Day: March 23, 2006

‘Swinging Dirk’ Kempthorne Returns to DC

Pensito Editors

Family Values: First of all, his name is Dirk — but his last name is Kempthorne, not Digler, and he was the governor of Idaho until this week, when President Bush nominated him to be the next Secretary of the Interior.

But when Kempthorne was a U.S. senator, he had a reputation. If it is true, he made Bill Clinton look like a school boy. According to 43rd State Blues: Democracy for Idaho, it is widely rumored that:

  • While he was philandering in D.C., he was married, of course — but he also had a full-time girlfriend from back home who worked in his office
  • He and the girlfriend had a child
  • When his senate career ended, his wife insisted that he give up the girlfriends, all of them, and move back to Idaho
  • They moved back, but at least one girlfriend, the one with the child, returned to Idaho too

Did I need to mention that Kempthorne is a Republican?

South Dakota Tribe to Build Planned Parenthood Clinic

Jon Ponder

Oglala Sioux to South Dakota governor’s ban on abortions: Not so fast:

In GOP parlance, I’m sure a “simple rape” is when the “girl” really wants it but pretends not to — or when she was wearing something provocative like a sweat shirt or a business suit.

The President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Cecilia Fire Thunder, was incensed [that South Dakota Republicans voted to ban abortions, even in cases of rape or incest]. A former nurse and healthcare giver she was very angry that a state body made up mostly of white males, would make such a stupid law against women.

“To me, it is now a question of sovereignty,” she said to me last week. “I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction.”

Strong words from a very strong lady. I hope Ms. Fire Thunder challenges Gov. Rounds and the state legislators on this law that is an affront to all independent women.

There’s also this bizarre bit by some wingnut state senator:

When Governor Mike Rounds signed HB 1215 into law it effectively banned all abortions in the state with the exception that it did allow saving the mother’s life. There were, however, no exceptions for victims of rape or incest. His actions, and the comments of State Senators like Bill Napoli of Rapid City, SD, set off a maelstrom of protests within the state.

Napoli suggested that if it was a case of “simple rape,” there should be no thoughts of ending a pregnancy. Letters by the hundreds appeared in local newspapers, mostly written by women, challenging Napoli’s description of rape as “simple.” He has yet to explain satisfactorily what he meant by “simple rape.”

In GOP parlance, I’m sure a “simple rape” is when the “girl” really wants it but pretends not to — or when she was wearing something provocative like a sweat shirt or a business suit.

Avian Flu: Mild Cases Are Not Going Undetected

Buck Banks

Scientists have been hoping for a while now that they would uncover evidence that the H5N1 avian influenza virus is less virulent than has been thought, and that mild human cases of the illness have been going undetected in countries where the virus has been passed from birds to humans. That appears not to be the case, according to a report coming out of Cambodia:

New data from Cambodia presented at an international conference Monday, March 20, 2006, suggest mild or symptomless human cases of H5N1 avian flu may not be occurring. Many have hoped that the world is overestimating the virulence of the H5N1 virus, based on an assumption the disease surveillance systems in affected countries might not be sensitive enough to pick up mild infections.

But if the work presented at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases is borne out by additional larger studies, it would suggest the current case fatality rate of roughly 54 percent might indeed be close to reality.

Lead researcher Dr. Philippe Buchy of the Institut Pasteur in Phnom Penh put a positive spin on his findings. “In our experience, it seems that the virus still has difficulty jumping from avian to humans,” he said in an interview.

But the head of the influenza branch at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control said the findings have both positive and negative implications. “You can look at it in the way that it’s encouraging, because it means that the virus is not jumping to humans very readily. And that of course is very important, and that’s a positive thing,” said Dr. Nancy Cox.

“But on the other side of the coin, it means that the case fatality rate is still very high. And that is a negative thing.” Cox said it will be important to do this type of work on a larger scale, to get a more definitive picture of whether mild or asymptomatic H5N1 human cases are occurring. She said some larger studies are planned.
[…]

Demands of the Vice Presidency

Buck Banks

Backstage demands: When Veep Dick Cheney emerges from his underground bunker and ventures forth into this great land, he does so with a list his advance team must fulfill before he checks in to a hotel. It’s not as interesting as Alicia Keyes’, but it does give a dim glimpse of the Vice President of Torture and hunter of men. Oh yeah, check out his news sources — Pensito Review ain’t one of ’em.

From The Smoking Gun.

Bush’s Uncle Bucky Profits $2.7 Mil on Sale of War Contractor

Jon Ponder

President Bush’s uncle, William H. T. (“Bucky”) Bush, has made $2.7 million off the recent sale of a company with war contracts, for which he served as a director, according to the Los Angeles Times:

As President Bush embarks on a new effort to shore up public support for the war in Iraq, an uncle of the commander in chief is collecting $2.7 million in cash and stock from the recent sale of a company that profited from the war.

A report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shows that William H.T. Bush collected just under $1.9 million in cash plus stock valued at more than $800,000 from the sale of Engineered Support Systems Inc. to DRS Technologies of New Jersey.

The Bush family has a history of war profiteering, most notably including the president’s grandfather:

George Bush’s grandfather, the late US senator Prescott Bush, was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of Nazi Germany.

The Guardian has obtained confirmation from newly discovered files in the US National Archives that a firm of which Prescott Bush was a director was involved with the financial architects of Nazism.

His business dealings, which continued until his company’s assets were seized in 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy Act, has led more than 60 years later to a civil action for damages being brought in Germany against the Bush family by two former slave labourers at Auschwitz and to a hum of pre-election controversy.

CA Governor’s Race: Westly Leads in Fundraising

Jon Ponder

California State Controller Steve Westly, a founder of E-Bay, has considerably more campaign funds in the bank than the other candidates for governor this year, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, according to John Mercurio of the Hotline, via C-SPAN Washington Journal this morning.

Westly reports that he as $23 million in campaign funds. His Democratic rival, State Treasurer Phil Angelides has $14.6 million.

Governor Schwarzenegger reports $5.2 million in his campaign coffers. He raised over $2 million at an event in Beverly Hills this week, at which Sen. John McCain was the headliner.

Angelides has the endorsements of California’s Democratic Party establishment, including senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer.

Westly and Angelides square off in primary elections in June.