|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
Insider Report: Bush Rising; Dallas Bills Mexico for Illegals; Hillary, Anschutz, More... Special From NewsMax's Most Informed Sources
Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories): 1. Left-Wing Magazine Blasts Hillary The country's leading left-wing publication, The Nation, has turned on liberal darling Hillary Clinton in a scathing article headlined "Hillary's Hypocrisy." The article by Robert Scheer begins: "How do you triangulate among death, hypocrisy and stupidity? Not at all logically, which is why Hillary Clinton's dissembling on Iraq has become a fatal embarrassment, not only for her, but for anyone who hopes she can provide progressive leadership for the nation. "If she still has not found the courage to reverse course on this disastrous war, why assume that as president she would behave any differently?" Scheer writes that it is "unconscionable" that many who oppose the war in Iraq prefer Clinton to potential 2008 presidential rivals John Kerry, John Edwards, Al Gore, and Russ Feingold, who have all called for the U.S. to extricate itself from the conflict. The Nation article cites Clinton's recent statement that she doesn't think it is "smart strategy to set a date certain" for withdrawing from Iraq. "I do not agree that that is in the best interests."
Story Continues Below
Scheer writes: "Clinton needs to stop prattling on about getting the Iraqi government to do this or that wonderful thing before we can pull out." He concludes that Hillary's supporters "are eager to win back at least one branch of Congress in the midterm election in order to revitalize our Constitution's bedrock system of checks and balances and are looking to Clinton to help get them there. "But what check or balance is Sen. Clinton presenting on the most pressing issue of the day? None."
2. Bush's Approval Rating Rises President George Bush's approval rating jumped significantly in mid-June following several positive developments in the war in Iraq, a new poll reveals. The Zogby International telephone survey of more than 1,000 respondents found that Bush's job approval rating has risen to 36 percent, up from 31 percent just two weeks earlier. According to Zogby, developments that evidently helped the president include the death of al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, reports that the United States had captured a large amount of terrorist intelligence material, and Bush's surprise trip to Iraq, along with word that Bush adviser Karl Rove would not be indicted in connection with the investigation of a White House leak. "President Bush gets a bump from the recent events in Iraq, which amounts mostly to his winning back some support from what had been his eroding political base," said pollster John Zogby. "But whether this changes the political equation heading into the fall congressional midterm elections is unclear. The trend with the Bush job approval numbers has been that when he gets a bump, it is short-lived. "The developments in Iraq demand that Democrats come up with an alternative plan of action that taps into the widespread American dissatisfaction with the war. So far, that hasn't happened." Asked who would get their vote in the November congressional elections, 38 percent said they would vote for a Democrat and 29 percent said they would choose a Republican. But nearly one-third were undecided. The Zogby poll also disclosed that Congress gets an approval rating much lower than the president's disappointing mark – only 20 percent of respondents gave Congress a positive job approval rating for its work.
3. Dallas County Wants Refunds for Mexicans' Health Care Commissioners in Dallas County, Texas, plan to ask the Mexican government to pay for the medical care given to Mexican nationals at a local hospital. Each year, Dallas County taxpayers spend $15 million to treat Mexican nationals at Parkland Hospital – and that total includes only the first two days of the patients' emergency care, according to CBS 11 News in Dallas. "We will be sending a bill to Mexico's president to explain to him and to the embassy how much money it is costing the Dallas County taxpayer to treat their residents, and they need to reimburse Dallas County," said County Judge Margaret Keliher. Jesse Diaz, local president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, complained: "Why punish Mexico? Mexico should not be a scapegoat … the immigrants are paying taxes, buying homes and cars, and are contributing to the economy." Dallas County will also send bills to nearby Texas counties whose residents seek care at Parkland – running up a tab of nearly $27 million a year, according to Keliher. Dallas can't force those other counties to pay up. But Parkland's board chair Dr. Lauren McDonald said if outsiders don't pay their fair share of emergency and trauma care, it will have a devastating effect on the hospital and those who rely on it.
4. Dancer Claims She Was Fired Over Breast Size Dancer Alice Alyse has filed a $100 million lawsuit against a Broadway musical's production company, claiming she was fired because her breasts are too large. Alyse was an ensemble dancer in the national tour of "Movin' Out" – the show choreographed by Twyla Tharp to songs by Billy Joel – until her bra size increased from a C cup to a D cup. Her suit claims her breasts "naturally increased" while she was on leave last year with a toe injury, and states that she did not get implants. Alyse's attorney is no stranger to controversy: Larry Klayman, founder of The Washington, D.C.-based conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch, made headlines for suing the Clinton Administration over a number of alleged cover-ups and conspiracies. Since then the Miami lawyer has taken on leading Republicans, including Vice President Dick Cheney, over a "secretive energy task force," the Washington Post reports. The lawsuit filed in Miami circuit court names Tharp, the production stage manager and the show's producers among the defendants. According to the suit, shortly before Alyse was dismissed in February, the production stage manager yelled at her: "Your (expletive) boobs are too big! We have to change all your costumes." Asked if it is fitting that Alyse is demanding $100 million for being fired from a $130,000-a-year job, Klayman says: "The only way you prevent this from happening again is to hit them in their pocketbook." But it's generally accepted that for dancers, either in ballet or on the Broadway stage, the preferred look is slender, long-legged and "minimally jiggly," according to the Post. "You should be able to say, 'I don't care how big your breasts are; you should be in this show because you're a fabulous dancer,'" said Roberta Stiehm, a Maryland ballet teacher who had featured roles in two major Broadway shows. "But in reality, there is a look that has to be maintained to fit in with the whole cast." As to why Alyse's bra size suddenly increased, she said: "It could be that when I was off, my hormones kind of took over."
5. Big Increase in Latino Elected Officials Latinos have increased their presence at all levels of government by 37 percent over the last 10 years, a Hispanic political group reports. At the start of 2006, 5,132 Hispanics were in elected office around the country, compared to 3,743 in 1996, according to a study announced at the annual convention of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. "It's in everyone's interest, it's in every party's interest, to cultivate the number of Hispanic elected officials," said Adam J. Segal, director of the Hispanic Voter Project at Johns Hopkins University. Latino elected officials now hold office in 43 states, although 42 percent of them are in Texas. Most other Latino officials were elected in areas with large Hispanic populations, such as California, Florida, New Jersey, New York, and Illinois, the Houston Chronicle reports. In 1996, there were no Latino senators and some states had no Hispanics in office. Now there are three Hispanics in the U.S. Senate, representing Colorado (Ken Salazar), Florida (Mel Martinez) and New Jersey (Robert Menendez). Although they hold the posts of governors, federal officials and state lawmakers, two-thirds of the country's Latino officeholders are working at either the municipal or school board level.
In 2004, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was considered a strong choice to be John Kerry's running mate. Richardson is now running for a second term as governor in November and has been mentioned as a possible name on the Democratic ticket in the next presidential election. "I think Americans are getting used to voting for Hispanics," Simon Rosenberg, president of the New Democrat Network, told the Chronicle. "It was a novelty before."
6. We Heard ... THAT billionaire Philip Anschutz has put his 312,160-acre Wyoming ranch on the market for $47.5 million. The property, Overland Trail Cattle Co. Ranch, is home to about 5,000 head of cattle, and a 22-mile stretch of the North Platte River runs through the ranch. Anschutz runs a wide-ranging empire in telecom, sports and entertainment, and founded the fiber-optic company Qwest Communications in 1995. His movie production company seeks to produce family-oriented entertainment, and had a huge hit last year with "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."
THAT ABC News is asking for personal "global warming" stories in an apparent effort to prove that it exists. On its Web site, ABC petitions visitors: "We're currently producing a report on the increasing changes in our physical environment, and are looking for interesting examples of people coping with the differences in their daily lives. Has your life been directly affected by global warming? We want to hear and see your stories." ABC asks participants to e-mail their stories and says they can include "video material of the environmental change."
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Print Page 
Forward Page 
|
| All Rights Reserved © 2009 NewsMax.Com |