Free Republic

Both FOIA lawsuits by Bloomberg & FoxNews to force the Federal Reserve to reveal the names of participants in its emergency lending programs are on appeal. Bloomberg won at the trial level and FoxNews lost. Link to Reuters article.

WASHINGTON - John McCain's campaign is asking staff members to disclose all previous lobbying ties following the resignation of two officials linked to a firm that worked for Myanmar's military junta. A memo from McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, also instructs staff to make certain they are no longer registered as lobbyists or foreign agents. It was issued following the resignations of Doug Goodyear, who was to run the Republican National Convention, and Doug Davenport, a regional campaign director for the mid-Atlantic states. Both worked for DCI Group, a consulting firm hired to improve the image of Myanmar's military junta....

RICHMOND, Va. - For the past five years, Sen. George Allen (news, bio, voting record), has failed to tell Congress about stock options he got for his work as a director of a high-tech company. The Virginia Republican also asked the Army to help another business that gave him similar options. Congressional rules require senators to disclose to the Senate all deferred compensation, such as stock options. The rules also urge senators to avoid taking any official action that could benefit them financially or appear to do so. Those requirements exist so the public can police lawmakers for possible conflicts...

SAN FRANCISCO Google Inc. is paying The Associated Press for stories and photographs, settling a dispute with a major provider of the copyrighted news that the online search engine finds and displays on its popular Web site. Both Mountain View-based Google and New York-based AP disclosed the business relationship Wednesday. But neither would divulge financial terms or other details because of a nondisclosure agreement. Google indicated AP's content will serve as the foundation for a new product that will be introduced in the coming months as complement to its popular Google News service. That aspect of the deal could be...

Republican Rep. Bill Thomas, chairman of the influential House Ways and Means Committee, was set to announce Monday whether he would retire from Congress or seek a 15th term. Thomas, 64, scheduled a morning news conference in his hometown of Bakersfield, Calif., amid speculation that he would leave the House of Representatives. Because of House Republicans' self-imposed term limits for committee chairmen, the mercurial but brainy former college professor is serving his last year as head of the powerful committee that writes tax laws. GOP officials are working under the assumption that Thomas will retire, according to a Republican election...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - State Controller Steve Westly, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, called Thursday for his potential rivals in next year's election to release 10 years worth of tax returns. He said voters deserve at least that much disclosure. Westly made millions as a top executive and shareholder in the online auction house eBay. He told reporters during a news conference that he released 10 years of tax records months ago, while Treasurer Phil Angelides, also running for the Democratic nomination, has not. Westly also noted that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not released tax records to the same extent. Westly's records...

Scores of lawmakers disclose travel files One representative missed the reporting deadline by years. The Associated Press Scrutiny of Majority Leader Tom DeLay's travel has led to the belated disclosure of at least 198 previously unreported special interest trips by House members and their aides, including eight years of travel by the second-ranking Democrat, an Associated Press review has found. At least 43 House members and dozens of aides had failed to meet the one-month deadline in ethics rules for disclosing trips financed by organizations outside the U.S. government. The AP review of thousands of pages of records covered pre-2005...

March 28, 2005 How safe is online romance?Lawmakers want dating sites to disclose background check informationBy DAVID EGGERTAssociated Press Writer State Sen. Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt, shown during a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting March 15 in Lansing, is sponsoring a bill that would require an Internet dating service to disclose prominently on the Web site whether it had conducted criminal background checks on users. AP File Photo Online dating safetySome tips when meeting people through Internet dating: Start slowly. Communicate by e-mail at first, looking for signs of the other user's behavior. Trust your instincts. Guard your anonymity. Sites often allow...

Meet Joe Dirt Stuart K. Hayashi In 2001, comedian David Spade came out with a movie titled "The Adventures of Joe Dirt." It now appears that the film was about Joe Conason, the author of "Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth" and an editorialist for the liberal-biased Salon.com. In the person of Brad Pitt, you've already Met Joe Black. Now Meet the Real Joe Dirt. His book purports to expose how right-wingers harness the corporate media to brainwash society. Instead of demonstrating such, however, Joe is too busy flinging his Dirt around. In two...