"Judge Alito .... has more prior judicial
experience than any Supreme Court nominee in more than 70 years," Bush
said, drawing an unspoken contrast to his recent choice, Harriet Miers.
Abortion emerged as a potential fault
line. Democrats pointed to Alito's rulings that restricted a woman's
right to abortion. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, a
Republican who supports abortion rights, said that Alito's views on the
hot-button issue "will be among one of the first items Judge Alito and I
will discuss." posted 8:49am by jholmes
The United Nations is
set to pass a
measure that would put
pressure on Syria to
cooperate into an
investigation on the
assassination of
Lebanese prime minister,
Rafik Hariri. I am
sure a powerful measure
like the ones the United
Nations passed against
Iraq year after year,
and probably just as
effective. posted
12:46am by jholmes
Civil Rights
fire-starter
Rosa Parks was
remembered this weekend
as her body lay in state
at the Capital Rotunda
in Washington D.C.
posted 12:35am by
jholmes
Nedivi said the $50 million "Rambo IV"
will recapture the rawness of "First Blood," which launched the
franchise in 1982.
A new "Rambo" script hasn't yet been
written, but the story calls for the reclusive Vietnam veteran to return
to his vigilante ways when a young girl is kidnapped. posted
1:55am by jholmes
The 623-page document exposed the global
scope of a scam that allegedly involved such name-brand companies as
DaimlerChrysler and Siemens AG, as well as a former French U.N.
ambassador, a firebrand British politician and the president of Italy's
Lombardi region.
It meticulously detailed how the $64
billion program became a cash cow for Saddam and more than half the
companies participating in oil-for-food — at the expense of Iraqis
suffering under U.N. sanctions. It blamed shoddy U.N. management and the
world's most powerful nations for allowing the corruption to go on for
years.
Most of the contracts went to Russian and
French companies and individuals, who were rewarded for their
governments' outspoken opposition to the sanctions. Still, even firms in
countries supportive of the sanctions, such as the United States, found
ways to manipulate the system illegally — sometimes by using Russian
firms as middlemen.
The oil-for-food program, which ran from
1996-2003, allowed Iraq to sell limited and then
unlimited quantities of oil provided most of the
money went to buy humanitarian goods. It was
launched to help ordinary Iraqis cope with U.N.
sanctions imposed after Saddam's 1990 invasion
of Kuwait.
But Saddam, who could choose the buyers
of Iraqi oil and the sellers of humanitarian goods, corrupted the
program by awarding contracts to — and getting kickbacks from — favored
buyers.
And can one doubt why the United Nations is worthless now?
Can one find reason that Saddam had to go? $64 billion dollars that
Saddam, the United Nations, the French, and Russians robbed from the poor
and needy Iraqi people. I guess it is easy to see why the French and
Russians voted, within the United Nations, against the United States using
force to oust Saddam. It is now easy to see why the United Nations did
not want the United States to attack Iraq even after Saddam had violated
U.N. sanctions more than 16 times. So the guy who killed nearly two million
of his own people is in jail. The Iraqi people have had democratic
elections twice now concerning a constitution referendum that have been
highly successful. Higher voter turnout than in the last United States
presidential race. The beginning of trials over war crimes against
Saddam and his thugs. Yet, the liberal mass media wants to tell us how
bad Iraq is? That doesn't make too much sense to me. Talk to the
troops that have served over there and you will get the facts. Read
their blogs on the internet and you will find the truth. posted
12:24am by jholmes
Under withering attack from
conservatives, President Bush abandoned his push to put loyalist Harriet
Miers on the Supreme Court and promised a quick replacement Thursday.
Democrats accused him of bowing to the "radical right wing of the
Republican Party."
The White House said Miers had withdrawn
because of senators' demands to see internal documents related to her
role as counsel to the president. But politics played a larger role:
Bush's conservative backers had doubts about her ideological purity, and
Democrats had little incentive to help the nominee or the embattled GOP
president.
Miers' withdrawal means the justice she
was chosen to replace, Sandra Day O'Connor, will delay her retirement
further. O'Connor has been a swing voter on numerous emotional social
issues, and more are set to come before the Supreme Court, including two
abortion cases this fall. posted 9:19am by jholmes
Swab the inside of
your mouth. Put that swab into a vial of test fluid, and 20 minutes
later you'll learn whether you're infected with the virus that causes
AIDS.
Supporters of home
kits say they will spur more people to get tested and get treatment
sooner if infected. However, concerns have been raised about whether a
doctor or counselor should be nearby when people find out they are
HIV-positive.
The test is accurate
more than 99 percent of the time, Spair said. Still, a positive result
from the test should be confirmed through an additional test by doctors
or public health officials, he said. posted 12:57am by
jholmes
Ahmadinejad quoted a remark from Iran's
Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of Iran's Islamic revolution, who said
that Israel "must be wiped out from the map of the world."
The president then said: "And God
willing, with the force of God behind it, we shall soon experience a
world without the United States and Zionism," according to a quote
published by IRNA.
Ahmadinejad is quoted as saying, "Anybody
who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's
fury." posted 12:46am by jholmes
McHugh told them in an assembly earlier
this month to remove any personal journals they might have or risk
suspension. Web sites popular with teens include myspace.com and
xanga.com.
Officials with the Diocese of Paterson
say the directive is a matter of safety, not censorship. No one has been
disciplined yet, said Marianna Thompson, a diocesan spokeswoman.
"The rights of students at private
schools are far different than those of public schools because
administrators at public schools are agents of government," he said.
"That's not the case here." posted 12:41am by jholmes
Swoopes, 34, is the most recognizable
athlete, male or female, to come out in a team sport. Former WNBA player
Michele Van Gorp, who played for the Minnesota Lynx, publicly
acknowledged she is a lesbian in July 2004. Before Van Gorp, former
Liberty player Sue Wicks had been the only member of a female
professional team to publicly come out while still playing. Previously,
Swoopes has said she plans to continue her career.
The news could be particularly perplexing
for the WNBA, which has struggled to both recognize the homosexual
element connected to its league and grow its fan base. Ironically, in
its infancy, the WNBA marketed a pregnant, married Swoopes to put a
heterosexual face on its promotional campaign. Now the league, which
will play its 10th season next summer, has to decide what to do now that
one of its best and most recognizable players has announced she's gay.
posted 9:41am by jholmes
Google
is
testing a new service
that could possibly
compete with Ebay one
day. posted 1:56am
by jholmes
Geoff
Bloom
hit a pinch hit homer in
the 14th inning to
give the White Sox a 7-5
victory over the Houston
Astros. The Astros
are now down 3-0 in the
Series. The game
was the longest in World
Series history lasting 5
hours and 41 minutes.
Only one team has ever
come back from a 3-0
hole to win a post
season series in
baseball's playoffs.
Last years Boston Red
Sox did it for the first
time ever. posted
1:49am by jholmes
October
25, 2005
The
Iraqi constitution has
passed by an
overwhelming margin.
The story is being
buried on page two of
newspapers, but if it
was a bombing they would
have put it on page one.
The vote is a major
applause to our troops
and the Iraqi people who
worked hard to make it a
reality. posted
12:40am by jholmes
Justin
Timberlake says
he feels sorry for
Britney Spears and
that it was wrong for
her baby photos to be
stolen and posted on the
internet. posted
12:42am by jholmes
The agreement is the latest in federal
and state efforts to combat the sale of under-taxed cigarette and to
fight underage smoking. Most under-taxed or untaxed cigarettes are sold
by Indian tribes, where the taxation of sales to non-Indians is
disputed.
Monday's agreement leaves only the U.S.
Postal Service among major carriers to continue to deliver cigarettes to
individuals, Spitzer said. He called that practice "an embarrassment."
posted 12:13am by jholmes
Civil
Rights giant
Rosa Parks died last
night at the age of 92.
Parks was the true Rose
that was never tarnished
in ways that other Civil
Rights leaders have been
over the years.
She and her ideals were
as pure as snow and she
is the true reason and
mother of the Civil
Rights movement.
Speaking in 1992, Mrs. Parks said history
too often maintains "that my feet were hurting and I didn't know why I
refused to stand up when they told me. But the real reason of my not
standing up was I felt that I had a right to be treated as any other
passenger. We had endured that kind of treatment for too long."
"At the time I was arrested I had no idea
it would turn into this," Mrs. Parks said 30 years later. "It was just a
day like any other day. The only thing that made it significant was that
the masses of the people joined in." posted 12:10am by jholmes
Scott
Podsednik, who did not
hit a home run all year
in 584 at bats,
hit a walk-off homer
against Houston's relief
ace Brad Lidge to
give the White Sox a7-6
win over the Astros.
I believe the moon shot
by the St. Louis
Cardinals' Albert Pujols
last week against Lidge
has given other players
confidence against the
fame thrower and showed
that he actually is
mortal. posted
12:14am by jholmes
Debate about the priest shortage
dominated the synod, with bishops complaining that Catholics sometimes
have to go weeks or months without having a priest to celebrate Mass
because there are too few to go around.
Some liberal Catholics and church reform
groups say more men would join the priesthood if they were allowed to
marry, and several bishops at the synod raised the issue of whether
so-called "viri probati" or married men of proven virtue could be
ordained.
But the final recommendation reaffirmed
the "inestimable gift of ecclesiastical celibacy" and said the idea of
ordaining "viri probati" was a "path not to follow," according to the
list of the propositions released by the Vatican. posted
12:51am by jholmes
The
Chicago White Sox topped
the Houston Astros
5-3 in game one of the
World Series.
Roger Clemens left the
game after two innings
due to a sore hamstring
he re-aggravated.
posted 12:36am by
jholmes
In an interview with Australia’s "60
Minutes" that aired on June 5, Spielberg said of
Tom Cruise: “I've known him
since '83 and I knew Tom when he first adopted his first two kids and so
I really felt that this part suited Tom to a 't.'”
His “first two kids” is a strange way to
describe someone’s only two kids, isn’t it? But when you watch Spielberg
say it, he’s not making a mistake. It’s possible Cruise told him that
Holmes was pregnant that long ago. If so, it means that the couple
conceived a child almost immediately after they met on or around April
15.
Holmes’ recent pictures show that she’s
between five and six months pregnant, in fact. This was a surprise,
certainly. But it does account for Cruise’s weird behavior on Oprah, and
the couple’s near silence during August when — after a barrage of press
— they seemingly went underground for about four weeks.
posted 2:08am by jholmes
Starbucks is
stirring a brew with a
religious quote on cups
of its coffee by
preacher and best
selling author Rick
Warren. Warren
wrote the New York
Times best selling
book The Purpose
Driven Life. I
had the pleasure of
attending Warren's
Saddleback Church 3
weeks ago here in
California. It was
an amazing experience.
Warren says the idea of a grande
pitch for God as creator came to him after seeing a Starbucks quote on
evolution from paleontologist Louise Leakey. Because Starbucks solicited
customer contributions for 2006, Warren sent his in. On Tuesday,
Starbucks spokeswoman Sanja Gould confirmed that it would be used.
The cups carry a disclaimer that the
opinions "do not necessarily reflect the views of Starbucks."
But a few companies plant clues to
Christianity in their wrappings, music or signs precisely because the
owners are believers.
In-N-Out Burger, the California-based
fast-food chain, has included tiny notations for Bible verses in some of
its burger and drink packaging since Richard Snyder, son of the
founders, called for it in 1987. "He told me, 'It's just something I
want to do,' " company spokesman Carl Van Fleet says.
After Snyder's death in 1993, "the family
felt strongly about keeping this just as he had done it" at its 196
outlets in California, Arizona and Nevada. The Bible book and verse in
minuscule type "are so subtle most of our customers never notice."
One who did: Don Chang, the deeply religious
founder of clothing chains Forever 21 and XXI.
Five years ago, the clothier copied In-N-Out by
stamping the Bible book, chapter and verse
notation John 3:16 on the bottom of his stores'
shopping bags: "For God so loved the world, that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life."
Other owners making a faith statement in
the secular marketplace include David Green, whose craft chain Hobby
Lobby plays only Christian contemporary music in its 362 stores, and S.
Truett Cathy, who advertises that Chick-fil-A sandwich shops nationwide
are closed on Sundays to free employees to focus on faith and family.
Alaska Airlines has put
baseball-card-size prayer cards on hot-meal trays for 30 years "just to
differentiate us from the competition," spokeswoman Amanda Tobin says.
"Compliments have always far outweighed complaints." posted
1:50am by jholmes
The NBA now has a dress code. Stephen Jackson of the Indiana
Pacers says its racist, but Jackson and teammate Ron Artest are probably the
chief reason for the code after their fight club antics with Detroit Pistons
fans. posted 1:07am by jholmes
Court officials
have said they are trying Saddam on the Dujail massacre first because it
was the easiest and quickest case to put together. Other cases they are
investigating - including a crackdown on the Kurds that killed an
estimated 180,000 people - involve much larger numbers of victims, more
witnesses and more documentation. posted 2:00am by jholmes
Cards Win! Cards Win!
Go Crazy folks!
Albert Pujols with the
biggest clutch hit
(homer) I have ever seen
during a baseball game
in my life. Cards win
5-4 over Houston.
Pujols 3-run homer still
has not landed.
Be a
part of the voting and
hit up the
Bumpshack Message Board
to be a part of the
Weekly Bumpshack College
Top 5 Football Poll.
I compile all of the
votes from posters on
the board and post the
official Bumpshack
College Top 5 here every
Wednesday morning.
posted 12:55am by
jholmes
Voter turnout in Iraq
yesterday was estimated
at 61%. Just
43% of Americans voted
in the last Presidential
elections and we don't
have to fear bombs and
being blown up to vote
here. Much praise
has to go to the
soldiers who made this
possible in Iraq along
with the courage of the
Iraqi people.
posted 1:13am by jholmes
Check
out the poll just to the
right, under the
BumpHottie photo, to
vote for what shows are
keeping your attention
on the boob tube.
posted 12:42am by
jholmes
Cafe Du Monde normally stays open 24
hours a day, 364 days a year, closing only on Christmas. But it sold its
last order of hot beignets at midnight on Aug. 27, a day and a half
before the storm roared in and devastated New Orleans.
We've found about 50 of our 150
employees, and the cleanup will be finished by Tuesday," general manager
Scott Escara said. "We'll turn the fryers on about 5 Wednesday morning
and we should have hot beignets pretty quick after that."
posted 1:33am by jholmes
The story follows a young woman and her husband after moving into a
New York City apartment next door
to enthusiastic, over solicitous neighbors. The couple want to have a
baby; one night the woman has a vision that she is being raped by some
demonic presence, and later she finds out that she is pregnant. The
woman begins to lose weight instead of gaining it, and comes to suspect
that her neighbors are part of a Satanic cult with designs on her
as-yet-unborn child, and that her husband is working with them.
Levin's novel was a best-seller, and was adapted as a 1968 feature
film directed by Roman Polanski and starring Mia Farrow as the wife,
John Cassavetes as the husband, and Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer as
the neighbors. Gordon won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
for her work in the film. posted 1:18am by jholmes
In terms of just how Holmes got to
be in the family way, her aunt has denied rumors that the actress
conceived via in vitro fertilization.
"I can assure you they did it the old
fashioned way," Carol Zydorczyk said in a recent magazine interview.
(We're not even going to ask how she knows for sure.)
Meanwhile, back home in Ohio, Holmes'
father, Martin, is reportedly extremely displeased that his daughter is
pregnant without the benefit of first swapping vows, according to
Life & Style magazine.
The magazine reports that the strict
Catholic scolded the actress upon learning of her pregnancy, before
telling Cruise, "You're no good!" The grandfather-to-be also reportedly
demanded that the pair wed soon.
In other reports, when it comes time for
the actress to give birth in several months, it has been suggested that
Holmes will attempt a silent labor in keeping with Scientology
tradition.
The practice encourages mothers to be to
forgo painkillers and to refrain from screaming or even talking as they
bring their children into the world. Scientologists believe that the
silence reduces trauma during birth and prevents irrational fears later
in life. posted 12:56am by jholmes
"If the big critters are back, the lake
is definitely coming back," Carlton Dufrechou, executive director of the
Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, said Thursday. posted
12:47am by jholmes
George, who made his name in the 1980s as
front man for the pop band Culture Club, was arrested on Friday when
police, responding to his call to report a burglary, recovered 13
plastic bags containing cocaine, according to the complaint released
Tuesday by the Manhattan district attorney.
His lawyer, Lou Freeman, said the singer
-- who was arraigned early on Saturday -- does not know where the drugs
came from or who owned them.
"He's a very social person. He has a lot
of people over to his apartment," Freeman said of his client.
posted 12:26am by jholmes
Their children include two sets of twins,
and each child has a name beginning with the letter "J": Joshua, 17;
John David, 15; Janna, 15; Jill, 14; Jessa, 12; Jinger, 11; Joseph, 10;
Josiah, 9; Joy-Anna, 8; Jeremiah, 6; Jedidiah, 6; Jason, 5; James, 4;
Justin, 2; and Jackson Levi, 1; and the newborn Johannah. posted
12:20am by jholmes
Minnesota Vikings players are being
investigated in connection with a lake cruise that turned into a wild
sex party last week on Lake Minnetonka. The party became so out of
control that crew members on the two yachts were offered money for sex
and feared for their safety, law enforcement authorities and an attorney
for the cruise company said Tuesday. posted 10:24am by
jholmes
The deal, the
first major alliance between two of the Web's main providers of instant
messaging, will allow users of Microsoft's MSN Messenger service and
Yahoo Messenger to swap instantaneous text messages with each other.
posted 2:20am by jholmes
I was
at game five of the
division series last
night between the New
York Yankees and Los
Angeles Angels of
Anaheim at Angel
Stadium. It was
great
seeing the Yanks with
their $5 trillion dollar
payroll get beat in the
first round.
Angel Stadium is a great
place to watch a game.
I kept score and took
photos. I will try
to post some of them
later today.
posted 1:57am by jholmes
A
nine-year-old boy has
swam from Alcatraz to
San Francisco.
The boy swam the rocky
waters that covers 1.4
miles in under two
hours. posted
12:46am by jholmes
Behind the scenes, a half-dozen aides to
Senate Democrats — speaking on condition of anonymity to protect their
jobs — admit that they are enjoying watching the GOP's right wing beat
up the president. None will say whether their bosses feel the same way —
or might be insincere when they heap praise on Miers and call her
critics unfair. posted 2:32am by jholmes
In short order, since meeting Cruise in
April, Holmes has now fired her manager, changed agents and discharged
her publicist. All had been her longtime allies.
Pictures of Holmes from just a few days
ago with Cruise on the set of "Mission: Impossible 3" are circulating on
the Internet. There's no sign of a pregnancy, but there is a woman in
the background of every picture.
She's been identified as
Jessica Feshbach Rodriguez,
Holmes' best friend since the spring and a high-level minder from the
Church of Scientology. Her family has donated millions to Scientology.
As for Holmes' friends here in New York,
the word is that not one of them has heard from the actress since she
flew to L.A. to meet Cruise for the first time last April.
Since Holmes first became associated with
Cruise, her career has come to a standstill. Pretty much the only
project she has coming up is the DVD release of "Batman Begins."
Holmes also makes an appearance in "Thank
You for Smoking," currently playing the festival circuit. Otherwise, her
career trajectory — which was on the upswing with "Pieces of April" — is
over. posted 12:32am by jholmes
The
economy lost 35,000 jobs
last month. It is
a lot less than analysts
expected would be lost
due to Hurricane
Katrina.
The Department of Labor reported
yesterday that the economy lost 35,000 jobs in September, the first
contraction since May 2003. The unemployment rate rose for the first
time in seven months, inching up to 5.1 percent in September from 4.9
percent in August.
Job losses appeared to be concentrated in
the disaster area. They were offset by strong employment growth in the
rest of the country, which confirmed the continued strength of the
economic expansion. posted 12:30am by jholmes
"I can't front. I
don't have a lot of respect for 50 Cent because his music is hardcore
... violent," said Lil' Kim. "And I love his music sometimes, but I feel
like in his personal life, his real life, he carries that on, and that's
not a great message, you know what I mean? I think he promotes it."
posted 12:24am by jholmes
A
7.6 magnitude earthquake
struck Pakistan early
this morning. The
quake was also felt in
India and Afghanistan.
Although Ahmad said the quake was the
first of this magnitude to strike Pakistan in nearly 20 years, traffic
appeared to be moving normally in Islamabad and telephone systems were
working, albeit with a few problems. posted 12:17am by jholmes
What they often ask for is testosterone,
the male sex hormone that many women think will give them their old sex
drive back, or boost it to new levels. Why or how it works is still not
clear. Women’s libidos are a lot more complicated than men’s. While a
man might be aroused by a glance at Pamela Anderson, women need a lot
more: a healthy relationship, a healthy body and a healthy mind. In
other words, a little pill may not do it. Doctors like Hutcherson know
that their patients’ libido problems are more often the result of a
troubled marriage or depression than their hormone levels. After taking
a detailed personal history from her patients, she might send them for
counseling or give them a prescription for an antidepressant. She might
even urge them to try a vibrator or sex toys just to get them in the
mood. posted 1:09am by jholmes