Politics
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Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour ’s surprise decision on Monday not to run for president set off a scramble inside the Republican Party for pieces of his financial and political network. It also raised questions about the challenges the party may face in trying to unseat President Obama. So far, the GOP race has been notable for its slow start and the absence of a front-runner.
With Barbour out, new questions for 2012 Republican field
Driving the downward movement in Obama’s standing are renewed concerns about the economy and fresh worry about rising prices, particularly for gasoline. Despite signs of economic growth, 44 percent of Americans see the economy as getting worse, the highest percentage to say so in more than two years. The toll on Obama is direct: 57 percent disapprove of the job the president is doing dealing with the economy, tying his highest negative rating when it comes to the issue. And the president is doing a bit worse among politically important independents. If Obama is running into headwinds, however, his potential Republican opponents face serious problems, as well.
Economic anxiety threatens Obama in 2012, but in poll he edges GOP rivals
Ben Goldacre, The Guardian, 15 April 2011 HM Government have issued a new leaflet to justify their NHS reforms: Working Together For A Stronger NHS . It was produced by Number 10, appears on the Department of Health website, and many of the figures it contains are misleading, out of date, or flatly incorrect. It begins, like much pseudoscience, with uncontroversial truths: the number of people over 85 will double, and the cost of drugs is rising. Then the trouble starts. In large letters, alone on one entire page, you see: “If the NHS was performing at truly world-class levels we would save an extra 5,000 lives from cancer every year.”
I’d expect this from UKIP, or the Daily Mail. Not from a government leaflet.
mmunication in the presidential ...
Journal of Government Information : Communication in the ... Quick Search, Title, abstract, keywords, Author, eg js smith. Search tips (Opens new window), Journal/book title, Volume, Issue, Page, Clear all fields ... linkinghub.elsevier.com/ retrieve/ pii/ S1352023702003842
Looting in Japan: Why so little looting in Japan? The explanation is legal as much as cultural. - By Christopher Beam
Japanese earthquake victim If your home was hit by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake, a tsunami, and radiation from a nuclear power plant, you'd be forgiven for not remaining calm. Yet that's what many Japanese quake victims appear to be doing.
From left: Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, and Eric Cantor The party that was supposed to stand up to President Obama can't even stand up to its own fringe. Six months ago on Meet the Press , NBC's David Gregory asked Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell about a survey in which 31 percent of Republicans said President Obama was a Muslim. McConnell demurred: "I think the faith that most Americans are questioning is the president's faith in the government to generate jobs." Gregory persisted: "As a leader of the country, Sir—as one of the most powerful Republicans in the country—do you think you have an obligation to say to [31] percent of Republicans in the country … who believe the president of the United States is a Muslim, 'That's misinformation'?"
Is Obama a Muslim? Birthers, bigots, and Boehner's cowardice. - By William Saletan
VIENNA - In an underground chamber near the Iranian city of Natanz, a network of surveillance cameras offers the outside world a rare glimpse into Iran's largest nuclear facility. The cameras were installed by U.N. inspectors to keep tabs on Iran's nuclear progress, but last year they recorded something unexpected: workers hauling away crate after crate of broken equipment. In a six-month period between late 2009 and last spring, U.N. officials watched in amazement as Iran dismantled more than 10 percent of the Natanz plant's 9,000 centrifuge machines used to enrich uranium. Then, just as remarkably, hundreds of new machines arrived at the plant to replace the ones that were lost. The story told by the video footage is a shorthand recounting of the most significant cyberattack to date on a nuclear installation .
Iran's Natanz nuclear facility recovered quickly from Stuxnet cyberattack
Crashing the party: Republican strategist turned gay rights activist ponders a White House run
ON ROUTE 202, N.H. — The candidate can't find his lane. The road is a crunchy carpet of snow. The candidate drifts too far to the right. The rumble strip rattles his car. The candidate drifts too far to the left. "I can't tell where — " he says, squinting into the swirling void.
Viewing cable 09CAIRO326, SENATOR LIEBERMAN'S FEBRUARY 17 MEETING WITH GAMAL Understanding cables Every cable message consists of three parts: The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was. The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable.
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Charles Krauthammer - Constitutionalism
For decades, Democrats and Republicans fought over who owns the American flag. Now they're fighting over who owns the Constitution. The flag debates began during the Vietnam era when leftist radicals made the fatal error of burning it. For decades since, non-suicidal liberals have tried to undo the damage. Demeaningly, and somewhat unfairly, they are forever having to prove their fealty to the flag.2010 Political Cartoons - Best Political Cartoons of 2010
<meta http-equiv=refresh content="0;url=http://www.about.com/snf.htm?u=http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/bl-political-cartoons.htm%3Frd%3D1"> Political Humor Best Political Cartoons of 2012Sarah Palin has a problem with the truth. Despite repeated requests — and even more delays — the former Alaska Governor has yet to release emails sent and received while she was in office. Meanwhile, the origin story for “refudiate” took on shades of untruth this week. Palin’s lack of transparency will only hurt her dimming chances in 2012. Back in 2008, when John McCain chose Palin has his running mate, a number of news organizations—the Associated Press, NBC News and ‘The Juneau Empire’—filed a Freedom of Information request to review 25,000 of Palin’s gubernatorial correspondence with her husband and senior staff. Alaska law says all requests must be processed within 10 days, but state staffers, all hired by either Palin or her former running mate, have filed fifteen delays in the emails’ release.
Sarah Palin’s Transparency Problem
POLL: Alaskans Can't Stand Sarah Palin
Familiarity breeds contempt? Apparently Alaskans did not participate in this year's Gallup poll that concluded Sarah Palin was the second most-admired woman in the world. According to a new Public Policy Polling survey she is not well-liked at all. In Alaska just 33% of voters have a favorable opinion of her to 58% with a negative one.Under the new policy, outlined in a regulation, the government will pay doctors who advise patients on options for end-of-life care, which may include advance directives to forgo aggressive life-sustaining treatment. Congressional supporters of the new policy, though pleased, have kept quiet. They fear provoking another furor like the one in 2009 when Republicans seized on the idea of end-of-life counseling to argue that the Democrats’ bill would allow the government to cut off care for the critically ill. The final version of the health care legislation, signed into law by in March, authorized Medicare coverage of yearly physical examinations, or wellness visits. The new rule says Medicare will cover “voluntary advance care planning,” to discuss end-of-life treatment, as part of the annual visit.