Archive → July, 2008
Israel tests new anti-missle system
It’s not exactly as humble as farmhouse sinks, but Israel successfully tested a missle intercept system over the weekend. This system, code-named Iron Dome, is scheduled to be fully operational within a year and is built to defend the country from missle attacks originating from southern Lebenon and the Gaza Strip.
The system is designed to be effective against mortar fire and other small rockets, which have small windows of warning and intercept opportunity. Considering the constant Middle East bruhahah, especially with Iran becoming increasingly emboldened, with Iranian President Mahmoud Achmadinijad frequently talking about a forthcoming destruction of Israel, the time for such advanced defenses us likely in the “no time like the present” category.
McCain to balance budget by 2012?
GOP presidential hopeful John McCain will promise today that he will balance the federal budget within four years – by the end of his presumptive first term in office. He plans to do this by eliminating wasteful spending and overhauling entitlement programs – including Social Security. So much for those retirement Hilton Head rentals we were all hoping for!
“In the long-term, the only way to keep the budget balanced is successful reform of the large spending pressures in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid,” the McCain campaign says in a policy paper to be released Monday. “The McCain administration would reserve all savings from victory in the Iraq and Afghanistan operations in the fight against Islamic extremists for reducing the deficit. Since all their costs were financed with deficit spending, all their savings must go to deficit reduction.”
It’s a step in the right direction, but WonderfulPessimsit.com speculates he’ll make more headway with voters by keeping the “drill here, drill now, pay less” bandwagon issue front and center throughout the election season and into election day in November.
New phase, new campaign manager for McCain
Today, Senator John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee for president, announced he’d appointed a new head of his campaign, Steve Schmidt. Schmidt, who replaces Rick Davis (who’ll stay on in a diminished role), joins a campaign that has been dormant while waiting for the Democrats to settle on who they would run against McCain.
The McCain campaign has been lax on fundraising, headline-making, organization and direction under Davis, and it’s hoped that Schmidt, who served in George W. Bush’s re-election campaign, will be able to bring new energy and vision to the McCain camp, making the letheragy of recent months a mere memory.
One thing’s certain: McCain’s VP choice is the easiest way to get him back in the headlines; let’s hope Schmidt is up to the task of helping McCain settle on a running mate who’ll engage the party’s conservative wing, which would go a long way toward re-energizing the McCain campaign.
Eight more years! Eight more years!
As reported, variously, by the LA Times and the Drudge Report, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh signed an unprecedented contract extension with Clear Channel Media and Premiere Radio that will guarantee the host remains in place behind the “golden EIB microphone” he first made famous 20 years ago, through 2016.
The size of the deal is a record for regular, terrestrial radio, checking in at over $400 million for the eight-year extension. That’ll buy a lot of luggage.
Only Howard Stern’s deal with Siruis Satellite Radio eclipses the Limbaugh deal; Stern’s contract awarded him $500 million in contract money and $225 million in stock options for a total compensation package of $725 million over only five years.
Stern and satellite radio aside, however, Limbaugh’s deal is still one of the largest ever signed by terrestrial radio, and places his compensation well ahead of the traditional news media anchors Katie Couric, Brian Williams, Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer combined.
Still, Limbaugh has done a lot of work to earn the record-breaking compensation package; he has built and maintained one of the largest radio syndication networks for his program in modern radio history, and kept it going for over two decades.
The only X-Factor in the deal for Clear Channel and Premiere comes if Obama is elected in November and the Democrats retain control of Congress; it is strongly believed that in that event, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would push to bring back the so-called “Fairness Doctrine,” redesigned to silence voices like Limbaugh, as well as other conservative hosts such as Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage and others.
Congratulations, Rush!
Sex for… gas?
The Web site The Smoking Gun is reporting that Angela Eversole, 34, of Kentucky is facing prostitution charges after an arrest last weekend; according to reports, Eversole was nabbed at a Days Inn hotel for offering sexual services in exchange for a $100 Speedway gas card… or, about 25 gallons of gas.
The court documents had no custom boxes to record the exact nature of the charges, and so they had to be explained in the comment section. Apparently there were other gifts and trinkets offered to Eversole by her alleged customer, Kenneth Nowak, but the Speedway gas card held the highest value.
Of course, a $100 Speedway gift card won’t get you as far as it used to; but then, it’s of no use behind bars anyway.
