Bush most unpopular in modern history

Poll: Bush most unpopular in modern history
Posted: 02:30 PM ET

New poll numbers show bad news for president Bush.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - A new poll suggests that George W. Bush is the most
unpopular president in modern American history.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Thursday indicates that
71 percent of the American public disapprove of how Bush his handling his
job as president.

"No president has ever had a higher disapproval rating in any CNN or Gallup
poll; in fact, this is the first time that any president's disapproval
rating has cracked the 70 percent mark," said CNN Polling Director Keating
Holland.

"Bush's approval rating, which stands at 28 percent in our new poll, remains
better than the all-time lows set by Harry Truman and Richard Nixon (22
percent and 24 percent, respectively) but even those two presidents never
got a disapproval rating in the 70s," Holland added. "The previous all-time
record in CNN or Gallup polling was set by Truman, 66 percent disapproval in
January 1952."

International Herald Tribune

April U.S. sales show shift to smaller cars
By Nick Bunkley
Thursday, May 1, 2008

DETROIT: Automakers reported higher sales of small cars as oil and
gasoline prices climbed to record highs in April, but said Thursday that
overall vehicle sales in the United States plummeted during the month.

Sales decreased 23 percent from April 2007 at General Motors and 19
percent at Ford Motor. Toyota's sales fell 4.5 percent, and Nissan's
declined 1.6 percent. The numbers are adjusted to account for two more
selling days in April this year.

Honda and Chrysler planned to release their sales later Thursday.

Much of the misery occurred in the lineups of pickup trucks and sport
utility vehicles, which consumers have been shunning in search of
smaller, more fuel-efficient offerings. That is bad news for the
automakers, particularly the Detroit Three, which build many more trucks
than cars, because bigger vehicles have much higher profit margins.

Light truck sales fell a staggering 32 percent at GM, 25 percent at
Ford, 19 percent at Nissan and 16 percent at Toyota.

Girl Labeled PVS Able To Testify In Abuse Case

http://www.northcountrygazette.org/2008/05/01/poutre_abuse/

BOSTON, MASS—As prosecutors prepare for a fall trial in one of the
state’s most horrific child abuse cases, the child at the center of the
case who had been incorrectly labeled as being in a persistent
vegetative state, is providing crucial testimony about how she was
routinely subjected to physical punishment by her adoptive mother and
stepfather.

Haleigh Poutre, now 14, has been in a pediatric rehabilitation hospital
in Brighton, Mass., for the past two years after suffering a near fatal
head injury in September 2005 at age 11.

The case arose when Haleigh’s adoptive mother, Holli Strickland and
stepfather. Jason Strickland were charged with assault and battery after
she was hospitalized with serious brain injuries and placed on life
support in September 2005. The couple took Haleigh to the hospital with
bruises, broken teeth, swollen knees and a sheared brain stem.

They were living in western Massachusetts are the time of Haleigh’s
traumatic brain injury.

Two weeks later, the adoptive mother was found dead, killed by her
grandmother who then killed herself, and the Department of Social
Services as the girl’s guardian requested the court’s permission to...

Poll: High Gas, Food Prices A Serious Hardship
More Cite Gasoline Prices as a Serious Financial Hardship
Analysis
By Dalia Sussman

April 22

More than half of Americans say record-high gasoline prices are causing
them financial hardship, and three in 10 say it is a "serious" hardship,
up significantly in the last few years and a potential hazard to broader
consumer confidence.

In a new ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll, 54 percent say recent price
increases in gasoline have caused financial hardship in their
households  about as many as said so two years ago.

But the difficulty is now deeper: 31 percent say they are experiencing
"serious" hardship, up from 20 percent in spring 2002, and 17 percent in
2001.

An Energy Department survey says pump prices now average $1.81 a
gallon  an all-time high, up 22 percent in just the last four months.
No respite is in the offing; the department reports that "conditions are
likely to remain volatile through the summer."

America's Right is having a field day blasting Barack Obama's ex-pastor
Jeremiah Wright as anti-American. But many of the same conservatives look
the other way when their benefactor, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, denounces the
United States. A Special Report.

The Right's America-Hating Preacher

By Robert Parry (A Special Report)
May 2, 2008

One of the advantages that the American Right has achieved from investing
tens of billions of dollars in media - from talk radio and cable TV, to
print and the Internet - is the ability to define what is and what isn't a
"scandal," a powerful factor in determining who wins national elections.
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By comparison, American progressives have short-changed their own
investments in media. The disparity leads to the spectacle of Democratic
presidential candidates submitting to questioning on Fox News while no one
would expect a Republican leader to undergo interrogation from, say, the
DailyKos.

And yet he is still has overwhelmingly support by usenet Republicans.
But its LIBERALS who are the extremists, right?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/01/bush.poll/index.html

A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Thursday indicates that
71 percent of the American public disapprove of how Bush is handling
his job as president.

"No president has ever had a higher disapproval rating in any CNN or
Gallup Poll; in fact, this is the first time that any president's
disapproval rating has cracked the 70 percent mark," said Keating
Holland, CNN's polling director.

"Bush's approval rating, which stands at 28 percent in our new poll,
remains better than the all-time lows set by Harry Truman and Richard
Nixon [22 percent and 24 percent, respectively], but even those two
presidents never got a disapproval rating in the 70s," Holland said.
"The previous all-time record in CNN or Gallup polling was set by
Truman, 67 percent disapproval in January 1952."

While Gallup polling goes back to the 1930s, it wasn't until the
Truman years that they began surveying monthly approval ratings.

Foster mom admits to killing girl

http://www.thecoastnews.com/articles/4091/

May 02, 2008
By Randy Kalp
Reporter
OCEANSIDE — A foster mother charged with the murder of a 4-year-old girl
in her care admitted to authorities that she accidentally killed the
girl after months of abuse, testified a detective April 23.

Dania Yesenia Haros, 23, is charged with one count each of murder and
assault stemming from the death of Angelina Espalin in November 2006.

Superior Court Judge Runston Maino ordered Haros back to court May 7 for
an arraignment, at which time a trial date may be set.

After several interviews with Haros during a yearlong investigation
following the death of the young girl, Oceanside police Detective
Jeffrey Novak testified Haros finally admitted she had pushed Angelina
three times on the evening of Nov. 19, 2006, each time causing the
victim to hit her head on a wood or metal surface.

Police: 20+ child porn movies found in Phoenix detective's possession

http://www.azfamily.com/news/homepagetopstory/stories/phoenix_local_news_043008_cop...

PHOENIX - He has handled many high-profile cases here in the Valley,
but now a Phoenix Police detective is the target of one.

Right now Phoenix Police are investigating one of their own. Detective
Richard Polk, a father of two, is now charged with the sexual
exploitation of a minor. This came after a search of his home and computer.

Police are using words like accused criminal, sexual exploitation and
child pornography when describing their comrade. This is a harsh reality
for the department.

Phoenix Police were tipped off by the feds last September, eight months
ago, that ICE, as part of its "Operation Predator" program, was
investigating Polk.

Phoenix Police recently took over the case and Wednesday confronted Polk
while on the job at police headquarters before arresting him. He now
faces 10 counts.

http://www.afamreport.com/

When San Bernardino High School teens Jazanique Jackson, Ashanae Brown
and Kimyen Hawkins decided they wanted to work this summer, they left
nothing to chance. They knew the rules: plan ahead; role play; be
positive; adapt; relate and encourage. So when they hit the streets to
start their summer job search they were prepared for virtually every
eventuality except one. ¿No habla ingles? Can't speak Spanish.

Click on: ''News Stories' at the top, scroll to No English, No Job

Audit: Vets with brain injury still not getting proper care

By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer
Thu May 1, 3:05 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Many Iraq war veterans with traumatic brain injury are not
getting adequate health care and job assistance for their long-term recovery
despite years of government pledges to do so, Veterans Affairs Department
investigators say.

"Significant needs remain unmet," according to the report released Thursday
by the VA's inspector general. It is the first to examine the Bush
administration's long-term efforts in supporting veterans with traumatic
brain injury, a leading problem among soldiers struck by roadside bombs that
often causes lasting emotional and behavioral difficulties.

The study tracked a group of 52 patients who received VA treatment after
sustaining brain injury during a seven-month period in 2004. An initial
review by the IG in 2006 found gaps in follow-up care and family counseling
16 months after the injury and urged the VA to improve long-term case
management.