In the News: Feb-27

Bush names envoy to Muslim nations - 27 Feb 2008 at 3:12pm - WASHINGTON -- President Bush, acknowledging that the U.S. needs to burnish its image in the Islamic world, named a Texas entrepreneur as liaison to The Organization of the Islamic Conference.

Bernanke sees oil prices hampering quest to fix economy - 27 Feb 2008 at 2:57pm - WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled Wednesday that continued risks to economic growth could mean more interest-rate cuts, but he cautioned that rising oil prices are creating inflationary pressures that could handcuff efforts to spark the economy.

Karzai controls a third of Afghanistan - 27 Feb 2008 at 12:01pm - WASHINGTON -- The Afghan government under President Hamid Karzai controls just 30 percent of the country, the top U.S. intelligence official said Wednesday.

William F. Buckley dead at 82: report - 27 Feb 2008 at 11:43am - NEW YORK (Reuters) - Conservative writer and commentator William F. Buckley has died at age 82, the New York Times reported on its Web site on Wednesday.

Marines halt study critical of MRAP program - 27 Feb 2008 at 10:33am - WASHINGTON — The Marine Corps has ordered a civilian scientist to stop work on a report critical of its efforts to obtain new armored vehicles, saying he exceeded his authority, a Marine official said Tuesday.

Marines want probe into armored vehicle program delays - February 26, 2008 -- Updated 1645 GMT - (CNN) -- Casualties could have been reduced by half among Marines in Iraq if specially armored vehicles had been deployed more quickly in some cases, a report to the Pentagon says. Marine Corps spokesman Col. David Lapan said the Defense Department's inspector general wants to investigate the report's claims that bureaucratic delays undermined the program to develop the armored vehicles.

Thought for the day:
In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on. -Robert Frost (1874 - 1963)