“Pressure was mounting on Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie today amid increasing confusion over whether President Obama was born there.
Abercrombie said on Tuesday that an investigation had unearthed papers proving Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961.
He told Honolulu’s Star-Advertiser: ‘It actually exists in the archives, written down,’ he said.
But it became apparent that what had been discovered was an unspecified listing or notation of Obama’s birth that someone had made in the state archives and not a birth certificate.
And in the same interview Abercrombie suggested that a long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate for Barack Obama may not exist within the vital records maintained by the Hawaii Department of Health.
He said efforts were still being made to track down definitive vital records that would prove Obama was born in Hawaii.
Abercrombie was asked: ‘You stirred up quite a controversy with your comments regarding birthers and your plan to release more information regarding President Barack Obama’s birth certificate. How is that coming?’
He acknowledged the birth certificate issue would have ‘political implications’ for the next presidential election ‘that we simply cannot have’.

Source: UK news

Not terribly shocking, check out the pdf below for the complete list (if you can stomach it). Under column “Circumstances justifying acceptance” the overwhelming answer is: “Non-acceptance would cause embarrassment to donor and U.S. Government.”

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/news/foreigngifts.pdf

Source: MSN

McMillen and the Mississippi chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit in federal court Thursday alleging the school board’s actions violated McMillen’s First Amendment rights to freedom of expression. The suit ask the judge to reverse the district’s decision and reinstate the school’s prom.

Source: USA Today

The Bank of Canada has maintained its key lending rate at a historic low of 0.25 percent since April 2009 to help bolster a fragile economic recovery, but is widely expected to review its position mid-year. CIBC said other factors were also aligning to push up the value of Canada’s currency such as increased demand for oil, minerals and fertilizers; resurgent capital markets; and global debt fears.

Source: Yahoo News

House Speaker Michael E. Busch’s answer is a bill that would institutionalize communication between schools, the police, the Department of Human Resources and the Department of Juvenile Services at the first signs that kids might be getting in trouble. The bill expands the list of crimes that courts must report to schools to include lower offenses – malicious destruction of property and second-degree assault – that can be indicators of gang activity.

This would require school officials to babysit consider the psychological and physical well-being of a victim of bullying or other abuse when deciding whether to assign him or her to attend the same school or ride the same bus as the aggressor. It would also require every middle and high school to designate a point person for safety issues and requires all school districts to devise policies to deal with gangs or gang-like activities.

There is opposition to the proposed bill from the American Civil Liberties Union, the state public defender’s office and other advocates. They oppose a provision that would require courts to notify schools any time they place a child under the supervision or custody of the Department of Human Resources or the Department of Juvenile Services. Delegate Busch feels that schools should be aware of such a significant change in the child’s life. The bill also then requires schools to tell the supervising agency if the student has become habitually truant. This kind of information sharing is now optional and, according to Mr. Busch’s office, happens sporadically at best.

The advocates who question this provision say the bill doesn’t clearly specify what the schools should do with that information, and they worry that it will be used as a reason to suspend, expel or otherwise punish the student – which they say has already happened in some cases when the courts did share that information. The advocates fear that the children could be stigmatized, shamed or humiliated in cases when their offenses had nothing to do with gangs.

Source: Baltimore Sun

Source: Politico

VP Biden oh wait not this time… “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada described in private then-Sen. Barack Obama as “light-skinned” and “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.” Obama is the nation’s first African-American president.

“I deeply regret using such a poor choice of words. I sincerely apologize for offending any and all Americans, especially African-Americans for my improper comments,” Reid said in a statement released after the excerpts were first reported on the Web site of The Atlantic.

“I was a proud and enthusiastic supporter of Barack Obama during the campaign and have worked as hard as I can to advance President Obama’s legislative agenda.”

Reid remained neutral during the bitter Democratic primary that became a marathon contest between Obama and then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, whom Obama tapped as the United States’ top diplomat after the election.

Reid’s comments are included in the book, obtained Saturday by The Associated Press and set to be published on Monday. “Game Change” was written by Time Magazine’s Mark Halperin and New York magazine’s John Heilemann.

The book also says Reid urged Obama to run, perceiving the first-term senator’s impatience.
“You’re not going to go anyplace here,” Reid told Obama of the Senate. “I know that you don’t like it, doing what you’re doing.”

In another section, aides to Republican nominee John McCain described the difficulties they faced with their vice presidential pick, then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Steve Schmidt, a senior member of Sen. John McCain’s presidential team, is quoted telling Palin’s foreign policy tutors: “You guys have a lot of work to do. She doesn’t know anything.”

The authors also quote Obama’s initial reaction to McCain’s selection of a little-known governor: “Wow. Well, I guess she’s change.”

Vice presidential nominee Joe Biden was direct. “Who’s Sarah Palin?” the book quotes the then-senator as asking as they left the nominating convention in Denver.
Reid, facing a tough 2010 re-election bid, needs the White House’s help if he wants to keep his seat. Obama’s administration has dispatched officials on dozens of trips to buoy his bid and Obama has raised money for his campaign.

Recognizing the threat, Reid’s apologies also played to his home state: “Moreover, throughout my career, from efforts to integrate the Las Vegas strip and the gaming industry to opposing radical judges and promoting diversity in the Senate, I have worked hard to advance issues.”

Even before his ill-considered remarks were reported, a new survey released Saturday by the Las Vegas Review Journal showed him continuing to earn poor polling numbers. In the poll, by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, Reid trailed former state Republican party chairwoman Sue Lowden by a 10 percentage points, 50 percent to 40 percent, and also lagging behind two other opponents.
More than half of Nevadans had an unfavorable opinion of Reid. Just 33 percent of respondents held a favorable opinion. “

Source: AP

Dixon had spoken with Rawlings-Blake to make sure an “orderly transition of city government.”

The deal allows Dixon to keep her $83,000 yearly pension amassed during a long career in public service, and prosecutors agreed not to seek further criminal charges against the mayor.

A jury found Dixon guilty last month on a charge of stealing gift cards intended for needy families.

Source: The Baltimore Sun

“Every important journey in life begins and ends at home,” Dodd said, “Today is no exception.

There are currently 58 Democrats in the Senate and two independents who usually caucus with them, the party has been able to build a majority that can break any GOP filibuster. However, it is doubtful they will have that much clout after November’s midterm election…

Source: LA Times