Spitzer Talk at Harvard Is About, Well, Ethics

This guy has Chutzpah. He obviously has intentions of rehabilitating himself with the idea of getting back into politics.

in reference to:

"It was not until the third-to-last question, from a man toward the back with a long gray ponytail sticking out of his baseball hat, that Mr. Spitzer was asked about the prostitution scandal. “I may sound like a conspiracy theorist,” the man said, asking Mr. Spitzer whether he thought there might be “ulterior motives” behind the timing of the disclosure of the prostitution ring that he said was leaked to the news media.Mr. Spitzer said he resigned “because I thought it was the right thing to do and the actions that led to it were wrong.” He added, “Whatever may have led to their being public didn’t relate to anything I did and doesn’t excuse it.” Mr. Spitzer was asked by reporters after the event whether he should be speaking as part of a lecture series on ethics after his fall from grace.“I was speaking about corporate governance and speaking about the need to understand about what the rationale was for government involvement and when and where it makes sense,” Mr. Spitzer said. “I’ve been asked by some folks to voice some opinions, and I’m honored to do so.”"
- Spitzer Talks to Harvard Students About Ethics - NYTimes.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Web Site Says Justice Department Demanded It Secretly Turn Over Readers' Information

Sounds like something Bush administration used to pull. How low we've descended. Attacks on the Constitution seem to be the norm among Republicans and Democrats. It is a sign of a nation on the decline. At this rate, it won't be long before we have chaos in America. I fear for my country.

in reference to:

"An independent news Web site says the Department of Justice ordered it to release detailed information on its readers -- then directed the site to keep quiet about the demand. Kristina Clair, systems administrator for Indymedia.us, said she was shocked when she received a subpoena from U.S. Attorney Tim Morrison in Indianapolis in January demanding the IP address of every person who visited the site on June 25, 2008. She said she was also instructed "not to disclose the existence of this request unless authorized by the Assistant U.S. Attorney." Clair said she was astonished by the demand. "It's a purely aggregate site, it only pulls data from other Indymedia feeds," she told FoxNews.com. "There's no information fed to the site directly." When she contacted the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a legal advocacy group for digital freedom, she was told the subpoena was riddled with problems. "Not only was this request a plain violation of federal privacy law -- which would require the government to at least get a court order based on a factual showing to get that kind of data; not only did it violate Department of Justice regulations that require subpoenas to media organizations to be vetted by the attorney general; not only did it threaten the First Amendment right to read anonymously of all of Indymedia's users, it also violated Ms. Clair's First Amendment rights by ordering her not to disclose the subpoena's existence," EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston told FoxNews.com. EFF said it sent a letter to Assistant U.S. Attorney Doris L. Pryor on Feb. 13 relaying its concerns with the subpoena and explaining that Indymedia didn't store IP addresses and didn't have the data the government was looking for."
- Web Site Says Justice Department Demanded It Secretly Turn Over Readers' Information - FOXNews.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Swine Flu has Affected 22 million Americans

I won't sensationalize unlike some others. The press keeps using the term Swine Flu, which is incorrect. In this article they choose to say "also known as H1N1."

in reference to:

"Swine flu has swept through about 22 million Americans from April to October, killing an estimated 3,900 people, including 540 children, health officials said Thursday. The analysis represents the government's latest effort to assess a viral outbreak that in just six months has flooded emergency rooms and intensive-care beds in at least 48 states that have reported widespread flu cases. With flu season just beginning, an estimated 98,000 people have been hospitalized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "We've been tracking influenza for decades," says Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. "What we are seeing in 2009 is unprecedented." What the numbers don't reveal is what will happen next, because no one knows yet when the flu season will hit its peak or how many waves of cases to expect, says Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. "What's going to happen for the rest of the year depends on that pattern." The new national estimates are extrapolations of data drawn from a CDC emerging-diseases network of hospitals, laboratories and health departments in 10 states and from reports of hospitalizations and deaths, Schuchat says. They illustrate the extent to which swine flu, also known as H1N1, is hitting children, who account for 8 million infections, 36,000 hospitalizations and 540 deaths. In a typical flu season, about 80 children die."
- Swine flu has killed 540 kids, sickened 22 million Americans - USATODAY.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

NATO Won't Pledge More Troops for Afghanistan

It seems Europe has more of a plan than the U.S. Government.

in reference to:

"As Obama ponders Afghan"
- As Obama ponders Afghanistan, so does Europe - Yahoo! News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Balloon boy's parents to plead guilty, lawyer says

The father should be doing time. And the press should also prosecutor for enabling this charade. They turned into a giant circus, even interrupting regular TV programming to sensationalize this story.

in reference to:

"The Colorado parents who reported their 6-year-old son floated away in a helium balloon in what authorities say was a hoax to drum up publicity for a TV show will both plead guilty to charges in the case, the attorney for the boy's father said Thursday. Richard Heene, 48, will plead guilty to attempting to influence a public servant, a felony, his attorney David Lane said. Mayumi Heene, 45, will plead guilty to false reporting to authorities, a misdemeanor. Prosecutors have agreed to allow both to serve probation sentences, Lane said. Prosecutors did not immediately return a phone message Thursday morning. Mayumi Heene's attorney, Lee Christian, also did not return a call."
- Balloon boy: Parents, who reported son floated away in balloon to plead guilty, lawyer says -- latimes.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Ralph Nader Owns Bill O’Reilly: I Can Chew Gum And Walk at the Same Time, Unlike You!

Nader gets the best of the bullying O'Reilly.

in reference to:

"Consumer advocate Ralph Nader appears on Bill O’Reilly’s TV show to discuss the Fort Hood shooting, and wastes no time in belittling him.”I wasn’t brought on this program to discuss Fort Hood, I want to plug my book,” Nader admits. Then he proceeds to tell Bill: “Unlike you, I can chew gum and walk at the same time.”O’Reilly then accuses Nader of dodging issues. Nader gets Bill to admit, “I was wrong about Iraq.”"
- Ralph Nader Owns Bill O’Reilly: I Can Chew Gum And Walk at the Same Time, Unlike You! « Dandelion Salad (view on Google Sidewiki)

KBR Improperly Billed Security Services, Senator McCaskill Says

Excecutives of this company should be going to jail. They ran amok during the Bush years. And lets not forget, KBR was a subsidiary of Halliburton. Which was run by Dick Cheney.

in reference to:

"KBR Inc., the largest contractor in Iraq and Afghanistan, improperly billed the Pentagon and was paid about $103 million for armed security guard services, according to a U.S. senator. The Pentagon has recovered $42 million of the payments Senator Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat who is chairman of a contracting oversight panel, wrote Nov. 6 to Defense Secretary Robert Gates. McCaskill said she was concerned “the Department is not moving quickly enough to recover the remaining $61 million” and asked Gates for a status report by Dec. 1 of repayment efforts. The billings were part of the company’s $34 billion contract to provide housing, food, laundry, mail delivery and fuel. The Defense Contract Audit Agency first identified the billings in August 2007. McCaskill said the failure to recover all the money by now “raises questions about the sufficiency” of Pentagon efforts “to recover disapproved costs on other contracts.” The Pentagon audit agency “believes the entire amount should be repaid,” because the contract “specifically prohibits” contractors billing the Pentagon for armed security guards, said DCAA spokesman Navy Lieutenant Commander Darryn James in an e-mail."
- KBR Improperly Billed Security Services, Senator McCaskill Says - Bloomberg.com (view on Google Sidewiki)