Thompson Top Campaign Aide Corallo Resigns in Shakeup (Update1)

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Another top aide resigned from Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson's campaign, as the former Tennessee senator made his White House bid official.

Mark Corallo, who resigned yesterday, according to a campaign official, was one of the first people to join Thompson. Corallo served as a spokesman and early strategist. Thompson formally declared his candidacy in a video posted on his Web site just after midnight today.

Corallo's resignation follows the departure of spokesman Jim Mills and comes just days after Thompson's communications director and another spokeswoman left the campaign. Thompson in recent months also lost acting campaign manager Tom Collamore and several other aides.

"There appears to be something dysfunctional inside the Thompson campaign," said Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. "He has been hemorrhaging staff pretty consistently without any explanation."

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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...

Pa. gov. orders partial state shutdown

Gov. Ed Rendell late Sunday ordered a range of state government services shut down and placed about a third of the state work force on indefinite unpaid furlough after frantic last-minute negotiations failed to break a budget stalemate.

A judge, however, ordered that the state's five slots parlors remain open, at least temporarily.

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A partisan battle of wills between the Democratic governor and the Republicans who control the Senate has created a deadlock lasting eight days into the new fiscal year. With Rendell's order, 24,000 state workers not deemed critical to health and safety were furloughed without pay Monday.

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A Commonwealth Court judge, however, halted the closure of slots parlors at least until a Tuesday hearing, said Doug Harbach, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. State Revenue Department workers who monitor the casinos' computers were among those ordered furloughed.

Critical services — such as health care for the poor, state police patrols and prisons — will be maintained. About 52,000 state workers will remain on the job and be paid on time.

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(Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070709/ap_on_... ;_ylt=Ap4F1s_ozyLK_2SHUoIe2spH2ocA)

Attorneys for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby are preparing a last-ditch effort to delay the former White House aide's 2 1/2-year prison sentence, even as President Bush declined to say Wednesday whether he was considering a pardon.

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He requested leniency but a federal judge said he would not reward someone who hindered the investigation into the exposure of a CIA operative, Valerie Plame. Her husband had accused the administration of twisting intelligence to justify the Iraq war.

"Mr. Libby failed to meet the bar. For whatever reason, he got off course," said U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton, adding that the evidence of Libby's guilt was overwhelming.

Libby's attorneys immediately sought to put the prison term on hold until his appeals have run out. Walton said he saw no reason to do so but reluctantly gave Libby's attorneys until Thursday to submit legal papers on the issue.

Bush, traveling in Europe, declined to say Wednesday whether he may pardon Libby.

"Yesterday was a very sad day for Scooter and his family," Bush told reporters. "But there's an ongoing process and it wouldn't be appropriate for me to discuss it while the process is going forward."

"My heart goes out to his family," the president added.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070606/ap_on_...

As a candidate for the U.S. Senate here in Minnesota, I've become painfully aware of the role money plays in politics.

For instance, according to my staff, I'm not supposed to write anything without mentioning that our grassroots campaign needs the support of great progressives like YOU and asking you to click here and chip in a few bucks so I can take on the Republican attack machine.

See? That kind of thing totally distracts the reader from my point, which is this: If you ever wonder whether we really need public financing of elections in this country, try running for office. You might think I spend most of my time kissing babies or shaking hands or having serious policy debates in which my sparkling wit and superior knowledge of the issues combine to sweep audiences off their feet.

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But the sad truth is, if you can't raise the money, you can't make your case.

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It cheats elected officials, too. With public financing, members of Congress could spend their time meeting with constituents, discussing policy problems with experts, and, you know, READING the legislation they're voting on. And we wouldn't have any more earmarks snuck in in the middle of the night, $231 million "Bridges to Nowhere," or stupid giveaways to big corporate interests. Also, I wouldn't have to keep asking you for money all the time. (Which reminds me: click here!)

That's why, when I'm in the Senate, I'll push for public financing of elections. But in the meantime, I have to go call a guy in Wayzata who's got some kind of hedge fund or something.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/al-franken/i...

Bob Baker has seen the worst of the worst in his 27 years as an animal cruelty investigator.

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"Most breeders learn how to keep their standards just above violating cruelty statutes, but the conditions are still unacceptable," said Baker, a St. Louis-based national investigator for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "It's difficult dealing with these people. We file charges on the most egregious ones."

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Puppy lemon laws, which let buyers get their money back if health or genetic defects are discovered within a set time, are on the books in 16 states and were introduced in four others this year.

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The Humane Society of the United States has long identified Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Ohio and Pennsylvania as the major puppy-mill states, said outreach director Stephanie Shain.

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Daisy Okas, assistant vice president of communications for the American Kennel Club, said breeders, kennel operators and pet stores register all types of breeds with her organization. The AKC has 15 inspectors who visit about 5,000 places a year where significant numbers of dogs are registered.

Shain, however, said people who want a puppy should avoid pet stores and instead buy from a hobby breeder or adopt from a shelter.

Puppy mills, Shain said, damage dogs emotionally and physically because the animals are confined in tight, unsanitary quarters with little or no socialization with humans or veterinary care. Females are bred repeatedly, some when they're as young as 6 months.

The overbreeding, combined with the dismal environment, results in sickly puppies that have genetic defects and temperament problems, she said. The dogs are sold in pet stores or on the Internet to unsuspecting buyers.

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(http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070603/ap_on_... )

"She gave a speech a couple of days ago and laid out her vision for America. And as I listened to her I figured her platform wouldn't even get her elected in France," Romney, who was a missionary in France, said to chuckles and applause.

In recent French elections, conservative Nicolas Sarkozy captured the presidency, defeating Segolene Royal in her bid to become France's first female president.

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"I'm convinced if Hillary were president ... that we would see instead of a stronger military and a stronger economy and stronger families, we'd see a weaker military because she would ... be able to spend money on the social programs that she favors," he said. "We'd see a weaker economy because she'd raise taxes and we'd have less money going into the private sector and creating new jobs. We'd see weaker families as well."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070531/ap_on_... ;_ylt=Ao61oPiVPjJqDEWQv8HVDA5h24cA

The Army will begin teaching combat lifesaving instruction during basic training to enable soldiers to give critical medical care to wounded comrades on the battlefield.

The service's five basic training bases will begin teaching combat lifesaver training by June 15, including instruction on starting an IV and helping soldiers breathe through a tube, Army officials said. The bases train up to 180,000 soldiers annually, including National Guard and Reserve components.

Officials said medical care given immediately after injuries like gunshot wounds and those caused by improvised explosive devices could mean the difference between life and death. Simple lifesaving techniques could cut down on long-term injuries and deaths, they said.

"The most critical 10 minutes in a soldier's care in combat is the first 10 minutes," said Col. Kevin A. Shwedo, director of operations, plans and training for the Army Accessions Command, which oversees training. "We've focused on the skills that would give us the greatest opportunity to evacuate an individual to a higher degree of health care."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070527/ap_on_... ;_ylt=Ahy1_PEaz2SRRLywCETOZIRG2ocA

A moat and fortified walls have protected the Tower of London from vandals for almost 800 years, but against the ravages of pollution, the iconic royal palace doesn’t stand a chance. The entire complex is turning yellow from the exhaust of cars and trucks, according to a new study.

The discoloration is most noticeable at the complex’s White Tower, the original square fortress built by William the Conqueror in 1078. “When we question visitors, they say the color is cream,” said study co-author Peter Brimblecombe, an atmospheric chemist at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom. The results are detailed in this month’s issue of the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

In the next 20 years, Brimblecombe said, the famous tower will turn a more brownish yellow. “You might imagine how angry people are going to get about paying a large sum of money to see a yellow tower that’s supposed to be white,” he said.

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Brimblecombe explained that too much washing can damage the stonework. “Our aim is not to clean buildings of their history, but we also don’t want them changing color,” he said. “The aim is to be aware of coming changes, prepare for them and keep them at a publicly-acceptable level.”