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Boehner Wins 10-Year Dispute Over McDermott in Federal Court
Tweet Share on Facebook May 1, 2007 CommentArticle updated at 4:15 p.m.
It's no Bush v. Gore, but today a federal court has ruled on another dispute between politicians, this one dating back to well before the 2000 election.
Rep. John Boehner, now the Republican minority leader in the House of Representatives, won a 10-year legal dispute with Democratic Rep. Jim McDermott. This dispute was over a tape McDermott had obtained of Boehner discussing an ethics ruling with then Speaker Newt Gingrich and several other members of the Republican leadership. Boehner's complaint alleged that McDermott violated federal law when he disclosed the tape of an "illegally intercepted conversation."
Today, the court said there was no First Amendment right "to disclose the tape to the media." (See full opinion.)
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Doc: State Department Offers Alarming New Assessment of al Qaeda Network
Tweet Share on Facebook May 1, 2007 CommentAl Qaeda retains significant operational capability to stage major terrorist attacks, has shown an ability to be highly adaptive, and is "quickly evolving new methods in response to countermeasures," the State Department warns in its annual report on terrorism.
The report, which charts a sharp spike in terrorism incidents worldwide, particularly in Iraq, also describes today's al Qaeda as a "global action network" that sees itself increasingly as a "transnational guerrilla movement."
Al Qaeda's efforts to spur homegrown terrorism complement the group's efforts to do more "expeditionary" terrorism, where operatives are dispatched to Europe or the United States to stage attacks, according to the report.
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Deja Vu at the Drugstore
Tweet Share on Facebook May 1, 2007 CommentWhat a difference a decade doesn't make. As U.S. News's Sarah Baldauf reports, a study just out in the May issue of the journal Medical Care finds that overworked pharmacists are more likely to overlook harmful interactions between different drugs their customers are taking simultaneously.
Rewind 11 years. In 1996, U.S.News & World Report's Susan Headden conducted an award-winning investigation in conjunction with the Georgetown University School of Medicine that found similar negligence in over half of the 245 pharmacies surveyed. That original report is available here.
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GOP May Be Strapped for Funds if Special Election Is Called
Tweet Share on Facebook May 1, 2007 CommentDemocratic operatives have pointed out that if House Republicans need to fund a special election, their campaign committee is short on cash and could have trouble.
The focus has been on GOP Rep. Rick Renzi of Arizona. Renzi has said he won't resign his seat but has given up his committee posts in the weeks since the FBI raided his family business amid an investigation into land-swap legislation he sponsored in 2005 that may have benefited a former business partner.
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Morning Buzz: May 1, 2007
Tweet Share on Facebook May 1, 2007 CommentThis morning's top stories:
- Iran tops the State Department's list of countries sponsoring terrorism. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to possibly meet with Iran's top diplomat soon.
- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is facing a mounting chorus of demands for his resignation in the wake of a government report critical of his handling of the conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon last summer.
- A man who was shot in the 1970 clash between student protesters and National Guard units at Kent State, in which four people were killed, says he has found an audio recording that indicates that someone gave the order to fire.
- The sister of the man who shot two people in a crowded mall parking lot in Missouri before being shot himself by police says that her brother was mentally ill.
- Researchers studying how chimpanzees communicate presented evidence Monday that our close genetic cousins use gestures more than facial expressions or noises in their interactions, suggesting that human language first developed from movements, not sounds.
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