NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A vagrant wanted for questioning in a rape overpowered a police officer who was trying to handcuff him, then shot her to death with her own weapon Monday, police said.

The officer’s death was a blow to this city, where hopes were high that a new year could hold back a wave of crime that has been a dark backdrop to the rebuilding effort since Hurricane Katrina.

“When it hits home like this, it hits you tremendously,” said Police Superintendent Warren Riley, who was charged with energizing a demoralized police force in the 2005 storm’s wake.

Officer Nicola Cotton, 24, approached the suspect in her police cruiser and began questioning him. When she tried to handcuff him he attacked her, and a seven-minute fight ensued, Riley said.

The officer managed to use her radio during the struggle to call for backup, but the man grabbed her weapon and shot her repeatedly, Riley said.

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New Orleans police officer killed by vagrant

WASHINGTON (AP) - It’s about the economy, and the war in Iraq, and other unresolved matters that have kept the nation on edge. But President Bush’s State of the Union address on Monday is something else, too: probably his last chance to seize the public’s attention and put it to use.

Thank God that it’s his last SOTU message, we can’t stand a lot more of his STATE of anything, and he’s seeking support?? Is Bush that much of a fool?? He didn’t have support in the Congress and Senate when they were Republican controlled houses, and he expects support NOW?? His approval numbers only look good because the numbers of BOTH Houses look even worse, sort of reminds me of this line, ‘Please Sir, may I have some more?’…

Bush will pressure Congress - particularly the Senate, where he senses trouble - to finish an economic stimulus package fast. He will announce steps he is taking to reduce and reform the use of earmarks - a common Capitol Hill practice of slipping pet projects into spending bills, saying that if the items are worthy, lawmakers should debate them in the open and hold a public vote.

Why would anyone support this ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’ BS, Bush wants to give Americans money that the U.S. government doesn’t have to give, and not ALL Americans will see the money, if the money were to come to fruition, retirees have been left out of this package, retirees that have earned their retirement, and pay taxes on their retirement income and investments, just like the ‘working’ folks, retirees PAY taxes, but George Bush hasn’t mentioned us, or the disabled, those folks that were stricken with a debilitating disease and were forced into early retirement through no fault of their own…

They pay taxes as well, Social Security IS a taxable income, what about them Mr. Bush??

The president will talk of improved security in Iraq and reassert that he decides when U.S. troops will come home. He will offer some modest new ideas and recycle others as unfinished business. To the degree the speech favors the pragmatic over the bold, the White House offers a two-word explanation: Blame Congress.The final State of the Union of the Bush presidency will be roughly split between domestic and foreign matters.

We have had troops in Japan and Germany since the end of WWII, and we’ve had troops in South Korea for over 50 years, I understand that we need to have troops placed strategically around the globe, it would be foolish to think otherwise, I have never bought in to the reasoning the Bush administration gave for going to Iraq, personally, I don’t give a damn about Iraq of anyone living there but if we can turn it into a reliable U.S. stronghold on the Asian continent, maybe it will be a worthwhile endeavor, over a long period of time, but we can’t force the Iraqis to accept the U.S. way of doing business or governing their nation, and taking a look at our current administration, I can see why the Iraqis and insurgents wouldn’t want to be governed by our standards…

We must begin to see some ‘return’ on our investment in Iraq, speaking strictly from a monetary sense, we’re too far in to pull out now, we have invested too many lives, too much time and way too many BILLIONS of our dollars in Iraq to turn and walk away…

“He will state his commitment to veto any spending bill that does not succeed in cutting earmarks in half from 2008 levels,” White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said Monday about one domestic proposal. Bush also will announce that he will issue an executive order directing agencies to ignore any future earmarks that lawmakers attempt to include, but are not actually in the legislation, Fratto said.

I don’t know who threw this idea at Bush and got him to bite on it but it’s a good move, the only thing I see coming out of the SOTU message that I can fully agree with…

We’re facing some tough times my friends, and the next POTUS is going to have a full plate from the moment he takes office, as I see it, finance, money matters, are the most pressing issue facing us at this time, we’re running out of money by taking care of the entire world, what we need is a POTUS with a head for business and some great advisers, we need a POTUS that can lead us militarily, we need a POTUS that can be held up as a shining example of strong Conservatism and Christian beliefs, and as of right now, NONE of the candidates for POTUS are in possession of ALL of the mentioned qualities…

I may come across as sounding like a ‘hard ass’ but I don’t care about hunger or AIDS in Africa, we have hunger and AIDS right here in America, lets address OUR problems, we MUST have a POTUS that places America 1st, and not the interests of his globalist, ‘One World Government’ associates…

We’re going to have to settle for the lesser of all evils again folks, and at this time, given the candidates that have fallen out of the race and those that remain, I am thinking that Mitt Romney may be that lesser of all evils, he’s not perfect, and I don’t believe we’ll ever have that perfect POTUS, but it appears that of what we have left, Mr. Romney may be the one we need…

He may not be the one we want, he may not be that ‘perfect’ candidate, but I am quite serious in this statement, if it were to come down to a choice between John McCain and Hillary Clinton, I would write in a candidate, maybe Mickey Mouse, maybe Satan himself, because we’re sure headed for hell as it goes right now, but we CAN do better than this, WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS…

We, the American people, deserve to NEVER hear a POTUS talk about his failures while trying to sell us on supporting them for another year, NEVER AGAIN…

Full Story Here:
Bush to Seek Support in State of Union

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WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration is attempting to re-energize its terrorism-fighting war efforts in Afghanistan, the original target of a post-Sept. 11 offensive. The U.S. also is refocusing on Pakistan, where a regenerating al-Qaida is posing fresh threats.

There is growing recognition the United States risks further setbacks, if not deepening conflict or even defeat, in Afghanistan, and that success in that country hinges on stopping Pakistan from descending into disorder.

Privately, some senior U.S. military commanders say Pakistan’s tribal areas are at the center of the fight against Islamic extremism; more so than Iraq, or even Afghanistan. These areas border on eastern Afghanistan and provide haven for al-Qaida and Taliban fighters to regroup, rearm and reorganize.

This view may explain, at least in part, the administration’s increasingly public expressions of concern.

At a Pentagon news conference last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that while the U.S. respects the Pakistani government’s right to decide what actions are needed to defeat extremists on its soil, there are reasons to worry that al-Qaida poses more than an internal threat to Pakistan.

Full Story Here:
US Shift Seen to Pakistan, Afghanistan

I am going to say this one more time, IF we had a President that had a lick of sense, Iraq would never have happened, we’d have stayed the course where the course actually was, Afghanistan, and by now, if the war had been conducted as it should have been, it would be all but over by now…

We had al-Qaeda, or the Taliban, which ever name you find most appropriate, we had them on the run in Afghanistan, we had them all but destroyed and what do you suppose happens next?? We up and all but abandon our efforts in Afghanistan so we can go play in Saddams sandpile because he threatened Bush 41 and made fun of him for not winning in ’91…

We were quite successful in ’91, by OUR standards of PC warfighting, but by our enemies standards, we didn’t accomplish too much because Bush 41 called it off and didn’t let Swartzkopf take it to a decisive resolution while we had the forces in place to do so and had world opinion in our favor…

When we went into Afghanistan post 9-11 we had the forces to do the job and we had world opinion in OUR favor, and another PC President named Bush blew it, there seems to be a strain of no warfighting ability in that family, at least I see a trend in that direction…

I am pretty sure that now we have Iraq fairly well under control, a task that only took 5 years, almost 4,000 American lives and God only knows how many BILLIONS of our tax dollars, all to bring a nation the size of Texas under control, I’m pretty sure we’re going to go back, in force, to Afghanistan and try a ‘do over’, we might as well, Bush has another year left in office and there’s war profits to be made, and a legacy to be sought and what the hell, Americans still have a few bucks to spare, Bush hasn’t bankrupted us yet…

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