Friday, March 06, 2009

SPB News for Friday.







Europe loved Obama, but glory fading;




Labor federation calls on Calif. Supreme Court to flip anti-gay amendment.


CIA Prisons to Be Evaluated in One-Year Review by Senate Panel The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee will study how the CIA operated a secret network of prisons outside the U.S. to detain and interrogate suspected terrorists seized after the Sept. 11 attacks. There is "a strong bipartisan basis" for the yearlong review that will evaluate intelligence the spy agency obtained from torture, said a statement from the panel’s Democratic chairwoman, California Senator Dianne Feinstein, and its top Republican, Missouri Senator Christopher Bond.


Baker, Hamilton endorse Iraq plan Foreign policy gurus Lee Hamilton and James A. Baker III said Thursday they support President Barack Obama's 19-month timetable in Iraq and, if asked, would advise Obama to limit the nation's 'goals' in Afghanistan. Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman from Indiana, and Baker, a retired Republican secretary of State, led the independent Iraq Study Group in 2006.

US charges two Britons with bribes in KBR venture Two British citizens face charges of bribing Nigerian officials as part of a joint venture that included KBR Inc to build liquefied natural gas facilities, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday. Jeffrey Tesler was arrested in London on Thursday, the same day as the indictment handed down in February was made public, the department said. It said former KBR employee Wojciech Chodan, of England, was being sought on a U.S. arrest warrant.

Fed Refuses to Release Bank Data, Insists on Secrecy The Federal Reserve Board of Governors receives daily reports on bailout loans to financial institutions and won't make the information public, the central bank said in a reply to a Bloomberg News lawsuit. The Fed refused yesterday to disclose the names of the borrowers and the loans, alleging that it would cast "a stigma" on recipients of more than $1.9 trillion of emergency credit from U.S. taxpayers and the assets the central bank is accepting as collateral.

Stanford Judge Releases Accounts of Under $250,000 Most Stanford Group Co. investor accounts valued at less than $250,000 should be immediately released from a court-ordered freeze imposed as part of an $8 billion fraud investigation, a federal judge ordered.

Food stamp enrollment jumps to record 31.8 million A record 31.8 million Americans received food stamps at the latest count, an increase of 700,000 people in one month with the United States in the Bush Depression, government figures showed on Thursday. Food stamps, which help poor people buy groceries, are the major U.S. anti-hunger program, forecast to cost at least $51 billion in this fiscal year ending September 30, up $10 billion from fiscal 2008.

Obama's blockbuster gift for Brown to reaffirm the 'special relationship': 25 DVDs He had put clearly great thought into giving the U.S. President lavish gifts to signify Britain's 'special relationship' with the U.S. During his historic trip to Washington, Gordon Brown gave Barack Obama an ornamental pen holder made from the timbers of the Victorian anti-slave ship HMS Gannet - once called HMS President... Mr Brown also took to Washington a framed commission for HMS Resolute, a vessel that came to mark Anglo-US peace when it was saved from ice packs by Americans and given to Queen Victoria. He also gave a first edition set of the seven-volume classic biography of Churchill by Sir Martin Gilbert... Despite being leader of the world's most bountiful nation, President Obama handed over nothing more thought-provoking than 25 classic American films on DVD. It was the equivalent of receiving a pair of socks from an unfamiliar aunt at Christmas - and a less-than-glowing affirmation of the UK-US bond.

Obama Gets Convincing Wins in 3 States — Senator Barack Obama won decisive victories over Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in Washington, Louisiana and Nebraska on Saturday, giving him an impressive sweep going into a month when the Democratic nominating contests are expected to favor him.

Mayor kicks Marines out of Toledo — 1-24th Marines were scheduled for weekend urban warfare training in downtown Toledo, when Carty gave them the boot — TOLEDO, OH — Mayor Carty Finkbeiner on Friday ordered some 200 members of Company A, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines from Grand Rapids …

1 comment:

KittyBowTie1 said...

Send the Marines to Chicago. We won't notice the difference in the urban warfare, except maybe the Marines can shoot straighter than the gang bangers.