Afghan president escapes Taliban assassination attempt in Kabul
during the 16th anniversary celebration of the final Soviet defeat.
SUNDAY REPORTS
** AFGHAN PRESIDENT KARZAI ESCAPES TALIBAN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT IN CAPITAL CITY. Afghan President Hamid Karzai today escaped an assassination attempt by a Taliban hit squad. The strike came in the middle of Kabul, during the 16th anniversary celebration of the final defeat of the Soviet-backed regime.
At least two people, including one member of the national parliament, were killed by the Taliban, who attacked with automatic weapons and rocket fire. Three Taliban fighters were killed by government security forces.
The attack sent the assorted dignitaries in the grandstand, including the American and British ambassadors, scrambling for their lives, as seen in the video above. The Afghan fight has been going increasingly poorly over the past two years, as frequently discussed on NWN.
** WHERE THEY ARE TODAY.
Barack Obama is in Indianapolis, Indiana and Chicago.
John McCain is in Coral Gables, Florida.
Hillary Clinton is in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Bill Clinton is in Hartford City, New Castle, Shelbyville, and Martinsville, Indiana.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opens wide
in less than a month.
SATURDAY REPORTS
** NEWSWEEK NATIONAL POLL: OBAMA HAS A SIGNIFICANT LEAD OVER CLINTON. This should be no surprise. In a poll taken April 24-25, Barack Obama leads Hillary Clinton nationally, 46% to 38%.
** U.S. CONSUMER CONFIDENCE AT 26-YEAR LOW. Let’s review. Crashing property values. A worldwide credit crunch. Wall Street bailouts. Record oil prices. Record gasoline prices. Rising unemployment. The dollar at a record low against the euro. And so we have the lowest level of consumer confidence in the US since 1982.
I’m now paying $4.10 a gallon for gas. (Premium, yes, but the regular gasoline, which is not good for my car, is not that much lower.) The big wholesale outlets around me are rationing rice. (?!) But why worry?
** ROMNEY DOES RENO. Mitt Romney speaks to the Nevada Republican Convention today at the Peppermill in Reno on behalf of John McCain. Romney won the lightly-contested Nevada Republican caucuses, on the strength of Mormon voters, a contest totally overshadowed by the big Democratic fight between Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards. Does this mean the former moderate Masschusetts governor-turned-great-right-hope will be McCain’s running mate? Well, you might want to make a small bet on that in Reno, the “Biggest Little City In The World.”
But I wouldn’t take that to Vegas if I were you.
** OBAMA ON FOX NEWS. This should be interesting. Barack Obama will appear for the first time on Fox News Sunday, the conservative cable outlet’s attempt to compete with the likes of Meet The Press. Its host is Chris Wallace, son of CBS legend Mike Wallace, who got into a notorious 2006 smack-down with former President Bill Clinton over what he did, and did not, do to catch Osama bin Laden.
Obama has pretty much stayed off of Fox News since the channel popularized a completely erroneous report from a right-wing web site that he was educated in a hardcore Islamic school in Indonesia. The Democratic frontrunner did appear on the Fox show Hannity & Colmes during the the Rev. Jeremiah Wright firestorm. I’m told he was going to be interviewed live by the hosts, conservative Sean Hannity and liberal Alan Colmes, but Hannity went off the deep end insisting that Obama’s career was over and that he would have to resign his seat in the Senate. Thus, in real time, disqualifying himself from conducting an interview with the frontrunning presidential candidate. Correspondent Major Garrett conducted it instead.
Wallace, meanwhile, a few weeks back went on the early morning chatfest Fox and Friends — which did not see fit to air John McCain’s important speech at the U.S. Naval Academy, mind you (let’s guess, vets on that show, zero?) — to criticize the hosts for their continual Obama-bashing. He ended up walking off the set after the exchange became heated. (This, incidentally, is the show which repeatedly invoked the fake story about Obama’s Muslim education. The story originated on a web site run by a religious cult, that of the Rev. Moon.)
Tomorrow’s appearance should be quite interesting.
Incidentally, I think it would be good for hyperpartisans of all stripes to get past their McCain Derangement Syndrome and Obama Derangement Syndrome.
** SPORTS THIS WEEKEND: F1 AND NFL DRAFT. Along with the National Football League Draft of top college players, the first two rounds of which are on Saturday, with the remaining five rounds on Sunday, there is the fourth race in the 18-race, globe-spanning season of Formula One racing. The F1 circuit takes us to Europe, for the Spanish Grand Prix. Defending F1 world champion Kimi Raikonnen is locked in a duel with 2007 rookie runner-up Lewis Hamilton. And in the team championship, defending champion Ferrari, BWW Sauber, and McLaren Mercedes are all within two points of one another.
The F1 Spanish Grand Prix starts at 5 AM Pacific Sunday on the Speed TV channel. In the front row of the grid are Raikonnen and Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Renault, winner of the 2005 and 2006 world driving championships.
** BROWN CHANGES STATE POLICY ON D.N.A. Former Governor-turned-Attorney General Jerry Brown has changed California state policy on the use of DNA testing to nab criminals. Previously, only an exact match would be used to pursue so-called “cold cases,” those which have proved impervious to less high tech forms of crime solving. Now, Brown will use the State of California’s DNA databank to look for close matches. Which can mean imperfect renderings of the original data or close relatives. Using the close match approach will enable investigators to zero in on potential perpetrators who might not be in the system as convicted criminals themselves.
Brown, a two-time runner-up for the Democratic presidential nomination, unveiled the policy change before the California District Attorneys Association, which, naturally, was appreciative.
Releasing partial matches raises privacy and due process issues that have yet to be tested in the courts, Brown acknowledged in an interview with The Associated Press. Doing so has the potential to focus a criminal probe on an individual who did not commit the crime. But he said there are protections built into the state Department of Justice’s new policy. It would be used rarely, only after extensive double-testing and when all other leads have been exhausted, he said.
“It’s a step forward in prosecuting very serious cases,” Brown told a meeting of the California District Attorneys Association conference, referring to the use of DNA analysis. Later Thursday, he announced the policy shift in a bulletin to law enforcement agencies statewide.
California’s 1 million DNA samples is the world’s third largest DNA database of criminal offenders, after the national databases in the U.S. and Great Britain. It will greatly expand next year, when DNA will be collected from anyone arrested for a crime, regardless of whether they are convicted.
The state’s database has produced more than 5,000 matches, when all DNA collected from a crime scene matches the 26 markers from a particular individual’s DNA. Under the new policy, local law enforcement investigators also would be told when 15 or more of the 26 genetic markers match.
An additional test would then be performed on the DNA’s Y chromosome, a requirement that limits the tests only to males. A statistical analysis would be used to predict whether the suspect is likely to be a close relative — a brother, father, son or grandfather. The policy permits using an even lower standard than 15 matches in cases such as serial killings or rapes in which investigators have exhausted other leads.
The name linked to the partial match would be revealed to investigators only if Brown’s office concludes they have no other clues. The number of such cases is likely to be quite limited. “In a very serious case, this might be the only tool that would allow you to identify the suspect,” Brown said. “It points you in the right direction, but then you’ve got to prove it.”
** WHERE THEY ARE TODAY.
Barack Obama is in Marion and Anderson, Indiana.
Hillary Clinton is in Fort Wayne and South Bend, Indiana.
Bill Clinton is in Junction City, Albany, Monmouth, McMinnville, Oregon City, and Portland, Oregon.
John McCain is off the trail.
There is a new Bond Girl on hand for the currently filming Quantum
of Solace, former supermodel Olga Kurylenko.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the new Russia Today channel.
You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti.
While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, which I know as a former DemRussia advisor, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND U.S. ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Crude oil closed at $119.70 per barrel on Friday. Energy markets are closed on the weekend.
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| Comments (0) |
The Russian model is gorgeous. I bet she does well in the new James Bond.
The new Indiana Jones movie looks great. How old is Harrison Ford? He has to be in his sixties.
Good for Jerry Brown. Let the wingnuts try to attack this.
Fox is lucky to get Obama on their air. After all the shit they pulled.
They’re good at shit. lol
Jonny Flashman and his Flush Report are REALLY REALLY mad about Schwarzeneger coming out against the dingbat Prop 98.
How many comments on the Flush Report the last 2 days?
2.
lol
Some things have gone beyond parody.
I think Chris Wallace had to create an on-air incident before Obama was going on his show.
>Capitol Boy :
Fox is lucky to get Obama on their air. After all the shit they pulled.
Apr 26, 2008 10:42 AM
Where there is a will, there is a way.
>Capitol Boy :
Good for Jerry Brown. Let the wingnuts try to attack this.
Apr 26, 2008 10:25 AM
Harrison Ford is 65. Kinda old for an action movie superstar. But … I hear the movie is good.
>Jonas Blane :
The new Indiana Jones movie looks great. How old is Harrison Ford? He has to be in his sixties.
Apr 26, 2008 10:06 AM
She is actually from Ukraine, though obviously at least part Russian.
Her character is Russian/Bolivian.
The plot of the movie is quite interesting. It starts about an hour after the end of Casino Royale, and concerns a fake enviro group Green Planet fronting for a nefarious corporation/terrorist organization called Quantum.
>Jonas Blane :
The Russian model is gorgeous. I bet she does well in the new James Bond.
Apr 26, 2008 10:04 AM
A hot Russian girl, so surprising. lol
These people are unbelieveable.
BB: The Democratic frontrunner did appear on the Fox show Hannity & Colmes during the the Rev. Jeremiah Wright firestorm. I’m told he was going to be interviewed live by the hosts, conservative Sean Hannity and liberal Alan Colmes, but Hannity went off the deep end insisting that Obama’s career was over and that he would have to resign his seat in the Senate. Thus, in real time, disqualifying himself from conducting an interview with the frontrunning presidential candidate.
I may tune in to Fox News on Sunday to catch the O man there. Fox used to be kind of cool for stretches before the underlying propaganda of it was so obvious.
I wish the Clintons would buy a clue and get out of the way for the main event. McCain vs. Obama is a great match-up.
Let the games begin.
The Clintons will be dragged off the stage, kicking and screaming.
This McCainiac hopes the Clintons fire their flame throwers every step of the way.
Very good for Mr. Brown.
Al Davis is crazy. Another running back for the Raiders. They already had 4 good ones. What Oakland needs is a defense.
Good on Jerry. The man never fails to amaze me. Totally different man than thirty years ago. More tempered and more better.
I’m an unabashed fan who thinks he did a good job of being Governor before and will do an even better job next time. And, yes, I’m hoping there is a next time!
You may, or may not, or may, get your hope.
Al Davis always feels “the need for speed.”
What movie is that from?
>Capitol Boy :
Al Davis is crazy. Another running back for the Raiders. They already had 4 good ones. What Oakland needs is a defense.
Apr 26, 2008 02:10 PM
I think you will get your wish till they are embarrassed off the stage.
>marcus :
This McCainiac hopes the Clintons fire their flame throwers every step of the way.
Apr 26, 2008 01:25 PM
U.S. CONSUMER CONFIDENCE AT 26-YEAR LOW
A bigger, more repressive, less responsive government; foreign “policy” chaos; completely asleep at the global warming wheel; and now it looks like Bush is working to out-malaise Jimmy Carter on economics.
History will judge him harshly.
lol
Ya know, on a personal basis, I kinda like Bush — having described him, in The Nation of all places while he was running as “Bill Clinton with a glint of steel” — and he is definitely a smart guy, notwithstanding the hyperpartisan line of the left.
BUT … he really ain’t much in the way of being a president.
>Brasky :
U.S. CONSUMER CONFIDENCE AT 26-YEAR LOW
A bigger, more repressive, less responsive government; foreign “policy” chaos; completely asleep at the global warming wheel; and now it looks like Bush is working to out-malaise Jimmy Carter on economics.
History will judge him harshly.
Apr 26, 2008 02:37 PM
More good news for Obama!
** NEWSWEEK NATIONAL POLL: OBAMA HAS A SIGNIFICANT LEAD OVER CLINTON. This should be no surprise. In a poll taken April 24-25, Barack Obama leads Hillary Clinton nationally, 46% to 38%.
That is our beautiful Russian girl playing a beautiful girl in the new James Bond. For once, a Russian girl plays a Russian girl.
Mr. Bradley, you must remember the Golden Eye in which 2 non-Russian girls played the Russian girls.
“he is definitely a smart guy, notwithstanding the hyperpartisan line of the left”
There are lots of kinds of smart. The Bay of Pigs was planned by ROOMS full of smart men.
And being leader of the Free World requires more than an above-average IQ. Bush has an over-abundance of hubris and his sense of entitlement completely permeates his entire being.
He reminds me of a movie caricature: the WASP frat-boy who gets his come-uppance at the end of Animal House, etc. He should just walk-around the White House in his letterman jacket.
Speaking of hubris and sense of entitlement…
…Hillary is at home reading that poll and saying “what the f*ck do the voters know.”
What video today?
New video tomorrow.
My point was that the lefty caricature of Bush as a stupid man is quite wrong.
>Brasky :
“he is definitely a smart guy, notwithstanding the hyperpartisan line of the left”
There are lots of kinds of smart. The Bay of Pigs was planned by ROOMS full of smart men.
It’s not welcome news.
>Brasky :
…Hillary is at home reading that poll and saying “what the f*ck do the voters know.”
Apr 26, 2008 10:51 PM
Yes, with the two “Russian” female leads in GoldenEye played by a Dutch woman, Famke Janssen, and a Polish woman, Isabella Skorupco.
>sergei :
That is our beautiful Russian girl playing a beautiful girl in the new James Bond. For once, a Russian girl plays a Russian girl.
Mr. Bradley, you must remember the Golden Eye in which 2 non-Russian girls played the Russian girls.
Apr 26, 2008 08:11 PM
That’s an awesome video from Afghanistan!
Clearly I spoke too soon about not having new video today.
But it’s not every day you get video of a big assassination attempt.
In the video I saw, it was Brian Kilmeade who walked off the FNC set, not Chris Wallace.
Chris’s Obama interview today was weak. He starts off saying how he doesn’t want to talk about distractions like Wright and the lapel pin, then they go on about those for 15 minutes. They did eventually get to tax & Iraq, the most important topics.
Bush may not be stupid, but his plan to give everyone $600 is pretty stupid.
Obama Survives Fox News. He’ll be fine in the debates this fall.
So the Taliban nearly assassinate the President of Afghanistan and we’re sitting around talking about flag pins and looney tunes from 40 years ago.
Beautiful.
Yet another embarrassment.
NBC News just ran a story about the youngest girl to ever reach the North Pole on skis. Her mission was to witness the effects of global warming on melting ice.
They actually showed two penguins stranded on a mini iceberg.
two penguins stranded on a mini iceberg — It’s almost May.
And they said the Northwest Passage through the Arctic Sea was only a myth …
How old is she?
>Sam Loomis :
NBC News just ran a story about the youngest girl to ever reach the North Pole on skis. Her mission was to witness the effects of global warming on melting ice.
They actually showed two penguins stranded on a mini iceberg.
Apr 27, 2008 05:58 PM
It’s going very well.
>Capitol Boy :
So the Taliban nearly assassinate the President of Afghanistan and we’re sitting around talking about flag pins and looney tunes from 40 years ago.
Beautiful.
Apr 27, 2008 12:54 PM
I thought Obama did quite well on Fox.
>Sam Loomis :
In the video I saw, it was Brian Kilmeade who walked off the FNC set, not Chris Wallace.
Chris’s Obama interview today was weak. He starts off saying how he doesn’t want to talk about distractions like Wright and the lapel pin, then they go on about those for 15 minutes. They did eventually get to tax & Iraq, the most important topics.
Bush may not be stupid, but his plan to give everyone $600 is pretty stupid.
Apr 27, 2008 12:28 PM
What video today?
The big assassination attempt in Afghanistan.
Incidentally, NWN passed 61,000 comments sometime in the past week.