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Sunday, December 7, 2008
He had it coming, that’s for sure
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
And it’s about time he got it. From the Associated Press:
Voters in Louisiana ousted indicted Democratic Rep. William J. Jefferson on Saturday, electing instead a Republican attorney who will be the first Vietnamese American in Congress.
Unofficial results showed Anh “Joseph” Cao denying Jefferson a 10th term. Republicans made an aggressive push to take the seat from Jefferson, 61, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery, money laundering and misusing his congressional office.
Cao, 41, won Louisiana’s majority-black 2nd Congressional District, which covers much of New Orleans. Just 11 percent of registered voters in the district are Republicans. Turnout appeared to be light.
Voters reelected Jefferson in 2006 even after news of the bribery scandal broke. Late-night TV comics made him the butt of jokes after federal agents said they had found $90,000 in alleged bribe money hidden in his freezer.
Cao came to the United States as a child after the fall of Saigon in 1975 and went on to earn degrees in philosophy, physics and law.
The election was one of two in Louisiana postponed because of Hurricane Gustav. In the other, Republican physician John Fleming defeated Democratic Dist. Atty. Paul Carmouche, 48 percent to 47 percent, to replace retiring Rep. Jim McCrery, a Republican.
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NATO supply route under attack
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Things in Pakistan seem to sliding rapidly toward the abyss. It’s hard to believe sites like this have such little security.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Suspected militants attacked a Pakistan transport terminal used to supply NATO and U.S. troops in Afghanistan, killing a guard and burning 106 vehicles on Sunday.
The assault was the boldest yet on trucks carrying critical supplies to foreign troops in Afghanistan, feeding concern that Taliban militants could cut or seriously disrupt the route through the famed Khyber Pass.
Up to 75 percent of the supplies for Western forces in the landlocked country pass through Pakistan after being unloaded from ships at the Arabian sea port of Karachi.
About 30 assailants armed with guns and rockets attacked the Portward Logistic Terminal near the city of Peshawar before dawn Sunday, police official Kashif Alam said.
A guard at the terminal was killed in the attack and fire swept through the parked vehicles. Alam said 62 vehicles were destroyed.
But terminal manager Kifayatullah Khan said 106 vehicles were destroyed, including 62 that were carrying Humvees. The other torched trucks were carrying sealed shipping containers or other vehicles, including fire engines and dump trucks, Khan said.
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