Senator Sanders
Ambassador for the “Most Livable” Place on Earth There’s a best-of list for everything, including countries. A new study commissioned by Reader’s Digest added environmental health to the equation to rank “the planet’s greenest, most livable places.” The
Columnist Calls it Quits In Peter Freyne's column, left was right and right was wrong…For 20 years, the left-leaning "Inside Track" newspaper columnist dished the dirt on Vermont politics in a style that owed as much to Rona Barrett as it did to Woodward and Bernstein. "I don't cross swords with him. He crosses swords with me. He's the one with the sword," Senator Bernie Sanders told The Associated Press. LINK
World
Iraq PM to Rebels: Quit or be Killed Iraq's prime minister on Wednesday gave gunmen in the southern oil port of Basra a three-day deadline to surrender their weapons and renounce violence as clashes between Shiite militia fighters and Iraqi security forces erupted for a second day. At least 55 people have been killed and 300 wounded in Basra and Baghdad after the fighting spread to the capital's main Shiite district of Sadr City, The Associated Press reported. LINK
Outlook for Medicare, Social Security The Bush administration issued a grim report on Tuesday on the financial outlook for Medicare and Social Security, but said the condition of the programs had not significantly deteriorated since last spring.The new report, like the one issued last April, said Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund would be exhausted in 2019, while Social Security’s reserves would be depleted in 2041, according to The New York Times. LINK
Justices Rebuff Bush and World Court The Supreme Court yesterday issued a broad ruling limiting presidential power and the reach of international treaties, saying neither President Bush nor the World Court has the authority to order a Texas court to reopen a death penalty case involving a foreign national, The Washington Post reported. The justices held 6 to 3 that judgments of the International Court of Justice, as the court is formally known, are not binding on U.S. courts and that Bush's 2005 executive order that courts in Texas comply anyway does not change that. LINK
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Housing Prices Rise Housing in
Teen Accused of
Defense Contractor Lands Rocket Work The General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products plant in
House Panel Wants to Borrow for Roads The House Transportation Committee is frustrated by the worsening condition of the state's roads and highways. So the committee has taken the unusual step of trying to force the Douglas Administration to borrow money to pay for the needed repairs,