Fugumble

Watch: Rep. Weiner Goes Ballistic On GOP

2010-07-30T14:33:26Z

It has been par for the course for the 111th Congress to have Republicans circle the wagons in an attempt to delay and, or kill legislation to prevent Democratic Victories. In fact, recently the GOP have been publicly embracing the moniker given to them as the 'Party of No', simply because it has been so effective.

Last night tensions in the House reached a boiling point when Representative Anthony Weiner went off during a heated debate on a $7.6 billion dollar bill for health-care assistance to those rescue workers sickened in the aftermath of the 9//11 terrorist attack. Democrats decided that it would be better to forgo an amendment process because they suspected that the GOP would offer unrelated partisan amendments to force compromising votes for Democrats. Because of that, the bill needed a full two thirds of the House to pass instead of a simple majority where it failed.

The bill garnered only 12 Republican votes and Rep. Peter King (R-NY) said that he would have voted for the bill had the procedure been different, which prompted Rep. Weiner to directly challenge the absurdity of Rep. Kings remarks.

Honestly, it's great to watch.

Watch the clip below:

CBC: Canadian Economy Expands 0.1% In May

2010-07-30T13:41:15Z

Canada's gross domestic product expanded by 0.1 per cent in May as goods-producing industries helped offset a decline in the service sector.

The gain was roughly in line with economists' expectations.

Read the entire article here.

Watch: Colbert Plays Where's The Oil

2010-07-30T13:08:43Z

Stephen Colbert thinks he's found out what happened to the disappearing oil in the Gulf of Mexico. It has developed Wac-a-Mole technology.

Watch the clip below:

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

The Oil Is Missing

www.colbertnation.com

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WaPo: Recovery Loses Speed As Consumers Turn Cautious

2010-07-30T13:00:43Z

The recovery lost momentum in the second quarter as growth slowed to a 2.4 percent pace, its most sluggish showing in nearly a year and too weak to drive down unemployment.

Weaker spending by consumers, less growth coming from companies restocking shrunken stockpiles and a bigger drag from the nation's trade deficits were the main factors behind the second quarter's slowdown.

Read the entire Washington Post article here.

WaPo: U.S. Takes A Tougher Tone With China

2010-07-30T12:45:06Z

The Obama administration has adopted a tougher tone with China in recent weeks as part of a diplomatic balancing act in which the United States welcomes China's rise in some areas but also confronts Beijing when it butts up against American interests.

Faced with a Chinese government increasingly intent on testing U.S. strength and capabilities, the United States unveiled a new policy that rejected China's claims to sovereignty over the whole South China Sea. It rebuffed Chinese demands that the U.S. military end its longtime policy of conducting military exercises in the Yellow Sea. And it is putting new pressure on Beijing not to increase its energy investments in Iran as Western firms leave.

Read the entire Washington Post article here.

NYT: S.E.C. Charges Brothers With $550 Million Fraud

2010-07-30T12:32:26Z

Samuel and Charles Wyly, the billionaire brothers from Dallas who are large donors to philanthropies and to conservative causes, were charged Thursday with conducting an extensive securities fraud that the Securities and Exchange Commission said reaped $550 million in undisclosed gains.

The brothers, who founded Sterling Software, a business software and services company that they sold for $4 billion in stock to the software company CA in 2000, were also charged with insider trading violations from which they profited by more than $31 million, the S.E.C. said

Read the entire New York Times article here.

G&M: Spill Halted, Enbridge's Reputation Sullied

2010-07-30T12:21:07Z

The Enbridge spill into Michigan's Kalamazoo River has been contained, but it's left a nasty sheen on the company's reputation and its sprawling network of aging pipelines in North America.

This week's spill of about 20,000 barrels of oil came after a "warning letter" from a United States government official in January that said Enbridge wasn't doing enough to mitigate corrosion on the pipeline that burst Monday, and had likely violated federal regulations.

Read the entire Globe and Mail article here.

G&M: Economists Weigh In On Census Debate

2010-07-30T12:11:58Z

More than three-quarters of economists - from municipal planners to academics and industry advisers - oppose the federal government's proposed changes to the national census, a survey released exclusively to The Globe and Mail shows.

The Canadian Association for Business Economics poll found that 76 per cent of 252 respondents surveyed last week say they do not believe it is good policy to replace the mandatory long-form census with a voluntary national household survey.

Read the entire Globe and Mail article here.

TS: Chemicals In Rivers linked To Sexual Changes In Fish, Researchers Say

2010-07-30T12:03:54Z

Alberta researchers say gender-bending fish swimming in the province's southern rivers raise serious questions about whether the water is safe for people to drink.

Two University of Calgary professors have been studying how a small species of minnow reacts to a wide variety of hormone-altering chemicals detected in several rivers.

Read the entire Toronto Star article here.

Reuters: Mexican Army kills Kingpin In Drug War Coup

2010-07-30T11:47:41Z

Mexican soldiers killed drug boss Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel on Thursday, the first major triumph this year for President Felipe Calderon's war against drug cartels but one that is unlikely to end spiraling violence.

The Mexican army shot dead Coronel, a senior member of the powerful Sinaloa cartel, as he exchanged fire with soldiers during a raid of a wealthy residential area in Guadalajara in western Mexico, officials said.

Read the entire article here.

Reuters: Syrian, Saudi Leaders To Tackle Tension In Lebanon

2010-07-30T11:41:00Z

The leaders of Syria and Saudi Arabia, paying an unprecedented joint visit to Beirut on Friday, will try to head off any conflict over a U.N.-backed tribunal which may indict Hezbollah members in the 2005 assassination of Lebanese statesman Rafik al-Hariri.

Hariri's killing drove a wedge between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi King Abdullah. Now reconciled, their visit symbolizes their determination to avert a crisis brewing between Hezbollah, backed by Syria and Iran, and factions aligned with Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, an ally of Riyadh.

Read the entire article here.

Reuters: U.N. Rights Body Tells Israel To End Gaza Blockade

2010-07-30T11:33:52Z

Israel must lift its military blockade of the Gaza Strip and invite an independent, fact-finding mission to investigate its raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, a United Nations rights body said on Friday.

The U.N. Human Rights Committee also told Israel to ensure that Palestinians in the occupied territories can enjoy the human rights that Israel had pledged to uphold in the main international human rights treaty.

Read the entire article here.

Reuters: Italy In Political Turmoil As Berlusconi Party Implodes

2010-07-30T11:05:54Z

Italy was in political turmoil on Friday after Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi dramatically split with his one-time most powerful center-right ally, putting the country at risk of early elections.

In a tense string of events that climaxed on Thursday night, Berlusconi accused Gianfranco Fini, the powerful speaker of the lower house of parliament, of being a traitor and conspirator and trying to administer a "slow death" to their party.

Read the entire article here.

Watch: Stewart Lampoons Kerry, Rangel, Blogojevich For Corruption Allegations

2010-07-29T18:56:25Z

Jon Stewart aimed his sights on Democratic figures who have been in the news lately for being less than ethical while in positions of power.

Corruption knows no political affiliation.

Watch the clip below:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Corruptdate

www.thedailyshow.com

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TPM: House Ethics Panel Announces 13 Charges Against Rangel

2010-07-29T18:29:48Z

Despite reports of a deal, the House ethics panel just began its first public meeting on the charges against Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY). And for the first time, we're hearing the charges.

The panel is charging Rangel with 13 violations. They fall into four groups:

Read the entire Talking Points Memo article here.