| Commentary: Will Fred pounce on Clinton misstep?
As Hillary Clinton continues to stretch her lead in national polls among likely Democratic Party primary voters it is becoming increasingly clear that the nomination is hers to lose – unless she makes a major mistake. In the most recent debate she may have done just that on an issue that resonates strongly with the voters: illegal immigration.When asked about her position on a controversial proposal by New York Governor and fellow Democrat Elliot Spitzer to grant drivers' licenses to illegal aliens Clinton expressed support, opposition and indecision about the plan…all in the space of a single answer. “Do I think this is the best thing for any governor to do?" Clinton said. “No. But do I understand the sense of real desperation, trying to get a handle on this? Remember, in New York we want to know who's in New York.
Letters to the Editor
MY HEART goes out to Christina Faleni who cannot send her daughter (a promising student) to university because she simply cannot afford it (DD Prohibitive costs of education no good for our nation February 13). Yet last week the Democratic Alliance spokesperson on Education, Donald Smiles revealed in a parliamentary sitting that the Eastern Cape Department of Education has once again underspent its annual budget. This time round it was a whopping R249 million. This makes the R13 032 needed by the Falenis seem like a drop in the ocean. Smiles said that this underspending was criminal and the department should be charged for theft. I feel that he is quite right. This department is stealing the dreams and ambitions of many promising learners.
City may move homeless from underpass to shelter
Mayor Ray Nagin's administration appears to be preparing to move the city's biggest homeless colony, a highly visible collection of people and bedrolls just off Canal Street, to a Central City emergency shelter. Some City Council members and leading advocates for the homeless say they are not aware of the plan, although the director of the New Orleans Mission confirmed that the city accepted his proposal on Friday. Nagin alluded to a plan for the homeless last week during an appearance on WWL-TV. He said he had recently seen a man in the encampment on Claiborne Avenue beneath Interstate 10 "drinking beer and just flipping the bird to citizens." Calling the scene "a mess," Nagin said that before the end of February, the city will begin enforcing its "habitation laws." "We've got more mental cases out there," the mayor said.
Brian Kagoro transcript for BTH
Guma: Ok, but a lot of people are suspicious Mr Kagoro mainly from the fact that Mr Makoni had a private meeting with Mr Mugabe two weeks ago in fact and no-one is privy to what was discussed during that meeting and a lot of people are throwing accusations that Makoni is a spoiler and is there to take away the urban vote. Kagoro: There is a huge assumption that that urban vote would go to somewhere. The reality with this election, those of us who are trying to monitor it scientifically, is that many urban voters are not happy with the ruling party, they are unhappy with the opposition, if you just look at the e-mail trail of the responses to the failure by the two factions of the MDC to unite…there was no guarantee that that urban vote will go to the MDC. So this approach to the elections in a very unscientific and speculative way is worrisome.
U.S. candidates blitz states as Super Tuesday looms
For those voters who consider Obama as a glamorous IPO with the high-flying potential like another Google, they jump onto the bandwagon in fear that they might miss the chance to get rich quick. Who knows what eventually could turn out, just like so many fancy stocks during the dotcom craze days eventually turned into dogs and lemons in the aftermath of the dotcom meltdown. Obama might just become another Crispy Cream, which had so much anticipation and later so mcuh disappointment. .
Fed slashes key rate 0.75 points
The Fed's reduction in the federal funds rate from 4.25 percent to 3.5 percent marked the biggest cut in that target rate for overnight loans going back to 1990. It marked the first time the Fed has changed the funds rate between meetings since 2001, when the central bank was battling the combined effects of a recession and the terrorist attacks. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and his colleagues approved the large rate cut after an emergency video conference Monday night, a day when global markets had been pounded by rising fears that weakness in the world's largest economy was spreading worldwide. Despite the Fed's bold move, stocks plunged at the opening. But the Dow rebounded, finishing the day off 128.11 points at 11,971.19. Analysts said the milder decline at the end of the day after such a rough start showed that the Fed's effort to reassure Wall Street had had an effect.
April 2007
Ospreys, the only raptors that dive fully into the water for fish, were nearly wiped out in New England by our postwar use of the pesticide DDT. But we are in the middle of an osprey renaissance, and, thanks to their booming population and outgoing nature, the birds have become a visible presence on Cape Cod and other coastal areas. Ospreys are easy to observe at their large shaggy nests (they are pack rats, filling the sides of their homes with string, plastic bags, and, in the case of one Cape nest, a naked Barbie doll). But if you get too close, they might drive you off with a dive-bombing maneuver and their characteristic warning cries. Because of the way the ospreys defend and commit to their nests, most observers think of them as homebodies. But there is another side to osprey life and another half of the year, during which "our" New England birds become world travelers.
Flushed with shame at Britain
The health service is a joke with more people dying through infection. Education standards are apalling. Crime is some of the worst in Europe, teenage pregancies ARE the worst in Europe. Drug taking is the highest in Europe. So in all, we're the best at being the worst .
|
