The bomb was found on the English-registered plane at St Angelo airport near Enniskillen Windows 7 serial key, County Fermanagh.

Police said they were called to the regional airport shortly after 8pm Monday local time and closed a main road nearby.

Police gave no indication as to the type of explosive device found.

Sporadic unrest and bomb threats continue in the province despite the 1998 peace accords that largely ended the Troubles Where to buy windows 7 key, the three decades of sectarian violence between Protestants and Catholics that left more than 3000 dead.

The No. 2 gas producer said it planned to extend the curbs throughout the year to counter a huge gas glut that pushed prices to ten-year lows. It said curtailments would total some 50 billion cubic feet (bcf) for the rest of the year after cutting output by 30 bcf in the first quarter.

Despite curbs imposed in February and March, however, the firm still produced 271 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas in the quarter versus 272 bcf in the fourth quarter of 2011, bearing out worries that rapid growth in output from new wells would offset any reductions. Production rose from 243 bcf in the same period last year.

Chesapeake was the first driller to cut output this year. Other companies followed, but Chesapeake’s curbs accounted for the lion’s share, about a tenth of its daily output.

Still, traders have been dubious about whether the curbs would be sufficiently deep, or implemented for long enough, to ease oversupply and bolster prices.

“As a result of reduced drilling activity in 2012 and 2013 on its dry natural gas plays, Chesapeake is projecting a decline in its natural gas productive capacity in 2013 of approximately 12 percent after adjusting for estimated net voluntary production curtailments of approximately 80 bcf in 2012,” the company said in its earnings statement.

The curtailments it reported were broadly in line with its January 23 announcement that it would cut gross production by 0.5 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd). By February 21 it had deepened the curtailments to 1 bcfd. But the overall figures show cuts were not as significant as some had hoped.

The company typically owns about 50 percent of a well’s production while the other half goes to partners and royalty owners, a Chesapeake spokesman said earlier this year. So net cuts represent about half of the gross cuts announced in January and February. The other half of the curbs are borne by partners in the wells.

According to Reuters calculations based on Chesapeake’s public statements replica watches, the reduction in the company’s own output should have totaled about 27 bcf over the quarter.

“The curtailments may have taken the growth out of their production numbers, so we’re still not seeing material declines in the aggregate,” said Dan Morrison, senior analyst at Global Hunter Securities in Fort Worth replica watches, Texas.

PRICE REBOUND?

After plunging to a decade low of less than $2 per million British thermal units two weeks ago, prices have rebounded by 25 percent as a late cold snap stoked demand and new government data showed U.S. output fell in February for only the second time in a year.

The earnings come at a difficult time for Chesapeake. Not only have low gas prices crimped profits, but the company said on Tuesday that it will split the jobs of chairman and chief executive, and bring an early end to a program that granted CEO Aubrey McClendon stakes in company wells, an arrangement that sparked investor anger and potentially created serious conflicts of interest.

U.S. gas prices have been sliding since last summer as prolific output from shale gas outpaces demand. A mild winter and record production pushed prices below $2 per million British thermal units last month for the first time since 2002.

Drillers have been frantically moving rigs away from pure gas plays to drill for more lucrative oil and liquids, but that has yet to have a major affect on production.

Top Canadian producer Encana, which announced production cuts of 250 million cubic feet per day in February, said its gas production rose 2 percent to 3.27 billion cubic feet per day for the first quarter replica watches, despite its curbs.

Encana said in its earnings last week that a continued reduction is drilling activity is required to bring the market back into balance.

U.S. February natural gas production only fell 0.6 percent from January’s record highs, to 72 billion cubic feet, despite cuts announced by Chesapeake, Encana, ConocoPhillips and others.

Sparse pipeline data suggests that output in the Haynesville shale deposit in Louisiana and Texas has indeed fallen this year as rigs are moved to more oily plays, but that gas output remains strong in other regions such as the Marcellus shale in the U.S. Northeast.

(Reporting By Edward McAllister; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

Hot Stocks Asian Markets Chesapeake Energy Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News

Statistics agency INSEE said industrial output fell almost twice as fast as predicted in March Tattoo Guns, sinking 0.9 percent compared with a Reuters forecast for a decline of 0.5 percent.

The size of the drop was attributable to temporary factors, with energy consumption plunging 14.2 percent on the month after the end of February’s cold snap.

However, March’s decline in industrial output contributed to an overall 0.1 percent fall over the first three months of the year.

Following on from a sharp drop in consumer spending in the same month, and contrasting with a surprise jump in German industrial output over the same period, the data painted a mixed picture of the euro zone’s second largest economy for the start of 2012.

“We are expecting a very light contraction in the economy in the first quarter – of the order of 0.1 to 0.2 percent,” said Helene Baudchon, economist at BNP Paribas.

“You can see the glass as half full, that France is holding up given the weak international situation, or you can see it half empty What Is In Tattoo Ink, that the total absence of progress over a year is not good,” she added.

After sweeping to victory in a closely fought election on Sunday, the Socialist Hollande will face his first challenge on May 15 as his inauguration as president coincides with the release of first quarter growth data for the French economy.

The figure is widely expected to show gross domestic product declined over the period or at best remained flat, although many believe the euro zone’s second largest economy should narrowly avoid tipping into recession Tattoo Ink Supply, defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

French GDP grew 0.4 percent in the final quarter of last year, and the Bank of France said on Thursday it expected the economy to remain flat in the second quarter of this year.

(Reporting By Vicky Buffery; Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)

CLINTON TOWNSHIP — A fight over a computer password helped lead to domestic violence charges against a 28-year-old woman in Clinton Township, authorities said.

The woman, who had been drinking, told police she had slapped her husband and ripped his shirt, said police spokesman Lt. Ryan Melsky. She was arrested after officers observed her husband’s injuries, Melsky said.

Police had been called to the Fountain Motel on Route 22 just after 2 p.m. Saturday with a report a husband and wife were fighting, Melsky said.

The 28-year-old husband told police the couple had been arguing, Melsky said. They had been fighting over a number of things, including the password on a laptop computer Cheap Tattoo Guns, he said.

He claimed his wife Tattoo Ink Kits, who was not identified, hit him, bit him and ripped off his shirt, the spokesman said.

The man was treated for his injuries at Hunterdon Medical Center Tattoo Kits Uk, Melsky said.

The man declined to apply for a restraining order on his wife, who has been released on her own recognizance, Melsky said.

More Hunterdon County news

Related topics: clinton-township

Nairobi has said al Shabaab militants, who merged with al Qaeda earlier this year, are behind a surge in violence and kidnappings threatening tourism in east Africa’s biggest economy.

Police said the target of the attack was Bella Vista sports bar in a street known for its nightlife in Mombasa, a popular holiday destination for Kenyans and foreigners.

A pool of blood marked the entrance to the club, and spent cartridges and grenade shells were strewn near its gate. Some cars nearby were riddled with shrapnel marks.

Police said the attackers tried to force their way into the club, but were barred at the gate by guards. They then shot at random and hurled the explosive devices.

Two of the guards were among those injured, and police said one of them, a woman, died of her wounds in hospital.

The Kenya Red Cross said on its Twitter feed that the woman had died of a gunshot wound to the chest. Police could not immediately confirm the cause of death.

“There is one dead and five others injured. We believe the dead person, a lady Cheap Herve Leger v neck, was one of the guards at the gate,” Ambrose Munyasia, the region’s top criminal investigation officer who was at the scene told Reuters.

“From the evidence so far Buy White Herve leger, we believe there were three grenade explosions.”

He could not say who was behind the attack and no group immediately claimed responsibility.

Police recovered a pistol at the scene believed to have been dropped by the attackers, Munyasia said.

More than 10 people have been killed in a series of attacks in Nairobi and Mombasa since Kenyan troops launched their incursion into southern Somalia.

Earlier on Tuesday, a suspected remote-controlled bomb went off in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee complex near the Somali border, killing a police officer and wounding three.

The country is already forecasting earnings from tourism – one of its big three hard currency sources – will fall this year, in part because of travel warnings over the threat from Somali militants.

(Reporting by James Machariap; Editing by Michael Roddy)

World

Everything else worth considering is in the video in glorious high-definition. Follow the jump to check it out. Thanks for the tip, Nate!

[Source: Subaru]

Being a Brit-centric outfit Buy Herve Leger gown, one of the first questions asked by Channel 4 is that of Rover’s future. Despite Lutz’s prior ownership of several MGs DKNY Clothing sale, he doesn’t seem interested in dragging his current employer into a bail-out of the failed British automaker. But the big guy does seem to have some sympathy for Rover’s plight Hale Bob Dresses sale, stating that he “sheds a tear” for the brand and says that it was the British car for “non-poseurs”.

GM’s product – that which is built in both the US and in Europe – matches up to Toyota in a variety of attributes that are properly lumped together under the heading of “build quality” DKNY Clothes sale, according to Lutz. Bob says that nothing in Toyota’s line-up ”excites me as a car guy” Marc Jacobs Dresses sale, and claims that the same is true for Lexus as well.

Check out the rest of our play-by-play after the jump…

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Advertisement

Monday, September 29, 2008

If Nancy Pelosi had wanted to screw Sen. McCain, could she have done a better job? Just asking! … 8:19 P.M.

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Mo’ Rezko: He “has been quietly visiting Chicago’s federal courthouse, setting off” … you know. … speculation! … [Do you really think Rezko is going to impact the election?--ed Seems unlikely. I have no inside info. But a contingency worth following.] 7:08 P.M.

Stunt Gridlock? This week’s obvious game-changin’ stunt for McCain to pull would be opposing the bailout bill, as Dick Morris advises.** But McCain probably can’t pull that stunt because of Last Week’s Stunt Marc Jacobs Dresses sale, which involved McCain dramatically trying to delay a debate while he parachuted into Washington to save the bailout bill. …. If the end result was a bad bill, then McCain didn’t do much of a salvation job, did he? He’s seemingly trapped–and it would be hard to weasel out of  his almost-endorsement of the current deal yesterday on Stephanopoulos.. But he must be sorely tempted to follow Morris’ advice. …

**–This wouldn’t necessarily involve irresponsibly scuttling the bill. McCain could rail against provisions that he claimed would send taxpayer money to Wall Street malefactors, get the benefit of popular backing, and then settle for a few more changes in the legislation. Newt Gingrich pulled that stunt during budget talkes in George H.W. Bush’s presidency, if I recall. (And House Republicans may already have pulled a similar stunt this past week–depending on whether you believe the modifications they were able to make represented a tremendous improvement.) Morris, for his part, admits that the changes he’d have McCain advocate are “largely cosmetic.” … 1:59 A.M. link

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McCain sure brought those House Republicans along, didn’t he. They love him over there! … P.S.: The failure of the bailout in the House today helps Obama, no? The longer economic turmoil leads the news, the longer Obama gains an advantage–at least that is the pattern so far. … P.P.S.: Just as the vote vindicates McCain’s declaration, last Wednesday, that the bailout bill was in deep trouble (despite Dem announcements of a “deal”) it undermines his claim to have saved the day. … [If the bill really was in trouble, why were McCain's actions last week a "stunt"?--ed The stunt wasn't spotting the trouble. The stunt was trying to delay the debate. Whether McCain's intervention helped or hurt the negotiations, nothing required him to punt on the debate. One bit of evidence, of course, is that, in the end he didn't punt on the debate, and did fine.] … 11:32 A.M. link

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The L.A. Daily News on its city’s seeming unshrinkable downtown education bureaucracy:

[A] Daily News review of salaries and staffing shows LAUSD’s bureaucracy ballooned by nearly 20 percent from 2001 to 2007. Over the same period, 500 teaching positions were cut and enrollment dropped by 6 percent.

Also “2,400 administrators … earn more than $100,000 annually.” Want to fire some of the less useful ones? Ah, they have “‘bumping’ rights to displace other workers.” … 2:29 A.M.

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McCain’s Stunt Gridlock? This week’s obvious game-changin’ stunt for McCain to pull would be opposing the unpopular bailout bill, as Dick Morris advises.** But McCain probably can’t pull that stunt because of Last Week’s Stunt, which involved McCain dramatically trying to delay a debate while he parachuted into Washington to save the bailout bill. …. If the end result was a bad bill, then McCain didn’t do much of a salvation job, did he? He’s seemingly trapped–and it would be hard to weasel out of his almost-endorsement of the current deal yesterday on Stephanopoulos.. But he must be sorely tempted to follow Morris’ advice. …

**–This wouldn’t necessarily involve irresponsibly scuttling the bill. McCain could rail against provisions that he claimed would send taxpayer money to Wall Street malefactors, get the benefit of popular backing, and then settle for a few more changes in the legislation. Newt Gingrich pulled that stunt during budget talkes in George H.W. Bush’s presidency, if I recall. (And House Republicans may already have pulled a similar stunt this past week–depending on whether you believe the modifications they were able to make represented a tremendous improvement.) Morris, for his part, admits that the changes he’d have McCain advocate are “largely cosmetic.” … 1:59 A.M. link

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Sunday, September 28, 2008

I was about to write an item about how Kirsten Powers has been producing an alarming number  of  good columns lately, when I hit this sentence:

[T]he fact that someone of Biden’s experience and intellect can make as many gaffes as he has since joining the ticket shows how treacherous the presidential trail is.

1:57 A.M.

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Fitzmas in Reverse, Update: More  drama–Tony Rezko’s “possible change of heart:”

“Rezko …met with federal prosecutors and is considering cooperating in the corruption probe of the governor’s administration, sources told the Tribune.” …

Or are prosecutors just bluffing (trying to spook other potential witnesses)? … Or is Rezko merely trying to send some sort of alarm?… Just speculating! … As Steve Bartin  and the Trib note, Rezko previously complained that prosecutors were pressuring him “to tell them the ‘wrong’ things that I supposedly know about … Senator Obama.” … Rezko also said at the time that he’s “never been party to any wrongdoing that involved” Obama, and pledged not to “fabricate lies.” … But, speaking completely hypothetically, even inaccurate testimony, by Rezko or anyone else, that seemed to implicate Obama in something fishy could, if precisely timed, do a lot of damage. (Note that, in theory, before it got out it would have to be credible enough for prosecutors to actually believe it). …

P.S.: Too interesting  for  The Curve! … 8:29 P.M. link

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Friday, September 26, 2008

I’ve just heard Chris Matthews make three seemingly insane points in rapid succession: 1) McCain somehow defamed soldiers or America or something by worrying about whether they “died in vain”; 2) It was surprising that Obama didn’t make a point of the specific economic problems of African Americans; 3) It was an incredibly winning, decisive moment when Obama laughed after McCain (somewhat effectively, I thought) compared his inflexibility to Bush’s. … That’s not even getting to the official MSNBC obsession with whether McCain looked at Obama when he criticized him. …

Update: Matthews just asked John Heilemann about McCain: “Do you think he was too troll-like tonight? You know, too much of a troll?” … 9:52 P.M.

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Debate #1: Before I get spun, I’d say: small, Pyrrhic victory for McCain. McCain wanted to make Obama seem naive and inexperienced. He did about 40% of that. Obama wanted to make McCain seem dangerously ambitious, bellicose and hotheaded. He did 0% of that. But a) the foreign policy stuff came after a long period on the economy, where McCain seemed a bit frenetic and Obama had the upper hand; and b) Obama didn’t seem non-credible Replica White Herve leger, which may be enough to carry him through given all the other advantages he has. ..

More: c) When Obama talks about the struggling middle class, etc., he always says “they” (seems distant) or “you” (seems condescending). Why not “we” or “us.”? Or “my buddy Joe down the street”? A core problem, and one that shouldn’t be that hard to fix; d) The big areas where Obama could scare voters about McCain are Georgia/Ukraine/Russia and Iran. On Georgia, Obama threw away his leverage by essentially moving toward McCain’s position, up to including Georgia in NATO. I guess we really are all Georgians now. On Iran, McCain didn’t say anything particularly scary–if anything, he seemed able to dispel some of those legitimate fears, Reagan-style.He achieved that effect even more clearly on Pakistan:

[I]f you’re going to aim a gun at somebody Replica DKNY Dresses, George Shultz, our great secretary of state, told me once, you’d better be prepared to pull the trigger. …

I’m not prepared at this time to cut off aid to Pakistan. So I’m not prepared to threaten it …

(e) Even more important, Obama did little to bring home what a nightmare the last six years have been for Americans, since the decision to attack Iraq. Wasn’t there something sound-bitey he could have prepared? (“Do you want to go through another eight years like the last eight?”)  f) McCain has that candidates’ shorthand disease–when he recycles old campaign rhetoric he so sick of it he shortens it down to code words: “Pen. Veto. I’ll make them famous.” If you weren’t already sick of the rhetoric you probably didn’t have the faintest idea what he was saying. (When I worked for Sen. Hollings, it seemed as if by the end of the campaign he’d invoke an old chestnut from Pogo by barking “Pogo. The enemy! Us!”) g) McCain could have effectively hit Obama on his big spending plans (“$800 billion”) earlier and harder. Maybe this wasn’t the right week to make $800 billion seem like a big number. … h) I don’t understand the difference between “strategy” and “tactics.” Is there something wrong with me? …

P.S.: Jim Lehrer ostentatiously noted that he wanted the candidates to mix it up. But every time they began mixing it up it seemed as if Lehrer interrupted them to cut the argument off. Too interesting!  …

Post-spin Update:i) Does Keith Olbermann’s show make it seem like their guy must have lost because their guy lost–they sound like the Politburo meeting after the Cuban Missile Crisis–or would Keith Olbermann’s show make it seem like their guy must have lost even when their guy won?  …

j) If actual undecided voters who watched the debate favored Obama, as this CBS poll  suggests, is that because, after the events of the past week, they were just looking for Obama to pass a threshold test? Add if that’s the case, how would McCain now be doing if he’d just gone ahead and had this debate, and done as well as he did, without pulling The Stunt first? (Whether you think McCain’s trip to Washington helped or hurt the chances of resolving the current financial crisis, it seems clear he could have gone to D.C. and had whatever influence he had without trying to delay the debate. Think how good that would have looked.) … 7:43 P.M. link

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Thursday, September 25, 2008

The Refs Dream They’re Being Worked: When McCain’s campaign attacks the press, he’s not “working the refs.” That implies McCain’s strategists still care how the “refs” make calls. I think it’s pretty clear they’re doing something else  (and they’re perfectly happy if the refs keep making calls against them). … P.S.: Of course the MSM “refs” like to think McCain’s “working the refs,” because that implies they’re worth working–that their refereeing role is still all-important (as opposed to their role as, say, a totemic focus of political, class and cultural resentment!)… 3:50 P.M. link

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The Palin-lovin’ conservatives at GetDrunk on the McCain bailout/debate delay maneuver:

Not that anybody asked us, but we think this is nonsense.

P.S.: If McCain is driving pro-Obama pundits crazy, what has he done to Newt Gingrich?

“This is the greatest single act of responsibility ever taken by a presidential candidate ….”

[He's done nothing. Gingrich was always an excitable megalomaniac--ed Correct answer!] 3:08 P.M.

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Wednesday, September 24, 2008

The Shorts Ate My Homework.  From TPM:

[I]f you were living in the real world, if you were some hotshot young executive at a Fortune 500 company trying to rise in the ranks, and you pulled some whacked crap like this, it would probably get you blackballed permanently. People would think you were either deeply unreliable or maybe just had a screw loose.

Marshall calls it ‘the biggest ‘dog ate my homework’ in history.” I do think there’s something to that–McCain’s debate-delaying move seems more than a bit immature and self-indulgent. (As a kid, didn’t you used to think, ‘Gee, if there was a huge disaster I wouldn’t have to take that test’?')  … 11:44 P.M.

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I’d missed George McGovern coming out against “card check.”  … Meanwhile, Eduwonk makes a not-completely-clear argument that “card check” might help school reform–apparently by expanding private sector unions (i.e., SEIU) and diluting the influence of public sector teachers ‘unions within the labor movement. There’s also some woolly language about how workers in “hard hat” unions are logical allies of reform because “[i]t’s their kids …who are stuck in lousy schools.” True, but they’re stuck in lousy schools whether their parents are unionized or not–and unionizing them seems more likely to force them to support their brother teachers’ locals than it is to force the teachers’ unions to give up their demands for seniority hiring, barriers to dismissal, etc. (which are, after all, traditional union demands). It seems easier just to beat “card check” and beat the teachers’ unions, with the “hard hat” parents exercising their power as parents. … I think Eduwonk is being political here–looking desperately and somewhat naively for potential school reform allies in the Democratic party power and money structure. … 10:30 P.M. link

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Timing Is Everything Discount Emilio Pucci Dresses! … Second Prize: Dinner! … Write Your Own Hed!  Tom Daschle invites John Kerry, Richard Holbrooke, and James Carville to breakfast with former Fannie Mae CEO (and ex- Obama-veep-vetter) Jim Johnson. Hard to see how they can pass that one up. .. Premature Comeback Syndrome: Shouldn’t Johnson go have breakfast with John Edwards, wherever he is, is until, say, December? … [Via NewsAlert] 7:15 P.M. link

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Drama Queen: No convention today! … OK, it’s on! … The economy’s sound… No, wait Buy Hale Bob Dresses, it’s going to fall apart unless I go to Washington tomorrow! … We need a commission! … We need to fire somebody! … Get me Andrew Cuomo! … I want ten more  debates! … But let’s postpone the one we’ve scheduled! … Do you get the impression a McCain presidency would be a bit exhausting? …

P.S.: Remember Tom Wolfe’s description of a fighter pilot’s decision-making protocol: “I’ve tried A! I’ve tried B! I’ve tried C! …” Update:Delmarva Now’s J. Fisher has posted the Wolfe quote in full. It’s eerily resonant! …

P.P.S.: Why does McCain think he is the person who can whip conservative House Republicans into line behind the bailout? Just like he did with “comprehensive  immigration reform.” … But wait, that suggests a possible deal conservative House Republicans might strike: Senator, you say there will be “devastating consequences” to our country if we don’t pass this bailout bill. So devastating that you’ve halted your campaign and want to postpone a crucial debate. Are they so devastating that you’re willing to postpone your own controversial immigration reform until, say, after the 2010 elections? … I think they’ll discover there are some things McCain won’t sacrifice for his country. …  5:29 P.M. link

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Item Status Notification (Delay): I was going to write an item making another argument for Obama: That we shouldn’t worry about him getting rid of the secret ballot when it comes to recognizing unions because, according to no less an authority than Dem labor expert William Gould, Obama would need a filibuster-proof 60 vote majority in the Senate to make that change–and a 60 seat majority is out of reach. Planned headline: “Vote Obama: He Won’t Get It Done!”

But I can’t write the item because a 60 seat Democratic majority is not out of reach, apparently, if Dems can win Senate seats in North Carolina, Mississippi and Minnesota. … A lot more is riding on Al Franken than I thought possible. It’s like a bad Disney movie! …

P.S.: Gould’s fallback proposals for quick secret ballot elections seem like a much more sensible reform than the official Dem plan to completely replace secret ballot elections with the non-secret, individual signing of cards (“card check”).  Gould’s reforms also don’t seem like nearly enough to reverse the decades-long slide in private sector unionization rates, which has a deep, rational basis. (Most obviously: Would you want your industry to look like Detroit’s unionized Big Three?) … 12:16 A.M.

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Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Byron York on reaction of his fellow conservatives to McCain’s plan to replace Chris Cox as head of the SEC with Andrew Cuomo:

“[T]he charitable reaction was that it was insane.”

P.S.: What does McCain’s impulse say about his predictabiity when it comes to Supreme Court appointments? Just a thought.** … Hey, Cuomo’s a lawyer! …

**A thought George Will already had. …11:40 P.M.

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“Is Obama really that good a speaker?” Daniel Finkelstein’s valued overseas perspective:

I find that too often he can be an empty, rather woolly speaker. Someone who likes the sound of his own voice a bit much.

1:47 P.M.

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Did They Blow the Fit? Honda’s new Fit is positioned to be the perfect vehicle for the times–tiny, sporty, roomy,  very economical. The 2007 version was all those things (see Seth Stevensons’s rave) but also a little ugly. All Honda had to do was correct its few flaws–make it slightly larger, smoother riding and prettier–and they’d have the ideal $4/gallon car. The 2009 version is, according to previews, slightly larger, smoother riding, and prettier. How could they screw up a car by correcting its flaws?

Happens all the time. Making cars slightly larger and more refined seems especially to bring out the Brezhnev in auto engineering bureaucracies. ( See, e.g., VW 412,   Volvo 144S,   Mazda 3.) … So has Honda screwed up the Fit? Car and Driver’s posted a debate on the subject.My reading: Yes, they have. The new Fit has 10 cup holders, but the steering “has lost on-center feel.” Nothing is as important as “on-center feel”! And CD’s colloquy includes several cues (e.g., “This is a great car for people who are coming from larger vehicles”) that experienced readers will recognize as secret distress codes. … Used Fits are starting to look less ugly already. … 3:07 A.M. link

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Tight Like That: The New York Times reports on the tighter format of the vice-presidential debate:

At the insistence of the McCain campaign, the Oct. 2 debate between the Republican nominee for vice president, Gov. Sarah Palin, and her Democratic rival, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., will have shorter question-and-answer segments than those for the presidential nominees, the advisers said. There will also be much less opportunity for free-wheeling, direct exchanges between the running mates.

McCain advisers said they had been concerned that a loose format could leave Ms. Palin, a relatively inexperienced debater, at a disadvantage and largely on the defensive [E.A.]

But would a looser format really disadvantage Palin in the encounter? 1) She seems like a scrapper who can handle herself in a “free-wheeling” exchange; 2) Biden, on the other hand, isn’t someone you want to liberate. Set him free and who knows what he’ll say. He’s already way too free-wheeling. He needs limits, no? The tighter format will force him to focus; 3) Point #2 is doubly relevant given the difficulties Biden will have facing off against a woman. He’s not supposed to condescend. He’s not supposed to bully. (He’s not supposed to be Biden, in other words.) Set him loose in an open format and it’s a near certainty he would get the tone wrong, maybe even get carried away and go all Lazio on her.

Those “McCain advisers” may have just done him a big favor. … [Tks to D.] 2:03 A.M. link

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Monday, September 22, 2008

We Shall Overarch! Jacob Weisberg says Obama needs an economic “message,” by which he means a “simple, lucid theme” or slogan or “overarching narrative” that unites and organizes Obama’s his “sensible economic policies.” Good point. But, oddly, Weisberg doesn’t suggest any slogans himself. Is that because the obvious slogan is not clever or especially electrifying:

PROSPERITY FOR ALL, AGAIN

Or something like that (i.e., “Prosperity for all, for a change.”). … Name a policy this doesn’t overarch! … Meanwhile it addresses the central and legitimate Dem complaint, which is that while the economy has grown quite rapidly, in GDP terms, median income has not. .. The main problem with the slogan: It’s depressingly banal. But it’s no worse than “Bridge to the 21st Century.” …

P.S.: Economic egalitarians note that if the economy is growing, but the wealth isn’t trickling down, that’s almost by definition because it’s been going increasingly to the top. The slogan implies that. But while it contains this buried “money-egalitarian” grievance, it doesn’t imply a redistributive or egalitarian solution. If Obama could goose the economy so everyone was getting richer, nothing in the slogan would be violated if the rich were still getting wildly richer, making the overall income distribution more unequal. …

P.P.S.: Yes, this slogan fails to incorporate Obama’s usual anti-Washington theme. No loss. Palin reduces that theme’s bite, anyway. And if any Washington insiders can bring us “shared prosperity,” don’t we want Obama to make use of them? Most of Obama’s economic advisers (Summers, Rubin, Tyson, Sperling, Furman) are Washington veterans. At this point in the economic crisis, that gives voters confidence, which is why Obama recently  had his picture taken with some of them. … 

P.P.P.S.: I’m not saying Obama’s policies actually will achieve “prosperity for all.” Card-check unionization certainly won’t. But the slogan reflects what they’re intended to achieve–it’s aspirational. And diagnostic. …

Backfill: See also William Galston’s “message” memo from last week, which also touches on Obama’s non-crisp style of communicating. 

**–Or maybe Weisberg has sources, knows the real slogan, and doesn’t want to give it away. …10:44 P.M. link

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Priorities: McCain pledges to present a ‘comprehensive immigration reform’ plan  to Congress (i.e. including some form of amnesty) “the first day” in office. ..

Update: He’s so desperate he’s pandering in English! Speaking before “a largely Irish-American crowd,”  McCain focuses on “50,000 Irish men and women who are in this country illegally at this time,” promising them a “path to citizenship”

I want to assure you that we will enact comprehensive immigration reform …

Does the GOP base “get the message” yet? … Progress! Note pro-Dem blog Think Progress eschewing official bipartisan euphemisms and calling it “amnesty.”  ….[Tks. to J.S.] 10:27 A.M.

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McCain wants to fire Chris Cox as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission and appoint … Andrew Cuomo, under whose leadership the federal  

Department of Housing and Urban Development damaged several New York neighborhoods when it permitted scam artists to bilk the government out of federally secured mortgage and construction loans in the late 1990’s.

Seems like just the right man to solve the toxic mortgage crisis. … P.S.: This wasn’t a tiny fraud. It was a quarter-billion dollar scandal that severely disrupted the redevelopment of Harlem, among other places, by gumming up the market. But hey, it was non-profit fraud! … Apparently, McCain’s not just going populist left. He’s going irresponsible, opportunist populist left. … More Cuomo embarrassments here and here (“Mr. Cuomo’s complaints that [a primary opponent] was not aggressive in investing state pension money in concerns that would further social causes, like affordable housing.”) … See also Wayne Barrett (alleging that as HUD secretary Cuomo pushed Fannie Mae into the subprime market) … Note to my conservative friends: Hope Palin’s worth it! … 12:30 A.M. link

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Sunday, September 21, 2008

Now a Ford Maverick would be a cool car for McCain to own. (Rear drive. Famously robust. Old. Ironic.) Alas, it appears to be just a cheap graphic device by Huffington Post. … Of the 13 vehicles McCain does own, only the 3 electric golf-cart-like things are at all interesting. Even HuffPo likes them. … The others aren’t even ostentatious or obnoxious. Where is a Porsche Cayenne Turbo when you need it? … . 9:53 P.M.

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Bail Mary! Newt Gingrich makes at least one good point about the Paulson bailout plan:

Implementation of the Paulson plan is going to be a mess. It is going to be a great opportunity for lobbyists and lawyers to make a lot of money. Who are the financial magicians Paulson is going to hire? Are they from Wall Street? If they’re from Wall Street Cheap Herve Leger gown, aren’t they the very people we are saving? And doesn’t that mean that we’re using the taxpayers’ money to hire people to save their friends with even more taxpayer money? Won’t this inevitably lead to crony capitalism? Who is going to do oversight? How much transparency is there going to be? We still haven’t seen the report which led to bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It is “secret”. Is our $700 billion going to be spent in “secret” too? [E.A.}

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Lord help us Christian Audigier Clothing sale, for the automotive industry has sunk to a new low. As if it wasn’t bad enough that Maybach created an ode to conspicuous consumption like the 62 Landaulet, but now Mercedes’ big, goofy brother has decided to put the thing into production.

Following a spat of rumors Replica Herve leger strapless, Maybach initially unveiled the half limo/half convertible/half marshmallow in Dubai this past November, and then laid it on us in person at the Detroit show. It starts with the Maybach 62 S and then peeled off half the roof like a can of sardines and slathered whitewash all over the thing. Unfortunately Discount Hale Bob Dresses, as we could see by the yellow Cayenne we showed you yesterday, money and taste don’t always go together Discount Bandage dresses, and Daimler seems content to separate the former from those who don’t have the latter. The reported list price rivals the concept itself for sheer lunacy: $1.19 million. That’s an unfathomable $756k premium over the $433,750 list price for a 2008 Maybach 62 S Cheap Missoni Dresses, though we’ve found conflicting reports that it will start at £350,000 or around $685 White Herve leger sale,000 USD. We’d like to speak to any potential customers considering buying a Maybach 62 Laundaulet about this bucket of extremely rare sand that we’re offering for a very reasonable price.

We’ve added some new official high-res images of the 62 Laundaulet to our gallery of live shots from the 2008 Detroit Auto Show below.

[Source: Motor Authority]

Related GalleryMaybach 62 Landaulet

USA Todayleads with a look at the U.S. military’s efforts to build “an unprecedented” database of Iraqis by taking fingerprints and eye scans of thousands of men. Since Iraqi IDs are unreliable, U.S. officials are hoping that the database will help them figure out who is friend or foe, an always difficult task. Although there have been concerns about privacy at the Pentagon, U.S. officials say that, for the most part, Iraqis have not raised objections to the program.

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Bush also insisted, once again, that Congress shouldn’t do anything about Iraq until the much-awaited September report is released. But a few hours later Corum Replica Watches, the House voted, mostly along party lines, to begin troop withdrawal within 120 days. Not that this, and other votes, really matter, says the LAT in its lead and the Post in a separate Page One analysis. Despite an initial panic at the White House after some high-profile defections, it’s clear most Republicans are standing by their man and giving the president the benefit of the doubt until September. Since Democrats won’t be able to get anywhere near enough votes to override a veto, Washington will give us “at least two more months of anger and posturing but no change in direction,” concludes the Post. Sounds like fun.

Although many Republicans admitted that it’s not quite clear how things will really be different in eight weeks, the LAT interestingly notes that it looks like the September report won’t only gauge progress but will also present Congress with options to change the war  strategy. Even though it’s easy to deride the political posturing, it’s evident that all the criticism is having some sort of effect on the White House. As the Post notes, only two weeks ago administration officials were hinting that September might be too soon to gauge whether the “surge” was working.

So what about the report itself? The findings were pretty much as the NYT reported them yesterday. Progress on eight of the benchmarks was deemed “satisfactory,” “unsatisfactory” on another eight, and mixed on the remaining two. But Replica Bvlgari Watches, despite Bush’s claims of progress, the LAT points out in a Page One analysis what should be clear to anyone who reads the actual 25-page report: Things aren’t going well. “The least progress is being made on the most important goals Where buy best Replica Chopard Watches,” says the LAT, which, along with all the other papers, notes that many of the political goals for the Iraqi government remain elusive. (Slate’s Fred Kaplan goes through the report and calls it “a sham.”)

The Post goes inside with a look at what the report says about the Iraqi military. Due to several factors Replica Michele Watches, there has been a “slight reduction” in the number of combat-ready Iraqi troops. The paper tried to figure out what “slight reduction” actually means but it turns out that information is “in the classified realm,” as one spokesman put it.

Meanwhile, the NYT moves to the front page a look at Bush’s often-repeated assertion that those responsible for much of the violence in Iraq are the same as “the ones who attacked us in America on September the 11th.” The statement is dubious at best, since al-Qaida in Iraq didn’t exist in 2001 and its relationship with the larger terrorist network is far from clear. Besides, as an expert tells the Times, it’s evident that “al-Qaida, both in Iraq and globally, thrives on the American occupation.”

Both the WP and LAT have dispatches from Baghdad that say Iraqi politicians remain mostly wary and frustrated by the benchmarks. The WP reports that “some Iraqi leaders” view the benchmarks as unrealistic. The LAT says some Iraqi politicians are worried that the pressure to get things done by a certain time will result in rushed decisions that will have to be scrapped later.

In other Iraq news, the papers goes inside with clashes between Shiite militias and the American military that left at least 16 people dead (19 says the WSJ), including two Iraqis who worked for Reuters. The NYT is the most direct and says that it appears U.S. troops killed the journalists. A photographer tells the NYT that “it looked like the American helicopters were firing against any gathering in the area.” The WP says two children were also among the dead.

The NYT fronts word that, through the power of loopholes Fake Tag Heuer Watches, partners at the Blackstone Group will avoid paying taxes on $3.7 billion of the $4.75 billion the company made during its initial public offering last month. Although the partners will pay $533 million in taxes, they will get it back in the long run and, in fact, receive $200 million more from the government. “These guys have figured out how to turn paying taxes into an annuity,” a tax lawyer tells the paper Replica Wyler Watches, and adds that this is a perfect example of why the current debate in Washington over “what tax rate to pay misses the big picture.”

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