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Poll: Obama more popular than Congress

THE WASHINGTON TIMES — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:56:07 +0000

Americans have come to detest Congress ever more deeply as it nears the end of a nasty fight over health care. But more than half still back President Obama, a bright spot for a Democratic Party counting on its leader to help stave off expected losses in elections this fall. The latest Associated Press-GfK poll found that fewer people approve of Congress than at any point in MR. Obama’s presidency. Support has dropped significantly since January to a dismal 22 percent as the health care debate has roiled Capitol Hill. Neither Republicans nor Democrats are safe; half of all people …

NASA: Money key to more shuttle flights

Marcia Dunn ASSOCIATED PRESS — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:16:52 +0000

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s space shuttle manager said Tuesday it wouldn’t be hard to add more shuttle flights. The real question is money. Program manager John Shannon said it costs $200 million a month to keep the fleet flying. Four more shuttle missions are planned before the aircraft are to be retired this fall. Some in Congress, though, are pushing for additional flights. Last month, President Obama killed NASA’s Constellation program, which would have created a shuttle successor. Mr. Shannon said NASA already has a fuel tank and set of boosters for one additional flight. He said getting other …

More men file workplace sexual harassment claims

THE WASHINGTON TIMES — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:59:53 +0000

Jonathan Pilkington’s boss wouldn’t take no for an answer. During more than two years as a food runner at an upscale steakhouse in Scottsdale, Ariz., Mr. Pilkington said, his male supervisor groped, fondled and otherwise sexually harassed him more than a dozen times. “It was very embarrassing,” Mr. Pilkington said. “I felt like I had to do something because the situation was just so bad.” Now Mr. Pilkington, a married father of two, is the star witness in a federal lawsuit against Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar and one of a growing number of men claiming they are victims …

China holds more U.S. debt than indicated

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:00:06 +0000

Despite recent government reports that China’s holdings of U.S. Treasury debt declined during the second half of last year, the Asian economic giant almost certainly owns far more Treasury securities than official statistics indicate. After peaking at $801.5 billion, China’s holdings of U.S. Treasury securities declined to $755.4 billion at the year’s end, dropping the communist power into the position of second-largest holder of Treasury debt after Japan’s $768.8 billion, official government data reveal. But these numbers don’t tell the whole story. “The U.S. Treasury data almost certainly understate Chinese holdings of our government debt because [the U.S. figures] do …

Storm rakes East; more than 1 million in the dark

THE WASHINGTON TIMES — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:26:43 +0000

HAMPTON, N.H. (AP) — A strong-willed winter storm that began with a whimper parked itself Friday over the Northeast, bringing hurricane-force winds, flooding and more than 2 feet of snow as it cut power to more than a million homes and businesses. Schools were canceled as far west as Cleveland and roads closed as far south as West Virginia as the slow-moving storm spent a second day parked over the region. The storm brought a wide array of calamity over a broad area after getting a slow start Thursday, when snow began falling in the Philadelphia region around dawn but …

Governors brace for more budget chaos

THE WASHINGTON TIMES — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 10:00:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) — On the recession’s front lines, governors are struggling to chart the road ahead for states staggered by unrelenting joblessness and cut-to-the-bone budgets even as Washington reports signs of economic growth. “The worst probably is yet to come,” warned Gov. Jim Douglas, R-Vt., chairman of the National Governors Association, at the group’s meeting Saturday. He called the situation “fairly poor” in most states, adding that it “doesn’t look too good.” Such uncertainty weighed heavily over the governors’ weekend meeting even though health care — and how states can address skyrocketing costs — was the intended focus. That’s recognized …

Fewer airline crashes in 2009, but more deaths

Joan Lowy ASSOCIATED PRESS — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:19:04 +0000

Fewer airline crashes occurred around the world in 2009 than during the previous year, but deaths were up, an industry group said Thursday. There were 18 fatal airline accidents last year compared with 23 fatal accidents in 2008, the International Air Transport Association said. However, there were 685 fatalities in 2009 compared with 502 the previous year, the association said. Those numbers include both jet and turboprop planes. The major-accident rate for 2009 — 0.7 accidents per million flights — was the second lowest ever and is more than a third lower than the rate 10 years ago, the association …

GINGRICH: This year’s CPAC may matter more than most

THE WASHINGTON TIMES — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:00:00 +0000

ANALYSIS/OPINION: The Conservative Political Action Conference has become a major historic event. Every year, thousands of conservative activists come from across America to rally, talk, listen, network and plan. At home several million tune in to C-SPAN and other live TV- and Web-based coverage including hundreds of live bloggers. It is truly a gathering of the conservative activists of America. This year’s CPAC may matter more than most. The timing is perfect. This week, CPAC. Next week, President Obama has invited Republican leaders to a “bipartisan” health summit that will be televised. There is no better time for the conservative …

More Kennedy footage displayed

THE WASHINGTON TIMES — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:00:00 +0000

DALLAS | New color video footage showing President John F. Kennedy’s arrival in Dallas the day he was assassinated is the best home movie ever made of the event, the curator of the Dallas JFK museum said. The short color clip, shot on 8 mm film by a 15-year-old student, provides a rare, high-quality close-up of John and Jacqueline Kennedy as they arrived in Dallas. The Sixth Floor Museum put the film on display for public viewing on Presidents Day. Kennedy was killed Nov. 22, 1963, as his motorcade made its way through downtown Dallas. The footage shot earlier that …

Cons to count more in census changes

THE WASHINGTON TIMES — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Prisoners will soon be bigger players in those high-stakes congressional redistricting fights, even if unwittingly, thanks to a change in federal policy governing how they are to be counted in the 2010 census. Prison populations have historically been included in national head counts, but now census officials will make data on inmate populations available to states earlier than in the past. This change will allow states to decide whether to count inmates for purposes of redistricting. If a state makes that choice, it would have to decide where inmates should be considered residents – in rural towns, where prisons are …