BOISE, Idaho – May 26, 2010 – In the latest example of an insurgent campaign besting a candidate backed by the party, state lawmaker Raul Labrador upset Iraq war veteran Vaughn Ward for the Republican nomination in Idaho’s 1^st Congressional District.

With all precincts reporting from Tuesday’s election, Labrador had 47.6% of the vote compared to Ward’s 38.9%, according to the Idaho Secretary of State.

Labrador, who was backed by Tea Party Boise, will now face freshmen Democrat Rep. Walt Minnick in the general election. The non-partisan Cook Political Report lists the race as a toss-up.

Ward was included in the National Republican Congressional Committee’s Young Guns program, which supports GOP House candidates. He was backed by GOP House leaders, including Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, as well as former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who was born in Idaho.

Leading up to the election, though, Ward “committed gaffe after gaffe,” the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee contends in an e-mail released today. During a debate earlier this month he misidentified Puerto Rico as a foreign country. When Labrador, who was born on the island, interjected, Ward said, “I really don’t care what it is… it doesn’t matter.”

Source: http://content.usatoday.com/communi … rty-candidate-pulls-off-an-ups

Popularity: 2% [?]

BUCHAREST, Romania – May 20, 2010 – In one of the largest mass protests since the fall of communism, around 50,000 Romanians took to the streets of Bucharest on Wednesday.

They are furious at drastic cuts to state wages and pensions proposed by the government to reduce the country’s ballooning budget deficit.

“I am a pensioner after 40 years of working and they want to cut 15%of our pensions. How will we live from now on?” asked one angry woman.

Protesters say they should not have to pay for the government’s corruption. But the government says its hands are tied.

Romania is deep in recession and has already received one installment of an IMF loan package in order to be able to pay wages.

“It was the government’s decision to move ahead with concentrating more on the expenditure cut side,“ said Jeffrey Franks, IMF mission chief for Romania. “They feel that expenditures have gotten out of control in recent years and the best way to attack their budget problem is to concentrate on the expenditure side. This was their decision.”

The government says it has to make savings or it will not receive the much-needed second installment of the IMF bailout. But pensioners in Romania feel the state has gambled away their living, leaving them fearful for the future.

Popularity: 1% [?]

LONDON, England – May 26, 2010 – Researchers have found that implanted identity chips can pick up computer viruses.

Reading University’s Mark Gasson conducted an experiment to show how radio frequency identification (RFID) chips could become electronically infected.

He explained to Rory Cellan-Jones the risks involved with the new technology including its effects on medical implants such as pacemakers.

Popularity: 3% [?]

ATLANTA, Georgia – May 22, 2010 – Clifford Grevemberg doesn’t want to go to jail.

On Friday night, the lanky 18-year-old was arrested by Tybee police on a disorderly conduct charge in front of the Rock House on 16th Street.

He says he was tasered twice and thrown to the ground, breaking one of his front teeth and leaving scrapes on his face and knee.

But Grevemberg, who suffers from a form of autism, still wants to know what he did wrong.

“I just wanted to go to sleep,” the 6-foot-9-inch tall, 170-pound teenager said Saturday. “I sat down on the curb and put my head in my arms, and they stopped me.”

Tybee police officials could not be reached for comment Saturday, despite multiple attempts. Phone messages left for Tybee Chief James Price went unanswered, and a Tybee Police dispatcher said no one could comment on the issue until Monday morning.

Tybee Mayor Jason Buelterman said he was not aware of the incident, adding that several attempts to reach the island’s city manager Saturday night were unsuccessful.

Dario Mariani, Grevemberg’s brother, said they planned to end their day at Friday’s Beach Bum Parade with some food, but the island revelry left many of the restaurants with two-to-three-hour wait times.

So Mariani and Grevemberg stopped by the Rock House.

“I asked the bouncer, ‘We just want to get food, and can he come inside?’” Mariani said. “He said no, so I told Clifford to stay outside while I ordered some cheeseburgers.”

Mariani said he walked outside a few minutes later to find his brother in handcuffs, his face covered with blood. Two Taser barbs were stuck to the lower portion of Grevemberg’s back, and their wires were wrapped around his legs.

Source: http://savannahnow.com/latest-news/2010-05-22/autistic-18-year-old-tazed-tybee-police-family-says

Popularity: 3% [?]

SAN FRANCISCO, Kalifornia – May 23, 2010 – Two brothers in their late sixties are setting out on a journey they hope will “restore (freedom) to Amerika.” Starting out from San Francisco, Robin and Laird Monahan have begun a 3000-mile hike that will take them across ten states to Washington, DC.

Along the way, the Monahans hope to rally opposition to the controversial U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the case of Citizens United v. FEC. As the Times-Standard pointed out in a short piece on the Monahan brothers, the decision overturned sections of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, and ruled that corporations are entitled to some of the same rights as people.

“The Citizens United decision was just a hammer blow to me,” Laird Monahan said. “Frankly, I was despondent for a couple of days. I just thought the end of my country had come to pass.”

After long talks with his wife, Laird was only growing angrier. “I just said I gotta do something. I gotta do something physical, I gotta make a physical sacrifice to restore (freedom) to Amerika.”

Popularity: 5% [?]