Realtors, who needs them? Economists, who needs them? What are they good for?
Existing home sales plunge in March

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer Tue Apr 24, 11:29 AM ET

WASHINGTON - Sales of existing homes plunged in March by the largest amount in nearly two decades, reflecting bad weather and increasing problems in the subprime mortgage market, a real estate trade group reported Tuesday.

The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes fell by 8.4 percent in March, compared to February. It was the biggest one-month decline since a 12.6 percent plunge in January 1989, another period of recession conditions in housing.

The drop left sales in March at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.12 million units, the slowest pace since June 2003.

The steep sales decline was accompanied by an eighth straight fall in median home prices, the longest such period of falling prices on record. The median price fell to $217,000, a drop of 0.3 percent from the price a year ago.

The fall in sales in March was bigger than had been expected and it dashed hopes that housing was beginning to mount a recovery after last year's big slump. That slowdown occurred after five years in which sales of both existing and new homes had set records.

David Lereah, chief economist at the Realtors, attributed the big drop in part to bad weather in February, which discouraged shoppers and meant that sales that closed in March would be lower. Existing home sales are counted when the sales are closed.

Lereah said that the troubles in mortgage lending were also playing a significant part in depressing sales. Lenders have tightened standards with the rising delinquencies in mortgages especially in the subprime market, where borrowers with weak credit histories obtained their loans.

Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at High Frequency Economics in Valhalla, N.Y., said the dismal March performance reflected in part better sales in January and February, which were driven by warmer-than-normal temperatures in the previous months.

"This looks awful but it is surely just a reversal of the favorable weather effects which boosted January and February sales," he said.

There was weakness in every part of the country in March. Sales fell by 10.9 percent in the Midwest. They were down 9.1 percent in the West, 8.2 percent in the Northeast and 6.2 percent in the South.

"The negative impact of subprime is considerable," Lereah said. "I expect sales to be sluggish in April, May and June."

Lereah said he didn't expect a full recovery in housing until 2008. He predicted that sales of existing homes would drop by about 3 percent this year with the decline in sales of new homes an even steeper 15 percent.

He said that the median price for homes sold in 2007 would fall by 1 percent to 3 percent, which would be the first price decline for an entire year on the Realtors' records, which go back four decades.

The steep slump in housing over the past year has been a major factor slowing the overall economy. It has subtracted around 1 percentage point from growth since mid-2006.

Bleed him out, boys!
World Bank committee rejects Wolfowitz hearing

By Lesley Wroughton 28 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A special committee looking into whether
World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz breached rules by approving a promotion for his girlfriend has declined to meet with his lawyer, raising concerns it is rushing to judgment, the lawyer said on Tuesday.

"I have heard indirectly they will not meet with me, which is very disappointing and it raises questions about whether Mr Wolfowitz is really going to be treated fairly," the lawyer, Robert Bennett (news, bio, voting record), told Reuters.

"I hope it doesn't mean that, but I am concerned," said Bennett, a high-profile lawyer whose clients have included former president
Bill Clinton.

Bennett said he was worried there was a "rush to judgment" over Wolfowitz, whose appointment to the presidency in mid-2004 was controversial because he was a U.S. deputy defense secretary and architect of the war in
Iraq.

Wolfowitz has apologized for his handling of the promotion and pay rise for Shaha Riza, who was moved by the bank to a job at the State Department after an ethics committee raised potential conflict of interest issues.

The bank's staff association has said the high-paying promotion broke bank rules and called for Wolfowitz to resign, while some European member countries have questioned whether he should keep his job.

The U.S. government has backed Wolfowitz and urged leading European countries to withhold judgment until the World Bank's 24-nation board decides on his future.

The board appointed the committee last week to consider conflict of interest, ethical and reputation issues, amid concerns among members that the controversy would damage the reputation of the poverty-fighting agency.

The countries have urged a speedy resolution.

Board sources told Reuters there was no need for lawyers since the committee was looking into "administrative procedures and not legal issues."

Bennett said on Monday he was worried the committee would base its decisions on selective documents and that Wolfowitz's side of the story deserved a hearing.

He also said the bank's treatment of Riza was "grossly unfair" because she had not been given the chance to defend herself properly.

In Ottawa, Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty cautioned the board should be allowed to complete its work.

"I've discussed this issue with a number of the members of the World Bank ... there are some differences of opinion but I think we share with a number of countries that we believe in due process," Flaherty told reporters in Ottawa.

PROMISES OF CHANGE

In an e-mail to staff on Tuesday, Wolfowitz appealed for patience and said he was making "major changes" to address concerns over his management.

"I understand the importance of coming to closure - in a timely manner - on the issue involving me, and would ask for your continued patience in allowing time for the Board to do its work," Wolfowitz said.

Trying to mend rifts with staff, Wolfowitz said he had met with the bank's regional vice presidents who were "candid in their feedback to me on the challenges facing the bank and I appreciate this."

Among the changes that Wolfowitz has promised is the role of aides he brought with him to the bank from the
Pentagon and White House, Kevin Kellems and Robin Cleveland.

Wolfowitz has acknowledged tensions among bank staff over the aides, whose appointments raised concerns that he relied on his own inner circle for advice.

In the e-mail, Wolfowitz urged staff to focus on their work: "We have an enormous agenda of work ahead of us over the coming months, including projected delivery of some 180 projects and a big corporate agenda which requires the full energy of each of you."

Even the holy screw up now and then!
Former Apple CFO settles with SEC

By Michael Kahn 2 hours, 3 minutes ago

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc.'s (Nasdaq:AAPL - news) former finance chief settled with U.S. regulators on Tuesday over backdated stock options grants, saying he had relied on statements by Chief Executive
Steve Jobs in handling the grants at the company.

The U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission said it would not pursue action against Apple after reaching a settlement with former Chief Financial Officer Fred Anderson and filing charges against former General Counsel Nancy Heinen.

Anderson agreed, without admitting or denying the allegations, to pay about $3.5 million in fines and disgorgement of profits.

In a statement issued by his lawyer, Anderson said he warned Jobs about an executive stock option grant in January 2001, saying the grant would have to be priced based on the date of the actual Apple board agreement.

"He was told by Mr. Jobs that the Board had given its prior approval and the board would verify it," the statement from Anderson's lawyer, Jerome Roth, said. "Fred relied on these statements by Mr. Jobs and from them concluded the grant was being properly handled."

In its suit against Heinen, the SEC accused her of also participating in fraudulent backdating of stock options granted in 2001 to Jobs and other senior executives.

Heinen's lawyer said in a statement it was unfair to single his client out for enforcement action among executives in more than 170 companies swept up in a stock option scandal.

"To suggest that Ms. Heinen engaged in fraud is to misunderstand the facts of what happened," Miles Ehrlich said in a statement. "Nancy did not backdate stock options, and she didn't deceive anyone either inside or outside the company."

Apple, the maker of the popular iPod digital music players and
Macintosh computers, is among dozens of companies under scrutiny for their accounting of stock options granted to executives. The company said in December it would take an $84 million charge for improperly dating more than 6,400 stock options.

The main issue for many companies is whether they improperly dated stock options grants to take advantage of a temporary decline in the underlying share price.

The SEC complaint alleges Heinen lied to auditors, created false documents -- including one from a board meeting that regulators charge did not occur in 2001 -- and circumvented company controls.

But the agency also said it would not file an enforcement action against Apple in connection with its stock options investigation, citing the company's "extraordinary" cooperation.

"Apple's cooperation consisted of, among other things, prompt self-reporting, an independent internal investigation, the sharing of the results of that investigation with the government, and the implementation of new controls designed to prevent the recurrence of fraudulent conduct," the SEC said in a statement.

Apple shares were up 0.6 percent at $94.08 in afternoon trading on Nasdaq.

(Additional reporting by Nichola Groom in Los Angeles, Julie Vorman in Washington and Duncan Martell in San Francisco),

Nothing does my heart more good than Catholics righteously disobeying stupid, fascist Vatican edicts!
Mexico City to legalize abortion in landmark vote

By Greg Brosnan and Catherine Bremer 46 minutes ago

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico City lawmakers are almost certain to legalize abortion in the capital of the world's second-largest Roman Catholic country on Tuesday in direct defiance of the Pope.

Leftist lawmakers dominate Mexico City's local assembly and will vote on allowing women in the capital to abort in the first three months of pregnancy.

Riot police stood between rival groups of demonstrators outside the assembly building as the debate began. Weeping anti-abortion protesters played tape recordings of babies crying and carried tiny white coffins.

In Latin America, only Cuba, Guyana and U.S. commonwealth Puerto Rico allow abortion on demand. Mexico and many other countries permit it in special cases, including after rape, if the fetus has defects or if the mother's life is at risk.

The abortion vote has split Mexico and inspired a letter from
Pope Benedict urging Mexican bishops to oppose it.

Church leaders have threatened to excommunicate deputies from the Party of the Democratic Revolution who vote in favor of lifting the abortion ban, which will remain in force in the rest of Mexico.

"They will get the penalty of excommunication. That is not revenge, it is just what happens in the case of serious sins," said Felipe Aguirre Franco, the archbishop of Acapulco.

City deputies from President Felipe Calderon's conservative National Action Party, or PAN, tried delaying tactics that might delay the vote until early Wednesday morning.

Leftists, who hold more than half of the assembly's 66 seats, threw out a PAN motion aimed at derailing the abortion bill.

Opinion polls show Mexico's population of 107 million, of whom some 90 percent are Catholic, is split over the issue.

PROTESTS

Supporters of abortion, who are well-represented in the liberal-minded capital, say 2,000 women die each year in Mexico, often poor women who have to resort to unhygienic back-street clinics.

"Yes to abortion, no to hypocrisy," read a poster held by Teresa Rivera, 57, who said she had a clandestine abortion when younger and was dumped in the street still anesthetized by the abortionist. "Excommunicate me," said another banner held by a woman in her 20s.

"There are children dying of hunger, that is a worse sin," said Julia Klug, 54, dressed in a fake cardinal's outfit.

Mexico City lawmakers have recently stirred up controversy by allowing gay civil unions and considering a euthanasia law. Further alarming the anti-abortion camp, Mexican lawmakers have filed a proposal in Congress for a national abortion law.

Anti-abortion campaigners say the fetus three months into pregnancy is a human being.

"At 12 weeks, its heart is beating, it has little arms, little legs. It's innocent, it can't say, 'Don't take my life away,"' said protester Graciela Nunez, 46.

Conservatives published a full page of symbolic death notices for unborn children in a newspaper on Tuesday.

Abortion opponents have collected the 36,000 signatures they need to ask the city assembly for a referendum on abortion but any vote would not be binding on lawmakers.

Calderon, a practicing Catholic, has largely avoided speaking on the issue but First Lady Margarita Zavala entered the debate at the weekend, condemning abortion in a rare political comment.

Opponents may challenge the abortion law in the Supreme Court if it passes.

(Additional reporting by Adriana Barrera and Andrew Winning)

Doctrinal nazies can not be tools of grace or of salvation! Looking for the anti-christ? He is legion!
Gay marriage evil, abortion terrorism: Vatican

By Philip Pullella Mon Apr 23, 2:43 PM ET

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican's second-highest ranking doctrinal official on Monday forcefully branded homosexual marriage an evil and denounced abortion and euthanasia as forms of "terrorism with a human face."

The attack by Archbishop Angelo Amato, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was the latest in a string of speeches made by either
Pope Benedict or other
Vatican officials as Italy considers giving more rights to gays.

In an address to chaplains, Amato said newspapers and television bulletins often seemed like "a perverse film about evil." He denounced "evils that remain almost invisible" because the media presented them as "expression of human progress."

He listed these as abortion clinics, which he called "slaughterhouses of human beings," euthanasia, and "parliaments of so-called civilized nations where laws contrary to the nature of the human being are being promulgated, such as the approval of marriage between people of the same sex ..."

Amato spoke at a time when the Vatican and Italy's powerful Roman Catholic Church are at loggerheads over plans for a highly controversial law that would give unmarried heterosexual and homosexual couples some form of legal recognition.

The Church and Catholic politicians, even some in Prime Minister Romano Prodi's centre-left coalition, see the proposed law as a Trojan Horse and say it could lead to gay marriages.

Amato, who is said to be very close to Pope Benedict, criticized the media's coverage of ethical issues.

After denouncing "abominable terrorism" such as that carried out by suicide bombers, he condemned what he called "terrorism with a human face," and accused the media of manipulating language "to hide the tragic reality of the facts."

"For example, abortion is called 'voluntary interruption of pregnancy' and not the killing of a defenseless human being, an abortion clinic is given a harmless, even attractive, name: 'centre for reproductive health' and euthanasia is blandly called 'death with dignity'," he said in his address.

Gay rights group have criticized the Pope and Catholic Church officials in the past over such comments, accusing them of interfering in Italy's domestic affairs.

Groups opposed to gay marriage and recognition of unmarried couples are planning a national rally in Rome next month.

Italy's Roman Catholic Church, set up on diocesan and parish levels, has the organizational machinery to mobilize hundreds of thousands of people. A huge turnout, which is expected, could be a major embarrassment for Prodi's government.

This is how Dubba is running the US into the ground. His people are NEVER ON THE RIGHT SIDE!
U.S. official criticizes Iraqi Kurds

By OMAR SINAN, Associated Press Writer 56 minutes ago

CAIRO, Egypt - A U.S. official, in a television interview aired Saturday, blamed Kurdish authorities in northern
Iraq for raising tensions with neighboring Turkey recently.

David Satterfield, senior adviser to Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, told the pan-Arab satellite channel Al-Arabiya that Iraqi Kurds are not doing enough to stop violence on Iraq's northern border with Turkey. He said the U.S. was mediating in talks between the Iraqis and Turks over the feud.

Earlier this month, Massoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq, threatened that Iraq's Kurds would retaliate if Turkey persisted in "interfering" in Iraqi affairs, particularly regarding the oil-rich Kirkuk city. Ankara does not want to see Kirkuk under control of the Kurds, fearing that would strengthen them.

Barzani said Iraqi Kurds could strike back and intervene in Turkey's southeast where the region's Kurdish majority has been fighting for decades against Turkish security forces for autonomy.

The U.S. State Department has scolded Barzani over the threats.

"We have a dialogue, a trilateral dialogue" going on, to resolve the crisis, said Satterfield said who spoke from the Saudi capital, Riyadh,

He expressed U.S. concerns over the presence of the insurgent Kurdistan Workers Party, PKK, along the border between Iraq and Turkey, a close U.S. ally.

Ankara says the PKK use bases in northern Iraq to launch attacks into southern Turkey. Turkey is growing angry over the failure of U.S. and Iraqi forces to curb the attacks. The Turkish military claims as many as 3,800 rebels are based just across the border in Iraq and that as many as 2,300 more operate inside Turkey.

"The Kurdish leadership must do more to address this problem of terror and terrorism," Satterfield told Al-Arabiya.

More than 37,000 people have been killed in fighting between Turkish security forces and Kurdish rebels since 1984, most of them in the southeastern region bordering Iraq. Turkey fears that any moves toward greater independence for Kurds in northern Iraq could incite Turkey's own estimated 14 million Kurds to outright rebellion.

Turkish Gen. Yasar Buyukanit recently asked the government for a permission to attack Kurdish guerrillas inside Iraq, a request that has strained relations between Ankara and Washington.

Any Turkish military incursion into northern Iraq would put the already over-stretched U.S. military in the middle of a fight between two crucial partners, and Washington has urged Turkish restraint.

Geting Bill out from under foot isn't a bad idea!
Clinton says husband would be ambassador

By MIKE GLOVER, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 31 minutes ago

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa -
Hillary Rodham Clinton said Saturday that if she is elected president, she would make her husband a roaming ambassador to the world, using his skills to repair the nation's tattered image abroad.

"I can't think of a better cheerleader for America than
Bill Clinton, can you?" the Democratic senator from New York asked a crowd jammed into a junior high school gymnasium. "He has said he would do anything I asked him to do. I would put him to work."

Clinton spoke at a town hall-style meeting Saturday where she took questions from about 200 people. When asked what role the former president would play in her administration, she left no doubt it would be an important one.

"I'm very lucky that my husband has been so experienced in all of these areas," said Clinton, who pointed to the diplomatic assignments her husband has carried out since leaving office, such as raising money for tsunami victims.

Although former president Clinton was impeached after an affair with a White House intern, he remains a very popular figure in much of the world and is considered an effective diplomat. He remained in office after the Senate failed to convict him.

That's precisely what America needs in the wake of a war in
Iraq that's left America isolated and hated throughout much of the world,
Hillary Clinton said.

"I believe in using former presidents, particularly what my husband has done, to really get people around the world feeling better about our country," she said. "We're going to need that. Right now they're rooting against us and they need to root for us."

The former president can also be a political asset to his wife's campaign. While his image with the electorate is mixed, he remains immensely popular among Democrats.

When it was announced last year that he would be the main speaker at the Iowa Democratic Party's largest annual fundraiser, the event sold out overnight.

On Saturday, Hillary Clinton chatted with activists in Marshalltown and mingled at a coffee shop in Newton before raising money for Rep. Leonard Boswell (news, bio, voting record).

Throughout the day, Clinton toughened her rhetoric by offering sharply populist themes.

"Rich people didn't make American great," Clinton said. "It was the middle class who made this country great."

She denounced the Bush administration, which she said has left the government incompetent. "They have shown contempt for our government," Clinton said. "We've got to get back to having qualified people, not cronies, serving in the government of the United States."

She said Bush and Vice President
Dick Cheney have done lasting damage. "I don't think we know all the damage that this president and vice president have done," Clinton said.

She was scheduled to visit Dubuque on Sunday.

In Marshalltown, she was pressed on immigration issues in a city where a raid at a local meatpacking plant led to the detention of nearly 100 workers. Clinton called for more assistance for cities with significant numbers of undocumented workers.

"You've got to have more help for communities when you have a lot of undocumented workers because they have costs associated with that and they don't set immigration policy," Clinton said.

She also said any immigration reform must be tougher on businesses that hire illegal immigrants.

She said nothing will affect the issue until leaders of countries, such as Mexico, improve the economic lives for millions living in poverty.

Clinton also said she would raise taxes for the wealthy, who she said "aren't paying their fair share." She also praised the economic policies of her husband that brought budget surpluses.

"We need to get back to fiscal responsibility," she said.

Tapping Ignorance, Fear, and Superstition has long been considered a renewable power source by the sociopathic few...!
Envoy attacks female circumcision in Kenya

By Daniel Wallis Sat Apr 21, 8:59 AM ET

KILGORIS, Kenya (Reuters) - The U.S. ambassador to Kenya attacked the practice of female circumcision on Saturday, saying local communities must denounce it.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is widespread in the east African nation, where the government estimates about a third of women has suffered the procedure.

Among some communities, like the Kisii and Masaai, almost all girls are cut. Proponents say it reduces sexual desire and keeps women faithful.

"FGM kills girls due to bleeding and infections," U.S. envoy Michael Ranneberger told several hundred residents of Kilgoris, a town in hilly, rural west Kenya where the practice is rife.

"It kills women by increasing the risk of complications during childbirth, and it kills babies through complications."

Efforts to end FGM in Kenya have focused on education, policing and the promotion of alternative coming-of-age rituals for young women, including retreats and counseling.

Traditional dancers ululated and clapped as Ranneberger arrived, while schoolboys put on a play about the dangers of FGM at the gathering on a local football pitch.

Victims of the practice gave heart-rending accounts.

"The other women threatened me if I did not do this. We must stop this. Young girls are living in fear," a Maasai girl in her early teens said, her voice cracking with emotion.

Ranneberger said he realized female circumcision was a culturally sensitive topic in parts of the country. "But it is one about which we nonetheless need to speak out," he said.

Kenyan girls, particularly in rural societies, are cut at the age of 10 or younger, to prepare them for marriage at around 14. "This is not an upward path to a brighter Kenya, but rather works counter to efforts to combat poverty and despair," Ranneberger said.

The undermining of objectivity displayed in these firings is NEVER ACCEPTABLE!
House Republican leader says Gonzales should go

By Donna Smith Fri Apr 20, 6:32 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A congressional Republican leader on Friday joined bipartisan calls for U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign but the White House reaffirmed its confidence in
President George W. Bush's long-time friend.

Rep. Adam Putnam (news, bio, voting record) of Florida, chairman of the Republican conference in the House of Representatives, said it was important for the head of the U.S. Justice Department to have "unwavering" credibility.

"For the good of the nation, I think it is time for fresh leadership at the
Department of Justice," Putnam said in a brief telephone interview. He said a lack of credibility by the Justice Department chief puts in jeopardy the president's legislative agenda.

Putnam is joining a growing list of U.S. lawmakers expressing a lack of confidence in Gonzales a day after he testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee on the firing of eight U.S. prosecutors last year. The dismissals raised concerns among Democrats that they were politically motivated.

The White House of Friday reiterated Bush's support for Gonzales.

Spokeswoman Dana Perino said Bush talked with Gonzales after Thursday's hearing and believes he answered lawmakers' questions "honestly and forthrightly."

Perino added: "Hopefully people will be able to take a step back, realize that there is no credible evidence of wrongdoing, that the attorney general has apologized for how it was handled, that he has a job to do and he's been doing it very well and the president has full confidence in him."

Bush and Gonzales have been friends since their days together in Texas where Gonzales served as counsel to then-Texas Gov. Bush. Gonzales was Bush's White House counsel before becoming attorney general in 2005.

At Thursday's Senate hearing, Sen. Tom Coburn (news, bio, voting record), an Oklahoma Republican, told Gonzales he should resign, while Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), a Pennsylvania Republican, said the nation's top law enforcement official had lost his credibility.

Democrats have vowed to keep pushing their investigation into the firing, regardless if Gonzales resigns.

But Sen. John Cornyn (news, bio, voting record), a Texas Republican who sits on the Judiciary Committee, told CNN that Gonzales should stay.

"I think he should because, frankly, I don't think the Democrats are going to be satisfied with resignation by Al Gonzales," Cornyn said.

(additional reporting by Thomas Ferraro)

Gosh almighty, you mean the US Marines DON'T WALK ON WATER...?
U.S. Gen. report on Haditha condemns Marines: report

Sat Apr 21, 1:02 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Army general concluded the Marine Corps chain of command in
Iraq ignored "obvious" signs of "serious misconduct" in the slayings of two dozen civilians in Haditha, Iraq, in 2005, The Washington Post reported on Saturday.

The report by Maj. Gen. Eldon A. Bargewell, obtained by the newspaper, also found that commanders fostered a climate that devalued the life of innocent Iraqis to the point that U.S. soldiers considered their deaths insignificant.

Bargewell's investigation found officers may have willfully ignored reports of the civilian deaths to protect themselves and their units from blame.

The investigation covered enlisted personnel through the two-star general commanding the 2nd Marine Division at the time.

Bargewell found no specific cover-up, but he concluded there also was no interest at any level in investigating allegations of a massacre, the Post reported.

Bargewell's report, now unclassified, focuses on the reporting of the incident and the training and command climate within the Marine Corps leadership. It does not address the November 19, 2005 incident in detail.

On that day, a roadside bomb exploded and killed one Marine in a convoy of Humvees. In reaction, a squad of Marines raided several homes and killed 24 Iraqi civilians.

The Marines have told investigators they believed they were taking small arms fire from the houses and were following rules of engagement when they responded.

The investigation began in March 2006 after an initial inquiry found the Marines did not intentionally kill innocent civilians.

A Marine Corps spokesman declined to comment, the Post reported. Marine officials have generally not discussed the incident because it is under investigation.

Quote from article just below...!
"If you've got a chicken factory, a chicken-plucking factory -- you know what I'm talking about. You've got starving families, and they want to come and work," he said.

There's a joke in there and The Smother's Brothers found it three decades ago..."cotton pickin, finger-lickin, ...you better not make a mistake!"

Be as wary of Repubicans steppng into Democratic turf as you would be wary of Democrts stepping ino Repubican turf!
History's judgment not a concern, Bush tells group

Thu Apr 19, 6:02 PM ET

TIPP CITY, Ohio (Reuters) - If George Washington is still a subject of debate among historians, then it may be a long time before they reach a consensus on George W. Bush's presidency.


At least that is how Bush viewed it on Thursday in explaining how he is not bothered by the polls and his unpopularity among Americans tired of the
Iraq war.

"Everybody wants to be loved," Bush told a questioner. "But I believe, sir, in my soul, that I have made the right decisions for this country when it comes to prosperity and peace."

Bush went to Tipp City to drum up support for his war policy. He conducted a lengthy question-and-answer session with local citizens that sometimes bordered on the comical.

The location was Tippecanoe High School, a name that harkens back to William Henry Harrison's 1840 campaign slogan -- "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" -- when Harrison, a hero of the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe, ran for president with John Tyler as his running mate.

"I've been in politics long enough to know that polls just go 'poof' at times," Bush told the largely friendly audience.

As a White House resident for the past six years, Bush, president No. 43, has been reading up on some of his predecessors.

"I read three histories on George Washington last year. The year 2006, I read three histories about our first President. My attitude is, if they're still writing about one, 43 doesn't need to worry about it," he said to laughter.

What about Vietnam and Iraq, one questioner wanted to know.

"There are some similarities of course," Bush replied. "Death is terrible."

Later, he went into a long riff about the need for a temporary guest worker program for illegal immigrants, because they are doing jobs Americans will not do.

"If you've got a chicken factory, a chicken-plucking factory -- you know what I'm talking about. You've got starving families, and they want to come and work," he said.

As he usually does, Bush singled out his wife,
Laura Bush, for praise.

"Putting up with me requires a lot of patience," he said.

Rid our Congress of Racists!
House approves voting rep for Washington DC

By Thomas Ferraro Thu Apr 19, 8:16 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The capital of the United States would get its first full representative in the U.S. Congress under a bill approved on Thursday in defiance of a White House veto threat.

The Democratic-led House of Representatives voted 241-177 to expand its chamber and provide a representative for the District of Columbia, a city commonly referred to as Washington in honor of America's first president.

Mayor Andrian Fenty called the action "a great and historic day for the residents of the District of Columbia" and urged the Senate to give its needed concurrence.

"The United States is the only representative democracy that does not afford the citizens of its capital voting representation -- making this not only a national disgrace, but an international embarrassment," said House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer (news, bio, voting record) of Maryland.

"We are fighting to ensure that the citizens of Baghdad have a full vote in a democratic system, while we are denying this same right to U.S. citizens," Hoyer said.

Foes charge that giving the District, capital of the United States for more than 200 years, a representative would violate the U.S. Constitution, which declares that House lawmakers be elected exclusively by the states.

"D.C. is not a state and the Constitution clearly limits representation in the House to states," said Rep. Lamar Smith (news, bio, voting record) of Texas, ranking Republican on the
House Judiciary Committee.

Accordingly, the White House has said if the bill was sent to Republican
President George W. Bush, he would veto it.

But backers argue the Constitution, adopted in 1789 as the nation's legal framework, provides Congress broad powers to regulate the district -- enough to give it a representative.

"This problem should be solved," said Republican Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, who broke party ranks to co-sponsor the bill. "It's an outrage this situation has persisted for 200 years."

In an effort to attract bipartisan support, the measure seeks to provide a political balance. It would increase the House to 437 from 435 members, giving one new representative to the traditionally Democratic District and the other to the Republican-leaning state of Utah.

District residents pay federal taxes, prompting many to have on their car license plates the protest words: "Taxation without representation," reminiscent of the battle cry of American colonists when they won independence from Great Britain in 1776 and went on to create the United States.

It took until 1961 for District residents to win the right to vote in U.S. presidential elections. Since 1970, they have had a House delegate who can vote on legislation in committee, but not in the full House.

(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan)

McCain lives in the same tiny cell today he lived in at the Hanoi Hilton. Not a very wide view of things there.
Oliver Stone rolling with new ad against war

By Andrew Wallenstein 1 hour, 18 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Filmmaker Oliver Stone will direct a TV commercial questioning the Bush administration's military strategy in
Iraq.

The Oscar-winning Vietnam veteran was hired by activist groups MoveOn.org and VoteVets.org to shoot a 30-second spot derived from video of U.S. soldiers and their family members speaking out against the war. Members of MoveOn will select one of 20 video interviews on its site, as well as on YouTube, for Stone to turn into a commercial.

"We have leaders in Washington who say they're 'supporting our troops' -- but the people who suffer most from their policies are the troops themselves," Stone said. "I decided to participate in this project because, as a veteran, I know that America needs to listen to our servicemen and women."

The videos under consideration can be viewed at http://www.pol.moveon.org/videovets. The commercial is expected to air in the coming weeks.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

NO! the truth is, we are ALL INSIDE THE MIND OF A KILLER, but refuse to look clearly at the sob! Grow up!
Gunman's video shocks families

By Andrea Hopkins Thu Apr 19, 5:56 PM ET

BLACKSBURG, Virginia (Reuters) - A videotaped diatribe by the Virginia Tech gunman shocked victims' families and mesmerized television viewers, but police said on Thursday it yielded little for their investigation of the campus massacre.

Still grieving, students at the university expressed disgust at self-made photos and a disturbing video the killer mailed to NBC News on Monday when he paused during the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history.

Police handling the investigation criticized the airing from Wednesday evening of the images and rants by Cho Seung-Hui, who killed 32 people and then himself at the sprawling campus in southwestern Virginia.

State police chief Steve Flaherty said victims' families and the Virginia Tech community had been badly struck not only by tragedy but by the intense media attention surrounding it.

Cho's video manifesto brandishing guns and ranting at times incoherently drew wall-to-wall U.S. news coverage.

"The world has endured a view of life that few of us would or should ever have to endure," Flaherty told a news conference. "I'm sorry you all were exposed to these images."

Campus authorities have also faced questions after it emerged that they had become aware of Cho's troubled mental state 17 months before he went on his killing spree.

University officials insisted they had no responsibility for monitoring Cho's psychiatric care after he was said to have been suicidal in 2005 and was sent to a mental health center.

Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine announced the makeup of a panel, including former
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, to look into the university's response to the shootings, after it was criticized for being slow to warn students of the danger.

'LITTLE MORE THAN PORNOGPRAHY'

With Cho's imbalance displayed in his video manifesto, families of victims were so upset at NBC's decision to air the images that they canceled appearances on the network.

NBC insisted it acted responsibly. But the network and its rivals, ABC, CBS and Fox, said they would limit future use.

"Once you've seen it, its repetition is little more than pornography once that first news cycle is passed," said Jeffrey Schneider, ABC News senior vice president.

The package received by NBC News on Wednesday carried a time stamp showing Cho mailed it after he killed his first two victims in a dormitory but before he went on to slaughter 30 more in classrooms. NBC turned the material over to the
FBI.

"That's crazy. He kills two people and then goes to the post office and then he's ready for round two? It's creepy," said graduate student Nick Jeremiah, 34.

The dead included not only Americans but students from Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Egypt. A professor with dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship was also killed, hailed as a hero for barring the door to give students time to escape.

In a sign of exhaustion with the media spotlight, a hand-lettered sign on campus said "Media, stay away."

The university said Cho's victims would be awarded their degrees posthumously. Though classes resume on Monday, students can request an immediate end to their semesters with credit for work already done, Virginia Tech said.

The images and rambling monologue suffused with paranoia added to a chilling portrait of Cho, a 23-year-old student whose dark writings had worried professors and classmates.

NBC News President Steve Capus defended the broadcast of the material, saying: "This is I think as close as we will ever come to being inside of the mind of a killer."

ADMIRATION FOR COLUMBINE KILLERS

Cho is shown railing against wealth and debauchery and voicing admiration for the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. "You have vandalized my heart, raped my soul and tortured my conscience," he says, speaking directly to the camera.

Cho immigrated from
South Korea in 1992 and was raised in suburban Washington, where his parents work at a dry cleaners.

Police disclosed on Wednesday that Cho had been accused of stalking women students and was taken to a psychiatric hospital in 2005 because of worries he was suicidal. That has raised questions whether his later actions had been foreshadowed.

Reflecting nationwide security jitters, schools in Yuba City, California, were ordered into a "lock-down" after police warned a man had threatened a killing spree in locals schools.

FACTBOX-Shootings at U.S. schools

FACTBOX-School shootings around the world

FACTBOX-Guns and gun ownership in the U.S.

FACTBOX-Police contacts with Virginia gunman

Debate over U.S. gun violence

NBC criticized over Va. Tech gunman video

(Additional reporting by Randall Mikkelsen and Jeremy Pelofsky in Washington, Michele Gershberg in New York, Gina Keating in Los Angeles and Jim Christie in San Francisco)