December 11, 2008

CHICAGO -- The embattled governor of Illinois on Wednesday ignored President-elect Barack Obama's call for him to resign, clinging defiantly to power a day after he was arrested and accused of trying to sell Obama's vacant Senate seat. Gov. Rod Blagojevich was released on bond and reported to work Wednesday after his Tuesday arrest by the FBI.

His spokeswoman called the work day "business as usual," but there was mounting pressure on the unpopular governor. Everyone is calling for his head," said Barbara Flynn Currie, a leader in the Illinois state House of Representatives and, like the governor, a Democrat. Obama, who came up in the rough world of Chicago politics, has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the scandal, but it could prove to be a headache for him as he begins his presidency on Jan. 20.

Obama joined other prominent Democrats from his state in calling for Blagojevich's resignation. "The president-elect agrees with Lt. Gov. (Pat) Quinn and many others that under the current circumstances it is difficult for the governor to effectively do his job and serve the people of Illinois," Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said in response to questions from The Associated Press.

Obama resigned from the U.S. Senate after his election Nov. 4. In excerpts of wiretapped conversations released by prosecutors, Blagojevich appears to be scheming to enrich himself by offering to sell the seat for campaign cash or a lucrative job inside or outside government. The governor is traditionally tasked with filling a vacant Senate seat, but Senate Democrats warned Wednesday that they would not let that happen.

December 10, 2008

Gays across the United States were urged to skip work on Wednesday as part of the latest protest against recent votes outlawing same-sex marriage in several regions. The "Day Without A Gay" protest appeared to have had little economic impact but organizers said they had accomplished their main goal of raising awareness of their campaign without shutting down businesses.

Activists had encouraged people across the United States -- both gay and straight -- to call in "gay" for work and spend the day doing volunteer tasks. They also asked gays and lesbians to avoid shopping as a way of showing the economic power of the gay community. But merchants in the Castro, the heart of San Francisco's large gay community, said it was mostly business as usual on a chilly Wednesday morning.

"It seems to be about the same. The cold weather has brought about a little bit of slowness on the streets, but it's mostly normal," said Don Forfang, a barber at Louie's Barber Shop. The Day Without a Gay protest was created by Sean Hetherington, a personal trainer and stand-up comedian in Los Angeles, as a reaction to the November 4 passage of Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California. Florida, Arizona and Arkansas also approved bans on gay marriage last month.

It was timed to coincide with Wednesday's celebration of International Human Rights Day, and took its inspiration from the 2006 immigrants rights protests that shut down schools and businesses from California to Texas. Hetherington said the main goal of the protest was to increase awareness of the gay community, not to undermine businesses. He encouraged people to discuss the issue, or write to politicians, during their lunch hour -- and to volunteer at another time.

November 20, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Michael Mukasey was conscious and alert early Friday -- and took a get-well call from President Bush -- just hours after he collapsed during a speech to a black-tie dinner.

White House press secretary Dana Perino sent out word to reporters that Bush telephoned his attorney general just before 7 a.m. EST Friday and said that Mukasey "sounded well and is getting excellent care." The 67-year-old retired federal judge, whom Bush brought in last year to replace Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, was rushed to George Washington University Hospital late Thursday after he paused during his speech, started to slur his words and then collapsed.

Three or four men in suits rushed on stage and caught him at the lectern. It was not clear when the nation's chief law enforcer would be released from George Washington University Hospital, where he was admitted overnight for observation after briefly losing consciousness at the dinner. Justice Department spokesman Gina Talamona would not comment when asked if Mukasey suffered a stroke. She had no information about his medical history.

Mukasey opened his speech on terrorism with a wry remark about expecting the mood at the conservative Federalist Society dinner to be "somber or sober." He slumped over the podium about 15 minutes later after slurring his words and could be seen swaying and shaking slightly. Three or four men in suits rushed on stage and caught him at the lectern. "Oh, no, no!" people in the audience cried out as Mukasey fell. "Oh, my God!"

November 17, 2008

Could former President Bill Clinton's charitable affairs cost Hillary Clinton the secretary of state job in Barack Obama's administration? That's what insiders are wondering after reports that the former president's financial and foreign entanglements could hurt the New York senator in her bid for a Cabinet post.

Politico.com reported Monday that Democrats "are becoming exasperated" by Bill Clinton's response to requests for information about his finances. "The sense among the no-drama Obama world is: This is well on its way to winning best Oscar for drama," an unnamed Democrat told Politico.com. Of worry, Politico.com said, is whether Clinton's charity would create a conflict of interest with foreign governments.

The New York Times reported Sunday that lawyers from the Obama camp were looking into the former president's dealings with foreign governments and pharmaceutical companies. "I think certainly she's been vetted, he's been vetted; but let's remember it's her who's up for this appointment, not Bill Clinton," Brad Blakeman, a former deputy assistant to President George W. Bush, told FOX News. "I think they cleaned a lot up before she decided to run for president.

"Certainly his activities going forward, if she is the secretary of state, would be curtailed, but I can't see any reason why Hillary Clinton would not be nominated by this president and certainly confirmed by a Democratic Senate," Blakeman said. Bill Clinton, addressing a symposium at the National Bank of Kuwait on Sunday, spoke about the possibility of having his wife in the new administration.

November 13, 2008

The Senate Banking Committee grilled top bank executives Thursday as credit markets remain frozen and worries mount they are misusing bailout money. Lawmakers urged the executives, all from banks who have received money from the $700 billion bailout, to start lending more to consumers and businesses.

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., the committee chairman, told the executives Congress wants to see more progress in foreclosure mitigation, lending and in curbing excessive compensation. Dodd also said banks need to step up assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure and loosen up credit markets. The financial sector is slated to receive at least $250 billion per the package passed last month to help bolster balance sheets and resume lending. Officials from Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), Goldman Sachs (GS), and JPMorgan Chase (JPM), testified on Capitol Hill.

Dodd, who stressed that transparency in the industry is crucial, expressed concern banks are hoarding the money and using it for internal gain. Sen. Charles Schumer, D.-N.Y., said that he would take action in conjunction with other lawmakers to ensure banks ramp up consumer lending moving forward. Executives from the four financial institutions vowed they wouldn't use the money to pay their executives and employees.

Gregory Palm, general counsel at Goldman Sachs, said that compensation would be down “significantly” this year throughout the firm, especially at senior levels. Both Democrats and Republicans have been critical of the way the Treasury Department implemented the bailout. Democrats are pushing for banks to lend more, while Republicans are seeking more transparency from the Treasury.

By Cade Metz
5th November 2008 19:28 GMT

Michael Crichton - the author, filmmaker, and television producer best known for his 1990 novel Jurassic Park - is dead at the age of sixty-six. According to a statement released by his family, Crichton was privately battling cancer.

"While the world knew him as a great story teller that challenged our preconceived notions about the world around us - and entertained us all while doing so - his wife Sherri, daughter Taylor, family and friends knew Michael Crichton as a devoted husband, loving father, and generous friend who inspired each of us to strive to see the wonders of our world through new eyes," the statement read. "He did this with a wry sense of humor that those who were privileged to know him personally will never forget."

Crichton's books - including The Andromeda Strain, Disclosure, Congo, and Jurassic Park sequel The Lost World - sold more than a 150 million copies worldwide, and several were adapted into high-profile Hollywood films. Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park - made in 1993 from a screenplay co-written by Crichton - is still among the top fifteen highest grossing films of all-time.

Born in Chicago, Michael Crichton attended Harvard Medical School, where he penned The Andromeda Strain, his first best seller, which was later adapted for the screen by Robert Wise. Crichton would go on to direct six films of his own, including Westworld, Coma, and The Great Train Robbery, and produce four others. He was also the creator and executive producer of the long-running American TV drama ER, for which he won an Emmy, a Peabody, and a Writer's Guild of America Award.

November 05, 2008

After clinching an historic victory, President-elect Barack Obama wakes up Wednesday morning to the task of uniting a divided country and laying the groundwork for an ambitious presidential agenda. Obama will inherit on Jan. 20 the worst financial crisis in 70 years, as well as the task of winning the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Within minutes of taking the stage in Chicago Tuesday night to acknowledge becoming the first black president of the United States, Obama cautioned voters of the tough road ahead. "Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there," Obama said in Grant Park.

And to those who did not back his candidacy, Obama said, "I will be your president, too," and noted the need to "heal the divides that have held back our progress." With his victory, Obama, the Hawaiian-born son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas, is poised to turn the page on Republican policies of the last eight years, as well as some racial barriers that have stood for generations.

The 47-year-old Democratic junior senator from Illinois swept to a landslide victory over his Republican opponent, Arizona Sen. John McCain, building an Electoral College majority of at least 349 votes. "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer," Obama told the massive crowd of cheering supporters in Grant Park Tuesday night.

November 03, 2008

With voters making their way to polls across America, Barack Obama and John McCain plan to drag their tireless presidential campaigns into Election Day in a last-ditch bid to sway battleground votes. The Democratic presidential nominee plans to make a campaign stop in Indianapolis Tuesday after voting in Chicago.

Then he returns to Illinois for what has become an election day tradition -- playing basketball. McCain's schedule takes him first to Phoenix to vote, and then to Colorado and New Mexico -- both states President Bush won in 2004 but that are trending Democratic this year. Both candidates radiated determination Monday as they reached for the finish line of a two-year marathon. The polls, however, gave Obama more reason to be optimistic.

With the presidential race mostly being played on Republican turf, Obama sounded a confident tone as he toured Florida, North Carolina and Virginia. Obama began his speech in Jacksonville, Fla., with the line: "I've got one word for you: tomorrow." And in what sounded like hints of a victory speech, Obama even congratulated McCain "on the tough race that he has fought."

But he proceeded to criticize his rival, as he has done for months, as President Bush's "sidekick" for standing with him on economic issues "every step of the way." As he did so, McCain continued to sound alarms about Obama's alleged tax-and-spend policies and his "far left" tendencies. "Senator Obama's massive new tax increase would kill jobs and make a bad economy worse. I'm not going to let that happen," McCain said in Tampa, Fla.

November 03, 2008

Barack Obama's maternal grandmother -- Madelyn Dunham -- died in her home Monday after a prolonged battle with cancer. The Democratic presidential candidate announced the news in a joint statement with his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng. "She was the cornerstone of our family, and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength, and humility. She was the person who encouraged and allowed us to take chances," the statement said.

The candidate learned of her death Monday morning while he was campaigning in Jacksonville, Fla. He planned to go ahead with campaign appearances. Late last month, Obama took a break from campaigning and flew to Hawaii to be with the 86-year-old Dunham. Obama said the decision to go to Hawaii was easy to make, telling CBS that he "got there too late" when his mother died of ovarian cancer in 1995 at 53, and wanted to make sure "that I don't make the same mistake twice."

October 14, 2008

LOS ANGELES — Two huge wildfires driven by strong Santa Ana winds burned into neighborhoods near Los Angeles on Monday, forcing frantic evacuations on smoke- and traffic-choked highways, destroying homes and causing at least two deaths.

Around sunset, residents were warned to stay on alert during the night and winds more than 60 mph were forecast. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. More than 1,000 firefighters and nine water-dropping aircraft battled the 4,700-acre Marek Fire at the northeast end of the San Fernando Valley, and the 5,000-acre Sesnon Fire at the west end.

Winds blew up to 45 mph with gusts reaching 70 mph at midday. They were forecast to diminish in the evening before roaring over 60 mph after 11 p.m. Residents downwind were warned to remain alert into the night. "It can go from here to the ocean in a matter of two to three hours," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.

Authorities confirmed more than three-dozen mobile homes burned at the Marek Fire, and 19 structures — some of them homes — were either damaged or destroyed by the Sesnon Fire. Commercial sites burned in both fires. "It is a blowtorch we can't get in front of," said Los Angeles County fire Inspector Frank Garrido.

October 02, 2008

Federal investigators say they found body parts amid the wreckage of missing adventurer Steve Fossett's airplane in the mountains of eastern California. The National Transportation Safety Board, or NTSB, said Thursday that searchers found enough at the crash site of Fossett's plane to provide coroners with DNA.

National Transportation Safety Board acting Chairman Mark Rosenker won't say exactly what searchers found. But he says it was not surprising how little they uncovered, considering how long it had been since the crash. Madera County Sheriff John Anderson told reporters earlier Thursday that searchers "found enough wreckage to determine that it was in fact the aircraft" Fossett was flying solo when he disappeared last September.

Anderson said that it appears that Fossett plowed head-on into a mountainside. "The crash looked to be so severe that I doubt if someone would have walked away from it," said the sheriff during a Thursday news conference before the body parts were found. The engine was lying about 300 feet from the wings and the fuselage, which disintegrated on impact.

"It was a hard-impact crash, and he would've died instantly," said Jeff Page, emergency management coordinator for Lyon County, Nev., who assisted the search. Fossett's mysterious disappearance prompted a massive search that covered 20,000 square miles — and sparked rumors that he faked his own death because he was buried in debt.

By Richard Owen
September 30, 2008

Italian partisan organisations are to stage protests tomorrow at the Italian premiere of Spike Lee's film Miracle at St. Anna, which they say is full of lies, and insults the memory of the Italian Resistance during the Second World War. The controversial film, already released in the United States, will be running in Italian cinemas from Friday.

But it is being shown first at Viareggio on the Tuscan coast, close to the village of Sant' Anna di Stazzema in the Apennine hills above, where 560 civilians — including women and children — were murdered in cold blood in August 1944 by Nazi SS troops as they retreated northwards in the face of the Allied advance. Miracle at St. Anna, which highlights the role of African-American soldiers in the war, suggests that anti-Fascist partisans indirectly caused the atrocity by first taking refuge in the village and then abandoning the villagers to their fate.

It even shows a partisan named Rodolfo collaborating with the Nazis. This runs directly counter to the accepted Italian version of events, which is that the slaughter was not a reprisal but an unprovoked act of brutality and that the hunt for partisans was a pretext. It also questions one of the founding myths of Italy's postwar democracy, which holds that the help the partisans gave to the Allies regained Italy the honour it had lost under Benito Mussolini, the Fascist dictator, by allying itself with Hitler and Nazi Germany.

At a press screening in Rome, James McBride, the black author who wrote the novel on which Mr Lee's film is based, said: “I am very sorry if I have offended the partisans. I have enormous respect for them. As a black American, I understand what it's like for someone to tell your history, and they are not you. He added: “But unfortunately, the history of World War II here in Italy is ours as well, and this was the best I could do ... it is after all a work of fiction, not a history book.”

By Matt Egan
September 29, 2008

The Dow suffered its worst one-day point loss ever on Monday after the House of Representatives failed to pass a $700 billion financial bailout plan aimed at rescuing Wall Street from the most serious credit crisis since the Great Depression.

The dramatic day on Wall Street also saw Citigroup take over Wachovia's banking operations in a government-assisted deal, and the second-largest percentage drop in crude oil since April 2003. Today's Market - The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 777.68 points, or 6.98%, to 10365.45. The broader S&P 500 Index dropped 106.85 points, or 8.81%, to 1106.42, while the Nasdaq Composite Index slid 199.61 points, or 9.14%, to 1983.73.

The consumer-friendly Fox 50 Index lost 69.82 points, or 7.87%, to 816.81. The markets plummeted as traders, glued to television screens showing the vote tally in Washington, saw their bailout hopes go down the drain. Wall Street feared politicians won't be able to put their differences aside to help unclog the credit markets.

“There is no way to sugar coat this. This was a complete debacle as far as Wall Street is concerned,” said Michael James, senior equity trader at Wedbush Morgan Securities. “There is a significant lack of confidence in not only the U.S. political system but the U.S. financial system right now. Something needs to happen…and within a day or two.”

September 17, 2008

Lindsay Lohan wanted to stump for Barack Obama, but was turned down with a polite ''thanks, but no thanks,'' the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The trouble-prone actress offered to host a series of events aimed at younger voters, but the Democratic presidential candidate's camp wasn't interested, the paper says.

Lohan ''is not exactly the kind of high-profile star who would be a positive for us," a top source on the Obama team told the paper. Lohan and her all-but-confirmed girlfriend Samantha Ronson recently bashed Republican vice presidential hopeful Gov. Sarah Palin on Lohan's MySpace blog. "I really cannot bite my tongue anymore when it comes to Sarah Palin," Lohan wrote, urging people to vote for Obama.

"Is it a sin to be gay? Should it be a sin to be straight? Or to use birth control? Or to have sex before marriage? Or even to have a child out of wedlock?" Lohan included a portion of an Associated Press story stating that Palin's Wasilla, Alaska, church was promoting a conference that promises to convert gays into heterosexuals through the power of prayer.

"Is our country so divided that the Republicans' best hope is a narrow minded, media obsessed homophobe?" Lohan asked in the blog post. She also blasted Palin on abortion (Palin is pro-life). "Women have come a long way in the fight to have the choice over what we do with our bodies ... and it's frightening to see that a woman in 2008 would negate all of that," she wrote.

September 16, 2008

Barack Obama’s campaign was “deceitful” when it clipped part of an interview in which Republican Victory 2008 Chairwoman Carly Fiorina said John McCain was not qualified to be the head of a corporation, Fiorina said Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, appeared on MSNBC, where she said none of the candidates is qualified to run a major corporation, but that should not prevent them from running the country. “I don’t think John McCain could run a major corporation. I don’t think Barack Obama could run a major corporation. I don’t think Joe Biden could run a major corporation.

But on the other hand a major corporation is not the same as being the president or vice president of the United States,” Fiorina said. “It is a fallacy to suggest that the country is like a company. So of course to run a business you have to have a lifetime of experience in business, but that’s not what Sarah Palin, John McCain, Joe Biden or Barack Obama are doing,” she said.

But the Obama campaign, in an e-mail linking to a YouTube video of Fiorina’s statement that was clipped after the first sentence, berated McCain for not winning the trust of even his own supporters. “When John McCain’s top economic adviser doesn’t think that he’s qualified to run a corporation — how on Earth can he run the largest economy in the world in the midst of a financial crisis?”.......