Category Archives: Tech

Final act begins in 2010 election

Posted on September 15, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

Washington (CNN) — The curtain slammed down on the 2010 primaries Tuesday night crushing centrist Republican Rep. Mike Castle and handing the Tea Party movement a final victory in its battle with the GOP establishment.

Castle’s upset loss to Tea Party favorite Christine O’Donnell was the exclamation point on a bitter and bruising primary season that saw seven incumbents lose re-election and angry political bases turn deaf ears to national leaders.

Republican Sens. Robert Bennett of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska fell to Tea Party candidates as did South Carolina GOP Rep. Bob Inglis. West Virginia Democratic Rep. Alan Mollohan could not convince voters to re-nominate him for a 15th term, while Michigan Democratic Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick failed in her bid for an eighth term.

Party-switching Alabama Rep. Parker Griffith was unable to convince GOP voters he was a solid Republican, and Pennsylvania’s new Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter was unable to shed his longtime Republican political identity. And let’s not forget the Tea Party’s wins in primaries for open Senate seats in Colorado, Florida, and Kentucky.

Video: O’Donnell thanks Palin in victory

Video: Paladino accepts nod

Video: Rangel wins despite ethics charges

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And then there was Castle, a soft-spoken former Republican governor turned nine-term congressman, who left the safety of his House seat to run for the Senate seat once held by Vice President Joe Biden. Castle was favored to win the general election, which would have handed the GOP a huge symbolic win. Instead, Castle lost, which now casts doubt over whether Republicans can win this contest.

Once O’Donnell was declared the winner, my friend Stuart Rothenberg, the respected non-partisan political analyst, immediately described Democratic Senate nominee Chris Coons as the favorite to win the race.

“Castle had broad appeal, including to independents and even Democratic voters, while O’Donnell’s appeal is limited to tea party conservatives,” Rothenberg wrote.

And Rothenberg is not the only one who thinks that the Tea Party’s efforts to defeat Castle — who they charge is a “RINO” (Republican In Name Only) — will likely hand Democrats a win in November. A top Republican official told me not to expect to see national Republicans rally around O’Donnell’s candidacy.

“Until she demonstrates some viability in the polls, we are not going to have any money for her,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “It is now incumbent on Sarah Palin, Jim DeMint and the Tea Party Express to help support her. They got her here. Now make it happen.”

Castle is not technically considered an incumbent, but he fit the description of a Washington insider, had the backing of the national GOP and will go down in the history books as the Tea Party’s final GOP scalp of the 2010 primary season.

Now all eyes are focused on November 2, as Republican leaders try to harness the anger and energy of the Tea Party movement and translate it into electoral wins, while Democrats work to build a beachhead in an effort to minimize losses and maintain control of the House.

There is no question that Democrats will lose seats in the House and Senate this year, what remains unanswered is how many?

Republicans need a net pickup of 39 seats in the House to take back the majority, an achievable number if momentum continues to move in the GOP’s direction. It will be harder if not impossible to win the 10 seats needed to wrest control of the Senate from Democratic hands.

Democratic leaders and top party officials have been very clear about their strategy over the next seven weeks: Turn out voters who supported President Obama in 2008 and define each race on its own merits.

“Democrats will individualize each of these House races, make it about candidate A versus candidate B and when voters are left with that choice, Democrats will retain the House,” said Jennifer Crider, deputy executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

But Democrats will need help from the liberal Democratic base, which at times has been estranged from the national leadership, to help hold back the GOP wave that analysts predict will sweep across the nation.

The influential liberal blogger Markos Moulitsas Z

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600: Perils of a presidential pen pal

Posted on September 11, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

(CNN) — Not long before he took office, President Barack Obama said something I am sure he now regrets. “There are a lot of people who seem to think they know how to run this country. I hope they’ll let me hear from them.” At least I think I remember him saying something like that. Anyway, it was a huge mistake, because I have now written 600 letters to the White House. One every day since he was inaugurated. It started as a joke. I thought the idea of sending armchair advice to the Leader of the Free World was funny and my first letter was really little more than congratulations.

Read the first letter

But after I posted letters on the “AC360″ blog for 10 days, a lot of readers liked them, so I extended the string to the first month. Then the first 100 days. Then 200. And now, I have written enough to fill two books. And yes, I am aware that this can look like either dedication or mental illness, depending on your point of view.

Most of the letters are funny, or at least they make me laugh. Like the one I wrote about his fancy new presidential limo.

Mr. President, How’s the 6,000-pound beast?

But plenty are serious, too. I’ve written about swine flu, Haiti, the Middle East, the wars and of course the economy. I’ve taken the president to task now and then; for example, when he wrote to the big guy in North Korea instead of me, his dedicated pen pal.

Wait a minute, Mr. Postman

I’ve written about my own personal struggles and triumphs, such as being trapped in Indianapolis, Indiana, by a blizzard while my beloved Saints played the Colts in the Super Bowl.

Trapped in Indiana

Sometimes I depart from my regular fare to share events in my life that have shaped my views, like a long story about when I first encountered racism as a child.

When I discovered racism

Grinding out so many full-length letters has not always been easy, especially in our increasingly shorthand, e-mailing, texting world; OMG LOL. After all, I do have a day job. Many nights, long after the Washington newsmakers are asleep and my family is, too, I sit in the darkness of our living room typing away while the dog snoozes at my feet. Happens on the road in hotels, too. I mean, without the dog, of course.

I considered actually mailing the letters at the start, but decided that if I had to keep up with stamps, envelopes and figuring out how to print on the road I’d give up. Plus, he’s a very hi-tech president, so online posting seems adequate. Although who knows? Despite regular invitations for him to call, write back or come by to play air hockey, he’s never responded.

But plenty of readers have. Some have been complimentary, like C.A. Mortenson. “You know every time I get my mind set on something you guys come along and make me re-think things. Thanks.” Or Mary MacElveen “Your letter is by far one of THE most thought-provoking and powerful letters I have read in a long time.” Or Moneca, “Amen, Mr. Foreman. Amen.” It always makes me vaguely uncomfortable when someone calls me Mr. Foreman, btw. I prefer just Tom.

At least, I prefer Tom to what some obviously want to call me. Like Mariah from Texas. “Are you crazy?” Or Helen when she finally found something she agreed with, presumably after a lot of reading. “CNN should find a better job for you. That is the first letter you wrote that makes sense.” That made me laugh, because I’ve felt that way about other writers sometimes.

Many readers have urged me to keep on, and others have begged me to stop. I appreciate them all. I have probably been most touched by people who simply express a heartfelt connection over the miles, like when I wrote about Michael Jackson’s death and Windy responded, “Thank you for such a nice letter, I feel the same way.” And I’m flattered when someone reposts a favorite, such as the letter I wrote about rebuilding New Orleans.

Where is the safe house?

I made a few simple rules for myself. First, I don’t pick sides. I can offer analysis, ideas and general observations, but not conclusions beyond the common sense kind. Second, I try to be encouraging. Third, I respect the presidency. Although I write in a familiar tone, I never refer to President Obama (nor would I refer to any president) as “my friend,” or “pal.”

“How long are you going to do this?”

That’s the question so many people ask, and the honest answer is, “I don’t know.” Every time I reach a milestone like this one, I think I should call it quits. But I enjoy the process, heaven knows I need the practice writing and I don’t want to disappoint the people who now count on these letters every day, including my mother. So on it goes. I have considered doing it for the rest of my life. I know it’s not exactly the Lewis and Clark journals, but such letters, written concurrently with the events of our world, are an unusual historic record if nothing else.

I will almost certainly continue through the next presidential election in 2012. And I’d hate to abandon the current president during the critical changeover from first term to second should he win, and if the White House passes into other hands … well, why should the next president get a break?

600: Perils of a presidential pen pal

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Allen gives BP a mixed grade

Posted on August 8, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

Washington (CNN) — As he reflects on lessons learned from dealing with the Gulf oil spill, the man charged with leading the federal response gave embattled energy giant BP a mixed grade Sunday.

Asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” to give BP a grade from “A” to “F,” retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen assessed different aspects of the company’s response to the blown out well.

“At the well head, I’m not sure there’s any oil company that could have done anything more than they did,” Allen told CNN Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley. “The technology that was needed to be brought in for other parts of the world, was [brought in]. It took a long time to engineer it. It took a long time to install it. But, ultimately, it helped us put the cap on and control the well. So I give them fairly good marks there.”

But Allen added that where the energy giant’s performance has been lacking is in having a human touch.

“What BP is not good at: they’re a large global oil production company. They don’t do retail sales or deal with individuals on a transactional basis. Anything that’s involved, that has been a real struggle for them,” Allen said.

He added, “It’s something they don’t naturally have a capacity or a competency in their company and it’s been very, very hard for them to understand. And that’s the lens by which the American people view them and that’s the area where they need to improve the most.”

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Allen also reflected on what the oil industry has learned in terms of production technology in the course of trying to bring the rogue well under control.

The former Coast Guard official said technology of the sort used to cap the well must be made a part of deepwater drilling going forward.

“Oil production in the Gulf of Mexico was done by wells that were on the bottom of the ocean with all the technology on the bottom of the ocean where there was no human access and all the oil was moved by pipes,” he said. “We’ve had to bring in technology from the North Sea and off the coast of Africa to build these floating risers to create a production system that’s able to deal with this spill.

“I think what everybody’s learned moving through this is that there’s going to have to be a different type of production method out there that includes the type of technology that they’ve used to cap this well and capture the oil and that needs to be a permanent part moving forward.”

Asked whether the new technology could be integrated by November when the Obama administration’s moratorium on deepwater drilling is set to be lifted, Allen pointed out that the necessary technology “has already been built around this well.”

He added that the oil and gas industry is already starting to consider forming a consortium “to keep this type of equipment and take a look at it. And that’s going to have to be a fundamental part of this.”

Allen gives BP a mixed grade

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Mullen: WikiLeaks may have blood on hands

Posted on July 29, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

Washington (CNN) — The top U.S. military officer said Thursday that Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, was risking lives to make a political point by publishing thousands of military reports from Afghanistan.

“Mr. Assange can say whatever he likes about the greater good he thinks he and his source are doing, but the truth is they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family,” Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a news conference at the Pentagon.

In equally stern comments and at the same session, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said the massive leak will have significant impact on troops and allies, giving away techniques and procedures.

“The battlefield consequences of the release of these documents are potentially severe and dangerous for our troops, our allies and Afghan partners, and may well damage our relationships and reputation in that key part of the world,” Gates said. “Intelligence sources and methods, as well as military tactics, techniques and procedures will become known to our adversaries.”

Gates said the United States has been contacted by Afghanistan, Pakistan and “other governments” concerned about the leak. One of the lasting impacts, he said, is rebuilding trust that the U.S. military can keep secrets secret.

Assange has refused to say where his whistle-blower website got about 91,000 United States documents about the war. Some 76,000 of them were posted on the site Sunday in what has been called the biggest leak since the Pentagon Papers about the Vietnam War.

“I spent most of my life in the intelligence business, where the sacrosanct principle is protecting your sources. And that involves your sources trusting you to protect them and to protect their identities,” Gates said. “That is one of the worst aspects of this, as far as I’m concerned. Will people trust us? Will people’s whose lives are on the line trust us to keep their identities secret? Will other governments trust us to keep their documents and their intelligence secret?”

Gates said he called the FBI director to partner with the Pentagon in investigating the leak.

The defense secretary said the Pentagon is also reviewing procedures for handling classified information, which could affect the flow of valuable information to troops.

“In the wake of this incident, it will be a real challenge to strike the right balance between security and providing our frontline troops the information they need,” Gates said. “We want those soldiers in a forward operating base to have all the information they possibly can have that impacts on their own security but also being able to accomplish their mission.”

Perhaps surprisingly, the defense secretary said it was “only very recently” that he was made aware of the magnitude of the number of documents” that had been leaked. One of the main suspects in the current document leak investigation, according to military officials, had been arrested back in the spring and eventually charged with downloading thousands of documents and a video of a 2007 airstrike in Iraq that was published earlier this year by WikiLeaks.

Gates said the defense department did not know how many more documents were out there.

“The reality is, at this point, we don’t know how many more there are out there … it could be a substantial additional number of documents, and we have no idea what their content is, either,” he said.

For those put at risk by the documents, the defense secretary said the U.S. has a “moral obligation” to protect those whose names appear in the documents.

WikiLeaks’ founder has said the organization held back thousands of documents in order to redact information that could put people at risk. But CNN’s own review of documents found instances of names of informants and those who cooperated against the Taliban, as well as names of suspected insurgents who were being watched.

Mullen: WikiLeaks may have blood on hands

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How Rangel’s ethics hearing could play out

Posted on July 29, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

(CNN) — Longtime Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel of New York will be the subject of the House ethics committee’s first corruption trial in almost a decade unless his attorneys reach an agreement to settle his charges.

The House ethics committee on Thursday will make public a report of Rangel’s alleged violations. After a nearly two-year investigation of Rangel, the committee’s report could bring a trial by a panel subcommittee in September.

A formal hearing would be a trial-like session involving formal charges with lawyers for the House acting as prosecutors and Rangel’s attorneys defending him, but some experts don’t foresee Rangel making it to the trial stage.

“I think all sides are going to be motivated to reach some kind of resolution short of the public hearings,” said Robert Walker, former chief counsel and staff director of both the Senate and House ethics committees.

Rangel said he welcomes the trial. He has said that “sunshine will pierce the cloud of serious allegations.”

The outcome of the hearing could range from dropping all charges to reprimand to expulsion from the House of Representatives.

Video: Rep. Rangel addresses ethics charges

Video: Rangel: ‘I look forward to responding’

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As a result of his 2002 corruption trial, former Rep. James Traficant, an Ohio Democrat, became the second member of Congress to be kicked out since the Civil War.

Charles Tiefer, a professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law, said Traficant’s case “hardly even counts as a serious precedent.”

At the time of his ethics hearing, Traficant already had been convicted of taking bribes and other charges in a court of law. He spent seven years in prison and was released last year.

“A trial, particularly of a senior congressman, on charges that have been headline news, would be one of the most striking committee proceedings the House can have,” said Tiefer, who was solicitor and deputy general counsel of the House for 11 years.

Rangel temporarily stepped down as Ways and Means Committee chairman following the announcement of an ethics investigation of several allegations, including failure to pay taxes on a home in the Dominican Republic.

The congressman has also admitted a failure to report several hundred thousand dollars in assets on federal disclosure forms. In addition, he is under scrutiny for the purported misuse of a rent-controlled apartment for political purposes, as well as for allegedly preserving tax benefits for an oil-drilling company in exchange for donations to a project he supported at the City College of New York.

The House ethics committee previously admonished Rangel for violating rules on receiving gifts. Specifically, the committee found that Rangel violated House gift rules by accepting reimbursement payments for travel to conferences in the Caribbean in 2007 and 2008.

Should Rangel face a trial, it would play out in what Walker described as a cross between a courtroom trial and a congressional hearing.

Both sides would deliver opening statements and present their cases. They could also call witnesses, who could be cross-examined by the other side.

In a public hearing, there is more leeway given to the committee in terms of admissibility of evidence, Walker said.

Following the evidentiary part of the process, there would be closing arguments, and the case would go back to the jury.

In a House ethics trial, the “jury” is made up of an eight-member adjudicatory subcommittee whose members are allowed to question witnesses.

The subcommittee that would consider Rangel’s case comprises four Democrats and four Republicans, according to the ethics committee document.

It said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-California, is the panel’s chair. Other Democratic members are Reps. G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina, Kathy Castor of Florida and Peter Welch of Vermont. The four Republicans are Reps. Michael McCaul of Texas, Mike Conaway of Texas, Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania and Gregg Harper of Mississippi.

The jury then would have to determine whether each charge was proven by the standard of “clear and convincing evidence.”

“That is less than ‘proof beyond a reasonable a doubt,’ which would be the standard at a criminal trial, but it’s more than the standard of just ‘preponderance of the evidence, which would be the standard at a civil trial,” Walker said.

Despite the outcome, the trial phase could be detrimental to Rangel, Tiefer said.

“It hurts his public image to parade a sequence of witnesses who testify that he is guilty of receiving favors and so forth, and it also arguably hurts the image of those connected with him in his party delegation,” he said.

If he adequately disputes the facts, he could persuade the committee to moderate or even drop all of the charges, Tiefer added.

The whole matter could be dismissed with no further action if the subcommittee decides that no wrongdoing was proven, but if members decide punishment is warranted, they would then have to decide whether to sanction Rangel.

“If they determine that it was a technical violation, the committee could then issue what’s called a letter of reproval, which is not an actual sanction,” Walker said.

If the committee decides more serious punishment is in order, such as reprimand, censure or expulsion, the full House must vote on the issue.

A simple majority vote is required to reprimand or censure a member of Congress, while a two-thirds majority is required for an expulsion.

The House has expelled only five members of Congress. A number of members, however, have resigned before the House took formal action, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Rangel has served 20 consecutive terms in the House. He’s facing a September 14 Democratic contest with Adam Clayton Powell IV, the son of the late scandal-plagued congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr., who was ousted by Rangel 40 years ago.

Rangel’s other primary challengers include banker Vince Morgan, liberal activist Jonathan Tasini and Joyce Johnson, a field director for President Obama’s 2008 campaign.

Rangel said last week that he hoped the matter could be concluded in time for the September contest.

CNN’s Deirdre Walsh contributed to this report.

How Rangel’s ethics hearing could play out

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Carte Goodwin to succeed Senator Byrd – for now

Posted on July 16, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

By

Tarini Parti,

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Cheney recovering from heart surgery

Posted on July 14, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

Washington (CNN) — Former Vice President Dick Cheney recently underwent heart surgery and is recovering in a Virginia hospital, said a statement issued by Cheney on Wednesday.

During the operation last week at the Inova Fairfax Heart and Vascular Institute, doctors implanted a small pump that “improves heart function and will enable me to resume an active life,” Cheney’s statement said.

“The operation went very well and I am now recuperating,” the statement said.

Dr. Tim Gardner, former president of the American Heart Association, told CNN that such implants indicate severe heart failure.

“These devices are put in patients whose heart failure is so bad that they need a mechanical pump to keep their circulation going,” said Gardner, who is the medical director of the Center for Heart and Vascular Health at Christiana Care in Wilmington, Delaware.

Gardner was not involved in Cheney’s treatment.

Cheney has a history of heart problems, including five heart attacks dating back to the first one he suffered in 1978 at age 37.

“A few weeks ago, it became clear that I was entering a new phase of the disease when I began to experience increasing congestive heart failure,” Cheney’s statement said. “After a series of recent tests and discussions with my doctors, I decided to take advantage of one of the new technologies available and have a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) implanted.”

Cheney also suffered heart attacks in 1984 and 1988, and underwent a quadruple bypass surgery to unblock his arteries. Shortly after Cheney was elected vice president in November 2000, he had a fourth heart attack and received a stent to open an artery.

In February, Cheney suffered his fifth heart attack.

He was released from a Washington, D.C., hospital on June 28 after suffering from “progressive retention of fluid related to his coronary artery disease,” his office said at the time.

CNN’s Miriam Falco contributed to this report.

Cheney recovering from heart surgery

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Dole’s rehab inspires troops

Posted on July 4, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

Washington (CNN) — One of the most famous veterans of the “Greatest Generation” has joined the ranks of recently injured members of the military at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Former Sen. Bob Dole was so badly wounded 65 years ago that he almost didn’t make it off the battlefield. Now, he is recovering from surgery alongside troops injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“I’m just sort of one of the group. We show up at 10 o’clock and do our stuff,” Dole said as he pedaled a stationary bike during a morning physical therapy session.

Dole, who turns 87 this month, is at Walter Reed for rehabilitation connected to knee replacement surgery. A bout with pneumonia lengthened his post-op recuperation, so he’s been with the young troops since they arrived from the battlefield.

“I’ve been here long enough to watch when they first came in, and then to see them today. Whether it’s Lee or Chris or Levi, it’s amazing,” Dole said, as he watches Army Spc. Levi Crawford do a step exercise. “He couldn’t stand up on that step yesterday.”

As a veteran-turned-lawmaker, Dole has advocated for the nation’s veterans throughout his career, including serving as co-chair of a 2007 presidential commission that investigated shoddy conditions at Walter Reed, but he has nothing but praise for the medical care he has seen.

He marvels at the stark contrast between treatment today and his own experience in 1945, which left his right arm paralyzed.

“These modern medical miracles, you see them every day here,” he said. “If they’re wounded on one day, they can be in Walter Reed the third day. It took me nine hours to get off a battlefield. It took me weeks to get home.”

Dole sympathizes with Air Force Sgt. Christopher Curtis, 32, who was in dire shape after his CV-22 Osprey crashed in Afghanistan back in April.

“I couldn’t move. I was in a body cast,” Dole said. “That’s all behind me, but it does give you pause. I think about, ‘Jiminy – was I ever in as bad as shape as Chris?’”

Curtis said recovering alongside Dole has inspired him.

“Knowing that I’m going through what (Dole) went through…I’m not in a full body cast or anything like that,” he said. “They’ve basically eliminated that factor and here I am already in rehab (thanks to) surgeries and advanced technologies.”

The servicemembers said that when Dole comes to physical therapy, he always talks to everyone in the room, including family members who are always by their side — just like his mother was there for him 65 years ago.

While opinions about wars may change, Dole said, a family’s support is “one of those values that never changes.”

Everyone welcomes the former senator’s wise-cracking sense of humor.

“He’s a very funny guy, so he keeps everybody around him laughing and in good spirits,” Curtis said.

Dole is even willing to take a few jabs at himself and his failed run for president in 1996.

After Curtis told him he voted for him for president, Dole called him “a smart fella,” then deadpanned, “I finally found somebody that voted for me.”

Dole said he doesn’t dwell on how close he came to becoming president.

“You’ve got to move on, you know. Life’s short you got to keep pushing and realize we live in a great country,” he said. “One chapter ends and another chapter starts. You keep going.”

Army Sgt. Lee Langley, 26, said knowing how much Dole has accomplished after being seriously wounded on the battlefield gives him, and troops with more severe injuries than his, hope.

“It just means that I have all the opportunities in the world,” Langley said. “A lot of people are paralyzed, a lot of people don’t have legs or arms, but they can still have a good life afterwards.”

Surrounded by his young friends at the end of physical therapy, Dole makes a few wisecracks about age with Crawford, Curtis, and Langley like he’s one of the group.

“This is what America is all about, right here,” Dole said, pointing to the young troops.

Dole’s rehab inspires troops

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Which innovations deserve patents? Supreme Court gives scant direction.

Posted on June 29, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

By

Warren Richey,

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Should the US lean more on natural gas in its energy mix?

Posted on June 25, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

By

Mark Clayton,

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