I was driving today in Whitter Calif. Today listening to the Randi Rhodes show, I had briefly changed channels for a few minutes only to switch back to the announcement that Tim Russert, Meet the Press Moderator had died suddenly from a heart attack at age 58 while doing a voice over commentary for his upcoming Sunday show. I could not believe what I just heard. At the top of the hour, the News confirmed his untimely passing.
I'm deeply saddened at Mr. Russert's Passing, and can't even begin to imagine what his family and collegues are going through. I would like to offer my deepest and sincere condolence to the Russert Family, and to the NBC staff for their loss.
I watched Meet the Press for years and feel like he was a part of my Family. I just watched him this past Saturday when Hillary Clinton made her speech. I still can't believe this loving soul has left us.
Meet the Press will never be the same. I'm so overwhelmed -- can't continue now. I will add more thoughts later.
MAY YOU REST IN PEACE TIM -- I LOVE YOU. MAY THE LORD BLESS YOU FAMILY AND GUIDE THEM THROUGH THIS DIFFICULT TIME.
MR. RUSSERT, I WILL MISS YOU.
Steven Alexander.
Los Angeles, CA
PEACE.
Friday, June 13, 2008
MEET THE PRESS TIM RUSSERT DEAD AT 58
NBC’s Tim Russert dies of heart attack at 58
Washington bureau chief, ‘Meet the Press’ moderator collapsed on job
WASHINGTON - Tim Russert, NBC News’ Washington bureau chief and the moderator of “Meet the Press,” died Friday after suffering a heart attack at the bureau. He was 58.
Russert was recording voiceovers for Sunday’s “Meet the Press” broadcast when he collapsed. He was rushed to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, where resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.
Russert’s physician, Michael Newman, said cholesterol plaque ruptured in an artery, causing sudden coronary thrombosis.
Russert had earlier been diagnosed with asymptomatic coronary artery disease, but it was well-controlled with medication and exercise, and he had performed well on a stress test in late April, Newman said. An autopsy revealed that he also had an enlarged heart, Newman said.
Russert’s death left his colleagues devastated.
He was “one of the premier political journalists and analysts of his time,” Tom Brokaw, the former longtime anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” said in announcing Russert’s death Friday afternoon. Brian Williams, managing editor and anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” called his death a “staggering, overpowering and sudden loss.”
“Meet the Press,” which he began hosting in 1991, was considered an essential proving ground in the career of any national politician.
“If you could pass the Tim Russert test, you could do something in this field,” said Howard Fineman, senior Washington correspondent for Newsweek magazine and a columnist for msnbc.com.
Tenacity and passion
Russert was best known for his on-air tenacity as a reporter and his consuming passion for politics, which were evident during his nearly round-the-clock appearances on NBC and MSNBC on election nights.
Statement from NBC
Statement from Jeff Zucker, president and CEO of NBC Universal:
“We are heartbroken at the sudden passing of Tim Russert. We have lost a beloved member of our NBC Universal family and the news world has lost one of its finest. The enormity of this loss cannot be overstated. More than a journalist, Tim was a remarkable family man. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Maureen, their son, Luke, and Tim’s entire extended family.”
But behind the scenes, Russert was also a senior vice president and head of NBC’s Washington operations, orchestrating all of the network’s coverage of government and political news.
“This is a tragic loss for journalism and for all who were privileged to know him,” said Walter Cronkite, the retired anchor and managing editor of ”The CBS Evening News.”
In a statement, President Bush called Russert “an institution in both news and politics for more than two decades.”
“Tim was a tough and hardworking newsman. He was always well-informed and thorough in his interviews. And he was as gregarious off the set as he was prepared on it,” the president said.
Earlier this year, Time magazine named Russert one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Mayor Byron Brown ordered flags flown at half-staff in Buffalo, N.Y., his hometown. NBC News planned to air a tribute to Russert on “Dateline NBC” on Friday at 10 p.m. ET, and Brokaw was to host a special edition of “Meet the Press” remembering Russert on Sunday morning.
Washington bureau chief, ‘Meet the Press’ moderator collapsed on job
WASHINGTON - Tim Russert, NBC News’ Washington bureau chief and the moderator of “Meet the Press,” died Friday after suffering a heart attack at the bureau. He was 58.
Russert was recording voiceovers for Sunday’s “Meet the Press” broadcast when he collapsed. He was rushed to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, where resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.
Russert’s physician, Michael Newman, said cholesterol plaque ruptured in an artery, causing sudden coronary thrombosis.
Russert had earlier been diagnosed with asymptomatic coronary artery disease, but it was well-controlled with medication and exercise, and he had performed well on a stress test in late April, Newman said. An autopsy revealed that he also had an enlarged heart, Newman said.
Russert’s death left his colleagues devastated.
He was “one of the premier political journalists and analysts of his time,” Tom Brokaw, the former longtime anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” said in announcing Russert’s death Friday afternoon. Brian Williams, managing editor and anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” called his death a “staggering, overpowering and sudden loss.”
“Meet the Press,” which he began hosting in 1991, was considered an essential proving ground in the career of any national politician.
“If you could pass the Tim Russert test, you could do something in this field,” said Howard Fineman, senior Washington correspondent for Newsweek magazine and a columnist for msnbc.com.
Tenacity and passion
Russert was best known for his on-air tenacity as a reporter and his consuming passion for politics, which were evident during his nearly round-the-clock appearances on NBC and MSNBC on election nights.
Statement from NBC
Statement from Jeff Zucker, president and CEO of NBC Universal:
“We are heartbroken at the sudden passing of Tim Russert. We have lost a beloved member of our NBC Universal family and the news world has lost one of its finest. The enormity of this loss cannot be overstated. More than a journalist, Tim was a remarkable family man. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Maureen, their son, Luke, and Tim’s entire extended family.”
But behind the scenes, Russert was also a senior vice president and head of NBC’s Washington operations, orchestrating all of the network’s coverage of government and political news.
“This is a tragic loss for journalism and for all who were privileged to know him,” said Walter Cronkite, the retired anchor and managing editor of ”The CBS Evening News.”
In a statement, President Bush called Russert “an institution in both news and politics for more than two decades.”
“Tim was a tough and hardworking newsman. He was always well-informed and thorough in his interviews. And he was as gregarious off the set as he was prepared on it,” the president said.
Earlier this year, Time magazine named Russert one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Mayor Byron Brown ordered flags flown at half-staff in Buffalo, N.Y., his hometown. NBC News planned to air a tribute to Russert on “Dateline NBC” on Friday at 10 p.m. ET, and Brokaw was to host a special edition of “Meet the Press” remembering Russert on Sunday morning.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
TODAY’S ENRON by Randi Rhodes NOVA M RADIO
ONE PIECE OF LEGISLATION IS WHY OIL IS THROUGH THE ROOF
Lay, DeLay, Gramm, Gramm & Clinton
PART ONE
http://www.star-telegram.com/104/story/651928.html
PART TWO
http://www.star-telegram.com/ed_wallace/story/659081.html
Republicans offer the same old tired slogans that they have touted throughout the Bush years and that haven’t done anything to combat the increase in gas prices
- More Drilling: Domestic drilling has not led to lower prices. Since 2000, drilling has increased dramatically – climbing about 66 percent– while gas prices continue to increase. and gas companies have shown that they cannot keep pace with the rate of drilling permits that the federal government is handing out – over the past 4 years they have received and are sitting on nearly 10,000 permits that they aren’t using to increase domestic production. Since 1999, drilling permits for oil and gas development on public lands increased more than 361 percent.
- OCS: The vast majority of federal oil and gas resources located on the OCS are already open for development - of all the oil and gas believed to exist on the OCS, nearly 80% of oil and 82% of natural gas is located in areas already open for leasing. In 2006, the federal government opened 8.3 million new acres in the Gulf of Mexico to drilling, yet gasoline prices have increased by $1.69 per gallon. Only 10.5 million of the 44 million leased offshore acres are actually producing oil or gas.
- Open ANWR: EIA estimates that if we open ANWR today, twenty years down the road, at peak production, gas prices would be lowered at the maximum by $1.44 per barrel, which translates to only a few cents a gallon. Increased conservation and the use of alternative technologies in the last three years have cut the projected need for imported oil between now and 2050 by more than 100 billion barrels (EIA) – ten times more benefit than what we might be able to get a decade from now from ANWR.
- More Refineries: We have excess refining capacity. Last week, our refineries were running at 89% capacity – well below the 95-98% capacity use rates we’ve seen this time of year for the last decade. Republicans argue that environmental regulations are preventing new refineries from being built in the U.S. From 1975 to 2000, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) received only one permit request for a new refinery, which was approved. In addition, oil companies are regularly applying for – and receiving – permits to modify and expand their existing refineries.
Republicans and Democrats have a fundamentally different approach to tackling high gas prices. Democrats are being aggressive today to lower prices and reduce dependence on foreign oil while thinking ahead to tomorrow
- Working to Address Rising Gas Prices
- Enacted legislation to increase oil supply by temporarily suspending the fill of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the nation’s crude oil stockpile. (H.R. 6022)
- Gave the FTC new authority to crack down on those manipulating wholesale energy markets to keep prices high in the Energy Independence and Security Act (H.R. 6)
- Approved the Gas Price Relief for Consumers Act (H.R. 6074) to hold the OPEC monopoly accountable for price fixing that flouts the free market and artificially drives up the cost of crude oil.
- Passed the Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act (H.R. 1252) to investigate price gouging by retailers who may be using the cover of high prices to unfairly inflate their rates even further.
- Investing in a Sustainable, Energy Independent America
- Enacted the landmark Energy Independence and Security Act (H.R. 6) that raised vehicle fuel efficiency for the first time in 32 years and increased the renewable fuels standard.
- Passed the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Act (H.R. 5351) to end unnecessary subsidies to oil companies making record profits and invest in clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency.
- Approved the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act (H.R. 6049) to renew and expand tax incentives for renewable energy.
- Passed the Food and Energy Security Act (H.R. 2419) that promotes the development of biofuels, including those from non-corn sources.
If costs go up then of course prices go up. But why then would profits go up? Shouldn’t it be a wash? YEP
But here’s another wrinkle…the cost for Middle East oil producers hasn’t gone up!
FACT
Oil executives and speculators are getting rich on the backs of American consumers. Indeed, on average, it costs a company such as ExxonMobil about $20 to extract a barrel of oil, which in turn is sold for more than $115 a barrel. Refiner profit margins have also been soaring at vertically integrated oil companies, which helps explain how the largest five oil companies in America have posted more than $550 billion in profits since 2001
http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2650
John McCain doesn’t think it’s “too important” when and if our troops ever come home. Just as long as they stop getting themselves killed over there!
Iraq and Iran have met and agree the Number One impediment to progress there is the presence of US Troops. Whose out of touch now Grandpa?
New polling shows Obama beating McCain in the General Election, but remember it’s just a snapshot in time. We have work to do. Right wing Talk Shows are smearing Obama everyday with lies and even allegations of “terrorist hand signals”. Sheesh. Desperate men do desperate things. Obama has set up a website for you to report any smears and to fact check the ones that are already out there.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/fightthesmearshome/
And I’ve included a little IQ test for you today. Test your Candidate IQ!
Grandpa
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationw...8938.triviaquiz
Obama
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politic...5895.triviaquiz
HOMEWORK
Head ot the FTC was an Exxon Mobil lawyer until 2005
http://www.davidsirota.com/2005/09/bush-ha...er-head-up.html
Currently the Head of the FTC is William E. Kovacic who has done nothing with the new authority Congress gave him in 2007
http://www.examiner.com/p-154031~Pelosi__H...Gas_Prices.html
DUMB JOHN MCCAIN QUOTES
http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/johnmcc.../mccainisms.htm
GRANDPA MCCAIN
When the troops come home “is not too important”
http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uui...0FCEB1FBD6E78F5
Here’s Senator John Kerry’s response AND Senator John Thune’s attempt at damage control
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25104803#25105147
IRAQ AND IRAN TALK
THE NUMBER ONE PROBLEM IS THE PRESENCE OF AMERICAN TROOPS
http://www.startribune.com/templates/Print...ry?sid=19693889
Americans ask “IS THERE PROGRESS IN IRAQ?” Answer - No one knows
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0610/p03s01-usfp.html
Obama widens lead against John McCain
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1213220486...s_us_whats_news
Sen. Obama leads among independent voters, 41% to 36%.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/20...olls/index.html
Most women however do not know that Granpa’s position on ROE v WADE is to ABOLISH it completely.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25095111#25095111
Senator Obama has a new website to fight the smears and rumours that are spread about him and his wife Michelle. If you see something SAY something.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/fightthesmearshome/
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/...1813663,00.html
Lay, DeLay, Gramm, Gramm & Clinton
PART ONE
http://www.star-telegram.com/104/story/651928.html
PART TWO
http://www.star-telegram.com/ed_wallace/story/659081.html
Republicans offer the same old tired slogans that they have touted throughout the Bush years and that haven’t done anything to combat the increase in gas prices
- More Drilling: Domestic drilling has not led to lower prices. Since 2000, drilling has increased dramatically – climbing about 66 percent– while gas prices continue to increase. and gas companies have shown that they cannot keep pace with the rate of drilling permits that the federal government is handing out – over the past 4 years they have received and are sitting on nearly 10,000 permits that they aren’t using to increase domestic production. Since 1999, drilling permits for oil and gas development on public lands increased more than 361 percent.
- OCS: The vast majority of federal oil and gas resources located on the OCS are already open for development - of all the oil and gas believed to exist on the OCS, nearly 80% of oil and 82% of natural gas is located in areas already open for leasing. In 2006, the federal government opened 8.3 million new acres in the Gulf of Mexico to drilling, yet gasoline prices have increased by $1.69 per gallon. Only 10.5 million of the 44 million leased offshore acres are actually producing oil or gas.
- Open ANWR: EIA estimates that if we open ANWR today, twenty years down the road, at peak production, gas prices would be lowered at the maximum by $1.44 per barrel, which translates to only a few cents a gallon. Increased conservation and the use of alternative technologies in the last three years have cut the projected need for imported oil between now and 2050 by more than 100 billion barrels (EIA) – ten times more benefit than what we might be able to get a decade from now from ANWR.
- More Refineries: We have excess refining capacity. Last week, our refineries were running at 89% capacity – well below the 95-98% capacity use rates we’ve seen this time of year for the last decade. Republicans argue that environmental regulations are preventing new refineries from being built in the U.S. From 1975 to 2000, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) received only one permit request for a new refinery, which was approved. In addition, oil companies are regularly applying for – and receiving – permits to modify and expand their existing refineries.
Republicans and Democrats have a fundamentally different approach to tackling high gas prices. Democrats are being aggressive today to lower prices and reduce dependence on foreign oil while thinking ahead to tomorrow
- Working to Address Rising Gas Prices
- Enacted legislation to increase oil supply by temporarily suspending the fill of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the nation’s crude oil stockpile. (H.R. 6022)
- Gave the FTC new authority to crack down on those manipulating wholesale energy markets to keep prices high in the Energy Independence and Security Act (H.R. 6)
- Approved the Gas Price Relief for Consumers Act (H.R. 6074) to hold the OPEC monopoly accountable for price fixing that flouts the free market and artificially drives up the cost of crude oil.
- Passed the Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act (H.R. 1252) to investigate price gouging by retailers who may be using the cover of high prices to unfairly inflate their rates even further.
- Investing in a Sustainable, Energy Independent America
- Enacted the landmark Energy Independence and Security Act (H.R. 6) that raised vehicle fuel efficiency for the first time in 32 years and increased the renewable fuels standard.
- Passed the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Act (H.R. 5351) to end unnecessary subsidies to oil companies making record profits and invest in clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency.
- Approved the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act (H.R. 6049) to renew and expand tax incentives for renewable energy.
- Passed the Food and Energy Security Act (H.R. 2419) that promotes the development of biofuels, including those from non-corn sources.
If costs go up then of course prices go up. But why then would profits go up? Shouldn’t it be a wash? YEP
But here’s another wrinkle…the cost for Middle East oil producers hasn’t gone up!
FACT
Oil executives and speculators are getting rich on the backs of American consumers. Indeed, on average, it costs a company such as ExxonMobil about $20 to extract a barrel of oil, which in turn is sold for more than $115 a barrel. Refiner profit margins have also been soaring at vertically integrated oil companies, which helps explain how the largest five oil companies in America have posted more than $550 billion in profits since 2001
http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2650
John McCain doesn’t think it’s “too important” when and if our troops ever come home. Just as long as they stop getting themselves killed over there!
Iraq and Iran have met and agree the Number One impediment to progress there is the presence of US Troops. Whose out of touch now Grandpa?
New polling shows Obama beating McCain in the General Election, but remember it’s just a snapshot in time. We have work to do. Right wing Talk Shows are smearing Obama everyday with lies and even allegations of “terrorist hand signals”. Sheesh. Desperate men do desperate things. Obama has set up a website for you to report any smears and to fact check the ones that are already out there.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/fightthesmearshome/
And I’ve included a little IQ test for you today. Test your Candidate IQ!
Grandpa
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationw...8938.triviaquiz
Obama
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politic...5895.triviaquiz
HOMEWORK
Head ot the FTC was an Exxon Mobil lawyer until 2005
http://www.davidsirota.com/2005/09/bush-ha...er-head-up.html
Currently the Head of the FTC is William E. Kovacic who has done nothing with the new authority Congress gave him in 2007
http://www.examiner.com/p-154031~Pelosi__H...Gas_Prices.html
DUMB JOHN MCCAIN QUOTES
http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/johnmcc.../mccainisms.htm
GRANDPA MCCAIN
When the troops come home “is not too important”
http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uui...0FCEB1FBD6E78F5
Here’s Senator John Kerry’s response AND Senator John Thune’s attempt at damage control
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25104803#25105147
IRAQ AND IRAN TALK
THE NUMBER ONE PROBLEM IS THE PRESENCE OF AMERICAN TROOPS
http://www.startribune.com/templates/Print...ry?sid=19693889
Americans ask “IS THERE PROGRESS IN IRAQ?” Answer - No one knows
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0610/p03s01-usfp.html
Obama widens lead against John McCain
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1213220486...s_us_whats_news
Sen. Obama leads among independent voters, 41% to 36%.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/20...olls/index.html
Most women however do not know that Granpa’s position on ROE v WADE is to ABOLISH it completely.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25095111#25095111
Senator Obama has a new website to fight the smears and rumours that are spread about him and his wife Michelle. If you see something SAY something.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/fightthesmearshome/
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/...1813663,00.html
The Michelle Obama Factor
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has launched a Web site to dispel rumors about his faith and patriotism and his wife's views on race that have dogged his candidacy for more than a year.
The Web site, at http://www.fightthesmears.com, offers detailed responses to several rumors that have continued to circulate online and in conservative news outlets despite efforts to knock them down, and encourages supporters to e-mail those responses to others.
The Web site says the Illinois senator's wife, Michelle, who like her husband is black, has never used the racially divisive term "whitey," as some blogs and conservative commentators have said.
Michelle has never spoken publicly at either of the two venues where she is alleged to have made the remark, the site says.
The site also tackles false rumors that Obama, who will take on Republican John McCain in the November election, is Muslim.
"Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised as a Muslim, and is a committed Christian," the site says.
A photograph shows Obama with his hand on a Bible as he is sworn into the U.S. Senate, to counter a rumor that he used a Koran when he was sworn in.
A CNN profile of the Indonesian school he attended as a child is used to dispel a rumor that it teaches radical Islamic tenets.
The site also puts in context passages from Obama's books that have been excerpted as supposed evidence of his racial resentments, and contains a video of him leading the Pledge of Allegiance to dispel a rumor that he refuses to do so.
(Reporting by Andy Sullivan; Editing by David Alexander)
The Web site, at http://www.fightthesmears.com, offers detailed responses to several rumors that have continued to circulate online and in conservative news outlets despite efforts to knock them down, and encourages supporters to e-mail those responses to others.
The Web site says the Illinois senator's wife, Michelle, who like her husband is black, has never used the racially divisive term "whitey," as some blogs and conservative commentators have said.
Michelle has never spoken publicly at either of the two venues where she is alleged to have made the remark, the site says.
The site also tackles false rumors that Obama, who will take on Republican John McCain in the November election, is Muslim.
"Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised as a Muslim, and is a committed Christian," the site says.
A photograph shows Obama with his hand on a Bible as he is sworn into the U.S. Senate, to counter a rumor that he used a Koran when he was sworn in.
A CNN profile of the Indonesian school he attended as a child is used to dispel a rumor that it teaches radical Islamic tenets.
The site also puts in context passages from Obama's books that have been excerpted as supposed evidence of his racial resentments, and contains a video of him leading the Pledge of Allegiance to dispel a rumor that he refuses to do so.
(Reporting by Andy Sullivan; Editing by David Alexander)
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