Secrets Behind the People of the Obama Administration

Lawrence Summers, a top economic adviser to President Barack Obama, pulled in more than $2.7 million in speaking fees paid by firms at the heart of the financial crisis, including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch, Bank of America Corp. and the now-defunct Lehman Brothers.

He pulled in another $5.2 million from D.E. Shaw, a hedge fund for which he served as managing director from October 2006 until joining the administration.

Thomas E. Donilon, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, was paid $3.9 million by the power law firm O’Melveny & Myers to represent clients including two firms that receieved federal bailout funds: Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. He also disclosed that he’s a member of the Trilateral Commission and sits on the steering committee of the supersecret Bilderberg group. Both groups are favorite targets of conspiracy theorists.

And White House Counsel Greg Craig earned $1.7 million in private practice representing an exiled Bolivian president, a Panamanian lawmaker wanted by the U.S. government for allegedly murdering a U.S. soldier and a tech billionaire accused of securities fraud and various sensational drug and sex crimes.

Those are among the associations detailed in personal financial disclosure statements released Friday night by the White House.

Presidential appointees are required to disclose information about their income, assets and investments, and those of their spouses and dependent children, within 60 days of starting work. And the disclosure forms filed by many appointees to top agency jobs have been available for public inspection for some time, thanks to the federal Freedom of Information Act.

But the White House is largely exempt from the act, and Obama press aides dragged their feet on reporters’ requests for the disclosure documents filed by officials in the Executive Office of the President.

Craig disclosed that his work for Williams & Connelly included representing Pedro Miguel Gonzalez Pinzon, a Panamanian lawmaker who allegedly murdered a U.S. soldier in 1992, as well as Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, a former Bolivian president who has lived in exile since 2003, when clashes between protesters and the Bolivian military killed an estimated 70 people and wounded hundreds more - Politico Story

Bonuses for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with Government's Blessing

(AP) Mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac plan to pay more than $210 million in bonuses through next year to give workers the incentive to stay in their jobs at the government-controlled companies.

The bonuses for more than 7,600 employees were disclosed in a letter from the companies' regulator released Friday by Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee.

"It's hard to see any common sense in management decisions that award hundreds of millions in bonuses when their organizations lost more than $100 billion in a year," Grassley said in a statement. "It's an insult that the bonuses were made with an infusion of cash from taxpayers."

The two companies, hobbled by skyrocketing loan defaults, were seized by regulators last fall and operate under close federal oversight with new chief executives installed by the government. Since the takeover, Fannie Mae has received $15 billion in federal aid, while Freddie Mac has received nearly $45 billion.

The companies' federal regulator, James Lockhart of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, defended the bonuses in a March 27 letter to Grassley, noting that the collapse of the company's stock prices "destroyed years of savings for many" workers. The companies' stocks now trade below $1, down from more than $60 in fall 2007. - CBS News Story

Yep, this makes a whole lot of since. They scream and cry about AIG, but here they approve them. How is that possible? And the Government is running these two companies.

Judge Denies Michael Vick's Bankruptcy

(AP) Fallen NFL star Michael Vick told a bankruptcy judge Friday that he became a changed man in prison and is determined to do all the right things upon his release from prison, including repaying his creditors with the millions he hopes to resume earning in professional football.

But after more than three hours of testimony in which Vick laid out what he called his "exit strategy," U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Frank J. Santoro rejected it. Santoro told Vick to draft a new Chapter 11 plan, one with a bit more certainty.

Santoro said there is no guarantee the league will have the 28-year-old player back, and suggested he start on a new plan by considering liquidating one or both of his Virginia homes and three cars he had planned to keep.

A status hearing is set for April 28, but Santoro set no deadline for submission of a new plan.

Vick is pinning his hopes of emerging from financial ruin on returning to the NFL. He remains indefinitely suspended, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has not said whether he will reinstate Vick after his July release from the federal penitentiary in Kansas where he is serving a 23-month sentence for a dogfighting conspiracy. - CBS News Story

New GOP Rising Star - Paul Ryan

He's young, charismatic and conservative.

The Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank in Washington, has anointed this rising GOP star "the leader of the future of the conservative movement."

No, it's not Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty or House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia.

The man supposedly tasked with carrying the hopes and ambitions of an entire political party is Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.

At 39, Ryan has become the go-to-guy on policy.

"I'm the man of the hour because I'm the top Republican on the House Budget Committee," he told FOX News in an interview.

Republicans are desperately seeking a new generation of leaders as it attempts to recover from two devastating election cycles that stripped them of power in Congress and the White House.

Ryan could be the man to lead the party back to power.

Elected to Congress in his 20s, he's a self-described nerd.

"I've been reading federal budgets since I was 22-years-old," he said. "That's kind of a weird thing to admit. It kind of makes me look like a dork."

A husband and father of three children, Ryan's got a knack for simplifying complex budget concepts.

"When my kids are my age, the federal government will have to tax 40 cents out of every dollar just to pay for the federal government we have today at that time," he said. "You add the Obama budget ambitions on top of it, it gets even worse. You will destroy this country's prosperity."

Ryan displayed his knack for numbers by crafting a House Republican budget plan that would have cut taxes and radically overhauled Medicare. The plan, a stark alternative to blueprints offered by President Obama and his Democratic allies, would have frozen overall spending on domestic programs passed by Congress each year and repealed most of the spending in Obama's recently passed economic stimulus bill. But Democrats rejected his plan Thursday.

Still, Ryan is comfortable zinging the White House budget director by day and hobnobbing at the White House with the chief of staff and treasury secretary by night.

He's confident, not cocky -- he picks up his own dry cleaning -- but he's clearly being groomed.

Ryan, however, is wary of party elders. Like last year's GOP presidential nominee, John McCain, he fancies himself a reformer, blaming "them" -- the nameless Republican old guard -- for abandoning principle and shrinking the party.

"A lot of them have retired. A lot of them have lost their elections, and so the way I see it is we've got a younger breed of reformers in the party," he said. "That breed has got to take over and become a reform party."

Ryan is promoting, not bending, conservative principles to expand the party.

"If you believe in freedom, liberty, self-determination, free enterprise, I don't care if you're a Muslim, Jewish, Agnostic, Christian, gay, straight, Latino, black, white, Irish, whatever. Join us."

Shooting Ramage in NY - New Cries for Tougher Gun Laws

In Binghamton, N.Y., and across the country, firearms sales have been among the few bright spots within the recession-battered economy.

But the shooting that took the lives of 14 people -- including the gunman himself -- at a Binghamton civic center today is adding fresh fuel to the fiery debate between those calling for more gun regulations and those who argue that today's gun laws are tough enough. - ABC News Story

What a tragic story this is for everyone. It is so very sad that this happens and it is also so sad about all of the Press Coverage will end as quickly as it all started and we won't get a chance to really hear what was all behind it.

It sure didn't take long for people to including the media to jump on the gun control debate. People need to slow down. First of all guns don't kill, people kill.

I live in a state where DWI is a minor violation for your first time and you can read in the paper weekly of people being arrested for their 4,5,6 even 7th DWIs. Why not the massive cries for tougher DWI Laws. The reason is they generally are not needed. The prosecuters and judges have the laws they just choose to be light in their justice.

Tougher gun laws will not stop things like this from happening. They will continue to happen, with guns or exposives or some other means. When people want to harm other people they will find a way. We need to work to address the problems of people.

NY Shootings - Up to 13 Dead

Watch CBS Videos Online

The Obama Budget and How it Passed

The House and Senate are preparing to pass President Barack Obama's radical budget blueprint, with only minor modifications, by using (abusing would be more accurate) the budget "reconciliation" process. This process circumvents the Senate's normal rules requiring 60 votes to prevent a filibuster. Reconciliation was created by Congress in the mid-1970s to enforce deficit reduction, the opposite of what the president and his party are aiming for.

The immense increase in nondefense spending and taxes, and the tripling of the national debt in Mr. Obama's budget, have been the subject of considerable scrutiny since it was announced. Mr. Obama and his economic officials respond, not without justification, that he inherited an enormous economic and financial crisis and a large deficit. All presidents present the best possible case for their budgets, but a mind-numbing array of numbers offers innumerable opportunities to conjure up misleading comparisons.

Mr. Obama's characterizations of his budget unfortunately fall into this pattern. He claims to reduce the deficit by half, to shave $2 trillion off the debt (the cumulative deficit over his 10-year budget horizon), and not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year. While in a Clintonian sense correct (depends on what the definition of "is" is), it is far more accurate to describe Mr. Obama's budget as almost tripling the deficit. It adds $6.5 trillion to the national debt, and leaves future U.S. taxpayers (many of whom will make far less than $250,000) with the tab. And all this before dealing with the looming Medicare and Social Security cost explosion.

Some have laid the total estimated deficits and debt projections (as more realistically tallied by the Congressional Budget Office) on Mr. Obama's doorstep. But on this score the president is correct. He cannot rightly be blamed for what he inherited. A more accurate comparison calculates what he has already added and proposes to add by his policies, compared to a "do-nothing" baseline - WSJ Story

I have to tell you, click on the story and read this whole thing. I don't have near enough room to post the whole story, but it is well worth reading. The truth about the taxes and the Deficits that this thing will bring.

Iraqi Translator Denied Visa by State Department

An Iraqi translator who has earned commendations for risking his life repeatedly to save the lives of many American soldiers in combat has been denied a visa to live in the United States because of nonviolent actions he took to overthrow Saddam Hussein — at the same time the U.S. government was calling for regime change in Iraq.

Jasim, whose name is being withheld for his safety, has received strong support from the U.S. military, and the Department of Homeland Security approved his application for a visa. But the State Department has denied Jasim a visa because he was arrested in 1996 for actions against the Saddam dictatorship.

Some of Jasim's supporters, however, believe the real reason he's been denied a visa is that he has become a "nuisance" to State Department personnel at the Baghdad Embassy. The State Department, citing privacy concerns, declined to discuss Jasim's case. - FOX News Story

Go figure. Here is a guy who has helped our Troops in Irag out, even putting his own life on the line. Has the support of even the highest levels of the Military and Department of Homeland Security. Yet our State Department is denying him access? They claim it is because of his actions that he took against Sadam Hussein. What!?

I guess when the leadership of the State Department is too busy out giving gifts away all over the Country there really isn't anybody to make these decisions. Another big oops for the Obama Administration.

Jobless Numbers Rise - Obama Plan not Working

The nation's unemployment rate jumped to 8.5 percent in March, the highest since late 1983, as a wide range of employers eliminated a net total of 663,000 jobs.

The Labor Department's report is fresh evidence of the toll the recession has inflicted on America's workers and companies.

The latest tally of job losses, released Friday, was slightly higher than the 654,000 that economists expected. The rise in the unemployment rate matched expectations.

Since the recession began in December 2007, the economy has lost a net total of 5.1 million jobs, with almost two-thirds of the losses occurring in the last five months.

The number of unemployed people climbed to 13.2 million in March. In addition, the number of people forced to work part time for "economic reasons" rose by 423,000 to 9 million. That's people who would like to work full time but whose hours were cut back or were unable to find full-time work.

If part-time and discouraged workers are factored in, the unemployment rate would have been 15.6 percent in March, the highest on records dating to 1994.

The deterioration in the jobs market comes despite a few hopeful signs recently that the recession -- now the longest since World War II -- could be easing.

As the economic downturn eats into their sales and profits, companies are laying off workers and resorting to other cost-saving measures. Those include holding down hours, and freezing or cutting pay, to survive the storm.

The average work week in March dropped to 33.2 hours, a new record low.

Job losses were widespread last month. Construction companies cut 126,000 jobs. Factories axed 161,000. Retailers got rid of nearly 50,000. Professional and business services eliminated 133,000. Leisure and hospitality reduced employment by 40,000. Even the government cut jobs -- 5,000 of them.

Education and health care were the few industries showing any job gains. - FOX News

I remember right after Obama was sworn in and the big fight to pass the massive Stimulus package that was going to Save or Put 3.5 Million people to work. This was an emergency and to be passed right away. Remember, it had to be passed so quickly that many lawmakers never even had time to read the whole bill. This bill was so desperately needed to get people working and to stop the layoffs. Obama told us all that Caterpillar would bring back some of it's laid off workers if the bill passes. (We found out that was not the truth)

So, where is all of the Jobs going? Either Obama's plan is not working or there the 3.5 million jobs he was talking about are going to be the last 3.5 million jobs out there.

Senate Passes Obama Budget

WASHINGTON -- The Democratic-controlled Senate has passed a budget drafted to President Obama's specifications, voting a few hours after the House approved a similar plan.

The plan calls for spending of $3.5 trillion for the budget year beginning Oct. 1 and has a deficit projected at $1.2 trillion.

The Senate vote Thursday was 55-43, along party lines.

It provides for higher spending on domestic programs and clears the way for action later in the year on Obama's call for an overhaul of health care, a new energy policy and changes in federal support for education.

The budget votes mark victories for the Obama administration, but tough battles lie ahead when lawmakers turn to the other items on the president's agenda. - FOX News

Welcome to the world of deficit spending. With the action of the House and the Senate today, largely along party lines, we have sunk into unprecedented deficity spending. This budget has a projected $1.2 Trillion deficit.

How quickly we all have forgotten what got us into this financial crisis. It was people and businesses spending more than they make. Now the Idiots that are running this Country have decided that we need to do more of it as a country. What a brillian idea!

Venezuela Willing to take Gitmo Prisoners

CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he would be willing to accept prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention center, which U.S. President Barack Obama has said he will close, the Venezuelan government said Thursday.

Chavez also said he hopes the United States will give Cuba back the land on which the naval base is located, the government said in a news release.

"We would not have any problem receiving a human being," the government release quoted Chavez as saying in an interview Wednesday with Al Jazeera TV.

The United States obtained the Guantanamo base in 1903, after Spain's surrender in the Spanish-American War of 1898. In 2002, then-President George W. Bush opened the detention center to hold what the Bush administration categorized as enemy combatants captured in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

U.S. officials have not said what will happen to prisoners at the camp when it closes, nor are there are any known plans for any to be sent to Venezuela. - CNN News Story

That would be a good idea. Lets send a bunch of people who are sworn to harm the USA and it's citizens to a Country that has repeated publicly called for our destruction. What are the chances that the Obama Administration will entertain this idea?

Palin asks Begich to Step Down and hold Special Election

Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) called on Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska ) Thursday to step down from his seat and run in a special election in the wake of the Justice Department’s decision to drop corruption charges against former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). Begich narrowly defeated Stevens in 2008, a contest overshadowed by Stevens’ October conviction.

Palin’s call came after a reporter at the Fairbanks News Miner emailed her a copy of a statement by Alaska Republican Party Chairman Randy Ruedrich calling for Begich to step down.

Asked for her response, Palin simply wrote back: “I absolutely agree.”

When the reporter wrote back to confirm that Palin meant she’d like to see Begich resign in order to hold a special election, the governor responded: “Yes.”

In an email to POLITICO, Palin spokeswoman Meg Stapleton confirmed the governor’s position. “She absolutely agrees that there should be a special election,” Stapleton wrote. “Stepping down to hold the special election would be the right thing to do.”

In the statement Palin was provided, Ruedrich said that “the only reason Mark Begich won the election in November is because a few thousand Alaskans thought that Sen. Ted Stevens was guilty of seven felonies.”

“A special election will allow Alaskans to have a real, non-biased, credible process where the most qualified person could win, without the manipulation of the Department of Justice,” he added.

Begich issued a statement Thursday insisting that he will remain in his seat, despite Republican calls for his resignation.

“Today, with our country in a severe recession, it’s more important than ever that we have a senator focused on fixing our economy so Alaskans have the jobs they need to support their families,” he said. “That is my job in the Senate, and I’m honored to serve Alaskans for the next six years.”

Begich spokeswoman Julie Hasquat did not directly respond to Palin’s call for the senator’s resignation, instead pointing to Begich’s statement as a clear enough indication of his reaction.

“We’re not going to respond to her,” Hasquat said. - Politico

Only someone who doesn't feel like he won the election fairly would refuse to prove it. The only reason Begich won was because of the allegations from the Justice Department against his opponent. Before those allegations he wasn't even in the running.

Minnesota and Alaska should have elections to solve these issues.

Tornado Damage near Nashville, TN

6:20 pm ET
Possible tornado near Nashville, businesses damaged: A possible tornado hit 1192 Murfreesboro Pike, which is near the international airport, at about 4:15 p.m. Thursday in Nashville. A Firestone tire business was damaged by the storm, but there were no reports of injuries.

The airport was still open, but travelers can expect delays. Widespread flooding was reported in east Nashville and Centennial Park.

The storm that spawned the tornado was headed north toward Sumner County. A tornado warning was in effect for Sumner County until 4:35 p.m. The storm was hitting the Station Camp area in Sumner County at 4:34 p.m.

Interstate 40 West of Briley, there were reports of overturned tractor-trailers. Also, there were reports of damage to Beech High School.

As of 3:53 p.m., traffic was backed up on Interstate 65 in Williamson County due to the strong storms.

A radar indicated tornado was near Spring Hill at 3:35 p.m. Storm spotters confirmed funnel clouds and rotating wall clouds.

The storms were also creating some hail and headed toward downtown Columbia. There were concerns in Columbia because people were camped out for Mule Day festivities for the upcoming weekend.

There were reports of major flooding in Maury County. Four inches of water were on the road in the Legion Park area in Maury County at 4:36 p.m. --www.wsmv.com

Cap-and-Trade will Cost Us Money Twice

Until recently, much of the debate on climate change focused on the extent of the threat. But now that House Democratic leaders are planning to take up legislation to set up a mandatory cap-and-trade system for greenhouse emissions sometime this summer, opponents are focusing on the cost.

"They seem to give people the impression that it's going to be a huge environmentally friendly free lunch," said Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis. "This lunch is not free."

Under cap-and-trade, the government would establish a market for carbon dioxide by selling credits to companies that emit greenhouse gases. The companies then can invest in technologies to reduce emissions to reach a certain target or buy credits from other companies that already have met their emission reduction goals.

Most agree that the proposal by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., will have a sweeping impact by taxing carbon emissions in hopes of cutting them to 80 percent of their 2005 levels by 2020 and bringing them down to 20 percent of those levels by 2050.

President Obama's recently released budget banks on raising $646 billion in revenues from 2012 to 2019 from auctioning emission credits to companies. The money would fund renewable energy projects and provide a tax credit to help families cope with higher energy prices.

Republicans call it "cap-and-tax" and wonder why Waxman didn't talk about the cost.

"This is 'I got a secret' and I think there's a reason for that," Sensenbrenner said. "And that reason is it's going to cost the American consumer a lot of money."

Even one member of the Democratic leadership says it would be better to just lay it on the line, that the Waxman proposal is a tax on energy consumption.

"My own personal opinion is you ought to just level with the American people and indicate to them that this is what's going on," said Rep. John Larson, D-Conn. "This is what the sacrifice is going to be required."

Centrist Democrat Rick Boucher says Congress has to act but carefully.

"We do not want to dislocate any part of our economy and we don't want significant increases in electricity prices for our consumers," Rep. Boucher said.

But if Congress decides to impose a tax on emissions, coal would be hit the hardest and it provides 50 percent of the nation's electricity, raising the question of how it can be taxed without increasing utility rates

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who calls this a flagship issue for her, seemed to raise doubts about the implications even as she praised the Waxman proposal. - FOX News Story

I don't know what they think. If you make the Energy producers pay more to produce their product they are going to pass that cost along to the consumer. That is the nature of running a business. That is good business, you have to have a good return on investment.

Washington wants to dramatically raise the taxes on Energy, we pay the difference. I guess that is one way to raise our taxes without raising our taxes.

House Passes Obama Budget

The House on Thursday approved a $3.45 trillion budget blueprint that largely supports President Obama's proposal after defeating a Republican alternative that slashed spending and taxes.

The final vote was 233-196, with 20 Democrats defecting and voting against the plan. Most were moderate Democrats or came from swing districts.

House Republicans voted unanimously against the budget.

The Senate is working on its own budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 and any differences will have to be worked out. The budget legislation is nonbinding but sets guidelines for spending and tax measures that will be considered later this year.

The House Democrats budget would also allow legislation to overhaul the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare system to be considered in a speedier manner. - FOX News

Hopefully this vote is an indication of what is to come. 20 Democrats voted against it in the House, the Senate can't afford to have Democrats Vote against it. Hopefully this will signal a chance to put the screws to this plan and shut down the spending and bring it back in line.

Michael Vick to work Construction

NEWPORT NEWS, Virginia (CNN) -- Suspended NFL quarterback Michael Vick will go to work for a construction company in Newport News, Virginia, after he leaves federal prison for bankrolling a dogfighting operation, his lawyer said Thursday.

The details emerged in a Chapter 11 confirmation hearing in Virginia Eastern Bankruptcy Court to determine how Vick, 28, will emerge from bankruptcy.

Vick's lawyer, Michael Blumenthal, told the court that the embattled footballer will take the stand and explain how he intends to turn over a new leaf and transition back to society after spending nearly two years in prison on a federal conspiracy charge.

The parties involved in the hearing, which could run until Friday, will present evidence and testimony in an effort to convince the judge that the plan qualifies for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Vick's plan to work 40 hours for WM Jordan, a construction company based in Newport News, is not part of the official 61-page agreement tentatively worked out between's Vick's lawyers and numerous creditors.

A message left for W.M. Jordan's president and CEO, John R. Lawson, was not immediately returned. - CNN Story

It is good to see that he has turned over a new leaf and was able to get a job. How do you get a job right out of jail when so many people are out of work?

Former Illinois Governor Indicted

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been indicted on charges he engaged in a "wide-ranging scheme to deprive the people of Illinois of honest government." A federal grand jury handed down the 19-count indictment against Blagojevich, his brother, two former aides and two businessmen on Thursday. It accuses Blagojevich of corruption involving billions of dollars in state pension bonds.

FBI agents arrested the Chicago Democrat in December on allegations that also include trying to auction off President Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat.

Illinois lawmakers impeached him and threw him out of office in January.

Blagojevich has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

The former governor is not in Chicago. He's with his family at Walt Disney World in Florida - ABC News

It took long enough to indict the man. It is Illinois Politics, shouldn't have taken that long to put a case together against him. The guy he put in Obama's seat should be up next. Then .........

Conficker Worm - Not Done Yet

Conficker Worm: Not Finished Yet

April 1 may have come and gone without any major attacks, but this worm still poses a threat.

Ian Paul

Thursday, April 02, 2009 07:55 AM PDT

April 1 has come and gone, and the Internet has not disintegrated and no major cyber-attacks were reported. But Conficker still remains a threat. Now don't panic, this doesn't mean cyber-Armageddon could strike at any minute, it just means you need to make sure your computer is fully updated if it isn't already. Feel better? Good, then let's take a look at what's going on.

Why It Ain't Over Yet

The Conficker Working Group-which is made up of 27 tech companies and agencies including AOL, F-Secure, Facebook, ICANN, Kaspersky, McAffee, Microsoft, Symantec-says that Conficker, also known as Downup, Downadup, and Kido, is the largest worldwide computer infection since the SQL Slammer in 2003. The CWG estimates anywhere from 3 to 15 million computers are infected worldwide, and says 30 percent of Windows computers across the globe are not updated with the latest patches to protect against Conficker. The virus authors are also still at large and able to communicate with Conficker-although that capability has been significantly reduced.

As you can see from this map provided by the CWG, Conficker infections in the United States are happening pretty much everywhere you can find an Internet connection. However, despite all that ominous looking red only 6 percent of Conficker infections are in North America. The biggest problem areas are actually concentrated in Asia and South America including Vietnam, Brazil, the Philippines, and Indonesia, as well as Algeria.

The hardest hit areas may also have a correlation to the number of unpatched Windows computers since Asia, Eastern Europe, and South America are areas known to have widespread use of pirated Windows software. Since Microsoft automatically blocks illegitimate copies of Windows from receiving critical updates those computers remain vulnerable to Conficker, thus perpetuating the risk.

What Conficker is Doing

Yesterday, Conficker began its daily exercise of contacting 500 Web sites from a randomly generated list of 50,000 sites. Conficker will continue to do this every day until it receives instructions to do something else. Further instructions could be a simple software update or the infected computers could work as a botnet to commit theft or attack other computer networks. The problem is that while security and IT professionals are working to block Conficker from getting further instructions, they haven't been able to block all Conficker traffic. So some infected machines have gotten through, but luckily further instructions haven't been issued, yet. Conficker's authors may be laying low until publicity surrounding Conficker dies down before contacting their creation.

If Conficker is updated or receives further instructions, that capability could pass between infected machines without further need of a server or Web site, because Conficker uses a peer-to-peer (p2p) protocol to communicate with other infected machines. That's right, Conficker is file sharing. With p2p the worm can distribute software updates much faster than if every infected machine had to communicate with a main server.

The Final Countdown?

Does this mean the world could still end? Probably not, and that was never the concern with Conficker despite the doomsday scenarios you may have read. The fact is that most security experts believe that Conficker is just a typical botnet worm that can be used for identity theft or to commit other forms of cybercrime. Conficker is most likely controlled by an organized crime syndicate in Asia, Eastern Europe or South America and the group may even rent out Conficker's capabilities if the botnet every becomes active.

Conficker is only a threat if your computer does not have the latest security patches from Microsoft and an up-to-date antivirus program - PC World Click Here

Tornado Warning for Nashville, TN

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
356 PM CDT THU APR 2 2009

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NASHVILLE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
 EASTERN DAVIDSON COUNTY IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE...
 THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF NASHVILLE...
 SOUTHWESTERN SUMNER COUNTY IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE...

* UNTIL 430 PM CDT

* AT 356 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
 SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO NEAR OAK HILL...
 OR 7 MILES SOUTHEAST OF NASHVILLE...MOVING NORTH AT 25 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
 NASHVILLE BY 405 PM CDT...
 LAKEWOOD BY 425 PM CDT...
 HENDERSONVILLE...GOODLETTSVILLE AND 7 MILES SOUTH OF MILLERSVILLE
 BY 430 PM CDT...

Severe Thunderstorm Watch #110 for Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi

The SPC has Issued Severe Thunderstorm Watch #110 for portions of Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi until 900 PM CDT.

Click Here

HHS Nominee Skates through Hearings

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has just completed her second and final confirmation hearing to be HHS Secretary.

And despite the revelation on Tuesday that she too (the latest in a line of Obama Administration nominees) filed amended tax returns (in this case more than $7,000) upon being designated to her post, the issue DID NOT COME UP at her 2 hour hearing.

Sen. Charles Grassley, the ranking Republican on the tax writing committee, made glancing mention to wanting to hear more about the taxes, but he did not ask her about it during a question and answer session at the hearing. And neither did any other Senator from either party.

So either Senators have grown tired of the tax issue or they don't think the mistakes Sebelius made, deducting for an underwater mortgage and failing to keep some receipts for charitable donations were as big a deal as the $140,000 that former Sen. Tom Daschle owed when he withdrew his name to be HHS Secretary.

Or, they want to go on and start considering systemic healthcare reform, which will be Sebelius' first priority when she is confirmed. - ABC News Story

Tornadoes and Severe Weather Blasting South East

Tornado Watches have been posted for parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. A Strong Complex of Very Dangerous Storms has been hitting the South.

Confirmed Tornadoes, Hail and Very High Winds have been reported in parts of Louisiana and Mississippi.

Follow it now at www.wxwatch-1.com and go to the WxBlog

Will Fast Tracking Kill Bipartisanship?

(CNN) -- A congressional tactic described as a "freight train" to run over the minority party could derail any hopes of bipartisanship with the Obama administration, some Republicans warn.

The "reconciliation" tactic would help President Obama move swiftly on his agenda but at a cost, an analyst says.

"Reconciliation" is a procedure that could put some of President Obama's major initiatives, such as overhauling health care, on the fast track to becoming law if lawmakers adopt it in their budget resolution.

The process would allow senators to cut off debate on some legislation with 51 votes -- a simple majority -- instead of the 60 usually required.

Senate Republicans said they worry the process effectively could silence any voice they have in negotiations since Democrats would not need their votes to move ahead with Obama's agenda. (The Democrats have 58 votes, including two independents, and Republicans have 41.)

The GOP did have a victory Wednesday night when the Senate overwhelmingly voted 67-31 in favor of an amendment that would prohibit using the fast-track procedure to pass Obama's "cap-and-trade" plan to combat global warming.

The "cap-and-trade" system would set limits on how much carbon emissions an industry could produce. Companies that produce more would have to buy permits to do so from ones that produce less, giving companies an incentive to reduce emissions.

All Republicans and 26 Democrats voted for the amendment, which Republican Sen. Mike Johanns of Nebraska offered. - CNN Story

Former AIG CEO - Bailout Plan Failed

Former AIG CEO Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, who led the insurance giant for nearly four decades, told Congress today that the federal bailout of the insurance giant has "failed" and that American taxpayers cannot expect to get their $180 billion investment back.

Greenberg, who was forced out of AIG in 2005, testified today before a House Oversight Committee about the federal government's efforts to prevent the company he helped build from collapsing under a mountain of bad debt.

In his prepared remarks, Greenberg argued that the government's plan to liquidate AIG has failed and also diminished its value for taxpayers, who now own 80 percent of the company after it received more than $180 billion in bailout cash.

"That plan has failed," he said. "A successful liquidation is impossible in the present economic climate since buyers for AIG assets at fair prices simply do not exist at this time. Fire-sale prices will bring taxpayers, who now own almost 80 percent of AIG, only pennies on the dollar for their investment in AIG."

"Since the day the treasury announced its plan to liquidate AIG, value has been destroyed because AIG's people and their relationships -- AIG's business -- are leaving," he said. "The evidence is overwhelming and indisputable that the American taxpayer is an investor in a steadily diminishing asset."

The hearing is the first in a series that the committee will hold on the failure of AIG. Later this month, current CEO Ed Liddy will testify before the panel.

Last month, Liddy came before a separate House panel and told Congress that AIG's "overall structure is too complex…to be managed as one entity." - ABC News

What Percent of Weapons used in Mexican Drug War Come from US? It is not 90%, But what is it?

You've heard this shocking "fact" before -- on TV and radio, in newspapers, on the Internet and from the highest politicians in the land: 90 percent of the weapons used to commit crimes in Mexico come from the United States.

-- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it to reporters on a flight to Mexico City.

-- CBS newsman Bob Schieffer referred to it while interviewing President Obama.

-- California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said at a Senate hearing: "It is unacceptable to have 90 percent of the guns that are picked up in Mexico and used to shoot judges, police officers and mayors ... come from the United States."

-- William Hoover, assistant director for field operations at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, testified in the House of Representatives that "there is more than enough evidence to indicate that over 90 percent of the firearms that have either been recovered in, or interdicted in transport to Mexico, originated from various sources within the United States."

There's just one problem with the 90 percent "statistic" and it's a big one:

It's just not true.

In fact, it's not even close. By all accounts, it's probably around 17 percent.

What's true, an ATF spokeswoman told FOXNews.com, in a clarification of the statistic used by her own agency's assistant director, "is that over 90 percent of the traced firearms originate from the U.S."

But a large percentage of the guns recovered in Mexico do not get sent back to the U.S. for tracing, because it is obvious from their markings that they do not come from the U.S.

"Not every weapon seized in Mexico has a serial number on it that would make it traceable, and the U.S. effort to trace weapons really only extends to weapons that have been in the U.S. market," Matt Allen, special agent of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), told FOX News. - FOX News Story

Imagine that, Politicians embellishing the numbers to sell their point of view.

Obama Alienating Himself from Rest of G20

President Obama is holding a solo press conference Thursday afternoon in London to shape the message coming out of the G20 summit, as he appears to be losing ground on economic policy among traditional allies.

So far, the U.S. president has had no trouble holding the spotlight on his first trip overseas as commander-in-chief.

But while he and first lady Michelle Obama's meeting with Queen Elizabeth made headlines around the world, Obama appears to be struggling to hold the gavel and drive the policy debate.

White House aides told FOX News the president is holding a solo press conference to drive his own message and give foreign reporters access -- which keeps Obama and his global policy platform visible around the world. The rest of the G20 nations are holding a separate news conference prior to the president's.

"I am absolutely confident that this meeting will reflect enormous consensus about the need to work in concert to deal with these problems," Obama said at the summit, as he and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown predicted Thursday's emergency G20 economic summit would produce a significant global deal to tackle the deepening worldwide recession.

But others weren't so sure.

The U.S. had already backed off its calls for countries to spend a specific percentage of GDP on stimulus ahead of the economic summit, as European leaders balked at the call. Instead, old European powers are now making demands of the U.S., with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel uniting to push Obama on international financial regulations. They suggested Obama's substance could end up playing second fiddle to his style by the time the meeting's over.

Sarkozy, while saying he has "confidence" in Obama, still warned that France and Germany would reject "false compromises" and considered concrete steps on tax havens, hedge funds and ratings agencies crucial.

Paris and Berlin want definitive agreements on a crackdown on tax havens and action on other regulatory issues, rather than simple commitments to reform. The summit is also expected to consider lightly regulated hedge funds and how to clear bank balance sheets of shaky securities.

Sarkozy said that "without new regulation there will be no confidence. It's a major non-negotiable objective."

Merkel said both she and Sarkozy had come to London "in a very constructive mood." But she said, "We do not want results that have no impact in practice." - FOX News

That is our President. He is getting what he wants so he is going to do his own thing. I am sure that he has his staff planning Town Hall Meetings around the World to sell his Ideas and Message. Shame on those bully Leaders for not giving Our President What he Wants. He has a Mandate! He Won!

Conficker / April Fools Virus - Quiet day

The Confick Worm or April Fools Virus was suppose to attack the Technology world on April 1st, but the day came and went with little more than a whisper from the virus. Technology Professionals spend hours preparing for the worm and worked tirelessly the last day of March to be prepared.

Is the threat over? Not hardly, the virus was expected to only receive new commands from it's maker on April 1st. What those commands were, no one has indicated. But the threat isn't over as the virus is still out there and can wreak havoc.

Make sure that you check your computer, update your Virus Software, update your Windows updates. Keep on top of it so that you are ready when the Virus activates.

Congress Set to Pass Obama Budget

WASHINGTON - Democrats controlling the House and Senate are on track to give President Barack Obama a key victory by adopting slightly pared-back versions of his $3.6 trillion budget.

Passage of the companion plans, expected Thursday, would provide the young administration with a symbolic boost, even though the budget blueprints provide little guidance on how to craft subsequent Obama initiatives to reshape the U.S. health care system or combat global warming.

House Democrats are pressing a plan to make it easier to use "fast-track" rules to expedite passage of health care legislation backed by Obama, even as their GOP rivals in the Senate won a key vote Wednesday emphatically rejecting such an approach on global warming.

Republicans in both chambers are putting forward alternatives that are more generous with tax cuts and stingier with spending, but none of the plans -- Obama's, House and Senate Democrats', or the competing GOP outlines -- would succeed in tamping down the deficit much below $500 billion within five years. - FOX News Story

This is bad news once again from the halls of Congress. Hopefully the Senate can get to work and shut some of this down.

North Korea Threatens US Military

President Barack Obama warned the liftoff would be a "provocative act" that would generate a U.N. Security Council response, but North Korea's military threatened those who opposed the launch with a "thunderbolt of fire" if they interfered.

A Korean Central News Agency report made a veiled threat against the U.S. In an apparent reference to American warships that have reportedly set sail to monitor the launch, the Korean-language version of the report said: "The United States should immediately withdraw armed forces deployed if it does not want to receive damage."

An unidentified senior U.S. military official said Pyongyang has started to fuel the rocket, a move that indicates final preparations for the launch. Experts say the missile can be fired about three to four days after fueling begins. - Fox News Story

Outbreak of Severe Weather Expected in South

PUBLIC SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK 
  NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
  0328 AM CDT THU APR 02 2009
 
  ...AN OUTBREAK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED FROM THE LOWER
  MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY AND MID-SOUTH REGION INTO THE SOUTHEASTERN
  U.S. TODAY AND TONIGHT...
 
  THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER IN NORMAN OK IS FORECASTING THE
  DEVELOPMENT OF TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS FROM THE
  LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY AND MID-SOUTH REGION INTO THE
  SOUTHEASTERN U.S. TODAY AND TONIGHT.
 
  THE AREAS MOST LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE THIS ACTIVITY INCLUDE
 
         ALABAMA
         NORTHERN FLORIDA
         WESTERN AND SOUTHERN GEORGIA
         MISSISSIPPI
         WESTERN TENNESSEE

Tornado Outbreak Expected Thursday

It will be the biggest outbreak of tornadoes for the year thus far.

Severe thunderstorms will erupt in a massive, far-reaching outbreak that will begin late Wednesday night with a few strong storms over Oklahoma and northern Texas. From there, it will broaden into a wide swath of powerful storms, some tornadic, barreling eastward through the lower Mississippi Valley into Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky by late Thursday afternoon. The leading edge of severe storms will then reach southern Ohio to Georgia and South Carolina on Thursday night. Memphis, Nashville, Montgomery, Birmingham and Atlanta will be among the cities threatened by damaging thunderstorms and even tornadoes.

The tornado threat will be high across the heart of this area and will include the potential for violent, long-track twisters. There will be a significant threat of late-night tornadoes in the eastern half of the area.

Other severe threats within this wide area will stem from damaging straight-line winds, large hail and flooding downpours.

Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Jim Andrews

To follow this Outbreak go to www.wxwatch-1.com and go to the Blog Section

Swimming Instructor Molests 28 boys over 30 years

MILWAUKEE -The Milwaukee County District Attorney's office says that more charges will be filed this week against swim coach Daniel Acker.

Greenfield police say Acker molested at least 28 boys over the past 30-plus years.

The Journal Sentinel says at least one, and possibly two of his suspected victims committed suicide, and a third died from drug abuse.

Many others have suffered from unsuccessful marriages and have been unable to keep their jobs.

Greenfield Deputy Inspector Bradley Wentlandt told the paper that Acker, who taught swimming for years in West Allis and West Milwaukee, would find boys from families having trouble.

He would become friends with them, buy them items, allow them to go over to his house, and he sometimes offered them drugs and alcohol.

Eventually, he would ask permission to take photos of the boys in the nude, and he would touch their privates.

Some of his victims would allow the touching, and then Acker would enter into more sexual activity with the boys.

Due to the statute of limitations and a number of victims who aren't willing or able to give enough information, police may not be able to seek more than three charges against Acker. - Todays TMJ 4

Obama Kills Public Financing for Elections

A top adviser to President Barack Obama, whose rejection of public funding for his presidential campaign is widely considered to have killed the Watergate-era reform, is accusing Republican rival John McCain of damaging efforts to revive the system.

At issue is an interview the Arizona senator gave Friday to The Washington Times, in which he said that the public financing system, intended to reduce the influence of big money in presidential politics, is “dead.”

That comment – according to a blog post by Obama’s personal and political attorney Bob Bauer – “was not helpful” to “the cause of public financing reform.”

McCain’s assessment is both “wrong” and driven by sour grapes, wrote Bauer, who, as the lead attorney for Obama’s presidential campaign, played a key role in Obama’s reversal of an earlier pledge to take public financing.

McCain did participate in the system, giving him $84.1 million in taxpayer money but also limiting his spending to that amount and putting him at an extreme disadvantage to Obama’s fundraising juggernaut.

Obama’s $750 million fundraising haul means "no Republican in his or her right mind is going to agree to public financing. I mean, that's dead. That is over,” McCain told The Times. In a video accompanying the story, McCain said, “I’m expressing admiration, not anger. They were able to raise incredible amounts of money.”

But Bauer, who represents the Democratic National Committee as well as Obama’s outside political operation, called McCain’s reasoning “bitter.” - CNN Story

I don't get what Bauer is trying to put this on McCain. McCain is right, after the last election and the lopsided funds for each race, no one will go the public financing route again. Obama promised to do so and then saw the opportunity to raise way more money and basically buy his way to the White House. Why would anyone go back to public financing?

Obama did kill that. No one can reasonably argue otherwise. They can argue, but it will be without reason. Bauer says it is McCains' fault. Go figure, with the Obama people it is always someone elses fault.

Milwaukee Alderman Arrested for Child Abuse

MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee Alderman Ashanti Hamilton was arrested Tuesday night.

TODAYSTMJ4 has confirmed that Hamilton was booked and released form the County Jail on a suspicion of physical abuse of a child.

You will recall that Hamilton was ordered into the District Attorney's office last week to talk about the allegations.

A source familiar with the case says Hamilton has allegedly admitted to beating his 6-year-old daughter. He allegedly hit her with a plastic hangar and when that broke he switched to a metal hangar.

Hamilton's ex-wife, Isis Muhammad, says she discovered welts on her daughter's arms, back and legs. “It was on the back of her hamstrings and those were the worst and they were the deepest and they were bleeding," she told Lauren Leamanczyk.

The little girl was taken to the hospital. Hospital workers notified authorities. The District Attorney's office is still reviewing the case but no charges have been filed.

By phone, Hamilton says he is shell shocked by what happened Tuesday night. Reporter Charles Benson asked him if he beat his child and Hamilton said the word "beat" is a loaded word.

Hamilton's lawyer Michael Chernin says Hamilton technically was not arrested but voluntarily agreed to be booked and fingerprinted by police. - Todays TMJ 4 Story

Miss Universe's Gitmo Blog Censured

Miss Universe's blog posting about having fun at Guantanamo Bay has vanished from the pageant's Web site as embarrassed officials try to quash what they call a misunderstanding.

A flurry of critical commentary and news stories over the Venezuelan beauty queen's lighthearted post underscores that the military prison at Guantanamo remains a damaging symbol for the United States.

Dayana Mendoza's now-deleted late-March posting sounded like a note home from a spring breaker.

"We hung out with the guys from the East Coast and they showed us the boat inside and out, how they work and what they do, we took a ride around the land and it was a loooot of fun!" Mendoza wrote.

"The water in Guantanamo Bay is soooo beautiful!" she wrote at another point.

Those descriptions did not refer to the detention center for alleged terrorists, which occupies a sliver of the 45-square-mile (116-square-kilometer) base.

In a brief mention of the detainee camp, Mendoza said her group "saw the jails, where they shower, how they recreate themselves with movies, classes of art, books." She described the prison only as "very interesting."

In place of her posting Wednesday was a statement from Paula M. Shugart, president of the Miss Universe Organization, who said Mendoza and Miss USA Crystle Stewart had gone to Guantanamo on a USO tour to boost the morale of U.S. troops.

Mendoza's blog referred to "the hospitality she received while meeting the members of the U.S. military and their families," Shugart wrote, trying to show that Miss Universe had not been referring to having fun at the detention center. - ABC News Story

It is not politically correct to like Gitmo or even talk about it without talking about shame and torture. If you don't agree with their point of view then you can tell them your own.

McCain Proposes Republican Budget

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has been working with several of his colleagues to formulate a full-on alternative to the Democratic budget -- and has it ready to introduce on the Senate floor this afternoon, according to Senate aides.

The move is being made despite Senate leaders’ stated desire that there not be a complete Senate Republican budget alternative; instead, they support making line-by-line changes to the Democrats’ proposal.

The McCain budget, which comes on the same day GOP House leaders introduced their own version of the budget, would spend $229 billion less than President Obama’s budget over five years, primarily by freezing all discretionary spending with the exception of defense and veterans’ services.

It would reduce deficits by an estimated $977 billion more than Obama’s proposal over five years, and would contribute some $2 trillion less to the national debt, according to a fact sheet describing the proposal provided to ABC News. - ABC News Story

This budget most likely won't see the light of day, unfortunately. It is good that there are other ideas flowing in Washington, the original one stunk. $3+ Trillion.

Obama Administration and Iran on Cordial Meeting in Hague

"I think, the fact they came here today, they intervened today, is a promising sign that there will be future cooperation," Clinton said, according to Voanews.com.

She added that U.S. special representative Richard Holbrooke and Iran's deputy foreign minister Mehdi Akhundzadeh agreed to stay in touch after a brief and cordial meeting at the international conference on Afghan security and development. - AHN Story

In a cautious first step toward unlocking 30 years of tense relations, senior U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke had a brief but cordial meeting with Iran's deputy foreign minister Tuesday at an international conference on Afghanistan. - WCCO (AP) Story

Top U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke had a brief but cordial meeting with Iran's deputy foreign minister yesterday at an international conference on Afghanistan, marking another step in unlocking 30 years of tense relations. The meeting between Holbrooke, Washington's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Iran's Mehdi Akhundzadeh came on the sidelines of a meeting where Iran pledged to help the reconstruction of its neighbour but criticized U.S. plans to send more troops into Afghanistan - The Star Story

That is the story that the Obama Administration told to the Press and was reported by countless papers and news agencies.

Now for the Iranian side of this story.

Iran dismissed American government reports that senior U.S. and Iran envoys had a cordial — and promising — face-to-face exchange at an international conference, saying Wednesday that no "talks" took place. The competing accounts of Tuesday's encounter in the Netherlands appeared to reflect the different approaches to overtures to end the United States' and Iran's nearly 30-year diplomat standoff.

Washington has seemed eager to build on President Barack Obama's surprise video message last month to seek engagement with Iran's ruling clerics. Iran has — in public, at least — been far cooler to making immediate contacts, but has not fully rejected some openings in the future. - ABC News Story