama's supporters complain that the party's super delegates, picked by party officials and not voters, may decide the race at the convention. They urge that the super delegates cast their votes in proportion to the candidates' popular support. But Obama understood that super delegates had to be courted as actively as regular voters. And he could have put his name on the Michigan ballot. If the Obama camp is going to insist on Michigan's penalty, then it must also accept that super delegates can cast their votes freely.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080216/POLITICS01/802160405/1022/POLITICS
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Clinton pushes DNC to seat delegates
Mich., Fla. can appeal sanctions or hold second contests to make votes count at convention.
Nedra Pickler / Associated Press
MILWAUKEE -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton desperately wants meaningless wins in Florida and Michigan to turn into votes she can count on. It won't be easy with the Democratic National Committee rules standing in her way.
The DNC is refusing to back down from the tough sanctions it imposed on the two states, which held early contests in violation of party rules. They have been stripped of all their delegates to the national convention in August, where either Clinton or rival Sen. Barack Obama will be nominated for president.
The DNC has offered Florida and Michigan a couple of ways out in compliance with party rules. First, they could hold second nominating contests, but Democratic leaders in both states reject that idea. Or they can appeal to the DNC's credentials committee, a 186-member body. Just like the some 800 superdelegates, this committee could hold the cards in helping decide the Democratic nominee if the race stays close.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0208/Putin_vs_Clinton.html
February 15, 2008
Read More: Hillary Clinton
Putin vs. Clinton
When Hillary Clinton said, way back in New Hampshire, that Vladimir Putin "doesn't have a soul," I figured that would be the sort of thing the Russian wouldn't be pleased about. But when I called the foreign ministry the next day for comment, it was Orthodox Christmas, and I let it slide.
He was asked about the remark at his press conference yesterday, however, and indeed wasn't pleased.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8535.html
White men hold superdelegate power balance
By: Josephine Hearn
Feb 15, 2008 06:05 AM EST
In an ironic twist to the historic Democratic nominating contest between an African-American and a woman, the balance of power may be held by a more familiar face: the white male.
According to a Politico analysis, close to half of the 700-plus Democratic superdelegates who could end up determining the party nominee are white men.
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/2008198091324
In election 2008, don’t forget Angry White Man
Gary Hubbell
February 9, 2008
There is a great amount of interest in this year’s presidential elections, as everybody seems to recognize that our next president has to be a lot better than George Bush. The Democrats are riding high with two groundbreaking candidates — a woman and an African-American — while the conservative Republicans are in a quandary about their party’s nod to a quasi-liberal maverick, John McCain.
Each candidate is carefully pandering to a smorgasbord of special-interest groups, ranging from gay, lesbian and transgender people to children of illegal immigrants to working mothers to evangelical Christians.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080216/OPINION01/802160317/1007/OPINION
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Issues get short shrift among candidates
Nancy Kruh
Though the vast majority of the commentariat is in the hypnotic clutches of campaign drama, a few pundits are actually examining the issues in relation to the next presidency.
Jim Hoagland and Georgie Anne Geyer express equal concern that no amount of campaign promises will adequately address the complexities of Iraq.
Hoagland points out that both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are pledging a dramatic reduction in forces, but "neither has been pressed in debates or news conferences" about the complications of leaving a few troops behind for limited tasks. "It strains credulity," the Washington Post columnist writes, "to think that the Iraqis would allow U.S. troops to stay on and hunt al-Qaida & Co. or protect the huge U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=14&entry_id=24286
Pelosi: Don't overrule the voters
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- who may be the most super delegate of all as chair of the Democratic national convention in Denver -- gave an interview with Bloomberg TV's Al Hunt in which she laid down the law for super delegates:
Don't veto the people's choice.
"I think there is a concern when the public speaks and there is a counter-decision made to that," she said, adding quickly, "I don't think that will happen."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GUNS_NATIONAL_PARKS?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Feb 16, 4:34 AM EST
Dispute over guns threatens Senate vote
By MATTHEW DALY
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- An election-year dispute over whether to allow loaded guns in national parks is holding up a vote on a massive bill affecting public lands from coast to coast.
Democrats accuse Republicans of trying to score political points by injecting a "wedge" issue like gun rights into a noncontroversial bill.
Republicans counter that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is trying to protect the two leading Democratic candidates for president by shielding them from a politically difficult vote on an issue that many rural voters consider crucial.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MEDICARE?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Feb 15, 6:43 PM EST
Bush pushes higher premiums
By KEVIN FREKING
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration will ask Congress to increase the monthly premiums that wealthier Medicare beneficiaries pay for prescription drug coverage, officials said Friday.
The administration's proposal is part of a first-of-its-kind response to a warning about Medicare's strain on the federal treasury.
Even though Congress passed a law requiring the president to submit such cost-saving proposals, its prospects for passage are dim.
The legislation being offered would reduce the government subsidy for wealthier beneficiaries participating in the Medicare drug program. As a result, individuals making $82,000 a year, or married beneficiaries earning more than $164,000 a year, would pay higher premiums. It is not clear exactly how much they would go up.
http://www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_8269190
Bill would require California's science curriculum to cover climate change
SOME THINK SCIENCE ISN'T DEFINITIVE ENOUGH TO TEACH
By Paul Rogers
Mercury News
Article Launched: 02/15/2008 01:42:53 AM PST
A Silicon Valley lawmaker is gaining momentum with a bill that would require "climate change" to be among the science topics that all California public school students are taught.
The measure, by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, also would mandate that future science textbooks approved for California public schools include climate change.
"You can't have a science curriculum that is relevant and current if it doesn't deal with the science behind climate change," Simitian said. "This is a phenomenon of global importance and our kids ought to understand the science behind that phenomenon."
http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/15/impeachment-fizzle/
Impeachment fizzle: Boulder lacks votes to take on Bush
By Ryan Morgan (Contact)
Friday, February 15, 2008
A move to draft a Boulder City Council resolution supporting the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney likely won't get enough support to get off the ground Tuesday.
A canvass of the City Council shows there aren't likely to be the five votes required to draft, debate and eventually hold a vote on the measure as activists have requested.
City Councilman Macon Cowles last week told his colleagues that he plans to ask for a vote Tuesday on whether to move forward with an impeachment resolution. For the past several weeks, supporters of such a move have been speaking at City Council meetings and handing out "Impeach" pins.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NEWS_SHOWS?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Feb 16, 3:35 AM EST
Guests for the Sunday TV news shows
Guest lineup for the Sunday TV news shows:
---
ABC's "This Week" - Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
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CBS' "Face the Nation" - David Axelrod, strategist for Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign; Howard Wolfson, communications director for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign; Richmond Mayor and former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder; Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080215/D8UQQLEO0.html
Bush Says Congress Putting US in Danger
Feb 15, 10:04 AM (ET)
By PAMELA HESS
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush said Friday that "our country is in more danger of an attack" because of Congress' failure to extend a law that makes it easier for the government to spy on foreign phone calls and e-mails that pass through the United States.
Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney met with Republican congressional leaders in the Oval Office to discuss the impasse with the Democratic-led House. Lawmakers left Thursday for a 12-day recess without acting on the law, which expires at midnight Saturday. The president said Congress should act quickly on the measure as soon as lawmakers return.
Democrats defy Bush on spy program and immunity
Fri Feb 15, 2008 5:08pm EST
By Thomas Ferraro and Jeremy Pelofsky
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Democratic-led House of Representatives defied President George W. Bush on Friday and recessed without replacing an expiring spy law with one that would shield telephone companies from lawsuits.
With the temporary law set to expire on Saturday, Bush accused Democrats of undermining U.S. security. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer denied it and accused Bush of election-year fear-mongering.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120303714722970265.html?mod=opinion_main_review_and_outlooks
San Francisco's Democrat
February 15, 2008; Page A14
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats appear to have decided that November's election is a distraction from their effort to simply pull the plug on a sitting President. How else to explain what is happening in the House this week?
Democrats voted yesterday, for the first time in decades, to hold two White House officials in contempt of Congress. Hours later it emerged that Ms. Pelosi has apparently decided not to vote on the warrantless wiretap bill passed by the Senate days ago. This means that the Protect America Act -- which conferred Congressional support to wiretapping suspected al Qaeda terrorists -- will expire at midnight today.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080216/POLITICS/802160322/1022/POLITICS
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Congress faulted in lapse of spy law
Bush says allowing it to expire puts U.S. in danger, but Dems say telecom shield an issue.
Pamela Hess / Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- With a government eavesdropping law about to expire, Washington is awash in accusations over who's to blame.
President Bush said Friday that "our country is in more danger of an attack" because of Congress' failure to adopt a Senate bill that would have renewed a law that made it easier for the government to spy on foreign phone calls and e-mails that pass through the United States.
That bill also would have shielded from lawsuits telecommunications companies that helped the government wiretap U.S. computer and phone lines after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks without clearance from a secret court that was established specifically to oversee such activities. In its competing version of the legislation, the House intentionally left out that feature.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080215182516.1kw853y4&show_article=1
Qaeda defeated in Baghdad: Iraqi PM
Feb 15 01:25 PM US/Eastern
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki proclaimed on Friday that Al-Qaeda had been routed in Baghdad thanks to a security plan launched a year ago, and would soon be defeated throughout the country.
"Thank God, we destroyed the cells of Al-Qaeda. They have been chased out of Baghdad and this has opened the way for their defeat throughout Iraq," Maliki said at a ceremony marking the launch on February 14 last year of the Baghdad security plan, known as Operation Fardh al-Qanoon (Imposing Law).
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080215/NATION/190574197/1001
Satellite shoot-down shows missile muscle
By Bill Gertz
February 15, 2008
The Pentagon's plan to shoot down a failed satellite with a missile defense interceptor in the coming days is aimed at preventing toxic fuel from reaching earth. But U.S. officials and experts said yesterday it would also signal that U.S. missile defenses can be used to counter China's strategic anti-satellite weapons.
China conducted its first successful test of an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon on Jan. 11, 2007, in what defense and military officials called a new strategic threat to the United States.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IRAN?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Feb 15, 9:36 PM EST
US secretly met Iran banking officials
By MATTHEW LEE and ANNE GEARAN
Associated Press Writers
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A U.S. official met secretly with Iranian banking officials and senior government aides who oppose punishing the Islamic nation for not doing enough to stop money laundering and terrorism funding, The Associated Press has learned.
The talks last month in Paris took place despite the Bush administration's near-absolute ban on formal U.S.-Iran contact. They also occurred against the backdrop of Tehran's attempts to avert the imposition of new U.N. sanctions over its suspect nuclear program.
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2008/ea_china_02_15.asp
Is the party over in China? Massive unemployment looms
China watchers are predicting a drop in the GNP growth rate this year and for the foreseeable future. Most are attributing the expected fall off this year — from last year’s official 11.4 percent, the fifth year in a row of double digit expansion — to the expected downturn in the U.S. and the world economy in general.
Even the 2007 growth rate wasn’t that high when compared with the peaks of the 1980s and 1990s, when GDP growth in some years surpassed 15 percent, coming out of the stagnation and even losses at the end of the Maoist era.
Sarkozy defends Holocaust proposal amid uproar
Fri Feb 15, 2008 10:07am EST
By Richard Balmforth
PARIS (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy, facing a tide of criticism over his call for schoolchildren to "adopt" Jewish child victims of the Holocaust, hit back on Friday saying France had to raise children "with open eyes".
In a speech praising faith that also drew fire from secularists, Sarkozy told France's Jewish community on Wednesday that every 10-year-old schoolchild should be "entrusted with the memory of a French child victim of the Holocaust".
