Democrats get ready to takeover Congress

The democrats are getting ready to takever Congress as the new majority. The Congress will be lead by Nancy Pelosi and the Senate will be lead by Harry Reid. Some of the items on the agenda for the 110th congress include border security, minimum wage increase and the Iraq War among others. The Pentagon has requested 110Billion for the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Appeals Court upholds Saddam conviction

In a ruling not unexpected an appeals court has ruled that Saddam's conviction has satisfied the legal requirements that now paves the way for his execution. The Sunni's hailed this as a botched trial while the Shiite majority hailed it as major victory and officially puts an end to the Saddam regime. Experts believe that this may quell any hopes that Saddam would be returning to power.

Saddam found guilty

This verdict while not surprising puts an end to a very murdurous regime that lasted for nearly 2 decades. Security has been tight in Baghdad enlight of a verdict negative or positive. Several senior leaders in the former regime were also found guilty of acts during that regime. Saddam is expected to appeal the verdict which could take sometime. When all of the appeals are exhausted he will be executed by hanging.

Political parties vying for control of Congress

The Democrat and Republican Parties are in an all out political war to control the majority in Congress. Republicans are trying to shore up their base which has been dismayed by rampant spending, the War in Iraq and Capitol Hill scandals. However the Democrats have not been able to effectively capitalize on the misfortunes of the republicans. Democrats have yet to offer a viable alternative which is why experts say that democrats are struggling to get traction against their republican opponents. More money has been spent on TV advertising than any other midterm in recent memory. While the democrats have a strong possibility of regaining control of congress that is less likely in the Senate. Consequently the ad wars have been the nastiest that we have seen in recent years. With so many races in a virtual dead and control of congress at stake experts say that candidates are likely to fight it out the end.

Races tighten as election nears

Campaigns have committed an all out blitz as the election comes to a close. Candidates are now using personal attacks to gain a political advantage. The air waves are expected to be he hit with a number of attack ads.

FL Congressman resigns over emails

Florida Congressman Mark Foley (R) resigned today amid allegations about sexually explicit emails to a former male congressional page. This comes as republicans battle to retain the majority in congress in the November election. The Florida Republican Party is scrambling to find a replacement candidate as lawyers try to find a way to get another candidate on the ballot.

RNC picks Twin Cities for 2008

The Republican National Commitee approved the Twin Cities to host its national convention. MN is also a swing state that borders on other swing states like Iowa and Wisconsin.

Rep. Bob Ney pleads guilty

Congressman Bob Ney (R-OH) pleaded guilty to charges related to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. Ney initially denied any wrongdoing and was asked to step down from his leadership position as the Chair of the House Administration Committee. Ney has decided not to seek re-election. His republican challenger has asked to him to resign so that he can replace him for the general election.

Endorsed candidates win primaries with ease

US Senate candidate Mark Kennedy (R), US Senate candidate Amy Klobuchar (DFL) Governor Tim Pawlenty(R) Attorney General Mike Hatch(DFL) all easily won their parties primaries. The major party candidates are expected to slug it on the air waves as well as in the debates as the '06 election is expected to come to a fiery end. Control of the State House is at stake as well as control of Congress could well be decided on election. Republicans hope to keep majority while the democrats hope to take over as the new majority party.

White House buts heads with Congress over detainee bill

After the Supreme Court ruled the presidents military tribunals unconstitutional the White House has been urging congress to pass its version of the detainee bills. However its been tough sledding as the president faces opposition in his own party on Capitol Hill. A Senate committee this week passed a detaine bill which the White House opposes. The Senate version does not have as strict a policy on interrogations. President Bush held a press conference to press congress on passing his version of the detainee bill. He said that the CIA officers involved in interrogations must be able to use agressive tactics and should not be burdened with potential civil liability and criminal prosecution. There has been some debate over how to interpret Article 3 of the Geneva Convention which the Supreme Court cited in its Hamden vs. Rumsfeld decision. Some on Capitol Hill have argued that we should have our own interpretation of the article because it is too vague as its currently written and other countries interpret it based on their own laws.

Judge blocks strike until negotiations are exhausted

A federal appeals judge blocked the Northwest Flight attendants from striking against Northwest Airlines because there is too much economically at stake beyond the parties involved. The judge did not rule out allowing a strike if he believes that the parties cannot come to terms in the future.

US State Dept. issues limited visa to former head of Iran; current leader to address UN

Despite protest the State Department granted a visa to the former head of Iran. Opponents say Khatami should not be granted a visa because he resided over a regime that wanted the destruction of Israel and was a sworn of the United States. MA governor Mitt Romney who is a republican candidate for president blasted the decision to grant the visa and said that he should not be given protection by while visiting the United States.
The current Iranian leader has been granted a visa to visit the United States to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The Secret Service will be protecting him but his travel will be limited. The Secret Service provides security for foreign heads of state and dignitaries while in the United States. The United Nations is considered international territory even though its essentially in New York.

DOJ to propose law to prevent some convictions from being overturned

The Justice Department has proposed a law to congress that would prevent people like Ken Lay from having their convictions overturned. Lay's lawyers have filed motions to have their clients convictioned vacated by the judge because he is no longer alive. The judge has yet to certify the conviction. The Supreme Court has recently ruled that judges do not have the authority to overturn a jury verdict.

Mexican President Fox forgoes last speech to Mexican Congress

Mexican President Fox was forced due to security concerns to forgoe his annual speech to the Mexican congress following a protest outside of the chambers. Fox is the first Mexican president to forgoe his speech. Fox did give his speech on television. Leftist organizations continue to protest the outcome of the presidential election in which the winning candidate won by less than 1%. Protesters want a recount of all ballots. Mexico's Federal Election Tribunal has final authority on the outcome of the election.

FBI investigates AK State Lawmakers in probe of VECO

The FBI investigated the offices of Alaska state lawmakers as part of an investigation of VECO an oil field services company based in Alaska. VECO has made numerous contributions to political campaigns. The FBI stated that the lawmakers are not the target of the investigation.

U of M bans alcohol on campus dorms

The University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus has now prohibited alcohol in Twin Cities dorms in an attempt to curb binge drinking. This policy will also apply to students who are over the legal age. University officials admit it wont stop binge drinking but will alleviate some of the behavior that pervades college campuses. Most upper classman live off campus so this will not effect them for the most part.

Armitage was source of CIA leak

Richard Armitage the former Deputy Secretary of State was the source of CIA leak it was revealed and not former VP Chief of Staff Lewis Libby as the special federal prosecutor has claimed. Libby is charged with lying to a federal prosecutor.

Gov. Jeb Bush declares State of Emer. for So. FL

Gov. Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency for the So. Florida as Hurricane Ernesto tracks toward Florida. Tourists were ordered to evacuate the area. Officials said they wanted to evacuate tourists first so that there would be an orderly evacuation.

Several planes diverted due to security concerns

A number of commercial airliners were diverted from their original flight plans amid heightened security concerns. This is just another issue airlines must deal with as they attempt to remain in business while fuel prices have skyrocketed.

Judge temporarily blocks strike

A federal appeals court judge in New York as temporarily stopped a strike by NWA flight attendants. The judge stated he needed more time to review the case. NWA had argued that it was illegal for the union to strike while the airline was in bankruptcy. The Justice department also filed papers on behalf of Northwest stating that it would have been a violation of federal law.

DOJ joins NWA against flight attendants strike

The Justice Department has filed papers on Northwests behalf arguing that a flight attendants strike would violate federal law. A bankruptcy judge had ruled earlier that a strike by the flight attendants was legal despite the fact that Northwest is in bankruptcy. A federal appeals court is expected to rule on the matter soon. The flight attendants have threatened to implement CHAOS as part of the strike plans.

FDA approves plan B for OTC

The FDA gave formal approval today to a controversial pill plan B. Plan B is supposed to protect against unwanted pregnancy due to unprotected sex. Democrats had threatened to block the nomination of a current FDA member to become the Chief of the FDA. Plan B is expected to be sold over the counter but customers will be required to show ID to purchase it. Only those 18 and older will be allowed to buy it.

Iran to formally respond to UN resolution

Iran is expected soon to respond to the UN resolution to stop its nuclear program. Iran has been defiant every step of the way stating that they have the right to defend themselves. Experts and many countries are wary of Iran's claim that they are doing it for peacefull purposes. Iran has plenty of oil and has ties to, encourages and finances known terrorist organiztions.

Ellison campaign continues amid controversy

The Keith Ellison for Congress continues forward as the DFL endorsed candidate despite controversies over past statements as well as several unpaid tickets. Now it has been learned that he was late on paying taxes on his businesses. Ellison faces a serious primary challenge from fellow democrats and may not make it past primary amid the allegations.

DFL Cmte endorses candidate for AG

The DFL State Central Committee endorsed Steve Kelly for Attorney General. Kelly was endorsed when former House Minority Leader Matt Entenza who was the endorsed candidate for Attorney General. Steve Kelly is currently a state senator and was competing with the likes of Deputy Attorney General Lori Swanson for the endorsement as well as former Congressman Bill Luther.

Texas GOP endorses write-in candidate for congress

After failing to legally remove Tom DeLays name off the ballot for the Republican Party the party opted to endorse a write-in candidate for DeLay's seat. A federal judge earlier had ruled that DeLay's name could not be removed from the ballot after he won the parties nomination. DeLay's district is 60% republican. DeLay officially resigned from office in early June.

Judge rules warrantless wiretaps unconstitutional

A federal judge ruled today that warrantless wiretaps were unconstitutional. Lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that the government does not have the right to tap phone lines unless there is court order. The government argued that this tool is a necessary and legal tool. Pres. Bush said that he disagreed with the ruling and that those who believe this do not understand the nature of the threat that terrorism poses to the United States. Bush authorized the National Security Agency to conduct warrantless wiretaps on international phone calls in which there were individuals connected with known terrorist organizations. He also made sure that there were regular inspections to make sure that civil liberties were protected. It was a program that was considered to have the most monitoring of any program to minimize the likelyhood of abuse. The Justice Department is expected to appeal the decision to the US Court of Appeals.

Bankruptcy judge rules on strike

A bankruptcy judge has ruled that NWA flight attendants do have a right to strike against Northwest Airlines despite the fact that the airline was in bankruptcy. The airline had contended that a strike while a company was in bankruptcy was illegal a judge ruled otherwise. Flight attendants plan to implment a plan called CHAOS (Creating Havoc Around Our System) This would mean that only a select few people would know when the strike would occur and a disruption in one part of the system would lead to delays in other parts of the system.

British authorities still on high terror alert

The British have not lowered their terror alert because they believe an attack is still imment. Authorities believe that other terror cells could be ready to strike. US officials still have flights from the UK to the US on high alert. However US officials have eased restriction of carry-on items for domestic flights.

Authorities arrest suspects who bought prepaid cellphones

Federal authorities arrested several students after they bought multiple cellphones. Prepaid cellphones are thought to be used for international phone calls which make them harder to trace and to detonate bombs from a remote locations. Authorities found that they had as many as a thousand prepaid cellphones. The suspects said they bought them to resell them at a profit. The suspects are being charged with providing material support to a terrorist organization.

UN Security Council approves cease-fire resolution

The UN Security Council approved a plan that would end the violence between Hezbollah and Israel. An international force will be sent to maintain a buffer zone between south Lebanon and Israel. The Israelis will be allowed to continue military attacks until the international forces arrive. They are not expected to end military plans until Sunday. Hezbollah is expected to be disarmed. Most observers hope that the UN will have much more success with this resolution than the previous resolution that were not enforced.

British authorities foil plot for planes bound for United States

British authorities earlier today foiled a plot to blow up planes bound for the United States. The terror alert in the United States has been raised to orange and flights bound from the UK to the US have been raised to red. The threat is considered ongoing.

Lieberman and McKinney lose primaries

Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) lost his primary to democrat millionaire Ned Lamont in Tuesdays primary. Lieberman is expected to run as an independent now that he no longer has the support of his party. Connecticut has more registered voters of independents than republicans and democrats. Lieberman was criticised by democrats for supporting the president on the War in Iraq.
Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney of Georgia lost her primary bid to win re-election in Georgia. McKinney has been a controversial figure on Capitol Hill recently she was accused of striking a Capitol Hill police officer after failing to yield to an officer. Members of congress are encourage to wear their lapel pins that identify them as members of congress so that officers can easily identify them and bypass security. McKinney also missed a number of scheduled debates.

Mexican Court not likely to recommend recount

The Federal Elections Tribunal which has final authority on elections has said that it will not recommend a recount of a closely contested presidential election. The conservative Calderon narrowly won election by less than 1% over his liberal counterpart Obrador. The court also said that if a recount is authorized that each lawsuit must be brought individually and not by class action suit which the Obrador campaign had sought. The Tribunal has until September to issue a a final ruling on the matter.

Castro transfers power

Fidel Castro temporarily transferred presidential power to his brother Raul. Castro is currently recovering from surger and this transfer was done for cautionery reason Cuban officials said. Cuban exiles in Florida were seen rejoicing over the news of Castro.

Court says DeLays name must remain on ballot

A federal appeals court ruled today that former Rep. Tom DeLay's name must remain on the ballot. Despite the fact that he no longer resides in Texas but moved to Virginia. The Texas GOP attempted to replace DeLay with another republican since DeLay resigned from the US House on June 9th. The democrats opposed the filing because they want to use DeLay as a way to campaign on the culture of corruption since republicans are in the majority. This will be interesting to reconcile since the federal constitution requires that a candidate reside in the state that he or she intends to represent. DeLay won the republican primary back in March.

US Surgeon General resigns

UN Secuity Council gives Iran deadline

The UN Security Council voted today to give Iran until the end of August to end its nuclear program.

Israeli Security Cabinet says airstrikes will continue

The Israeli Security Cabinet voted to continue the airstrikes after the 48 hour cease-fire expires. Ground troops are expected to assist in the battle to root out Hezbollah.

Twin Cities reaches high of 101 degrees

Heat wave grips much of US

A blast of summer heat has gripped much of the United States. Droughts in the Midwest and rolling blackouts on the East and West Coasts. There were over 130 fatalities related to the triple digit temperatures in CA. Much of the nation is dealing with temperatures in the 90's to well over 100 degrees in some parts of the country activating heat watches and warnings. Some cool Canadien air is expected to give some relief in the next few days.

Sec. of State struggling to bring cease-fire

Sec. of State Rice has been traveling throughout the Middle East this week to try and bring an end to the conflict between the Israelis and Hezbollah. Lebanon has been bearing the brunt of the missiles as Israeli attempts to root out Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Rice is expected to meet with the UN Security Council on Monday and draft a resolution that would end the violence. That will prove to be difficult because the Israelis are not in direct talks with Hezbollah and the US State Department recognizes Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

Israelis call up 30,000 reservists

US refuses to call for immediate cease-fire

The United States has refused to call on an immediate cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah. Secretary Rice stated that it would be pointless to call for a cease-fire that would not be sustained. Some have suggested that a cease-fire would only allow Hezbollah to reload its arsenal and get financial and military support from Iran and Syria. Some have suggested that the Bush administration is privately supporting the Israelis to battle Hezbollah which the State Department has classified as a terrorist organization.

US State Department orders all non-essential personnel to leave Lebanon

Congress reauthorizes VRA

The US House and Senate approved the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. One provision that southern members tried to remove from the bill were monitors by the Justice Department for southern states. The Justice Department has authority to monitor elections that have had a history of fraud and voter intimidation.

Bush addresses NAACP

Pres. Bush addressed the annual convention of the NAACP this after 5 years of declining the invitations. Bush and the NAACP have had a bad ever since the 2000 presidential election when the NAACP aired an ad suggesting Bush supported hate crimes while he was governor of Texas.

Judge rules against former police chief

A judge has ruled that a candidate for Ramsey County Sherriff cannot use a nickname on the ballot. Former St. Paul Police Chief Bill Finney had put "chief" as part of his name on the application. The current incumbent Bob Fletcher had put "sherriff" on his application in protest to the former police chief. With this ruling both candidates are expected to remove their nicknames from the ballot.

Entenza drops out of race for AG

Matt Entenza the DFL endorsed candidate for Attorney General dropped out of the race after it was revealed that he had a firm investigate a fellow DFLer after originally denying the existence of the investigation. There was also concern about how effective he would be enlight of his wifes role as an executive at United Health which is currently under investigation by the state and federal governments. Four candidates had filed to replace Entenza to be the DFL candidate for Attorney General. The DFL state central committee will be meeting in the next two weeks to endorse a candidate for that position.

Countries evacuate amid continued violence in Lebanon

Countries are pulling personnel and citizens out of Lebanon including the United States. The State Department is coordinating efforts to get US citizens and non essential government employees out of Lebanon with violence continuing between Hezbollah and Israel. The State Department has advised citizens not to leave on their own because its too dangerous and contact the US Embassy in Lebanon for assistance. The State Department has had travel advisory warnings for Lebanon for quite some time.