| Sen. Bond: House finds time for steroids while FISA sits
He believes its top priority should be to vote on the bipartisan terrorist surveillance bill (the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA) that overwhelmingly passed the Senate. "The Senate bill gives our terror fighters the tools they need to track terrorists," explains the Republican lawmaker, "and also adds additional privacy and civil rights protections that Americans have never had before." Bond notes with sarcasm that before going on vacation, the House found time to investigate steroids in baseball and political contempt resolutions -- but not to pass the terrorist surveillance bill. As a result, says Bond, "they have compromised our ability to detect and disrupt attacks." Bond says instead of acting on FISA, the Democrats are bringing up an energy bill for the fourth time in 14 months -- legislation he contends would not ease Americans' pain at the pump, but instead drive up the price of gas even higher by increasing taxes on oil and gas companies.
Traverse Global Communications Corp Announces Partnership with Wells ...
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New spin doctor to help Alexander’s fightback
Labour leader Wendy Alexander's fightback continued yesterday with the appointment of her latest spin doctor and the support of former First Minister Henry McLeish. But both developments were to a degree undermined by the new aide's lack of Holyrood or political experience, and Mr McLeish's frank views on Labour's recent difficulties. .
Forging A Merger -- Or Not
More than two weeks after the Chinalco news broke, markets are still obsessing about the Chinese connection. The latest to weigh in on this subject is Stratfor, which provides strategic intelligence on global business, economic, security and geopolitical affairs. The U.S. intelligence firm says Chinalco would consider bidding for a majority stake in Rio Tinto if another company attempted a takeover. Stratfor claims it has spoken with a source 'close to the Australian government' who says Chinalco will block any competing bid. "Beijing appears set on blocking an attempt by the world's largest mining company, Australia's BHP Billiton, to swallow up Rio Tinto, a move that would create a mining goliath worth nearly $350 billion," Stratfor said in a briefing. "Considering that domestic energy security tops the Chinese government's agenda, it is a given that Beijing is looking to carve out a niche in the world's key resource sectors using state-owned energy companies." It's unclear exactly how much of a stake the Chinalco-Alcoa consortium would be willing to buy and at what price though the highest stake rumored until now has been up to 20 percent.
Daily Report
Sawyer's campaign struck back at Pat Bergeron, a political consultant who publishes lanewslink.com, a roundup of news items from around the state, along with original reporting and commentary. Sawyer says Bergeron approached Lee Fletcher, his campaign consultant and asked about doing business with the campaign. Sawyer says he refused to work with Bergeron and alleged the Abramoff story was produced by one of the campaigns that hired him. Sawyer asked any campaign to disclose their financial dealings with Bergeron. "Louisiana voters are completely fed up with 'slash and burn' politics like the political filth we see on this Web site," he says. Bergeron denies approaching Sawyer or Fletcher for consulting work. "Those allegations are insane," he says. He defended the reporting in the lanewslink.com item, saying Sawyer took trips with Abramoff.
Colombian president says cross-border raid was justified because ...
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's defense of his actions came during a three-hour session with news media representatives Wednesday night but his office did not authorize release of his comments until Thursday.The conservative leader expressed frustration at what he called inaction by Ecuador's leftist government over Colombian guerrilla camps in its territory."What does one do when bandits are shooting from the other side and the government doesn't do anything?" Uribe asked. "It's my job to defend 43 million Colombians."Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa has said his troops have raided dozens of rebel camps, but Colombian officials say the guerrillas are always tipped off so they can escape. Uribe said he didn't notify Correa of Saturday's attack because "I was sure that the operation would have failed."Uribe said the raid was the sixth since his 2002 election that was aimed at Raul Reyes, a top leader in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
Schools draw parents into ISAT prep game
Families usually pack the gym at Elgin's Harriet Gifford Elementary School to root for basketball players or applaud young thespians, but one night last week, they saved their cheers for standardized-test questions.
As pressure to perform well on tests mounts, schools have used pep rallies and prizes to motivate students.
Now, they're also recruiting parents to help prepare kids for the state exams.
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