Bad Deeds for 1-24-2008

Fox Host Makes Gay Jokes about Death of Heath Ledger – On Fox Radio, John Gibson used the occasion of the death of actor Heath Ledger to crack jokes about the actor and play clips from his most notable film, Brokeback Mountain. The remarks from the radio host seemed to make insinuations about the actor’s sexuality. “Maybe he was a weirdo, I’m thinking about it right now,” Gibson said on his show. Gibson also played a memorable line from Ledger’s most notable film, Brokeback Mountain, and said, “Well, he found out how to quit you.

Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick, Chief of Staff Lied Under Oath, Text Messages Show – Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his chief of staff lied about their relationship last summer at a police whistle-blower trial that has cost the cash-strapped city more than $9 million, according to records obtained by the Free Press. The false testimony potentially exposes them to felony perjury charges, legal experts say. Kilpatrick and chief of staff Christine Beatty denied during testimony in August that they had a sexual relationship. But the records, a series of text messages, show them engaged in romantic banter as well as planning and recounting sexual liaisons. The messages are also at odds with the pair’s trial testimony that they did not fire Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown in 2003, an ouster that led him to sue. The text messages show Beatty recalling the “decision that we made to fire Gary Brown.”

U.S. Budget Deficit Soars – The deficit for the current budget year will jump to about $250 billion, the Congressional Budget Office estimated Wednesday, citing the weakening economy. And that figure does not reflect at least $100 billion in red ink from an economic stimulus measure in the works. The figure greatly exceeds the $163 billion in red ink registered last year. Adding likely but still unapproved outlays for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan brings its “baseline” deficit estimate of $219 billion to about $250 billion, the nonpartisan CBO said. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said the 2008 deficit would reach more than $350 billion once the costs of an upcoming economic stimulus measure under negotiation between the Bush administration and Congress are factored in.

Iraq’s New Law on Ex-Baathists Could Bring Another Purge – More than a dozen Iraqi lawmakers, U.S. officials and former Baathists here and in exile expressed concern in interviews that a new law, promoted as way to return former Baathists to public life, could set off a new purge of ex-Baathists, the opposite of U.S. hopes for the legislation. Approved by parliament this month under pressure from U.S. officials, the law was heralded by President Bush and Iraqi leaders as a way to soothe the deep anger of many ex-Baathists — primarily Sunnis but also many Shiites such as Awadi — toward the Shiite-led government.

Yet U.S. officials and even legislators who voted for the measure, which still requires approval by Iraq’s presidency council, acknowledge that its impact is hard to assess from its text and will depend on how it is implemented. Some say the law’s primary aim is not to return ex-Baathists to work, but to recognize and compensate those harmed by the party. Of the law’s eight stated justifications, none mentions reinstating ex-Baathists to their jobs. “The law is about as clear as mud,” said one U.S. senior diplomat.

New Coins to be Issued

 

Regards,

Jim