Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell endorsed Senator Barack Obama for president on Sunday morning as a candidate who was reaching out in a “more diverse and inclusive way across our society†and offering a “calm, patient, intellectual, steady approach†to the nation’s problems.
The endorsement, on the NBC public affairs program “Meet the Press,†was a major blow to Senator John McCain, who has been a good friend of Mr. Powell for decades. Mr. Powell, a Republican, has advised Mr. McCain in the past on foreign policy.
Category: Blog
Powell Endorses Obama
Posted by miri On 19 October, 2008
Justices Rule Against Ohio G.O.P. in Voting Case
Posted by miri On 17 October, 2008
The Supreme Court on Friday overturned a lower court’s order requiring state officials in Ohio to supply information that would have made it easier to challenge prospective voters. The decision was a setback for Ohio Republicans, who had sued to force the Ohio secretary of state, a Democrat, to provide information about database mismatches to county officials.
The decision has the potential to affect as many as 200,000 of the 660,000 new voters who have been registered in Ohio since Jan. 1, according Social Security Administration and state election officials.
FactChecking Debate No. 3
Posted by miri On 16 October, 2008
Sorting out fact and fiction in the presidential candidates’ final debate.
Ruling May Impede Thousands of Ohio Voters
Posted by miri On 16 October, 2008
More than 200,000 registered Ohio voters may be blocked from casting regular ballots on Election Day because of a federal appeals court decision on Tuesday requiring the disclosure of lists of voters whose names did not match those on government databases, state election officials and voting experts said.
The court decision requires Jennifer Brunner, the Ohio secretary of state, to provide the names to local election officials by Friday. Once the local officials have the names, they may require these voters to cast provisional ballots rather than regular ones, and they may ask partisan poll workers to challenge these voters on Election Day. Both possibilities could cause widespread problems when the voters show up at the polls.
Cat Annoys Sleeping Guy All Night
Posted by miri On 15 October, 2008
Ever wonder what cats do while we’re asleep? This guy did, so he set up a time lapse camera to find out. Turns out cats spend the night climbing on us.
No surprise here.
Legislative Panel – Palin Abused Authority
Posted by miri On 10 October, 2008
Sarah Palin unlawfully abused her power as governor by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper, the chief investigator of an Alaska legislative panel concluded Friday. The politically charged inquiry imperiled her reputation as a reformer on John McCain’s Republican ticket.
Investigator Stephen Branchflower, in a report by a bipartisan panel that investigated the matter, found Palin in violation of a state ethics law that prohibits public officials from using their office for personal gain.
NYC National Debt Clock runs out of digits
Posted by miri On 9 October, 2008
Yep, confidence…
In a sign of the times, the legendary National Debt Clock in New York City has run out of digits to record the growing debt.
The Times Square-area ticker needs two additional digits to track a national debt 100 times larger than the current $10.2 trillion.
As a short-term fix the digital dollar sign on the billboard-style clock has been switched to a number one – the “1” in $10 trillion. The Durst Organization says it plans to update the sign next year.
Administration Is Considering Cash Injections Into Banks
Posted by miri On 9 October, 2008
An inept government taking over is supposed to give me confidence?
Having tried without success to unlock frozen credit markets, the Treasury Department is considering taking ownership stakes in many United States banks to try to restore confidence in the financial system, the White House said on Thursday.
States’ Actions to Block Voters Appear Illegal
Posted by miri On 9 October, 2008
Tens of thousands of eligible voters in at least six swing states have been removed from the rolls or have been blocked from registering in ways that appear to violate federal law, according to a review of state records and Social Security data by The New York Times.
The actions do not seem to be coordinated by one party or the other, nor do they appear to be the result of election officials intentionally breaking rules, but are apparently the result of mistakes in the handling of the registrations and voter files as the states tried to comply with a 2002 federal law, intended to overhaul the way elections are run.
Still, because Democrats have been more aggressive at registering new voters this year, according to state election officials, any heightened screening of new applications may affect their party’s supporters disproportionately. The screening or trimming of voter registration lists in the six states — Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Nevada and North Carolina — could also result in problems at the polls on Election Day: people who have been removed from the rolls are likely to show up only to be challenged by political party officials or election workers, resulting in confusion, long lines and heated tempers.
FactChecking Debate No. 2
Posted by miri On 8 October, 2008
McCain and Obama debated for the second time, in Nashville. We noted some misleading statements and mangled facts