Obama marks end of combat mission in Iraq
WASHINGTON – President Obama marked the end of America’s combat mission in Iraq with an Oval Office speech Tuesday night, acknowledging the “huge price” paid and ushering in a new era in which a reduced U.S. military force will let Iraqis take the lead role in building a democratic society.
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Obama: No Iraq victory lap as combat mission ends
President Barack Obama declared the combat mission in Iraq officially over on Tuesday in a move likely to hearten war-weary Americans despite political deadlock among Iraqis and more violence.
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This year will be a popular year for costumes that are going to reflect what’s well-liked for all ages. With a historic election you can bet to see more than one President Obama at any Halloween party across America, and the kids are going to be fighting over the many different options that are popular this year. There are a number of options both adults and kids can choose from, and if you budget anywhere from $40-200USD, you can get yourself suited up in something which will make your friends envious. The Joker from the Dark Night : The Grand Heritage Costume Collection has released the best Joker costume one can pay for. Darth Vader : each year this costume makes an appearance at pretty much every costume party, and it never fails to disappoint. For under $100 you can easily get a full complete Darth Vader costume kit which is a superb bargain, and you know you can dress to galvanize. Lt. Dangle from Reno 911 : Reno 911 has had a cult following that has risen in numbers over the past few years. If you’re looking to galvanize the women with the oh so short shorts of Lt Dangle then you are lucky. Shaving your legs is optional! favored Costumes For women : rich kid Bunny : One of the hottest female costumes year by year is the playboy Bunny, and this year isn’t an exception. You can find knockoff costumes and the real thing relying where you go, but you can expect to choose this costume up cheap which is great. Beth From Dog The Bounty Hunter : The show you love to detest has so many interesting characters in it, how could there not be a costume. The vivacious other half of Dog The Bounty Hunter is one of the more popular characters on the show and her costume is available for the 2009 season. Austin Powers Fembot : There may not have been an Austin Powers movie lately but the beautiful Fembots have made an everlasting impact on the minds of not only men, but the women of Halloween. Hannah Montana : the hottest teenager sensation for kids under sixteen is of course Hannah Montana and her costume line has gone live this year. She is at her peak of popularity and this Halloween pretty much every young girl in the nation will be needing to get suited up as the pop sensation. high school musical costumesNaruto : One of the few characters from a jap cartoon to make it into the mainstream of north America. Harry Potter : The wizard which has seen celebrity in books and films will see the last movie in the series released this year and it is keeping his costume at the pinnacle of the charts for yet one more year. You can easily find Harry Potter costumes that won’t cost a fortune and make your kid ecstatic on Halloween. I’m hoping everybody has a superb Halloween this year and if you’re taking out young youngsters make sure you educate them on the perils and fun of this unique past time. Since prices have come down for complete Halloween Costume kits, its about the same price as trying to find a costume from the thrift store. creative halloween costumes for women.
Robert V. Remini on Clay’s Compromise
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Democratic Party files complaint over TV ad
The state Democratic Party has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission over a TV ad attacking Democratic congressional candidate Denny Heck.
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‘Tea Party’ not allowed to appear on fall ballot
Lansing — The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Monday “The Tea Party” can’t put its candidates on the Nov. 2 ballot because it didn’t correctly show the party name on petitions.
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Part 1 of 2 – Texas Republican Congressman Mac Thornberry defends the Bush torture program on Hardball. 4/23/09
Gromer Jeffers, Jr. (The Dallas Morning News), Harvey Kronberg (The Quorum Report), and Ross Ramsey (The Texas Tribune) follow an extended discussion of the 2010 Republican primary with a discussion of the Democratic primary and the prospects for the general election match up. Recorded March 11, 2010 at the University of Texas at Austin. Moderated by Jim Henson, Director of the Texas Politics Project.
In September 1943 my father, then-Brig. Gen. Howard L. Peckham, Director of the Fuels and Lubricants Division in Washington, participated in Congressional hearings that took place in the Senate Office Building. The subject discussed was a project near the Yukon Territory in Canada. This project, known as Canol (for “Canadian oil”), was supported by the U. S. Army, which was convinced that oil products from this resource were important for national security and were needed to facilitate construction of an Alaskan highway. The chief supporter of the project, then-Lt. Gen. Brehon B. Somervell. submitted a directive on its behalf in 1942.
The War Department, under Secretary of War Henry Stimson, also favored the project. The Secretary expressed his favorable attitude in a letter he wrote in May 1942 to Standard Oil of California:
As a defense measure, our Government has decided to develop the oil resources at Norman, District of McKenzie, Canada, to construct and operate a pipe line between that point and Whitehorse, the Yukon, and to construct and operate a refinery to produce 100-octane gasoline and other petroleum products at Whitehorse, the Yukon. The products of this refinery are needed for military use in that region.
The Department of the Interior, headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes (who was concurrently serving as Petroleum Administrator for War), didn’t fully endorse the project. Despite his hesitations, it did proceed, and on September 11, 1943, Congressional hearings were begun for the purpose of securing more money for the project.
My father was thoroughly briefed on the events that had transpired back when the project first started, but he did not officially become chief of the Fuels and Lubricants Division until the fall of 1943, when he succeeded Brig. Gen. William Covell as director of the division. Julius Amberg, special assistant to the Secretary of War, formally introduced my father to the subcommittee that had convened the hearings:
MR. AMBERG: I may say that General Covell, who has been the Chief of the Fuels and Lubricants Division of the Quartermaster Corps, is leaving for overseas and will not be in town after tonight. If you have any questions particularly for him, you think you might wish to ask him, I would appreciate your doing it tonight. He will be succeeded by General Peckham, who is here now.
Several pairs of curious eyes turned to look at my father, who would now be under scrutiny. Like the other army representatives, Dad felt that the project was important for national security. Additionally, he believed they had the proper facts to support their point of view. General Brehon Somervell, head of the Army Service Forces (ASF), was particularly insistent that it not be abandoned.
Serving on the Congressional committee investigating the Canol Project, named the Truman Committee after its soon-to-be famous chairman, Senator Harry Truman, were some well-known senators: Connally of Texas, Mead of New York, Wallgren of Washington, Hatch of New Mexico, Kilgore of West Virginia, Ferguson of Michigan, Burton of Ohio, Ball of Minnesota, and Brewster of Maine.
The senators needed to learn some valuable technical information, so they didn’t hesitate to admit their lack of technical expertise. At a session on October 26, 1943, Senator Homer Ferguson of Michigan, a silver-haired former judge with distinctively dark eyebrows, wanted to know the length of a certain road in Canada. While enforcing his usual penetrating style, he asked my father that question, as well as one concerning the cost to drill a particular oil well:
SENATOR FERGUSON. How long is that? GENERAL PECKHAM. The scale of this map is 1 inch, 200 miles. SENATOR FERGUSON. The $290,000 is a certain percentage of $5,800,000? GENERAL PECKHAM. Five percent.
Both answers came quickly. As I often discovered during our many long trips by car while I was growing up, there was no faster or better map reader than Howard Peckham. Before we took off to a new home, he would spread out a map on the car’s hood and carefully study our route. We never had to worry about getting lost or arriving someplace late; inevitably, we arrived on time wherever we were headed, whether to our ultimate destination or some tourist spot along the way. Answers to mathematical problems came easily to him, also.
In addition to giving technical answers verbally, my father gave the committee pertinent information in written form. One day the text of a memorandum he wrote was entered as an exhibit before the committee adjourned. Rudolph Halley, Executive Assistant to Chief Counsel, and Herbert Friedlich, a representative from the Office of the Under Secretary of War, discussed it first:
COLONEL FRIEDLICH. May we have the letter, the memorandum? I would like to get it in the record here.
MR. HALLEY. Which memorandum is that?
COLONEL FRIEDLICH. The one I just gave you, the memorandum of November 19 on the subject Canol project, signed by Brig. Gen. H. L. Peckham. May that be an exhibit?
MR. HALLEY. Surely.
SENATOR FERGUSON. It will be put in the record.
The memo was filled with technical details and had been addressed to Herbert Friedlich of the Office of the Under Secretary of War, Room 3E739 at the Pentagon. It was marked Exhibit 1104 and entered into the permanent record. A major point my father made in the memo was that the Whitehorse Refinery, which was then under construction, would have the capacity to produce 100-octane gasoline, a product that was much needed in the various theaters of operation.
A few weeks later, Senator Harry Truman requested that a conference take place so that matters relating to the Canol Project could be fully discussed. Among the approximately twelve attendees were Secretary of War Stimson, in whose office the conference took place; Harold Ickes, Petroleum Administrator for War; Ralph Davies, Deputy Petroleum Administrator for War (under Ickes); Julius Amberg, Special Assistant to Secretary Stimson; Donald M. Nelson of the War Production Board; and Howard Peckham, Director of the Fuels and Lubricants Division. When the conference ended, my father was confident that he had effectively presented the army’s point of view.
(Note: Army Service Forces, Canol Project, Historical File RG 160, states that the conference occurred on December 9, 1943).
The red and gold leaves of autumn had long-since fallen from Washington’s deciduous trees when, on December 20, my father’s presence at the Congressional hearings finally ended. The Committee tried hard to force abandonment of the Canol Project, primarily for economic reasons, but army representatives worked diligently to represent their viewpoints effectively. The U. S. Army prevailed over the Congressional committee in these hearings and won its case for more funds for the project.
General Somervell’s position on the Canol Project and other fuel matters can be summed up in these famous words, which he spoke at the height of World War II:
Any addition to our gasoline supply and our oil supply is of the utmost value.