NEWS broke last week that Rahm Emanuel, now White House chief of staff, lived rent- free for years in the home of Rep. Rosa De Lauro (D-Conn.) - and failed to disclose the gift, as congressional ethics rules mandate. But this is only the tip of Emanuel's previously undislosed ethics problems. One issue is the work Emanuel tossed the way of De Lauro's husband. But the bigger one goes back to Emanuel's days on the board of now-bankrupt mortgage giant Freddie Mac....Link
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
THE TIP OF ETHICS ICEBERG........
NEWS broke last week that Rahm Emanuel, now White House chief of staff, lived rent- free for years in the home of Rep. Rosa De Lauro (D-Conn.) - and failed to disclose the gift, as congressional ethics rules mandate. But this is only the tip of Emanuel's previously undislosed ethics problems. One issue is the work Emanuel tossed the way of De Lauro's husband. But the bigger one goes back to Emanuel's days on the board of now-bankrupt mortgage giant Freddie Mac....Link
Obama sending 17,000 troops to Afghanistan..
In his first major military move, President Barack Obama Tuesday approved the deployment of 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan, saying they were needed "to stabilize a deteriorating situation." "There is no more solemn duty as president than the decision to deploy our armed forces into harm's way," Obama said in a statement. "I do it today mindful that the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan demands urgent attention and swift action." Obama said the deployment orders were in response to a months-old request by the US commander in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, who had asked for 30,000 more troops....Link
'enormous consequences' for Bush officials....
A Department of Justice report has called into question the entire legal basis of the Bush administration's repeated justifications of abusing prisoners captured in the former president's terror war. According to Monday night's guest on MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, the "consequences" of some of the report's findings could be "enormous" for members of the Bush administration....Link
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Israel seizes land for settlement expansion...
EFRAT, West Bank – Plans to expand a West Bank settlement by up to 2,500 homes drew Palestinian condemnation Monday and presented an early test for President Barack Obama, whose Mideast envoy is well known for opposing such construction. Israel opened the way for possible expansion of the Efrat settlement by taking control of a nearby West Bank hill of 423 acres. The rocky plot was recently designated state land and is part of a master plan that envisions the settlement growing from 9,000 to 30,000 residents, Efrat Mayor Oded Revivi said....Link
Storing solar energy by turning over a new leaf..
One of the most exciting talks at AAAS dealt with a breakthrough that might finally give the much-vaunted hydrogen economy a chance. Daniel Nocera, Professor of Energy and Professor of Chemistry at MIT gave a plenary lecture on a novel catalyst developed in his laboratory, one that takes inspiration from the photosynthetic pathways within plant cells to split water into H2 and O2, allowing the H2 to be used as fuel. Meeting the world's future energy demand is going to need the sun, according to Nocera, and that's only going to happen if we can store that energy for use when it's not shining. This makes sense; plants evolved to make use of high-energy chemical bonds, and the oil, gas, and coal we currently use is just stored sunshine (via plants), albeit concentrated. Hydrogen is the only viable answer compared to batteries, capacitors, or mechanical storage schemes such as pumped water or compressed air once you look at energy density, he explained, and the work from his lab might help make that possible...Link
Your'e Fired................
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – California, which is on the brink of running out of cash, will notify 20,000 state workers on Tuesday their jobs may be eliminated, a spokesman for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Monday. The announcement came a day after California lawmakers narrowly failed to pass a $40 billion budget that would have plugged the state's deficit with a mix of tax hikes and spending cuts...Link
Monday, February 16, 2009
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