April 30th, 2009 // comments (0)

Justice Souter Retires: Obama Gets Supreme Court Pick

NPR has learned that Supreme Court Justice David Souter is planning to retire at the end of the current court term.

The vacancy will give President Obama his first chance to name a member of the high court and begin to shape its future direction.

I’ll have much more on this and the pick that is to come… tomorrow AM.

April 30th, 2009 // comments (0)

H1N1 Update: Member Of President’s Team Has Swine Flu – Update: False Alarm

First we hear that a man who greeted President Obama in Mexico died the next day from the swine flu virus, now this. The unnamed agent passed the disease along to several members of his family, all of which are being treated and are, by all accounts, going to be just fine. Still, it’s a bit shocking that the President of the United States has come in contact with not one, but two people with this still incredibly rare…

April 30th, 2009 // comments (0)

‘Lie To Me’ Beats Out Obama Presser In Ratings Battle

It looks like Fox made a good decision in dumping the President Obama 100 Days Presser. Choosing instead to air an episode of ‘Lie To Me’, Fox won the night among the Big Four networks. The drama pulled in 7.9 million viewers who apparently had no interest in watching Obama pat himself on the back for 60 minutes. The closest network was NBC with a second place finish of 6.7 million viewers.

The interesting thing to watch will be…

April 30th, 2009 // comments (0)

Elizabeth Edwards Unloads On John In New Book

We haven’t heard from Elizabeth Edwards for a while. She’s slowly poking her face back into the limelight as she prepares to make the media rounds in support of her upcoming book ‘Resilience’. Out May 12, the book goes into detail about life behind the scenes as the cancer-stricken Edwards coped with a cheating husband.

She also slams John Edwards for not bringing his Presidential campaign to a halt after her diagnosis came back positive. Rielle Hunter, John’s mistress,…

April 30th, 2009 // comments (0)

Shock: Car Plows Into Crowd During Dutch Parade

Four people are dead and more than a dozen are injured after a car (apparently purposefully) crashed into a crowd of revelers watching a Dutch parade. The event, which featured Queen Beatrix, came to an abrupt end. The vehicle seemed to be aiming for the bus carrying the Queen. It missed. The chaos was captured on a video which you can watch below.

Warning, it’s quite graphic.

April 30th, 2009 // comments (0)

Biden’s Swine Flu Warning: Avoid Planes And Subways

So this looks like it’s all lined up to be the AM controversy today. But I’m not biting. The Vice President said what everyone else has been thinking or telling close friends for the past 7 days — and he’s right to say it’s more likely that you will get sick in a confined space. I’m not backing off my position that this entire fiasco is silly and doesn’t warrant anything near the amount of coverage it is receiving. And…

April 29th, 2009 // comments (0)

‘I Want Revenge’ Is Early Kentucky Derby Standout

Sure, there are going to be 20 horses in the full-field for the Kentucky Derby. That doesn’t mean one won’t dominate the rest. Remember Big Brown? ‘I Want Revenge’ is favored 3-1 at this point and the horse holds a coveted outside spots for the race this Saturday.

Here’s the rest of the field. (Listed rail-out)

West Side Bernie (30-1), Musket Man (20-1), Mr. Hot Stuff (30-1), Advice (30-1), Hold Me Back (15-1), Friesan Fire (5-1), Papa Clem (20-1),

…

April 29th, 2009 // comments (0)

Patient Zero: The 5-Year-Old Source Of Swine Flu

His name is Edgar Hernandez and he has been identified as ‘Patient Zero’, the original source of H1N1. Edgar lives in the tiny village of La Gloria in Veracruz, Mexico. He survived his bout with the disease and seems to be doing fine as of late. The fact that Edgar survived leads me to believe that those dying from swine flu must be the most feeble of the masses.

There’s no way a strain, no matter how advanced,…

April 29th, 2009 // comments (0)

President Obama Picks Fight With Tea Party Protesters

100 days in to an administration that promised ‘post-partisanship’ and we have a President taking potshots at Fox News and tea party protesters? This is just asinine.

“Those of you who are watching certain news channels on which I’m not very popular, and you see folks waving tea bags around, Obama said, “let me just remind them that I am happy to have a serious conversation about how we are going to cut our health care costs down over

…

April 29th, 2009 // comments (0)

Update: First Swine Flu Casualty Was Mexican Child In Texas

The 23-month-old was brought into the United States for medical treatment. This puts the U.S. swine flu death toll back at zero. It’s a terrible story, without a doubt, but original reports suggested the child was a native Texan and that just isn’t the case. I wonder if Janet Napolitano is rethinking that whole ‘the borders will stay open‘ stand she took yesterday?

In the interest of keeping this all in perspective, we still have less than 75…

April 28th, 2009 // comments (0)

Two Recent California Deaths May Be Swine Flu Related – Texas Death Confirmed

Nothing has been confirmed yet, but it looks as if two deaths in California this weekend could possibly be swine flu-related. A 33-year-old man from Long Beach and a 45-year-old La Mirada man are the deaths in question. The coroner won’t confirm anything but has said that the bodies are being tested for traces of the disease. Both deaths were the result of ‘flu-like’ symptoms.

Update: An infant in Texas is the first official U.S. death.

April 28th, 2009 // comments (0)

The Phone Call: Obama Congratulates Arlen Specter

White House Website: (President Barack Obama speaks by phone to Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania on
April 28, 2009 about the Senator’s decision to become a member of the
Democratic Party. White House Photo, Pete Souza)

April 28th, 2009 // comments (0)

Arlen Specter On March 17th: ‘I’m Staying Republican’

It looks like Arlen Specter is worrying about his political future even more than most politicos had guessed. After several controversial votes many Republicans considered off-putting, Specter is switching teams. Just how chaotic his future plans are is made even more clear when you take into account this statement from last month.

Specter on March 17, 2009:

I am staying a Republican because I think I have an important role, a more important role, to play there. The United

…

April 28th, 2009 // comments (0)

Specter Switches Teams: Republican Senator Now Democrat

Just crossing the wires…

WASHINGTON (AP – According to Associated Press sources, veteran Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania says he intends to switch parties.

Update: Obama welcomes Specter to Democratic party.

POTUS talked to Specter at 10:32 this morning from the Oval Office, said Dems are “thrilled to have you,” according to a White House aide.

April 28th, 2009 // comments (4)

Flashback: Swine Flu PSAs From The 1970′s

What are we on here? Day six of swine flu mania?

This whole swine flu thing is nothing new. You may know this by now but in 1976 there was a swine flu scare with similar fiasco-status. It all started on February 5, 1976 when a Fort Dix recruit fell ill. He died the next day. In short time, hundreds of his fellow armed service members had the disease. The bad stuff hit the fan at that point. Two weeks…