johnhanblog

The top U.S. commander in Iraq thinks he knows who kidnapped three U.S.
soldiers and believes that at least two of them are alive. As the
military detained nine people during their search, five U.S. troops were
killed elsewhere in Iraq.

# posted by John @ 5/19/2007 05:40:00 PM 0 comments

http://www.bloglines.com/blog/johnDispatch

# posted by John @ 5/18/2007 02:26:00 PM 0 comments

NEWS
Drivers cut back -- a first in 26 years
---------------------------------------------
The average American motorist is driving substantially fewer miles for
the
first time in 26 years because of high gas prices and demographic
shifts,
according to a USA TODAY analysis of federal highway data.

Campaign funds going to legal fees
---------------------------------------------
Two dozen current and former members of Congress caught up in criminal
investigations or ethics inquiries spent more than $5 million in
campaign
funds on legal fees during the last 27 months covered by
campaign-finance
records.

U.S. bank considering request to help transfer N. Korean funds
---------------------------------------------
A U.S. bank said Friday it was considering a request to help solve an
international funds transfer involving North Korea that has held up
movement
by the communist country to implement a landmark nuclear disarmament
accord.

MONEY

Strategies: Don't let tug of war of business sap your energy
---------------------------------------------
Strategy versus execution. Sales versus operations. Increasing income
versus
reducing costs. Every entrepreneur faces a constant tug of war.

Test Drive: Honda's FCX fuel-cell car ready for its close-up
---------------------------------------------
It will be interesting to see how the automaker deals with the noise
issue.
Honda knows people want to hear something when they step on the
throttle.
Otherwise there's little to reinforce the feeling of acceleration. A
noiseless
car can seem sluggish even if it's not. But what kind of sound, and how
do you
get it from an electric powerplant?

Wolfowitz quits World Bank
---------------------------------------------
World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz resigned Thursday, capping a
long-running
dispute over his handling of a pay raise and promotion for a bank
employee
with whom he was romantically involved.

# posted by John @ 5/18/2007 09:07:00 AM 0 comments

A bipartisan group of senators is pushing legislation that would force
the CIA to release a report on the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The agency is the only counterterrorism federal office that has not made
a version of its probe public. 

# posted by John @ 5/18/2007 08:57:00 AM 0 comments

WASHINGTON - Embattled World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz will resign
at the
end of June, his leadership undermined by the generous compensation he
arranged for his girlfriend. His departure, announced late Thursday by
the
World Bank board, was all but forced by the finding of a special bank
panel
that he violated conflict-of-interest rules in his handling of the 2005
pay
package of bank employee Shaha Riza.

# posted by John @ 5/17/2007 06:41:00 PM 0 comments

BIPARTISAN GROUP OF SENATORS REACHES A DEAL ON IMMIGRATION THAT WOULD
GRANT LEGAL STATUS TO 12 MILLION ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ALREADY IN THE
UNITED STATES, AND WOULD FORTIFY THE BORDER AGAINST NEW ONES

# posted by John @ 5/17/2007 01:55:00 PM 0 comments

FED CHAIRMAN BEN BERNANKE PROMISES A CRACKDOWN ON ABUSIVE MORTGAGE
LENDING PRACTICES

# posted by John @ 5/17/2007 10:29:00 AM 0 comments

NEWS

Nation's minority numbers top 100M
---------------------------------------------
The nation's minority population has topped 100 million for the first
time and
now makes up about a third of the USA, a symbolic milestone that signals
more
challenges for communities adapting to diversity. Hispanics are fanning
out to
more states across the nation, according to Census population estimates
out
Thursday.

Passion fuels seniors' ability to achieve
---------------------------------------------
As a student research volunteer, Veronica Shi spent months designing an
experiment trying to measure how people's perception of brightness is
affected
by contrast and size. She and 19 other members of the 21st annual
All-USA High
School Academic First Team win trophies and $2,500 cash awards as
representatives of all outstanding students.

Blair pays farewell visit to Bush
---------------------------------------------
British Prime Minister Tony Blair paid a farewell visit Wednesday to
President
Bush, an opportunity for close allies to showcase their unity on the war
in
Iraq and hammer out differences on climate change and trade.

MONEY

Gas pumps gulping family pay
---------------------------------------------
U.S. families paid $1,000 more on average for gasoline last year than in
2001,
as higher prices at the pump ate up a hefty portion of the increase in
their
paychecks, two consumer groups said Wednesday.

Nation's second president makes debut on presidential dollar
---------------------------------------------
The second dollar coin in the new presidential series goes into
circulation
around the country on Thursday with the U.S. Mint hoping it can turn
18th
century statesman John Adams into a 21st century marketing phenomenon.

# posted by John @ 5/17/2007 09:06:00 AM 0 comments

The five-month-old cease-fire in the Gaza Strip is unraveling, as
Palestinian infighting continues. Today, gunfire erupted at a Hamas
funeral, rockets hit the Israeli town of Sderot and Israel launched air
strikes and moved its tanks to the border. 

# posted by John @ 5/17/2007 08:50:00 AM 0 comments

PAUL WOLFOWITZ WILL NOT RESIGN AND WOULD RATHER PUSH THE ISSUE OF HIS
TENURE TO A VOTE BY THE WORLD BANK BOARD, HIS LAWYER SAYS

# posted by John @ 5/16/2007 06:18:00 PM 0 comments

Britain's military commanders have changed their mind, deciding not to
send Prince Harry to Iraq with his fellow soldiers due to specific
threats made against him by insurgents. The decision is sure to
disappoint the prince. 

# posted by John @ 5/16/2007 04:29:00 PM 0 comments

May 16, 2007

Official: Wolfowitz, World Bank working on agreement for him to resign

# posted by John @ 5/16/2007 04:01:00 PM 0 comments

May 16, 2007

U.S.
Wolfowitz to Resign This Afternoon?
World Bank officials say the bank's board is completing an "exit
strategy" that will allow World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz to resign
this afternoon and "still save some face" over the issue of his efforts
to seek a promotion and pay raise for his girlfriend at the bank.

# posted by John @ 5/16/2007 01:20:00 PM 0 comments

May 16, 2007

Consumer Alert: General Electric recalls 2.5 million dishwashers

Wiring problems has caused General Electric Co. to recall 2.5 million
dishwashers because they could cause fires.

# posted by John @ 5/16/2007 11:22:00 AM 0 comments

Falwell was a uniter and a divider
---------------------------------------------
He was the founding father of the religious right. When Jerry Falwell
created
the Moral Majority a quarter-century ago, many Christian
fundamentalists
eschewed the world of politics.

FEMA says it's ready for hurricanes
---------------------------------------------
The government has fixed most of the problems that undermined its
response to
Hurricane Katrina, even though an updated federal disaster plan is not
completed, Federal Emergency Management Agency chief R. David Paulison
told
lawmakers Tuesday.

Iraq intel proposal raises concerns
---------------------------------------------
Iraq's Shiite-dominated government is attempting to establish an
intelligence
agency that would rival the U.S.-backed organization created shortly
after the
fall of Saddam Hussein.

MONEY

Giving women something to chew on
---------------------------------------------
The popularity of chick lit and chick flicks books and movies aimed at
women
may have spawned the marketing world's latest trend: chick food.

As World Bank controversy unfolds, turmoil takes its toll
---------------------------------------------
On Aug. 10, 2005, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz summoned the
bank's head
of human resources. When Xavier Coll arrived at the president's
12th-floor
suite, Wolfowitz ordered him to contact Shaha Riza, 52, to discuss
shifting
her to a new job outside the bank.

# posted by John @ 5/16/2007 08:43:00 AM 0 comments

EXCLUSIVE: PRESIDENT BUSH CHOOSES LT. GEN. DOUGLAS LUTE AS NEW 'WAR
CZAR' TO OVERSEE CONFLICTS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN.

# posted by John @ 5/15/2007 06:09:00 PM 0 comments

LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) - The Rev. Jerry Falwell, who founded the Moral
Majority
and built the religious right into a political force, died Tuesday
shortly
after being found unconscious in his office at Liberty University, a
school
executive said. He was 73.

# posted by John @ 5/15/2007 02:08:00 PM 0 comments

LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) - The Rev. Jerry Falwell was hospitalized in
"gravely
serious" condition after being found unconscious in his office Tuesday,
a
Liberty University executive said.

# posted by John @ 5/15/2007 01:38:00 PM 0 comments

Home prices sink 1.8 percent in first quarter, falling for third
straight quarter, Realtors report.

# posted by John @ 5/15/2007 11:45:00 AM 0 comments

Home improvement retailer Home Depot reports earnings well below analyst
estimates.

# posted by John @ 5/15/2007 09:25:00 AM 0 comments

NEWS

U.S. scrambles to keep Kirkuk from igniting
---------------------------------------------
When a bomb goes off here, Lt. Col. Michael Browder's job is to make it
seem
like the attack never happened. By making an extraordinary effort to
repair
damage after such explosions, the U.S. military hopes to soothe public
anger
and keep Kirkuk from becoming Iraq's next big flash point for violence.

Miami tops rude drivers list
---------------------------------------------
For the second consecutive year, rude Miami drivers have earned the city
the
title of worst road rage in a survey released Tuesday.

Sick kids given 'soundtrack of their lives'
---------------------------------------------
On Thursday, 15,000 New York schoolchildren will sing, along with Bob
McGrath
of "Sesame Street," to record a song all about 7-year-old Ronald
Sterling. The
event marks the 12,000th song produced by the Songs of Love Foundation,
a non-
profit group that creates personalized compositions for children and
teens who
are chronically or terminally ill, are developmentally disabled or have
serious psychological or psychiatric problems. Each song has its own
melody
and lyrics that describe the child's interests, family, friends and
pets.

MONEY

Chrysler sold in unprecedented auto deal
---------------------------------------------
DaimlerChrysler said Monday it will sell more than 80% of its
money-losing
Chrysler Group to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP,
unwinding its nearly decade-old deal to merge the U.S. brand with
Mercedes-
Benz.

Gas hits record, likely to stay high
---------------------------------------------
The U.S. average gasoline price set a record Monday, eclipsing highs
seen
following Hurricane Katrina. A number of analysts, including those at
Oil
Price Information Service and A.G. Edwards, expect the run-up in prices
will
end soon. But they do not expect prices to fall much this summer and
warn
another increase at the pump may come later in the season.

Thomson-Reuters merger challenges Bloomberg
---------------------------------------------
Reuters Group PLC and Thomson Corp. said Tuesday that they have agreed
on
terms for a merger to create one of the world's largest financial news
providers.

# posted by John @ 5/15/2007 09:17:00 AM 0 comments

Military officials say hundreds of people have been questioned and 11
arrested in the search for three U.S. soldiers believed captured by an
al Qaeda-linked group after a deadly ambush in Iraq. However, there are
no solid leads on their whereabouts.

# posted by John @ 5/15/2007 08:54:00 AM 0 comments

WASHINGTON - Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty said Monday he will
resign, the highest-ranking Bush administration casualty in the furor
over the firing of U.S. attorneys. McNulty sent a one-page letter of
resignation to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, whose own job has been
put in jeopardy by the firings and their aftermath. McNulty listed
family obligations as the reason for his resignation but aides say the
departure was hastened by anger at being linked to the prosecutors'
purge that Congress is investigating to determine if eight U.S.
attorneys were fired for political reasons.

# posted by John @ 5/14/2007 06:29:00 PM 0 comments

AMID FEARS OF COORDINATED TERRORIST ATTACKS, 5 OR 6 AIR MARSHALS ARE NOW
ASSIGNED TO EACH U.S.-BOUND FLIGHT FROM FRANKFURT, LONDON AND
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND.

# posted by John @ 5/14/2007 01:46:00 PM 0 comments

All passengers aboard an Alaskan cruise ship have been rescued after the
boat ran aground, a company spokesman said. The Empress of the North has
stabilized after taking on water and is headed to Juneau, the spokesman
said. 

# posted by John @ 5/14/2007 12:16:00 PM 0 comments

NEWS

Troops to lose MySpace, YouTube access
---------------------------------------------
Soldiers serving overseas will lose some of their online links to
friends and
loved ones back home under a Department of Defense policy that a
high-ranking
Army official said would take effect Monday.

Cities brace for surge in the elderly
---------------------------------------------
Communities across the USA are scrambling to brighten street signs,
widen sidewalks and redesign housing to gird for a demographic
earthquake: 35
million more seniors by 2030.

Anti-illegal-immigrant law OK'd in Texas
---------------------------------------------
Voters in this Dallas suburb became the first in the nation Saturday to
prohibit landlords from renting to most illegal immigrants.

# posted by John @ 5/14/2007 09:19:00 AM 0 comments

A cruise ship ran aground off the Alaskan coast and more than 200
passengers were being transferred to life boats, U.S. Coast Guard
officials said. The Empress of the North hit a rock at the southern end
of Icy Straight, the Coast Guard said. 

# posted by John @ 5/14/2007 09:14:00 AM 0 comments

A cruise ship ran aground off the Alaskan coast and more than 200
passengers were being transferred to life boats, U.S. Coast Guard
officials said. The Empress of the North hit a rock at the southern end
of Icy Straight, the Coast Guard said. 

# posted by John @ 5/14/2007 09:13:00 AM 0 comments

While thousands of U.S. troops are involved in a massive search for
three soldiers missing following an attack on their patrol unit
yesterday that left five dead, an al Qaeda front group said that it is
holding the three hostage.

# posted by John @ 5/13/2007 06:16:00 PM 1 comments