MERIDIAN, Miss. — Instead of mining his “martial heritage” for anecdotes about military ancestors who can be portrayed as likeable if dutiful scoundrels — ramblers and gamblers, rounders and bounders, as it might be put in local parlance — John McCain today focused on family as a conservative institution that demanded government support.
“The family I was born to, and the family I am blessed with now, made me the
man I am, and instilled in me a deep and abiding respect for the social institution that wields the greatest influence in the formation of our individual character and the character of our society,” McCain said downtown theatre here, on the first stop of a week-long tour designed to reintroduce his biography to the electorate.
On the surface, little was new in McCain’s speech. Much of his family’s military history was exhaustively recounted in similar language in a decade-old memoir, “Faith of My Fathers.” Policy prescriptions for government to help families were all staples of his stump speech: offering school choice, fighting Internet predators, and modernizing federal unemployment programs.
Yet the speech did seem to find a new role for the institution of the family in the McCain cosmology. McCain rarely speaks in modern-conservative tones of family as a proto-religious institution, but instead as a proxy for public service, the channel through which standards of duty and honor are pulled forward through the generations. The faith of McCain’s father and grandfather, both Navy admirals, was a secular one; for McCain, connecting with them was indistinguishable from connecting with their idea of America.
“I may have been raised in a time when government did not dare to assume the responsibilities of parents,” McCain said. “I am a father in a time when parents worry that threats to their children’s well-being are proliferating and undermining the values they have worked to impart to them.”
Riding over to the event, McCain shared nostalgia for that earlier time, recalling the stiff drink Admiral William Halsey gave him as a 15-year old and the rough and rowdy days he spent in Meridian as a young flight instructor.
“We worked very hard, but we also played very hard. We were young, healthy, enjoyed life — good social life, interesting social life, a lot of southern hospitality,” McCain said, employing favorite euphemisms for experiences that contributed little to the formation of society’s character.
Source:
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota announced this morning that she was endorsing Sen. Barack Obama, the latest prominent superdelegate to climb off the fence for the Illinois senator.
Klobuchar, a freshman, had been reluctant to publicly reject Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, even though Obama had easily won her state in Feb. 5. In a statement, she compared him to homestate icon Hubert Humphrey, lauding Obama’s “different voice, bringing a new perspective and inspiring a real excitement from the American people.”
She said her decision reflected Obama’s success in Minnesota as well as “my own independent judgment about his abilities.”
Campaigning across Pennsylvania by bus, Obama is taking a new approach to engaging with Clinton, urging her to continue campaigning as long as she wants while asserting that their 15-month battle is “historic” and would do no lasting damage. The magnanimous approach is a stark contrast to the growing frustration expressed by Obama supporters like Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who are eager for Clinton the quit the race, so the party can pivot to general election mode. But it could make it easier for Obama to mend fences with Clinton supporters, when and if he becomes the nominee.
“This has been a great contest. Great for America,” Obama told a rally in State College on Sunday. “It’s engaged and involved people like never before. I think it’s terrific that Sen. Clinton’s supporters have been as passionate as my supporters have been, because that means that people are invested and engaged in this process. And I am absolutely confident that when this primary season is all over, Democrats will be united, because we understand what’s at stake in this election.”
Obama also is beginning to hone his case against Sen. John McCain, portraying the Arizona Republican and presumptive GOP nominee as “clinging to the past,” while offering himself as the stronger contrast, with generational overtones.
“So the question we have to ask ourselves is, how are we going to debate John McCain?” Obama said in State College. “Do we want to debate John McCain with somebody who agree with him on the war in Iraq? Do we want to debate John McCain about who’s been in Washington longer? Because that’s a debate John McCain is going to win.”
He continued, “As soon as this nomination is settled, we will be unified because we understand that we are not going to be clinging to the policies of the past. We are the party of the future. We don’t want to look backwards. We are marching forward.”
Source:
BALTIMORE — A man killed his three young children at a downtown hotel room, then called the front desk to report their deaths this afternoon, authorities said.
Police officers who responded to the 10th-floor room at the Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor at Camden Yards found the three children’s bodies and Mark Castillo, 41, with minor cuts that appeared to have been self-inflicted, police spokesman Sterling Clifford said. He did know how the children were killed.
“Why he brought them here to do this is something we don’t know yet,” Clifford said.
Police identified the children as Anthony, 6, Austin, 4, and Athena, 2.
Castillo of Silver Spring, which is about 35 miles south of Baltimore, was taken to a hospital for treatment and was being questioned by investigators, the spokesman said.
Clifford said investigators had not determined how the children died, but said they hadn’t been shot or stabbed.
The children’s mother was notified, Clifford said. It wasn’t clear who had legal custody of the children, he said.
An online search of Maryland court records showed Mark and Amy Castillo were involved in a child custody dispute.
A telephone call tonight to a number listed for Amy W. Castillo in Silver Spring was answered by a voicemail message that said the caller had reached the home of Amy Castillo and Anthony, Austin and Athena.
Source:
Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., has a simple message for Democrats pushing her to bow out of the presidential race before the next 10 primary contests are over: forget about it.
The New York senator vows to stay in the presidential race until the convention.
“One thing about me, I never give up. I keep fighting every single day!” Clinton told voters in Indianapolis this weekend.
It’s mathematically improbable she will overtake Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., in pledged delegates, and her campaign has left a trail of unpaid vendors all over the country, with $8.7 million in unpaid debts.
Democratic officials are expressing concern as to the long-term damage of the protracted Democratic primary race, and several high-profile allies of Obama have called for her to withdraw.
Regardless, Clinton told The Washington Post, “I have no intention of stopping until we finish what we started, and until we see what happens in the next 10 contests, and until we resolve Florida and Michigan. And if we won’t resolve it, we’ll resolve it at the convention.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Clinton supporter, said that declaring a presumptive winner at this point in the race discounts upcoming primaries — including the important Pennsylvania primary on April 22.
“They’re trying to say to the people of Pennsylvania ? you don’t count,” Rendell said today on “Good Morning America.”
Related
WATCH: Dems Divided in PennsylvaniaWATCH: Obama Chases Hillary in Pa.Democrats face summer of bitter infighting
Even though Clinton lags behind Obama in national polls, Rendell added that there is plenty of time for Clinton to stage a comeback before the superdelegates cast their votes in September.
“If you wait that will change tomorrow,” Rendell said. “Those tracking polls don’t mean a bloody thing.”
After Pennsylvania come contests in Guam, Indiana, North Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Montana and South Dakota.
And Clinton supporters are still hoping that Florida and Michigan will allow voters to go back to the polls.
Many Democrats worry Clinton’s only path to the nomination involves destroying Obama with negative campaigning.
While Obama’s allies may be pushing for Clinton to exit, he does not want to give those who have yet to vote the impression he does not want to hear from them.
“This has been a great contest, great for America. It has engaged and involved people like never before,” Obama told rally attendees at Penn State.
To reporters he said, “My attitude is that Sen. Clinton can run as long as she wants. Her name is on the ballot.”
And while some worry the bitter fight for the nomination will destroy the Democratic Party, former President Clinton said otherwise to attendees of the California state party convention.
“We are strengthening the Democratic Party, chill out,” Clinton said while stumping for his wife. “We are going to win this election if we just chill out and let everybody have their say.”
Source:
TRADING on the Karachi wholesale commodity markets during the previous week resumed on a higher note but mid-week steady arrivals of some of the essential items triggered a good bit of selling and pushed the prices modestly lower. The notable feature of the week was an all-time rise in prices of til, which was one of the major export items having firm foreign market outlets. But weekend selling at inflated levels pushed its price down from the peak levels.
During the week it was quoted as high as Rs6,000 per 40 kg, the total cumulative increase being Rs2,500 during the last about two months. However, it finished around Rs5,500 per 40kg on weekend selling triggered by reports of steady arrivals from Sindh markets, dealers said.
The price flare-up is attributed partly to a short crop and partly to strong world demand, private sector exporters said.
Equally important was the price decline in some varieties of rice, which had attained peak levels owing to higher exports. Brokers expect further fall in prices as some local stock holders were selling their stock at the current levels amid fears of fresh fall in prices.
Unlike previous week, when the activity fell to low ebb on most of the essential counters, both commercial traders and brokers were back on the market but played on both sides of the fence, dealers said.
Some of them rolled positions from essential counters to others as supply position improved, mainly of wheat which came in for renewed selling and steadily maintained its downward drift, they said. Apart from a sizable import of wheat, harvesting of the crop in the wheat belt and steady arrivals form the interior triggered a good selling from the local stock holders easing its prices, they added. However, as expected, decline in wheat prices over the week did not have any sympathetic impact on other essential counters, which either stayed unchanged or showed rising trend.
Although official procurement of the commodity in some areas has resumed at Rs510 per 40kg, brokerage houses and commercial dealers are said to be offering a rate of Rs600.
Reports say some of the growers are selling their produce at higher rates to private traders, which market sources said, could lead to another crisis on the wheat front.
The market advance was led by sugar sector following reports that arrivals from mills had shown a substantial fall. It was also owing to reports that Indian sugar was being sold on the market in an effort to keep prices higher.
Prices of white sugar were quoted higher by Rs50 to Rs220 per bag of 100 kg and so did gur and desi sugar, which also rose in sympathy.
Pluses, on the other hand, showed mixed trend. While gram whole and dal rose by Rs125 to Rs150 per 100 kg, masoor whole and beetle suffered fresh fall ranging from Rs50 to Rs125, while other varieties were held unchanged at previous levels.
After initial fall owing to selling by local stockists, new crop of wheat was quoted higher by Rs20 followed by reports that the private sector buyers were purchasing it at around Rs600 per 40 kg as against official rate of Rs510.
Rice sector showed mixed trend and while fine varieties including sela and kernel types were held unchanged, IRRI-6 and broken declined modestly on selling by local dealers.
Cereals also showed divergent trend amid alternate bouts of buying and selling, leading loser among them being jowar, off by Rs100 to Rs150 per bag of 100 kg. Maize and bajra were firmly held unchanged at previous levels.
On the oilseed counter, prices of rapeseed were quoted further lower by Rs125 to Rs150 per 40kg on selling triggered by reports of higher new crop arrivals from Sindh markets, cottonseed rose by Rs35.
Oilcakes showed gains of Rs10 to Rs20 for cottonseed cakes, while rapeseed cakes fell by Rs25 to Rs30 in sympathy with fall in rapeseeds.
American Andy Roddick, Mario Ancic of Croatia and Roger Federer of Switzerland have made their way to the third round of the Miami ATP master series tennis tournament.
In the second round Andy Roddick struggled to find his form but came through a tough 5-7, 6-2 and 6-4 win over qualifier Viktor Troicki of Serbia. Briton Andy Murray struggled with his serve throughout and failed to take advantage of two match points before losing to Mario Ancic of Croatia 6-2, 2-6 and 7-6. While world number one Roger Federer beat Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-3 and 6-4 in an entertaining match.
The first batch of the 24-member cabinet of Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani was sworn in by President Pervez Musharraf today.
The ceremony was also attended by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, Chairman Senate Muhammadmian Soomro, and civil and military officials.
Those who took oath as ministers included Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan (Communications with additional charge of Food, Agriculture and Livestock), Shahid Khaqan Abbasi (Commerce), Tehmina Daultana (Culture), Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar (Defence), Rana Tanveer Hussain (Defence Production), Ahsan Iqbal (Eduction, additional charge Minorities), Hameed Ullah Jan Afridi (Environment), Muhammad Ishaq Dar (Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs and Statistics), Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi (Foreign Affairs), Rehmat Ullah Kakar (Housing and Works), Sherry Rehman (Information and Broadcasting), Qamar Zaman Kaira (Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas), Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah (Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis), Farooq H. Naik (Law and Justice), Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour (Local Government and Rural Development), Nazar Muhammad Gondal (Narcotics Control), Khawaja Muhammad Asif (Petroleum and Natural Resources, additional charge Sports), Humayun Aziz Kurd (Population Welfare), Syed Naveed Qamar (Ports and Shipping, additional charge Privatization and Investment), Syed Mehtab Ahmed Khan (Railways), Nawabzada Khawaja Muhammad Khan Hoti (Social Welfare, Special Education), Najmuddin Khan (States and Frontier Regions), Raja Pervaiz Ashraf (Water and Power), Khawaja Saad Rafique (Youth Affairs, Science and Technology).
Most historians agree that April Fools’ Day began when the Christian world adopted the new Gregorian calendar. According to the old calendar, the New Year was celebrated in the spring for eight days (the final day of celebration being April First), but because the new calendar was so different, the date of the New Year was changed to January First.
Many of the people who lived in the countryside didn’t know of the change for years, and continued celebrating the New Year during the spring. Those “in the know” thought this was hilarious and started to call the April celebrators “fools.” From then on, these people began to go of their way during this particular season to make friends believe something that was false. And April Fools’ Day was born!
Source:
it was the greatest wedding that never took place.
Star magazine breathlessly reported over the weekend that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had finally tied the knot in a lavish ceremony in New Orleans.
When other reporters could find no evidence of the nuptials, Star editor Candace Trunzo insisted to the Daily News that the mag’s sources were rock-solid.
Sunday afternoon, faced with denial upon denial, Star finally backed off.
“After further investigation, the sources are not standing by their story,” Star wrote in a terse retraction on its Web site.
Trunzo did not return calls for comment on the soured scoop, but her competition was more than happy to stick it to her.
Us Weekly magazine declared the story utter “bulls–t.”
And OK! magazine, known to pay big bucks for some of its biggest scoops, was quick to spill that Star had offered $3,000 to the New Orleans minister who conducted what would have been the wedding of the century.
“We spoke to the reverend . . . and he was able to completely dispel any talk of the marriage,” OK! editor in chief Sarah Ivens told The News. “In reality, he said he’s never met them but wishes them well.”
Source:
BAGHDAD (AP) — A key adviser to Iraq’s prime minister says military operations in the besieged southern city of Basra will finish before the end of this week.
Sami al-Askari says most of the Basra area is under control. A nearly weeklong government crackdown on a Shiite militia there sparked fierce battles in several southern cities and Baghdad.
Al-Askari, an adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, was speaking a day after radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on his militia fighters to stand down.
Al-Maliki vowed to stay in Basra until the militia was crushed. But al-Askari said Monday the leader is expected to return soon to Baghdad, though he gave no exact date.
Source:
« Previous Entries Next Entries »