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Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is interviewed at the offices of the Associated Press in New York Monday, May 8, 2006.

ASSociated Press: Rice: Iran Letter Doesn’t Resolve Standoff

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dismissed a letter that Iran’s president sent to
President Bush on Monday, saying the first direct communication from an Iranian leader in 27 years does not help resolve the standoff over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator called the surprise letter a new “diplomatic opening” between the two countries, but Rice said it was not.

“This letter is not the place that one would find an opening to engage on the nuclear issue or anything of the sort,” the top U.S. diplomat said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It isn’t addressing the issues that we’re dealing with in a concrete way.”

Rice said the letter from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was 17 or 18 pages long and covered history, philosophy and religion.

Rice’s comments were the most detailed response from the United States to the letter, the first from an Iranian head of state to an American president since the 1979 hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

She would not discuss the contents in detail but made clear that the United States would not change its tack on Iran.

“There’s nothing in here that would suggest that we’re on any different course than we were before we got the letter,” Rice said.

Well, Iran President Ahamdinejad’s letter is plain BULL - More bloviations to cloud the issues.

The UNSC meets tomorrow - time to vote folks.

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The Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Natanz is pictured in this January 2, 2006 satellite image.

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Iran Nuclear Watch Briefings

The Iran Nuclear Watch Files

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, center, speaks during a news conference as Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, left, and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, right, listen Monday, May, 8, 2006, at the Million Air terminal in Burbank, Calif. Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders flew around the state to trumpet the $37.3 billion public works bond package passed last week, but they would not vouch for how long their bipartisanship would last in an election year.

Reuters: Schwarzenegger embraces Dems for for bonds

After taunting Democrats in the past, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger kicked off a campaign with top legislative leaders of both parties on Monday to urge Californians to back $37.3 billion of public works bonds.

Flanked at an event in Oakland, California, by Democratic and Republican legislative leaders, the Republican celebrity governor described the package on the November ballot passed last week as “historic.” Later, the group flew to three other cities with the same message.

“I’m looking forward to campaigning with everybody,” said Schwarzenegger, who sparked criticism earlier in his time in office by calling Sacramento Democrats “girlie men.”

The general obligation package would fund repairs and expansion of public works across California.

The state’s infrastructure is straining to keep up with a booming population, Schwarzenegger said, adding that he would promote the package with Democrats even as he seeks re-election against a Democratic adversary.

The bonds will pass because California infrastructure is horid and in desperate need of improvement.

But, did Girlie Men, Don Perata and Fabian Nunez sell out the California Democrat Party and specifically Governor candidates Steve Westly and Phil Angelides?

You betcha and Arnold is laughing all of the way to re-election.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: Schwarzenegger Says Borders Are Vulnerable

ASSociated Press: Newspaper Circulation Declines 2.6 Percent

Newspaper circulation fell 2.6 percent in the six-month period ending in March, according to data released Monday, as more people turned to the Internet and other media outlets for news and information.

The decline in average paid weekday circulation was about the same as the previous six-month reporting cycle for the period ending last September, according to the Newspaper Association of America, a trade group.

Average paid circulation at Sunday newspapers fell 3.1 percent versus the same period a year ago, also a comparable decline with the last time circulation tallies were reported, the NAA said.

The figures were based on NAA’s analysis of circulation figures released Monday by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, a separate group which reports figures on individual newspapers but not industrywide data.

The Los Angeles Times owned by Chicago-based Tribune Company circulation fell. Daily circulation at the Los Angeles Times dropped about 5.4% to 851,832. Sunday proved better for the paper, down 1.8%.

In the past two years, Los Angeles Times circulation has fallen 17.9%.

Tribune Company stock as of midday today:

Other notable newspapers:

Most notable so far: the San Francisco Chronicle, which experienced a dramatic 15% decline in daily copies, to 398,246.

The San Jose Mercury News, which McClatchy intends to buy, also showed decreases in daily circ, down 7.6% to 242,865.

The Washington Post reported that daily circulation slipped 3.6% to 724,242.

Daily circulation at The New York Times was up 0.5% to 1,142,464.

The Wall Street Journal was down 1% to 2,049,768 for Monday through Friday.
Daily circulation at The Boston Globe dropped 8.5% to 397,288.

Daily circulation at the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News declined — both were down around 4.5%. Sunday declined about 4.1% to 704,806 copies.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer dropped 9% to 131,769 daily copies while the Seattle Times declined 5.3% to 220,734 daily copies. Sunday dropped 4.6% to 435,581.

Newspapers continue to decline and websites and blogs continue upward in readership.

Drudge has a chart:

1. USA Today, 2,272,815, up 0.09 percent
2. The Wall Street Journal, 2,049,786, down 1 percent
3. The New York Times, 1,142,464, up 0.5 percent
4. Los Angeles Times, 851,832, down 5.4 percent
5. The Washington Post, 724,242, down 3.7 percent
6. New York Daily News, 708,477, down 3.7 percent
7. New York Post, 673,379, down 0.7 percent
8. Chicago Tribune, 579,079, up 0.9 percent
9. Houston Chronicle, 513,387, down 3.6 percent
10. The Arizona Republic, 438,722, down 2.1 percent
11. Newsday, Long Island, 427,771, down 2.7 percent
12. The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., 398,329, up 0.9 percent
13. San Francisco Chronicle, 398,246, down 15.6 percent
14. The Boston Globe, 397,288, down 8.5 percent
15. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 365,011, down 6.7 percent
16. Star Tribune of Minneapolis-St. Paul, 362,964, down 2.9 percent
17. The Philadelphia Inquirer, 350,457, down 5.1 percent
18. Detroit Free Press, 345,861, up 0.04 percent
19. The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, 343,163, down 1.6 percent
20. St. Petersburg Times, Florida, 323,031, down 4.4 percent
Is the newspaper dead?

You betcha……the newsprint one that is……..

Old media indeed…..

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Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres

ASSociated Press (Via Jersualem Post): Peres says that Iran ‘can also be wiped off the map’

Vice Premier Shimon Peres said Monday in an interview to Reuters that “the president of Iran should remember that Iran can also be wiped off the map,” Army Radio reported.

According to Peres, “Teheran is making a mockery of the international community’s efforts to solve the crisis surrounding Iran’s nuclear program.”

“Iran presents a danger to the entire world, not just to us,” Peres added.

Peres’ vehement expressions came the same day that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly wrote to US President George W. Bush proposing “new solutions” to their differences in the first letter from an Iranian leader to an American president in 27 years, government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham said Monday.

And here is the story about Iran President Ahmadinejad’s letter to President Bush.

ASSociated Press: Iran’s Leader Writes to President Bush

Iran’s leader has written to President Bush proposing “new solutions” to their differences in the first letter from an Iranian head of state to an American president in 27 years, a government spokesman said Monday.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki delivered the letter to the Swiss ambassador on Monday, ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told The Associated Press. The Swiss Embassy in Tehran houses a U.S. interests section.

In the letter, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proposes “new solutions for getting out of international problems and the current fragile situation of the world,” spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham told a news conference.

Elham declined to reveal more, stressing “it is not an open letter.” Asked whether the letter could lead to direct U.S.-Iranian negotiations, he replied: “For the time being, it’s just a letter.”

Well, it was just a matter of time that Israel would weigh into the Inranian nuclear crisis. As members of the United Nations Security Council meet today and draft resolutions for a UNSC vote tomorrow, Israel is not going to wait.

When the “Point of No Return” is reached for Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon, the United States and Israel will destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities.

And as far as Ahamdinejad’s letter to President Bush - NUTS.

Stay tuned …….

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The Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Natanz is pictured in this January 2, 2006 satellite image.

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Iran Nuclear Watch Briefings

The Iran Nuclear Watch Files

Via Expose The Left get your new bumpersticker here.

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Representative Patrick Kennedy Cover-Up Watch: Kennedy Will Seek Treatment For a Substance Abuse Problem.

Representative Patrick Kennedy Cover-Up Watch: Book’M Dano Redux - “He Was Drinking a Little Bit”

Representative Patrick Kennedy Cover-Up Watch: Book’M Dano

Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair addresses the media at his monthly news conference in Downing Street, London May 8, 2006. Blair on Monday rejected calls from within his party to name a date for his departure, saying such a move would paralyse government.

ASSociated Press: Blair: Nuking Iran Would Be Absurd

Prime Minister Tony Blair says that any consideration of a nuclear attack against Iran would be “absolutely absurd,” and said the issue had no bearing on his decision to demote his foreign secretary.

Jack Straw, the former foreign secretary, had described alleged U.S. contingency plans for a tactical nuclear strike against Iran as “completely nuts.”

Of course there was specualtion that Prime Minisiter Blair and that former foreign secretary Jack Straw had disagreements over Iran policy. Flap covered the story here.

Blair previously had avoided any condemnation of the idea and defended the right of President Bush to hold all options in reserve in the showdown over Iran’s nuclear program.

Some analysts believed that differences over Iran led to Blair’s decision on Friday to move Straw to the less-exalted position of leader of the House of Commons.

Asked at a news conference whether he shared Straw’s view of any thought of a nuclear strike, Blair said: “I don’t know anybody who has even talked or contemplated the prospect of a nuclear strike in Iran and that would be absolutely absurd, which may be a different way of saying what you have just quoted to me.

“But it (Straw’s reassignment) has got nothing to do with that. Look, in the end I’m afraid as prime minister you do reshuffle your Cabinet from time to time.”

U.S. officials _ from Bush on down _ have left open the possibility of a military response if Iran does not end its nuclear ambitions. Several reports published Sunday said the administration was studying options for military strikes; one account raised the possibility of using nuclear weapons against Iran’s underground nuclear sites.

And the reader expects Blair to acknowledge war planning in the press?

Stay tuned……

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The Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Natanz is pictured in this January 2, 2006 satellite image.

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Iran Nuclear Watch Briefings

The Iran Nuclear Watch Files