Asbestos 'Emergency' Declared in Montana

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Montana town where asbestos contamination has been blamed for more than 200 deaths will get an additional $6 million in cleanup and medical assistance from the Obama administration under a "public health emergency" declared Wednesday.

The declaration is the first issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, which has been overseeing the cleanup of Libby, Montana, for 10 years.

The town was heavily contaminated with asbestos-laced dust that federal prosecutors said resulted in more than 200 deaths and 1,000 illnesses.

"This is a tragic public health situation that has not received the recognition it deserves by the federal government for far too long," EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said in a statement accompanying the declaration.

EPA spokeswoman Adora Andy said the money will go to local health care providers to screen, diagnose and treat asbestos-related illnesses in Libby and nearby Troy, which also suffered contamination from a mine that operated for decades.

The agency still needs to conduct "significant research" into the health effects of the type of asbestos that has been spread around town since the 1920s, she said, and does not yet know how many properties will need to be cleaned up.

In May, a federal jury acquitted mine operator W.R. Grace and three of its former executives of criminal charges related to the contamination. During Jackson's confirmation hearing in January, Montana Sen. Max Baucus said the town's 12,000 residents had been "hung out to dry" and pressed Jackson to review the issue.

The Libby operation began producing vermiculite -- a mineral often used in insulation -- in 1919. But the vermiculite was contaminated with tremolite asbestos, a particularly toxic form of asbestos that has been linked to mesothelioma, a cancer that can attack the lining of the lungs, abdomen or heart.

Dust from the plant covered patches of grass, dusted the tops of cars and drifted through the air in a hazy cloud that became a part of residents' daily lives.

Grace operated the facility from 1963 until it closed in 1990. During the company's three-month trial, prosecutors argued that its executives knowingly released the substance and tried to hide the danger from the community.

The company did not deny that the asbestos came from its mine, but it said it acted responsibly to clean up the contamination. It paid millions in medical bills for residents of Libby and Troy, and agreed in 2008 to pay $250 million to reimburse the EPA for its cleanup efforts.

Obama Kills Fly in Interview

Obama kills fly in interview 0:53
When a fly bugs President Obama during an interview with CNBC, he kills the pest with one swat.

'Historical Keepsake Photo'

(click if you wish to enlarge)

(My blog title is the same title as the email; I am NOT trying to be funny..)

(CNN) -- The chairman of Tennessee's Democratic Party wants a Republican legislative aide fired for sending out a "reprehensible" e-mail depicting President Obama as two cartoonish white eyes peering from a black background.

Obama's image is in the last square of a collage containing portraits of the previous 43 U.S. presidents. Copies of the e-mail were posted on the Internet on Monday.

Sherri Goforth, an administrative assistant to state Sen. Diane Black, R-Gallatin, has admitted she sent the e-mail May 28 with the title "Historical Keepsake Photo." She said, without elaborating, that she mistakenly sent it "to the wrong list of people."

According to The Tennessean, a Nashville newspaper, a note on the e-mail said it was paid for by the Tennessee Republican Party, but GOP officials denied that they produced it. Black chairs the Senate Republican Caucus.

"I want people to know that the communication was sent without my knowledge, and that ... this does not reflect my beliefs or my values or my opinions, and I won't tolerate those kind of communications coming from my office," Black told CNN affiliate WKRN-TV in Nashville.

Black rebuked Goforth but didn't dismiss her.

CNN left phone messages Tuesday for Goforth and Black.

"Is this indicative of what Senate Republicans think about our commander in chief?" asked state Democratic Party Chairman Chip Forrester in a statement posted on the party's Web site.

"I am calling on Senator Black to reject this racist smear and fire this staffer who, on state government time, on state government computers, using a state government e-mail account, launched this bigoted attack on our president," Forrester said. "Keeping her on the staff would send the message that this type of behavior is condoned by the Senate Republican Caucus."

"This e-mail is reprehensible, insults the office of the president, and is embarrassing to all Tennesseans regardless of political party," Forrester said.

Goforth told Christian Grantham of the Web site Nashville Is Talking that she had received a letter of reprimand from her superiors but will remain on the job.

Grantham said Goforth told him she felt "very bad about accidentally sending it to the wrong list" of people.

"I went on the wrong e-mail and I inadvertently hit the wrong button," Grantham quoted Goforth as saying. "I'm very sick about it, and it's one of those things I can't change or take back."

Forrester, in his Web posting, said, "Ms. Goforth does not seem to understand what she did wrong. She has apologized for 'sending [the e-mail] to the wrong list of people.' I believe that any list of people would have recognized this e-mail as offensive and hateful."

State Rep. Johnny Shaw, D-Bolivar, a member of the black and Democratic caucuses, told WKRN-TV that Goforth should be fired.

"I don't think a reprimand is enough. I think this lady needs to go. I don't think she should be a part of the people who represent the state of Tennessee," Shaw said.

He told CNN that Goforth and Black, as well as Republican Lt. Gov. and Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey, should make public apologies for the incident.

"I am appalled. It's despicable. It's disgusting. It should not have happened but it does happen," Shaw said. "It is the president of our country that we're talking about."

Forrester added: "Unfortunately, Sherri Goforth's e-mail joins the list of shameful episodes by Tennessee Republicans, from the infamous 'Birds of a Feather' direct-mail piece that featured black crows with the heads of Barack Obama and [African-American] Rep. Nathan Vaughn, to the "Barack the Magic Negro" song that former Tennessee GOP Party Chairman Chip Saltsman sent to RNC members during his failed campaign for RNC chair."

Man Arrested, Accused of Threatening to Kill Obama

(CNN) -- A man accused of making threatening statements about killing President Obama has been arrested in Nevada, the Secret Service said Saturday.

Daniel James Murray was arrested Friday night in the parking lot of the Riverside Resort Hotel and Casino in Laughlin, Nevada, said Secret Service spokesman Malcolm Wiley.

Murray recently withdrew $85,000 from a bank in St. George, Utah, in two separate visits and told a teller, "We are on a mission to kill the president of the United States," according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Utah.

According to the complaint, Murray opened an account at Zions First National Bank on May 19 with an $85,000 check.

"With all this mess going on under President Obama with banks and the economy, I'm sure if citizens happen to lose their money, they will rise up and we could see killing and deaths," he said, according to the complaint.

On May 27, he returned to the bank and tried to withdraw $12,000, but lacked proper identification.

"Not to be disrespectful, but if I don't get this money, someone is going to die," Murray said, according to the complaint.

A bank manager was summoned and Murray was allowed to withdraw the money without proper identification.

Murray would not accept a check and demanded bills no larger than $50, the complaint says.

"We are 94 million miles from the sun, and are in-between the sun and moon, and the eagle that flies between them and it's a giant step for mankind. ... I have traveled thousands of miles to be here and know things that are going to happen. ... the banking system will fail and people will die. ... there will be chaos in the world," Murray said, according to the complaint.

He then made his threat against the president, the complaint says.

The next day, Murray returned to the bank, withdrew the rest of his money and closed the account, a bank teller told authorities.

Authorities Hunt for Man Charged With Threatening Obama

(CNN) -- Federal authorities are searching for a man who has at least eight guns registered to him and has threatened to kill President Obama.

The man, identified as Daniel James Murray, is charged with making threats against the president of the United States.

He recently withdrew $85,000 from a Utah bank and told a teller: "We are on a mission to kill the president of the United States," according to court papers.

Murray is originally from New York, but was seen several times in late May in St. George, Utah, making bizarre statements at a bank.

According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Utah, Murray opened an account at Zions First National Bank on May 19 with a $85,000 check.

"With all this mess going on under President Obama with banks and the economy, I'm sure if citizens happen to lose their money, they will rise up and we could see killing and deaths," he said, according to the criminal complaint.

On May 27, he returned to the bank and tried to withdraw $12,000, but lacked proper identification.

"Not to be disrespectful, but if I don't get this money, someone is going to die," Murray said, according to the criminal complaint.

A bank manager was summoned and Murray was allowed to withdraw the money without proper identification.

Murray would not accept a check and demanded bills no larger than $50, the complaint says.

"We are 94 million miles from the sun, and are in between the sun and moon, and the eagle that flies between them and it's a giant step for mankind. ... I have traveled thousands of miles to be here and know things that are going to happen. ... the banking system will fail and people will die. ... there will be chaos in the world," Murray said.

He then made his threat against the president, the complaint says.

The next day, Murray returned to the bank, withdrew the rest of his money and closed the account.

Authorities do not know where Murray is and said he has been seen driving a blue 2001 Buick LeSabre with New York license plate number ERL 1445.

There are at least eight guns registered to Murray, including semi-automatic pistols and revolvers.

The president is on an overseas tour, having given a major foreign-policy speech in Egypt addressed to Muslims worldwide. He is now in Germany.

Oh, Snap!

WASHINGTON (CNN) – GOP congressional leader John Boehner is brushing off President Obama’s recent joke about Boehner’s famously permanent tan.

At the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner a week ago, the country’s first African-American president said he had “a lot in common” with Boehner who is Caucasian. “He is a person of color,” Obama joked before a massive ballroom of celebrities and Washington journalists. “Although not a color that appears in the natural world,” Obama added, barely able to keep his composure as he delivered the dig.

“As I tell my friends, you only tease the ones you love,” Boehner said responding to Obama Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union.

“Yeah, I enjoy being outside,” Boehner added, trying to explain his persistently tanned appearance.

“I’d rather be heckled than ignored,” the Ohio Republican told CNN’s John King.

White House joins Facebook, MySpace, Twitter

"Awesome, totally awesome!"
The official White House Blog calls it "WhiteHouse 2.0." The administration is unveiling its membership in a trio of the social-networking leaders today: Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. How do the accounts look shortly after launch?

The Facebook page already has more than 38,000 fans, and the number appears to jump another thousand every few minutes at this hour. The MySpace page is a highly stylized version of designs typically seen on the service, with 5,300 friends and counting. "A quick glance at the profiles shows that they mostly just link to or copy entries on the existing WhiteHouse.gov blog, but they welcome comments and are quickly gathering thousands of fans," PaidContent.org says.


TechCrunch offers initial analysis of the MySpace page: "There are no ads on the page, but if you click through to photos page, then you do get some ads. The add beside this photo of the president running down a hallway with his daughter's puppy has an ad that says, 'Pimp My Profile.' Not very Presidential. On Facebook, there is an ad slot on the actual page, but I only saw a house ad for Facebook's gift shop with a penguin. ... The Facebook page basically has the same information, but presented as a stream. Which one do you like better?"

The @whitehouse Twitter feed so far has more than 10,000 followers and retweeted a swine-flu alert from the CDC. Information about the H1N1 virus is the most common theme across the White House's uses of the services today.

"Hopefully, these pages will follow the same pattern as the administration's other web efforts -- they start out underwhelming, but improve eventually," Venture Beat writes. The blog's underwhelmed headline is "Meet White House 2.0, same as White House 1.0 (but on Twitter!)"

Tainted Blood

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An Ethiopian immigrant with a history of mental health problems is in custody after being accused of mailing a letter with HIV-tainted blood to Barack Obama when he was president-elect, according to court records.

Saad Bedrie Hussein told investigators that he is an admirer of Obama and that the letter -- containing his photo, an admission ticket to Obama's election night victory party in Chicago's Grant Park and six index cards containing writing and reddish stains -- was his way of seeking government help and tickets to Obama's inauguration.

Hussein, who has HIV, said he "purposely cut one of his fingers with a razor so he could bleed on the letter," according to an affidavit by Terry L. Cullivan, an investigator with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

The letter, postmarked December 27 and written in an Ethiopian language, was addressed to Obama at the Illinois Department on Aging in Springfield, Illinois. When the letter was opened two days later, it was found to contain an orange powder, Cullivan said. A state employee then took the letter to another state office, resulting in a two-hour lockdown of the building, affecting more than 300 people, the affidavit says.

During an interview, Hussein was unable to remember what the orange powder was, but tests revealed it to be a drink-mix powder, the affidavit says.

According to the affidavit, during a December 29 interview, Hussein denied mailing any additional letters.

But, the affidavit said, two days later, the Illinois Department of Revenue notified him it had received two similar letters, both with Hussein's return address. One was addressed to the Illinois Department on Aging, and the second to "Emanuel," which investigators believe was intended for Obama aide Rahm Emanuel. Both letters contained what appeared to be dried blood and an orange powder.

The criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Illinois alleges that Hussein "knowingly mailed" the letters containing HIV-infected blood "with the intent to kill or injure another."

In January, a federal judge ordered a mental evaluation of Hussein, saying "there is reasonable cause to believe [Hussein] may ... be suffering from a mental disease or defect rendering him mentally incompetent [and] unable to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him."

According to court records, Hussein was arrested March 29, 2006, by Chicago police after setting a fire in the middle of a Chicago intersection, waving a Quran in the air and yelling "Allah[u] Akbar" -- Allah is great -- and other words. Hussein "created a standstill in the traffic and refused to comply" with police commands, Cullivan's affidavit says.

Hussein's attorney, public defender Robert J. Scherschlight, could not immediately be reached for comment.

U.S. Postal Service Inspector Peter Rendina said this is the second known case in which a person is alleged to have sent HIV-tainted blood through the mail for malicious reasons. In the other case, which is ongoing, a man sent blood to a person he thought was a business associate.

- original article -

Mayor to Quit Over Obama Watermelon E-mail

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. - The mayor of a California city says he will resign after being criticized for sharing an e-mail picture depicting the White House lawn planted with watermelons under the title "No Easter egg hunt this year."

Los Alamitos Mayor Dean Grose issued a statement Thursday saying he is sorry and will step down as mayor at Monday's City Council meeting.

Grose came under fire for sending the picture to what he called "a small group of friends." One of the recipients, a local businesswoman and city volunteer, publicly scolded the mayor for his actions.

"This Is Your Victory"

Hello, Chicago.

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.

It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.

We are, and always will be, the United States of America..

Rest on this video: