Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the top U.S. military officer, said today that the Pentagon is planning for “potential military courses of action,’ against Iran. He criticized Tehran’s government for an “increasingly lethal and malign influence” in Iran.
Education Commissioner Robert Scott spoke today at the 2008 Statewide Education Summit, put on by the Texas Public Education Reform Foundation at the Austin Convention Center. The recent controversies over the English Language Arts curriculum came up.
Former Railroad Commissioner Lena Guerrero died today. She had battled cancer for many years. She was the first woman on the Texas Railroad Commission, serving from 1991-1992. Prior to that, she served in the Texas House of Representatives (1985-1991). Gov. Rick Perry has ordered flags at half-mast and issued the following statement: “Lena Guerrero was a bright, passionate woman who worked hard to represent the interests of her constituents both as a representative and as Railroad Commissioner. We served together in the Texas House of Representatives, and I came to know and admire her both as an esteemed colleague and a friend. Her fellow Democrats were surprised at our friendship and her endorsement of my candidacy, but she was the sort of person who placed loyalty and principle ahead of politics. Our state is a better place for her time spent in it and she will be greatly missed. Anita and I extend our deepest sympathies and prayers to her family during this time of great loss.”
Convicts pass up opportunities to escape from jail because conditions are “too comfy,” according to Glyn Travis of the Prison Officers Association (POA). For instance, a drug dealer frequently broke into Category-C Everthorpe prison in Yorkshire, England using a ladder, but not prisoners attempted to escape.
In an effort to boost the economy, the U.S. Treasury Department will directly deposit the first 800,000 payments four days earlier than expected. On Thursday, the department announced the early arrival of the payments, which originally were going to be sent on May 2.
On Friday, China appeared to bend to international pressure as the government announced it would meet with envoys of the Dalai Lama, an unexpected change of course as violent Tibetan demonstrations in western China have threatened to hurt the country’s reputation over the Beijing Olympics in August.
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright sits down with Bill Moyers tonight in his first interview since a furor erupted over his controversial statements that have impacted the presidential campaign. Barack Obama denounced some of the statements but otherwise stands by his former Chicago pastor and tried to quell the controversy with a speech about race six weeks ago. Still, the issue has not gone away, as indicated by a Republican ad about Wright in North Carolina that surfaced this week. Wright has scheduled other appearances, an NAACP speech in Detroit Sunday and a National Press Club speech in Washington Monday on the role of faith in the public square that's bound to be well covered. The Moyers interview will be broadcast at 9 p.m. Friday on KERA-TV, Channel 13. Click read more for excerpts.
A man heckling First Lady Laura Bush and daughter Jenna was arrested outside the 92nd Street YMCA after he punched a wheelchair-bound girl whose parents told him to shut up.