Sep
3
Before she was offered the job of GOP running mate on the deck of John McCain’s home, the Alaska governor was told that nothing could prepare her for the harsh spotlight of a presidential campaign. The self-styled “hockey mom” told McCain’s team she could take it.
And that’s what she’s had to do.
It turns out her record as an independent-minded government reformer is not free of blemishes, and every one that’s found is being magnified for public view. Just since Friday, it’s come to light that:
_A private attorney is authorized to spend $95,000 of state money to defend her against accusations of abuse of power.
_Palin sought pork-barrel projects for her city and state, contrary to her reformist image.
_Her husband once belonged to a fringe political group in Alaska, with some members supporting secession from the United States.
_She has acknowledged smoking marijuana in the past.
And of course, her 17-year-old daughter’s pregnancy. Bristol Palin’s boyfriend, Levi Johnston, 18, plans to join Palin’s family at the GOP convention, the boy’s mother said. The young couple’s presence could set off a media frenzy.
After four days of taking it, Palin dishes it out Wednesday with a televised speech at the Republican National Convention. In addition to accepting the nomination, the first woman to do so for the GOP, Palin will tell her story: small-town mayor with a taste for mooseburgers; the wife of a blue-collar North Slope oil worker; and the mother of five, including one born this spring with Down syndrome.
Defending his choice and the team that helped pick her, McCain said Tuesday that “the vetting process was completely thorough.” Campaign advisers at the convention said Palin filled out a survey with 70 tough questions, including: Have you ever paid for sex? Have you been faithful in your marriage? Have you ever used or purchased drugs? Have you ever downloaded pornography?
McCain’s aides rejected suggestions from Democrats that her selection was a hurried, last-minute attempt to shake up the campaign and wrest female voters from Barack Obama. They insisted Palin was a finalist from the start.
But one senior Republican familiar with the search, who requested anonymity because McCain did not authorize the conversation, said Palin had virtually fallen from the radar. Only late in the summer, when McCain asked for more alternatives, was she made a finalist.
As conservatives closed ranks behind their like-minded foe of abortion, former presidential candidate Fred Thompson used his prime-time address to defend Palin on Tuesday.
“Some Washington pundits and media big shots are in a frenzy over the selection of a woman who has actually governed rather than just talked a good game on the Sunday talk shows and hit the Washington cocktail circuit,” Thompson said.
When she was introduced as McCain’s running mate last week, Palin portrayed herself as a political maverick in McCain’s mold: “I’ve stood up to the old politics as usual, to the special interests, to the lobbyists, the big oil companies and the good old boy network,” she said.
But Alaska’s first female governor has at times benefited from Alaska’s entrenched political system.
For one thing, Palin accepted at least $4,500 in campaign contributions in the same fundraising scheme at the center of a public corruption scandal that led to the indictment of Sen. Ted Stevens.
The contributions, made during Palin’s failed 2002 bid to become Alaska’s lieutenant governor, were not illegal for her to accept. But they show how Palin, who has bucked Stevens and his allies, is nonetheless beholden to Alaska’s old guard.
The $4,500 came from executives at VECO Corp., a powerful Alaska oil field services company. Company founder Bill Allen has admitted the company steered its donations through a “special bonus program” in which executives received money and the company instructed them to donate it to favored politicians.
Allen pleaded guilty to bribery and corruption charges. He admitted the program violated federal tax laws and said it was used to keep his political allies flush with cash.
Steve Schmidt, senior adviser to the McCain campaign, dismissed the idea that a few campaign contributions years ago diminished Palin’s record as a reformer. “Gov. Palin’s record fighting corruption and taking on these issues in Alaska speaks for itself,” he said Tuesday.
Indeed, Palin has had her share of run-ins with Stevens, including a dustup earlier this year in which Stevens accused Palin of not being enthusiastic enough about his efforts to bring federal earmark money to Alaska. She has also called on Stevens’ son, Ben, to resign as national committeeman for the state party.
She was among the first Alaska Republicans to urge Stevens to answer questions about the FBI investigation.
Sep
3
NEW ORLEANS - Enter at your own risk, New Orleans. That was the message from Mayor Ray Nagin, who gave residents the go-ahead to return to the Crescent City on Wednesday night at midnight, but with several warnings - many homes were without electricity or working toilets and a dusk-to-dawn curfew would still be in effect.
“It’s my humble opinion that the city is still in a very, very vulnerable state,” Nagin said Tuesday evening.
Millions fled the Gulf Coast in fear of Hurricane Gustav, and many were ready to get back home after spending several days in hot, overcrowded shelters. But as of late Tuesday, there were still nearly 800,000 homes in Louisiana without power, including about 77,000 in the city of New Orleans. Officials said the main transmission lines into southern Louisiana were crippled and they had no timetable of when much of the power might be restored.
The mayor said he had no choice but to begin allowing residents back because neighboring parishes were reopening Wednesday morning. But they, too, face the dangers of downed power lines and trees.
Still, residents who evacuated coastal areas want to return, realizing this was no Katrina, which killed 1,600 people in 2005. Nine deaths have been attributed to Gustav.
Early insurance industry estimates put the expected damage to covered properties at anywhere from $2 billion to $10 billion. That’s high, but well short of Katrina’s $41 billion.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said he won two promises from the federal government that will ease Louisiana’s recovery: the White House approved his “major disaster” declaration request, allowing residents of 34 parishes to receive federal funding for housing and recovery, and a strategic oil reserve will be opened to help reverse a severe shortage of fuel, particularly in south Louisiana.
Initial inspections showed little damage to the Gulf Coast’s extensive oil and gas installations, though resumption of production and refining could still take a few days. Reflecting confidence the industry suffered little damage, oil prices fell $5.75 a barrel.
Some were ready to celebrate, Big Easy style.
In the fishing village of Jean Lafitte, about 25 miles south of New Orleans, the mayor finally relaxed with a seafood boil of shrimp, corn and potatoes after three days of working on a temporary levee of two miles.
“Like the storm, I’m done,” said Mayor Tim Kerner, trying to hold open his heavy, sleep-deprived eyes. “We kept the town dry.”
There was no major partying on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street, though.
Few businesses were open, including grocers or gas stations. But there were signs of recovery. Utility workers, contractors and government employees were allowed to return Tuesday. Banks and other firms were to return Wednesday.
The city expected to begin this weekend bringing back the estimated 18,000 residents who didn’t have the means to evacuate on their own and were sent to shelters in Louisiana and other states on buses, trains or aircraft.
Power outages caused by Gustav forced officials to transport scores of patients from hospitals and other medical facilities for fear they couldn’t survive long without air conditioning.
The state’s secretary of Health and Hospitals, Alan Levine, told The Associated Press these patients were critically ill, and a few were from hospital burn units. As of Tuesday evening, none of the patients had died during the recent evacuation. Officials said early Tuesday evening that about 140 had been transferred, and the number grew during the evening.
Residents were just ready to get back home.
Curtis Helms, 47, left New Orleans on Saturday with only $20 in his pocket and the stripped T-shirt and denim shorts he was wearing. He was still wearing the same clothes Tuesday at a shelter in Alabama and said he only left because Nagin threatened to toss those caught on the street behind bars.
“Right now, I’d rather be home, even with no electricity,” Helms said.
Others questioned the need to evacuate. “Next time, it’s going to be bad because people who evacuated like us aren’t going to evacuate,” Catherine Jones, 53, of Silsbee, Texas, who spent three days on a cot at a church shelter with her disabled son. “They jumped the gun.”
Emergency officials strongly defended the decision to evacuate, saying that with something as unpredictable as a hurricane, it is better to be safe than sorry.
Officials noted that, yes, New Orleans’ levees held, and Gustav struck only a glancing blow. But when trees fell on homes, power lines went down and roads were washed out in parts of south Louisiana, there was no one around to get hurt.
“The reasons you’re not seeing dramatic stories of rescue is because we had a successful evacuation,” Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said. “The only reason we don’t have more tales of people in grave danger is because everyone heeded the instructions to get out of town.”
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Aug
30
England defeated South Africa by 126 runs in the third one-day cricket match at the oval, to take an unassailable lead of 3-nil in the five match series.
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Batting first, England made 296 for 7 from 50 overs. Andrew Flintoff hit 78 not-out while Ian Bell scored 73 runs. South Africa were never up with the rate as they were bowled out for 170 in 42.4 overs with Patel taking 5 for 41 to cap a memorable match.
Aug
30
The government has announced to give 1.75 billion rupees subsidy on the items of daily use under its Ramazanul Mubarak package.
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Finance minister Naveed Qamar announced the package during a news briefing in Islamabad. He said that from the first of September, the prices of over 1300 items of daily use will be reduced by five to ten percent. He said under the package, the price of Atta will be 15 rupees per kilogram, Ghee 110 rupees, Sugar 33 rupees, Dal Channa 47 rupees, and Basmati Rice Rs 88 per kilogram at the utility stores across the country. The finance minister said the utility stores will remain open throughout the week during Ramazan-ul Mubarak.
He said mobile utility stores will operate in Balochistan and Sindh to provide relief to the people there. He said the government’s monitoring teams will keep strict watch to ensure that the prices remain stable during the holy month. The finance minister said the government is taking strict action to curb the smuggling of wheat flour and to ensure that these items are sold on uniform prices.
Aug
29
Plan to slash PSDP by Rs100bn
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The government has decided to cut the federal Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) by Rs100 billion to contain fiscal deficit at 4.7 per cent level and allow a ‘hefty increase’ in electricity tariff to achieve macro-economic stability, says Minister for Finance and Privatisation Naveed Qamar.
“One of the most serious issues is our depleting foreign exchange reserves, which have come down to about $10 billion because of exchange rate pressure, and, therefore, urgently needed to be enhanced through more privatisation and by attracting new foreign inflows,” he said at a press conference in his parliament chambers here on Friday.
The government, he said, had decided to take a number of steps to contain the fiscal deficit target during 2007-08 and for this purpose “we will have to slow down the economic activity.”
He, however, said that oil prices, which had gone down to $112 a barrel after peaking $148 barrel in the international market and then again rose to nearly $120 a barrel, would not be brought down “unless the government achieves an equalization.”"We will pass on the benefit of reduced oil prices when the government starts buying and selling oil at the same price.”
He said all supplementary grants to the ministries and divisions had been stopped along with a directive to cut back on foreign tours and stop buying physical assets.
He said that funds would be withdrawn from development projects which do not have any economic impact.
Terming it unfortunate, he said that the government would have to slash its development budget from Rs550 billion to Rs450 billion to avoid piling up problems.
He said that the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which was insisting on keeping fiscal deficit pegged at 4.3 per cent target, had been told that it was not possible, but it had been assured that the deficit would not exceed 4.7 per cent target which had been fixed in the budget.
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) is believed to have recommended a 61 per cent increase in electricity tariff, which the government was anxious to pass on to consumers.
Without hinting about the exact amount of the power tariff increase, the finance minister said: “It will be a fairly hefty increase to help remove Wapda’s growing financial difficulties.”
He said that Wapda needed to make payments to Independent Power Producers (IPPs), which had threatened to shut down their plants because of non-payment.
He said the government could not offer sovereign guarantees to the IPPs but that they would be made their due payments by allowing Wapda to go for substantial power increases.
“Pakistan has to survive as a normal country. It also favours the IPPs.”
He said that all government subsidies, including on oil and electricity, would be eliminated by June 2009, and consumers would have to share the burden of increase in prices of all commodities.
“Wapda’s circular debt is increasing, which will have to be cut by allowing the increase in electricity charges.”
The finance minister said that Wapda and Pepco had been ordered to eliminate line losses.
The minister said that the government had decided to control expenditure by reducing unnecessary borrowing from the State Bank, which had earlier tightened its monetary policy.
Instead, he said, the government would borrow from the National Savings Directorate and a target of Rs150 billion had been set which would be achieved by launching new schemes.
Mr Qamar also said that the government would impose more taxes on import of luxury goods and non-essential items, adding that the rate of duty on such items would be increased from 35 per cent shortly after the federal cabinet’s approval.
He said the government would launch a new commercial instrument to mop up Rs300 billion deposits of ministries and other public sector corporations, adding that they had been ordered to withdraw their funds from various savings accounts which would be used for launching the instrument.
Initially, he said, that Rs40 billion would be used for launching the instrument next month.
He said the cabinet was considering approving a five-day work week.
Referring to petroleum export, he said, the export of oil to Afghanistan would be controlled by imposing a regulatory duty on subsidised petroleum products.
“Oil is being bought at a subsidised rate and then exported to Afghanistan and in the process, people are earning considerable profits. This practice will be discouraged by imposing a regulatory duty,” he added.
He, however, clarified that the regulatory duty would only be applied on the subsidy for oil export.
The finance minister also said that the government had worked out a plan for privatisation which would be unveiled on Tuesday next and is aimed at achieving over $2 billion.
“The government will raise Rs52 billion from the privatisation other than big ticketing items.”
He said there would be more foreign inflows, including $26 million coming from privatisation of the PTCL and $750-800 million through the launching of a new bond scheme.
“These new bonds will be securitised against workers’ remittances,” the finance minister said.
He said that the CNG prices are expected to be fixed at Rs49 a kilogramme for which OGRA is finalising details.
In reply to a question, he said that the government was in touch with the government of Saudi Arabia to import 120,000 barrels of oil on deferred payment.
He, however, said that unless the issue was finalised, he could not reveal the cost in dollar terms.
He also disclosed that the US and Canada had offered to give wheat on deferred payment.
“All subsequent wheat imports will be made on deferred payment and this will be in addition to the wheat to be received from the US under the PL-480 programme.”
He said that the IMF had issued a ‘letter of comfort’ on the basis of which the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank would soon start disbursing funds to Pakistan.
But he made it clear that the government did not seek any new IMF programme.
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Aug
29
White House hopeful Barack Obama says the U.S is facing one of its periodic defining moments as he vowed to mend the economy and restore the nation’s moral leadership.
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In his acceptance speech at Denver he said we meet at one of those defining moments when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.
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Aug
29
Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani says a strategy is being evolved to improve health care system in the country.
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Addressing a function organized by Pakistan pharmaceutical manufacturers association in Lahore he emphasized to focus on local raw material to provide drugs to the people on affordable rates. The Prime Minister stressed the need for taking steps to fight hepatitis as eighteen percent population of the country is suffering from this disease.
Aug
27
The U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Rice says Israel’s settlement building in the West Bank is not conducive to creating an environment for negotiations.
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Rice reiterated the U.S. position in separate talks with Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. She said anything that undermines confidence between the parties ought to be avoided. Rice also discussed with Abbas for the first time new ideas that could move peace talks forward. Her visit coincided with the release of a report by an Israeli watchdog group saying construction of housing for Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank had nearly doubled since last year.
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Aug
27
32 candidates including Senator Asif Ali Zardari, justice retired Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui and Mushahid Hussain Syed has filed nomination papers for presidential election to be held on 6th of next month.
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Pakistan People’s Party and allies filed 14 nomination papers of Asif Zardari as a candidate for presidential election. The parliamentarians from PPP, MQM, ANP, JUI and other coalition partners have proposed and seconded the name of Asif Ali Zardari for the office of the president. Five nomination papers were filed for PML-N candidate justice [ret] Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui and four for his covering candidate Roedad Khan. Five nominations were filed on behalf of PML-Q candidate Mushahid Hussain Syed. Five independent candidates also filed nomination papers in Islamabad and thirteen in Lahore. In Karachi, nine nomination papers were filed on behalf of Senator Asif Zardari. One form was submitted by, MQM and eight by, PPP and ANP.
In Peshawar, Munir Ahmed Sherazi of Qaumi Ittehad party submitted his nomination paper. No nomination papers were filed in Balochistan. Scrutiny of the papers will be held tomorrow while candidates can withdraw their nomination papers by Saturday and final list of the contesting candidates will be issued on the same day. Polling for the presidential election will be held on the sixth of next month at the joint session of senate and national assembly in Islamabad while provincial assemblies would meet at respective provincial capitals.
Aug
24
Opec may decide to cut output in Sept meeting
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Over the last few days, thanks to the rising tension in Georgia and the weakening dollar, oil has regained some of the lost ground. Yet, most people believe that the markets are in for further erosion provided indeed, the geopolitical issues don’t get out of hand.
Tehran’s Opec governor Mohammad Ali Khatibi says that the cartel could decide to rollover or even cut production from existing levels when it meets in Vienna early September.
He felt the oil market was oversupplied by around 1.3 million barrels per day.
However, he admitted that the peak winter demand could absorb most of this excess - unless the slowing economy takes a bigger bite out of consumption.
Venezuela is also insisting on reviewing the cartel’s output at its next ministerial meeting.
The International Energy Agency (EIA) now believes that in the emerging scenario even Saudi Arabia may be tempted to curtail its output. Saudi July production was reported at a high 9.7 million bpd.
Interestingly, after a long time, the issue of abiding by the Opec output quotas is also back under hammer. The group’s President Chakib Khelil, while on a visit to Iran last week, emphasised on the Opec members to keep oil output within the agreed targets.
Underlining the rapidly changing market dynamics, the IEA has now cut its 2008 oil demand forecast from the Opec by 100,000 bpd, from its previous projections, despite raising the forecast for non-Opec supply.
Despite raising its forecast for global oil demand by 70,000 to 87.8 million bpd the next year, the IEA estimated the call on Opec’s crude in 2009 to average 31.33 million barrels a day, an increase of 90,000 from its previous estimate.
Within hours of the release of the IEA’s sober assessment of the outlook for oil markets, the US Energy Information Administration said US demand had also fallen by 800,000 barrels a day in the first half of the year, the largest decline for 26 years.
In the meantime, the Opec forecast for 2009 oil demand growth remained unchanged at the lowest rate in seven years and warned that consumption could fall even further.
The 13 member group left the rate at 1.03 per cent, the narrowest since 2002, even after raising its estimates of daily demand in 2008 and 2009 by 90,000 barrels.
“Risks to the outlook for the world oil market appear to be on the downside,” the Opec report said. Global oil consumption will average 86.9 million barrels a day this year and 87.8 million barrels a day in 2009.
The London-based Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES) in its monthly oil report also points to the worsening economic outlook suggesting that oil prices have further to fall.
The CGES report says that recent figures have shown that oil demand was contracting significantly in the OECD countries, while the reduction of subsidies in several emerging markets was also expected to have an impact on non-OECD demand.
The CGES emphasises, “This would be a new experience for the oil industry and Opec in particular, because global oil demand last contracted in 1993, and before that in the early 1980s.
Opec has been living for years now in a world of growing oil consumption without investing in much additional capacity.
Dealing with falling oil demand is quite different, requiring coordinated cutbacks in oil production to prevent oil prices from crashing. This is an immense challenge for Opec with a history of cracking under pressure.