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BREAKING: American Airlines Releases Statement: Alec Baldwin Rude to Crew, Used ‘Offensive Language’ *UPDATED* by John Nolte **UPDATE: “He was beating the walls of the lavatory to the point that the captain called us to see what that was about. They heard it in the cockpit,” said one crew member on the JFK-bound flight who had to deal with the “30 Rock” actor. “He was asked five times. Everybody is the same. Everyone has to follow the rules, it doesn’t matter who you are,” the employee told The Post. “He was violent, abusive and aggressive.” Though they originally declined to...

Actor Alec Baldwin was removed from an American Airlines flight leaving Los Angeles for New York on Tuesday when he was apparently too engrossed in a game of Zynga's "Words With Friends" to power down his iPad.... The incident caused a one-hour delay in the flight and kicked off a flurry of Internet chatter.

American Airlines' parent company, AMR Corp., announced Tuesday that it has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. The decision comes as the airline tries to "achieve a cost and debt structure that is industry competitive and thereby assure its long-term viability and ability to continue delivering a world-class travel experience for its customers," the company said in a statement Tuesday.

When federal agents eavesdropped on the telephone conversations of several drug trafficking suspects, they heard talk of marijuana sales, money transfers and cross-country drug shipments. They may have also detected something far more surprising: a Los Angeles County sheriff's captain. Law enforcement sources have confirmed that Bernice Abram, who is in charge of the sheriff's Carson station, was put on leave after federal authorities notified sheriff's officials that their captain may have been heard on the narcotics wiretap. Excerpt: Read more at latimes.com ...

Years from now, historians may regard the 2008 election of Barack Obama as an inscrutable and disturbing phenomenon, a baffling breed of mass hysteria akin perhaps to the witch craze of the Middle Ages. How, they will wonder, did a man so devoid of professional accomplishment beguile so many into thinking he could manage the world’s largest economy, direct the world’s most powerful military, execute the world’s most consequential job? Imagine a future historian examining Obama’s pre-presidential life: ushered into and through the Ivy League despite unremarkable grades and test scores along the way; a cushy non-job as a “community...

A beautiful Brazilian soap star has the lead role in her own daytime drama, which casts George Soros, the billionaire financier of lefty causes, as a heavy who not only broke her heart, but also reneged on a promise to give her an Upper East Side apartment worth $1.9 million. The drama will be staged in Manhattan Supreme Court, where 28-year-old Adriana Ferreyr yesterday filed a blockbuster $50 million suit charging, among other things, that the frisky octogenarian slapped her around while they were in bed discussing his real-estate betrayal. The sultry actress and the mogul, who's worth some $14.5...

Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the nation’s credit rating gives House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan every right to say “I told you so.” Even earlier this week when President Obama was taking his victory lap for the debt-ceiling compromise, Ryan was disclosing the cold, hard truths of the economic troubles that lie ahead — truths that a jittery Wall Street has been more than aware of. In an oped column in Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal, the Wisconsin Republican reiterated, of course, that the president really has no budget plan. “The president’s February budget,” he wrote, “deliberately dodged the tough...

Kerry Blames The Tea Party For Credit Downgrade By Ben Wolfgang-The Washington Times1 Sen. John Kerry on Sunday laid the blame for the recent downgrade of the nation’s credit rating at the feet of conservative House Republicans. “I believe this is, without question, the tea party downgrade,” Mr. Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Standard & Poor’s rating agency on Friday dropped the U.S. credit rating from AAA to “AA+, questioning the ability of leaders in Washington to deal seriously with the nation’s debt crisis. The Obama administration’s debt-ceiling proposal, which included more spending cuts than the...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top White House adviser is blaming the downgrade of the U.S. credit rating on tea party Republicans, whom he says were unwilling to compromise on how to reduce the federal debt. The adviser to President Barack Obama, David Axelrod, tells CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday .. ... .. also criticized GOP presidential candidates for not speaking up in favor of compromise.

MoveOn.org drives new liberal catch phrase: ‘Tea party downgrade’ Matthew Boyle - The Daily Caller 43 mins ago The left-wing activist group MoveOn.org picked up the new liberal slogan bashing conservatives for Standard & Poor’s U.S. credit rating downgrade: “Tea Party downgrade.” President Obama’s chief campaign strategist David Axelrod and Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry both used the phrase on Sunday talk shows. In a Sunday afternoon email to supporters, MoveOn.org accused tea partiers of being responsible for the first-ever credit downgrade in U.S. history. “This ‘tea party downgrade’ is a shameful blow to our nation’s honor and risks throwing...

Dispute Over 'Basic Math' Began With S&P E-MailBloombergThe e-mail message that unleashed hours of debate between US Treasury Department officials and Standard & Poor's arrived at 1:45 pm on Aug. 5, just as US and European stock markets were limping toward the end ...Treasury Hits Back Against S&P DowngradeFox BusinessInvestors to assess U.S. debt downgrade, Fed movesMarketWatchTreasury Disputes S&P Math, Saying Downgrade Doesn't Add UpSan Francisco ChronicleBusinessWeek -Wall Street Journal -CNNall 5,450 news articles »...

One day after lowering the nation’s platinum triple-A credit rating, Standard & Poor’s analysts warned Saturday that the U.S. government could face a second downgrade if the economy continues to struggle and the government fails to make the cuts outlined in the debt ceiling agreement. The ratings agency on Friday downgraded the nation to AA+ for the first time in history, saying partisanship in Washington is preventing dramatic deficit reduction.

The decision by credit agency Standard and Poor’s to downgrade America’s AAA credit rating for the first time in 70 years is a massive blow to the credibility of the Obama administration, and a damning indictment of its handling of the economy. No doubt the White House will pathetically try to blame the Bush Administration, Republicans in Congress, and of course its favourite target, the Tea Party, for the move by S&P. But without a shadow of a doubt, responsibility for the country’s financial mess and staggering levels of debt lie with the current US president and his administration. They...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama sought to distance himself Saturday from the bad news of the nation's first-ever credit-rating downgrade, but lawmakers and presidential candidates showed no such reticence—trading salvos over who's at fault and why. The president, spending the weekend at Camp David, left it to press secretary Jay Carney to say it's clear Washington "must do better" in tackling soaring deficits and other economic woes. A statement from Carney said talks that produced Tuesday's $2 trillion compromise on raising the U.S. borrowing limit had been too drawn-out and "divisive." But the statement didn't directly address Friday's move...

Standard & Poor's decision to downgrade the nation's credit rating reinforces Democrats' call for increasing tax revenue, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Friday.

U.S. AAA credit rating DOWNGRADED for first time in history after Obama's debt deal Unprecedented move will send shockwaves globally S&P cuts long-term credit rating from AAA to AA+ Borrowing costs for consumers and government to rise Comes after Obama signed bill to reduce fiscal deficit By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 1:08 PM on 6th August 2011 The U.S. has lost its top-notch AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's in an unprecedented reversal of fortune for the world's largest economy. S&P cut the long-term U.S. credit rating by one notch to AA+ on concerns about the government's...

The Obama administration attacked the credibility of the analysis underlying Standard & Poor's decision to downgrade the United States' top credit rating on Friday, saying it had found a $2 trillion error. S&P was forced to remove the number from its analysis after Treasury officials discovered that the rating agency's estimates of the government's discretionary spending was $2 trillion too high, sources familiar with the discussions said.

The Obama administration angrily responded to Standard & Poor's decision Friday to downgrade the U.S. credit rating, with one senior official saying the agency's "analysis was way off." U.S. Treasury officials received S&P's analysis Friday afternoon and alerted the agency to an error that inflated U.S. deficits by $2 trillion, said the administration official, who was not authorized to speak for attribution. The agency acknowledged the mistake, but said it was sticking with its decision to lower the U.S. rating from a top score of AAA to AA+. "This is a facts-be-damned decision," the official said. "Their analysis was way...

• We have lowered our long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States of America to 'AA+' from 'AAA' and affirmed the 'A-1+' short-term rating. • We have also removed both the short- and long-term ratings from CreditWatch negative. • The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government's medium-term debt dynamics. • More broadly, the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time...

SYDNEY — Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard sought to calm public nerves over global debt woes Saturday after Standard & Poor's cut the United States' credit rating for the first time in history. Gillard told Australians their economy was well placed to weather financial crises looming in the US and Europe and would not be heavily affected by S&P's decision to downgrade the US rating from AAA to AA+. "People should look with confidence at our economic credentials and fundamentals, and people should look with confidence at the ability of this government to deal with global instability," Gillard said.

Christina Romer, the former chair of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers on Friday offered a rather strong opinion concerning the announcement by Standard & Poor's that the credit rating agency downgraded America's debt to AA+. Appearing on HBO's "Real Time," Romer said we're "pretty darn f--ked" (video follows with transcript and absolutely no commentary needed): ---- BILL MAHER, HOST: So, excuse my language, but we used to do a segment on this show called “How F—ked Are We?” (VIDEO CLIP) MAHER: I didn’t expect that there. This, just before we went on the air they said our rating got downgraded....

(CBS/AP) Following the news Friday of Standard and Poor's downgrade on the U.S. debt, several politicians from both sides of the aisle offered their reactions. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid released a statement: "This makes the work of the joint committee all the more important, and shows why leaders should appoint members who will approach the committee's work with an open mind -- instead of hardliners who have already ruled out the balanced approach that the markets and rating agencies like S&P are demanding." Reid was referring to the special bipartisan congressional committee -- made up of six Democrats...

S&P cut the long-term U.S. credit rating by one notch to AA-plus. The credit agency said late Friday that it was making the move because the deficit reduction plan passed by Congress on Tuesday did not go far enough to stabilize the country's debt situation. U.S. Treasuries, once undisputedly seen as the safest investment in the world, are now rated lower than bonds issued by countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France or Canada. The outlook on the new U.S. credit rating is negative, S&P said in a statement, a sign that another downgrade is possible in the next...

Standard & Poor’s took the unprecedented step of downgrading the U.S. government’s “AAA” sovereign credit rating Friday in a move that could send shock waves through global. The following is a press release from Standard & Poor’s: – We have lowered our long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States of America to ‘AA+’ from ‘AAA’ and affirmed the ‘A-1+’ short-term rating. – We have also removed both the short- and long-term ratings from CreditWatch negative. – The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in...

The United States lost its top-notch AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's on Friday in an unprecedented reversal of fortune for the world's largest economy. S&P cut the long-term US credit rating by one notch to AA-plus on concerns about the government's budget deficits and rising debt burden. The move is likely to raise borrowing costs eventually for the US government, companies and consumers. "The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government's medium-term debt dynamics,"...

Two government officials tell ABC News that the federal government is expecting and preparing for bond rating agency Standard & Poor’s to downgrade the rating of US debt from its current AAA value. Official reasons given, one official says, will be the political confusion surrounding the process of raising the debt ceiling, and lack of confidence that the political system will be able to agree to more deficit reduction. A source says Republicans saying that they refuse to accept any tax increases as part of a larger deal will be part of the reason cited. The official was unsure if...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States lost its top-notch AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's on Friday, in a dramatic reversal of fortune for the world's largest economy. S&P cut the long-term U.S. credit rating by one notch to AA-plus on concerns about growing budget deficits. U.S. Treasuries, once undisputedly seen as the safest investment in the world, are now rated lower than bonds issued by countries such as the UK, Germany, France or Canada

DALLAS -- While the hours count down to a final early morning board meeting of AMR corp, parent company of American Airlines, industry sources briefed on Airbus's North America strategy say the sales play by the European airframer is the opening salvo of the coming fleet replacement battles with US airlines that may eventually push Airbus production to record rates as high 60 A320 family aircraft per month after 2016 to meet the replacement demand. The announcement, now expected in Wednesday's early morning hours, is to split some portion of a 300 to 400 aircraft order between rivals Boeing and...

<p>The totalitarian urge is ubiquitous in human history, though in the United States this has been more expressed as Nanny State, less Bolshevik Revolution. Familiar examples include dictating our food choices, demonizing smokers and, most forcefully, micro-managing personal energy consumption. These policies all begin with seductive claims that government intrusion will benefit everybody and cooperation will be largely voluntary; but as benign admonitions fall short, pressures via fines and taxes, even criminal sanctions grow more draconian.</p>

Click here or on the image below to read Mr. Coates’ testimony:

DILLON — Dillon County Council Chairman Macio Williamson must appear before a judge after he ordered the county administrator to instruct another official to hire a black person to fill a vacant county position. Williamson has served on Dillon County Council representing District 1 for nearly 29 years and serves as the council’s chairman. The letter was written by Dillon County Administrator David Mobley on Williamson’s behalf Aug. 13. The letter was sent to Dillon County Chief Magistrate Mackie Hayes on a Dillon County Council letterhead and was signed by Mobley. It was sent in response to an employee of...

Many of us who know Rand's work have noticed that with each passing week, and with each successive bailout plan and economic-stimulus scheme out of Washington, our current politicians are committing the very acts of economic lunacy that "Atlas Shrugged" parodied in 1957, when this 1,000-page novel was first published and became an instant hit.

OK, I understand that one always need to tread carefully when posting a "vanity" at Free Republic, even in the General/Chat forum, especially as a "newbie." Like many, I've lurked on and off for about 5 or 6 years before getting "motivated" enough to actually join a few months ago (a bit more on that below). So, I am treading carefully. I don't have an article to post as reference or as a subject since this thread is of a very personal nature. However, at this point in time, I can't think of a better forum in which to start...

An American Airlines flight with 145 people on board made an emergency landing Tuesday in Iceland after five crew members became ill following reports of chemical fumes in the cabin. American Airlines Flight 49 traveling from Paris to Dallas-Ft. Worth landed safely just after 1345 GMT (9:45 a.m. EDT). The source of the fumes was being investigated, Keflavik Airport spokesman Fridthor Eydal said.

Glenn Beck used to be a social liberal before he discovered Alcoholics Anonymous and then consequently sobered up. This admission—coming straight from the man's lips on his Friday TV show on FNC during a special entitled "Who Are You?"—may not be a surprise to some who know Beck's backstory, but it certainly reinforces the conventional wisdom that liberalism breeds weakness and is oftentimes an impediment to personal self-improvement. His declaration came in the context of "knowing yourself" politically and ideologically, the theme of Friday's Glenn Beck show special on FNC. Stating that his recovery from alcoholism came only after he...

Someone please tell me why this is.... Every job application out there askes me if I'm Hispanic or Latino! Why not Black? ...or non-White?

Forty passengers were reported injured when an American Airlines plane crashed and broke in two after landing at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston shortly after 10:00 last night. "The injured passengers have been taken to the Kingston Public Hospital," Information Minister Daryl Vaz told the Observer. "There are no reports of fatalities." Vaz, Transport and Works Minister Mike Henry and National Security Minister Dwight Nelson were quick on the scene and engaged in a head count from the passenger manifest to determine if anyone was missing. An injured American Airlines flight 331 passenger is being pushed in a...

Research has shown that there are different degrees of drinking disorders, and many people can change habits on their own. Seventy years ago, Bill Wilson -- the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous -- declared his powerlessness over alcohol in a book by the same name. The failed businessman contended that, as an alcoholic, he had to "hit bottom" before changing his life and that sobriety could only be achieved through complete abstention. For generations, Americans took these tenets to be true for everyone. Top addiction experts are no longer sure. They now say that many drinkers can evaluate their habits and...

David Hasselhoff has once again been hospitalized due to alcohol poisoning. The "America's Got Talent" judge recently wrapped taping a season of the hit reality series, and allegedly began boozing on vodka, according to RadarOnline.com.

I would greatly appreciate a larger or better version of this: The original was done by CNN. I had a couple stored on my hard drive, but they were lost during a computer crash last year... Thanks!

In August 1979, I took my last drink. It was about four o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, the hot sun streaming through the windows of my little carriage house on Dickens. I put a glass of scotch and soda down on the living room table, went to bed, and pulled the blankets over my head. I couldn't take it any more. On Monday I went to visit wise old Dr. Jakob Schlichter. I had been seeing him for a year, telling him I thought I might be drinking too much. He agreed, and advised me to go to "A.A.A," which...

The hits just keep on coming from our southside neighbors to the north; the fun-loving folks across the river in Jeffersonville. Wednesday morning, a resident of Elk Point Boulevard looked out and saw his trash can overturned, laying on its side. Garbage was strewn about his yard, and he was about to think some unkind thoughts about the neighborhood youth, when he observed a pair of legs—clothed and shod—sticking out from the can. Elk Point Blvd. Resident Roberta Embry told WDRB-FOX-41 (see video): "My husband got up early this morning about five and he heard a lot of people drinking....

Bud passed away at his residence in Cottage Grove, MN on April 26, 2009. Funeral arrangements are pending... http://www.mnlegion.org/paper/html/ollom.html Bud was also a member of the Midwest All Airborne Alliance http://www.midwestallairborne.com/Pages/Events.php

Published: April 12, 2009 Columbia (WLTX) - A man who tried to rob people at an Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting is dead after being shot. Columbia Police say a man in his late teens walked into the meeting at 2015 College Street, the Acoa Club, at 11 p.m. Saturday night with a gun. They say he demanded two people empty their pockets. That’s when police say a person with a concealed weapons permit shot the man in his chest. He was taken to Palmetto Richland where he later died. Witnesses tell officials that a handful of people were in the building...

D/FW AIRPORT — A man aboard an American Airlines jet opened a door to the aircraft as it was waiting to taxi to a gate at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Tuesday afternoon. The 26-year-old passenger reportedly ran into the galley area at the front of the MD-80 jet and unlatched the door. That triggered the automatic deployment of an inflatable emergency escape chute. The man slid down to the tarmac and started moving toward Terminal C. The unidentified man was quickly apprehended by airline employees. The man was being questinoed by the airport's Department of Public Safety. Transportation Security Administration...

An American Eagle passenger jet landed safely at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport today after an alarm was triggered and passengers reported smelling smoke. Flight 3890 out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, made an emergency landing shortly after 1 p.m., and fire trucks surrounded the plane after it landed. Officials said a sensor indicated smoke in the cargo compartment, said Jamie Morrison, a CNN producer who was on the plane. American Airlines flight 2461 also issued an alert on Thursday after smoke was reported and landed safely at the airport.

BANTAM - Film and stage actor Rip Torn was arraigned Monday on drunken driving charges in Bantam Superior Court. Elmore “Rip” Torn, 77, a Salisbury resident, pleaded not guilty before Judge Cara Eschuk to charges of illegal operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence and failure to drive in the proper lane. Torn is represented by Torrington attorney A. Thomas Waterfall of the firm Smith, Keefe, Moraghan and Waterfall. Eschuk warned Torn not to drive if his license is suspended. He was scheduled to return to court Jan. 28. Despite two prior drunken driving arrests in New York,...

Fox says there is an AA plane circling LAX with a blown tire, burning fuel before it attempts an emergency landing.

American Airlines is charging troops for their extra baggage, a practice that forces soldiers heading for a war zone in Iraq to try to get reimbursement from the military. One of the country's largest veterans groups is asking the aviation industry to drop the practice immediately. American, which recently charged two soldiers from Texas $100 and $300 for their extra duffel bags, said it gives the military a break on the cost for excess luggage and that the soldiers who incur the fees are reimbursed. (snip) Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) spokesman Joseph Davis said service members destined for Iraq...