Thursday News Bucket

16 Comments

1. 

   CabinGirl on April 19, 2007 at 7:28 am

   to the NYC whale story: Houston Chronicle

   A young whale that swam aimlessly for two days in a small bay off an industrial section of Brooklyn beached itself at an oil depot dock Wednesday and died suddenly. Animal activists said the minke whale, about a year old, was too young to survive on its own.

   “It’s very sad,” said Kim Durham, a rescue specialist at the Long Island-based Riverhead Foundation for Research and Preservation, who had monitored the troubled animal’s activities around the clock. “It was a very young whale that became confused and disoriented.”

   Earlier, experts had reported seeing nothing to indicate the mammal was sick, such as swimming erratically or in tight circles. With only the whale’s dorsal fin visible at times, observers could only guess whether it was injured.

   • 

     Oui on April 20, 2007 at 2:33 am

     .

     Ice traps Canadian seal hunters

     More than 100 ships carrying commercial seal hunters for Canada’s annual harvest have been trapped for days by crushing ice off the coast of Newfoundland province.

     
     Newfoundland: 100 vessels trapped by crushing ice and
a harp seal pup in Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence. (AFP/IFAW)  

     "But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

2. 

   ask on April 19, 2007 at 7:58 am

   Sad news on the whale – looking better for the World Bank:

   Wolfowitz’s World Bank deputy tells him to quit

   Paul Wolfowitz’s tenure as president of the World Bank may be decided today by the bank’s governing board, after he was abandoned by the Bush administration and faced a revolt led by his own deputy.

   When Mr Wolfowitz asked a meeting of senior staff yesterday what he could do to repair faith in his leadership, he was told bluntly to resign by Graeme Wheeler, a managing director of the bank and one of two deputies to the president.

   Mr Wheeler – a well-respected New Zealander appointed to his post by Mr Wolfowitz last year – told the meeting of 30 vice-presidents at the bank’s headquarters in Washington that Mr Wolfowitz should go for the good of the organisation. Several vice-presidents said they agreed with Mr Wheeler.

   Mr Wolfowitz is said to have replied that he didn’t think his resignation would be in the bank’s best interests, and that he had no intentions of going.

   Sources inside the bank have described the situation as “civil war”. The Bank’s staff association has called for Mr Wolfowitz to resign, and a group of senior staff have threatened to quit if he stays. Other staff are planning to wear blue ribbons to show their support for the calls for his resignation.

   • 

     CabinGirl on April 19, 2007 at 8:32 am

     Looks like buh-bye to Wolfie…where will he turn up next, though?

     I’m having a really hard time finding any news that doesn’t make me want to scream today…I’m not taking the SCOTUS decision that makes me a second-class citizen based on my gender very well.

   • 

     idredit on April 19, 2007 at 8:50 am

     This scandal is drowned by the VTech tragedy.

     The wolf is at Wolfie’s door.

     DOD Looks at Wolfowitz Friend’s Contract

     “Whitman’s comments come after Science Applications International Corp., a large defense contractor, said it was directed to hire Shaha Riza, who at the time worked as a communications adviser in the bank’s Middle East Department.”

     Laura Rozen, War and Piece,

     cites a reader: “I’ve been interested in the news today that Victoria Toensing is claiming Ms. Riza to be a volunteer for her trip to Iraq. The Government Accountability Project has put up the contract that SAIC had for this work here:

     http://whistleblower.org/doc/2007/Riza%20SAIC%20contract.pdf

     Not so sure why SAIC would need a contract for a volunteer. This contract names Riza and two others as Subject Matter Experts and the total contract is for $235,000. It is for Time and Materials (with the government providing transportation) — even given that SAIC likely took 1/3 of this for overhead, this is a decent amount of money for 90 days of work that does not seem to result in any written reports. …

     and Steve Clemons

     notes: America Spent $35 million on Foundation for the Future Where Wolfowitz Lover Worked– but State Department Does Not Know Where the Office is Located.

     That’s taxpayers dollars at work.

3. 

   idredit on April 19, 2007 at 10:21 am

   Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has  2% support according to recent poll.

   Is that after factoring in the margin of error? Here’s the link:

   Two Percent Israelis Do Trust Olmert

   “In fact, so disastrous are the Israeli leader’s popularity ratings, that he began a recent speech with a full-blown admission of his own unpopularity. “I’m an unpopular prime minister, the polls say so,” he confessed. “I think they are right, I am indeed an unpopular prime minister.”[.]

4. 

   CabinGirl on April 19, 2007 at 11:49 am

   What a vile little troll of a man.

   Russ Feingold rocks, though.  He’s not cutting that lying sack o’crap any slack.

   • 

     idredit on April 19, 2007 at 12:28 pm

     “a pattern of not being candid,” says Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA)

     Hat Tip: Thinkprogress

     so far this morning from what snippets I’ve heard, except Sen Hatch, Gonzo’s register is ringing “No Sale”

     • 

       CabinGirl on April 19, 2007 at 12:52 pm

       I love that the protesters are welcome there, and that nobody is buying Gonzos’ load of manure.  Fun to watch him squirm.

       It will be interesting to see if/how soon he gets chucked under the bus by Rove and company.

5. 

   idredit on April 19, 2007 at 12:38 pm

   Backlash at NBC over broadcast of video. Family members spurned the network.

   [P]arts of the video were aired on NBC last night, and watched in stunned silence by students on the Virginia Tech campus in the Virginia town of Blacksberg.

   But soon a backlash began, and anger was voiced at NBC for running the images. At a press conference today, Colonel Steven Flaherty of Virginia State Police criticised the broadcaster.

   Family members of victims cancelled plans to appear on NBC’s Today show to protest at the airing of the video, saying that they found it very upsetting. Students decided to stop writing about Cho or even using his name on college websites, in order to deny him publicity.

   An FBI expert said that he didn’t think any part of the video should have been shown at all. [.]

   • 

     CabinGirl on April 19, 2007 at 12:53 pm

     I’m glad the family members are standing up to the network vultures.  Those people should be left alone to grieve.

   • 

     cruz del sur on April 19, 2007 at 4:32 pm

     Actually I was watching it last night, and NBC was not airing it. I switched channels and FOX was airing it before NBC did

6. 

   Oui on April 19, 2007 at 3:59 pm

   .

   John McCain jokes about bombing Iran

   In response to an audience question about military action against Iran, the Arizona senator briefly sang the chorus of the surf-rocker classic “Barbara Ann.”

   “That old, eh, that old Beach Boys song, Bomb Iran,” he said in jest, chuckling with the crowd. Then, he softly sang to the melody: “Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, anyway, ah …” The audience responded with more laughter.

   The campaign stop was in Murrells Inlet, S.C.

   Sen. Fair is paid aide to McCain
   Sons of two other officials working for campaign  

   "But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

   • 

     CabinGirl on April 19, 2007 at 4:10 pm

     He’s a complete and total idiot.

     • 

       chocolate ink on April 19, 2007 at 4:44 pm

       I think the technical medical term might be ‘one sick fucker’.

7. 

   cruz del sur on April 19, 2007 at 4:33 pm

   Today is the 64th anniversary of the Warsaw uprising.