A tail dragging romp through the swamps of the world
The president's popularity rating is at an all-time low -- 23% of all registered voters, according to the latest Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Poll, discussed here last week. Those numbers are down from February, when he had an approval rating of 35%, and contrast with November 2001, just after the 9/11 terror attacks, when his popularity rating among registered voters was at 85%.But Bush, without the benefit of anything but his ability to look into peoples' eyes and read them suggests that the pollsters have it all wrong.
But President Bush senses less hostility out on the road lately, according to U.S. News & World Report, and has told aides he senses an uptick in popularity that is not yet reflected in the polls. One senior advisor, saying the president feels less "antipathy" from crowds along motorcade routes, put it this way: "He feels there has been a shift in attitudes out there that's not reflected in polling data."Less hostility? Are they saluting him more often? Less antipathy? Wow. What a testament to a great man. The crowds don't seem to hate him quite as much as they did a little while ago.
Yes, we can vote for George W. Bush in 2008. We have the right to write in the name of our chosen candidate, regardless of whether or not he is officially on the ballot.Because the God these people are talking about didn't write the US constitution and their God certainly hasn't read the 22nd Amendment.We know that George Bush was God's Candidate in 2000. We know that George Bush was God's candidate again in 2004. And George Bush has been God's president for the last 8 years.
Trust in God and vote your faith. Keep America safe. Write-in George W. Bush for President in 2008.
Bob Altemeyer does an excellent job of explaining why Bush doesn't believe the polls and why 23 percent of registered voters in the US can't stand the idea of not having a shallow-thinking idiot giving them orders.
Thanks to Coeruleus for the writeinbush2008 link, who, by the way, waded through that site to extract how Bush supporters actually view their own constitution.
Belgrade, Sarajevo, Zagreb, Skopje _ Two people have died and hundreds have sought medical assistance as a summer heat wave grips the western Balkans.Further to the northwest things got little weirder. Instead of being killed by the heat, in Germany people have been killed by hailstones the size of tennis balls.A period of extremely warm temperatures started as of this weekend and will last at least three weeks, meteorologists in the region said. They warned that temperatures – even above 40 degrees Celsius – may be set creating temperature highs not seen in the last 100 years. To make the situation even more difficult for the population, this period will also be marked by so-called “tropical nights” where temperatures will remain above 20 or even 30 degrees Celsius overnight.
Berlin - A storm that drenched parts of south-western Germany and brought hailstones as big as tennis balls killed a man and injured more than 100 people, police said on Thursday. Less than 24 hours later, a similar hailstorm hit the same area of the Black Forest, knocking a man off a roof as he was repairing damage from the Wednesday evening storm, police said. He was in critical condition. The downpour again flooded building basements. But police said the hailstones had not been as big as those that injured people, hammered cars and smashed windows the previous day.Hail is a fact of life in a lot of places during the summer, but what happened in Germany is severe. With above normal daily temperatures occurring over the central European landmass and a series of cool, moist air masses moving in from the North Sea the warm updrafts are creating extremely unstable air - the stuff of thunderheads and severe hail storms.
The vehicles were parked in the open in the northwestern German town of Emden, one of Europe's three main vehicle-transportation ports. Each year about 1 million vehicles either enter or leave the city's port, according to the Volkswagen Web site. The company employs around 7,900 people there at a plant producing the company's Passat models.Hmmm. If this holds up it's going to happen again... soon. With Spain now enduring extreme high temperatures, northern Italy is next in line to have a bunch of ice balls dropped on them.Company spokesman Christoph Adomat told the Süddeutsche Zeitung that a significant proportion of the 30,000 vehicles parked outside had suffered chipped paint or dings, although no windshields were broken. A VW spokesman told the Dow Jones Newswires that around 100 extra workers were being sent to Emden for a quality check on all the vehicles.
"We need to make certain that all customers receive a car that is absolutely in good working order," Adomat told the Associated Press, adding that the company was insured against hail damage.
Although the company has not released an estimate of the damages incurred, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung it could reach the hundreds of millions of euros.
Somewhere, someone has a picture of a Stevenson Screen next to a building which disproves any of the above is actually happening.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper told a delegation of B'nai B'rith members yesterday that Canada is refusing to participate in a United Nations conference on racism :
"We will not be party to an anti-Semitic and anti-Western hatefest dressed up as an anti-racism conference."
It is painful to keep reading because the poll in question is based on inaccurate information about how the carbon tax actually works. Industrial polluters are subject to the tax to the extent that they burn fossil fuels. This covers 70% of BC’s emissions. Not currently covered are cement and aluminum production where industrial processes, not fossil fuels, are the source of emissions, and “fugitive emissions” from landfills and pipelines. These are being addressed, but that 30% of BC’s emissions is being used to spin a different story to British Columbians that is misleading at best.The BC government website on their environment action plan asks How will you spend your $100?
The NDP has a helpful suggestion on how to spend your $100 climate action cheque.Not to put too fine a point on it, but fuck you Simpson. I don't have a lot of time for politicians in general, and I am certainly not a supporter of the current gang running the province, but I have to swallow hard and agree with Colin Hansen on this one:Give it to them.
In a "Dear Friend" e-mail to supporters, NDP environment critic Shane Simpson urges people to make their "gas tax rebate count" by funneling it to his party.
"We need to get tough on polluters, expand transit and aggressively promote green energy production," he says. "But we need your help.
"Here's what you can do right now: Join me and donate your $100 tax rebate to the B.C. NDP."
Now, it appears the opposition party is trying to make money off a program that it doesn't even support, Finance Minister Colin Hansen said. "I think that anybody that would be tempted to make a $100 donation to the NDP over this issue should actually look very closely at the hypocrisy that is coming from Carole James and the hypocrisy that's coming from the NDP caucus," he said.Yup. But I suppose Simpson, in stating that it's a straight-up ask, doesn't get it because he lives in that political swamp on Belleville Street in Victoria.
I find it a little galling that as this $100 per citizen started gracing BC mail slots there are all sorts of organizations out there who suddenly have a "great idea" if you give it to them.
So, what to do with that $200? Our personal carbon emission reduction plan is already in place and it has allocations from our annual budget. If the BC government's Carbon Tax is truly revenue neutral then our plan will proceed on pace. If, on the other hand, Campbell and his Vancouver-centric harbour rats are lying, (Let's face it. They're BC politicians.), then our plan will not meet its targets and slow down. That will be the BC government's fault.
See how that works, Gordo? Do you see Simpson? If the increase in retail prices of EVERYTHING that is about to happen in the province eats away at our income to a greater degree than you can reduce our taxes, our carbon footprint will not decrease. The onus is on you guys to make this work. We have a plan and if you haven't done your sums properly, you will be the ones to screw it up.
Something which may be lost on most British Columbians is another small point. That one-hundred bucks per family member is not taxable. It is being handled as an "over-payment" of personal income tax to the province and is deemed a tax rebate. It's a real hundred bucks - not $100 minus taxes.
So, given that the hundred bucks each wasn't on the "income" line of our budget, and given that the BC NDP's crass hypocrisy has pissed us off, and given that we already have a plan to reduce our carbon footprint, there is also an opportunity to reduce our income tax further by simply donating the money to charity.
We already support an international effort to improve the lives of children and empower women in their communities through an environmentally friendly and efficient means of providing lighting in places which would otherwise spend a good deal of their winters in darkness. Give a child light to read by and the child will be better educated; give women the authority to run the lighting system and you give them personal power in their male-centric communities; run it all with solar power from the beginning and you've made lives better through clean technology.
So, Light Up Your World, you get $200.
The Canadian Human Rights Commission has dismissed a complaint against Maclean's magazine over a controversial article on the future of Islam, magazine officials said yesterday.Now it's time the BCHRC made their process a little speedier and followed suit.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's head of communications announced Thursday she is leaving her post after more than two years on the job. In an e-mail sent to the media on Thursday evening, Sandra Buckler, Harper's director of communications, said that after consulting with family and friends, she has decided "now is the time for me to exit stage right from the Prime Minister's Office."Gawd, it's always about the "stage" with you lot.
"Did Ms. Couillard inform me of past links with people involved in organized crime? The answer is no. She didn't inform me, nor did anyone else at any level. I knew of her past only what she wished to tell me," he told about 400 supporters who gathered at a hotel ballroom in Bernier's hometown.And with that, Bernier creates a "He said/She said" hoping that speaking from his station alone will impeach the word of someone of a "lesser" station. The member of parliament vs the biker chick. Bernier has now challenged the public to choose which one of them is a liar and he's gambling that, given the unenviable position of having to believe a politician or an associate of a criminal gang, you will gravitate to the safety of believing the politician, regardless of how inept and clueless he may appear."I only became aware of the rumours surrounding Ms Couillard's past on April 20, a few weeks before the information became public. At that time, I was no longer dating Ms Couillard."
Score one for the biker chick.
If Mr. Bernier had been eager to set the record straight, he would have appeared before the parliamentary committee that for weeks requested his presence. At the very least, he would have answered the questions of reporters. Instead, he delivered a prepared text that sounded more like a campaign speech than an explanation.We then have the explanation of the "misplaced" documents. Again, from The Star:
"These briefing notes were not sensitive enough to be bar-coded, which explains why their disappearance did not set off any alarms in my department. For my part, I did not notice they were missing, I do not recall misplacing them."Really? That would lead to even further questions. Like, What were those briefing notes doing out of your briefcase in the presence of a non-involved person?
The briefing notes in question were supposedly those used for the Bucharest NATO summit in 2007 and appeared in Coulliard's residence after that summit had concluded. So why the hell would anybody remove briefing notes from an already concluded meeting? It's not like they represented homework or study material for some future event. If the documents are what we have been told they are, it would make no sense that they found their way out of the container in which they were being transported. If they were so meaningless they would have remained in a case, in the dark.
The fact that the documents were not bar-coded because they were not "sensitive enough" is utter bullshit. That and it speaks poorly for Bernier's immediate and closest aids that every document he took with him to Bucharest bearing a security classification was not accounted for and mustered back into secure stowage.
Ordinary seamen and privates in the Canadian Forces, when their trades require them to handle sensitive information, learn very early that any form of negligence surrounding the physical security of documents marked CONFIDENTIAL or higher will land them in a chair on the wrong side of the room at a standing court martial. Yet a minister of the Crown passes off a much more heinous act with a mere wave. They weren't that secret.
And then back to the G&M:
And there are other matters of public interest that Mr. Bernier declined to mention altogether. In particular, there is his alleged discussion with Ms. Couillard of government contracts in which she may have had an interest while he was Industry minister. And there are broader concerns about what other sensitive matters he may have discussed with her during his time in Foreign Affairs.Score two for the biker chick.
What is E.O.C.P.C.? Well, this is EOCPC, and as you can see, they don't grant degrees. EOCPC has established itself as a regulatory board for Biblical-based counselling and psychotherapy. They're also a lobby group.
VBCI Dean: Dr. George Madden, D.PCDr. George Madden and his wife Sandy have been actively involved in ministry for the last 24 years, ministering the gospel in over 25 nations. Dr. Madden operates strongly in an apostolic ministry that thrives on raising up and releasing leaders into their God-given destiny. Dr. Madden is a graduate of Rhema Bible Training Centre in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He holds a Bachelor of Theology from Canada Christian College, and a Master of Divinity from Victory Bible Colleges International, and a Doctorate Degree from the E.O.C.P.C.
The educational qualifications required to successfully apply these designations are offered by accredited secular and faith-based educational institutions located throughout Canada and the United States. Credits and qualifications submitted by applicants are subject to approval by the EOCPCA Membership Review Board. Recognition of credits and qualifications is at the sole discretion of the EOCPCA.In short, if you already have a degree, you can apply for designation. Now the other shoe drops: (Bold mine again)
Credits issued by the following educational institutions are pre-approved and will be accepted without review.Would you like the list of those educational institutions? Sure. It's not very long.
Spy, phone protection bill clears Senate hurdle
Wed Jun 25, 2008 6:43pm EDT - WASHINGTON
(Reporting by Thomas Ferraro)(Reuters) - A White House-backed spy bill to protect telecommunication companies from billions of dollars in possible privacy lawsuits passed a Senate test vote on Wednesday and headed toward final congressional approval.
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"This bill is not a compromise. It is a capitulation," said Sen. Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat.
Feingold has offered an amendment to strip out protection for telecommunication companies. But both Democrats and Republicans predict the amendment will be rejected.
And the dems would have you believe that things will be different when they have control of Congress and the White House. (If you buy into that, we've still got some Florida swampland we'll sell you.) They can't even muster the votes to protect the liberties and civil rights of US citizens that the Constitution mandates.
the need to move michael fortier to international trade reminds us of how woefully limited harper's caucus remains. he simply doesn't have the talent to promote an elected conservative.Perhaps the best description of Harper's rearrangement of the line-up for the limited barbecued bratwursts at 24 Sussex Drive comes from Don Martin. He didn't approach it gently. He simply pulled the blade from the scabbard, thrust it into the abdomen and lifted it. It's difficult to pick a "best line" from that column because they are all so good, but here's a taste.
... Mr. Emerson was arguably the best selection from a shallow gene puddle of Cabinet-ready MPs ...It's all good and a must read.
Pale males with a gag for a brain must be the preferred credentials for anyone joining Stephen Harper's Cabinet.
Here’s the moment you’ve been waiting for - your opportunity to vote for the most hilariously overblown, hysterically exaggerated description of the BC Human Rights/MacLeans Tribunal.Yes, I have my personal favourite. Not wishing to influence your choices however, I'll just keep it too myself.
Exxon Valdez $2.5 bln oil spill ruling overturned
Wed Jun 25, 2008 - By James Vicini
WASHINGTON, June 25
(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the record $2.5 billion in punitive damages that Exxon Mobil Corp had been ordered to pay for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska.
The nation's highest court ruled that the punitive damages should be limited to an amount equal to the total relevant compensatory damages of $507.5 million.
In the court's opinion, Justice David Souter concluded that the $2.5 billion in punitive damages was excessive under federal maritime law, and should be cut to the amount of actual harm.
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Soaring oil prices have propelled Exxon Mobil to previously unforeseen levels of profitability in recent years, posting earnings of $40.6 billion in 2007.
It took the company just under two days to bring in $2.5 billion in revenue during the first quarter of 2007.The Exxon Valdez supertanker ran aground in Alaska's Prince William Sound in March 1989, spilling about 11 million gallons of crude oil.
The spill spread oil to more than 1,200 miles (1,900 km) of coastline, closed fisheries and killed thousands of marine mammals and hundreds of thousands of sea birds.
Alberta's Catholic bishops are warning parents to think twice about letting their daughters be vaccinated against a cancer-causing, sexually transmitted virus.That's right. And it might do well for these supposed celibates to keep their mouths as shut as their minds when it comes to the sex lives of others and the prevention of disease.But the bishops, in a joint statement issued Monday, stop well short of barring Catholic schools in Alberta from administering the vaccine, and acknowledge that parents are the "primary decision-makers" when it comes to their children's health.
The bishops said the HPV vaccine has raised questions about whether it sends a message to girls that casual sex is acceptable.I'll give you good odds that if you conducted an honest survey of Catholics in Canada and the US, and received honest answers, that you'd find that "reservation for marriage" was regularly preempted in wholesale numbers."Catholic teaching is that sexuality is a God-given gift that should be reserved for marriage," the bishops wrote.
And let's see what else the Roman Catholic clergy is up to. Oh yeah. They're a real prize lot alright.
(And, yes, we're all about looking things up for others. Google search: 3 seconds. Knowing another blogger is on it: 2 seconds. Adding Catholic hypocrisy: timeless.)
"The similarities with Mr. Arar's case are compelling. In both instances, a Canadian citizen is fingered by CSIS as a terrorist suspect. In both cases, no charges are laid in Canada. In both, the person is arrested and imprisoned abroad. In both, Canadian officials say there is little that they can do because the person is in the country of their other citizenship."
"In a telephone interview Monday, Mr. Abdelrazik said he told a Canadian diplomat he was being repeatedly beaten by Sudanese interrogators in 2004 or 2005. "He didn't care," Mr. Abdelrazik said.
Mr. Abdelrazik, who was to submit a sworn affidavit about his torture in Sudan to Federal Court in Ottawa Monday, confirmed all of the details in the draft document, including that he was interrogated by CSIS agents while in a Sudanese jail. However, the document remained unsigned because Canadian diplomats refused to deliver the faxed draft to Mr. Abdelrazik to sign."
"Canadian government documents, which came to light in April, revealed he had been imprisoned in Sudan "at our request," meaning at the request of Canadian agents.
In its response, delivered Monday, the Justice Department opted not to dispute the assertion that Mr. Abdelrazik had been imprisoned at Canada's request, in effect conceding the fact before the court.
The documents presented in court, coupled with Mr. Abdelrazik's accounts of torture, suggest Canada secretly arranged for Sudan to arrest and imprison him, then sent Canadian Security Intelligence Service agents to interrogate him in a Sudanese prison while diplomats knew that he was being tortured but ignored that fact.
Canadian diplomats in Khartoum refused Monday, for the second day in a row, to permit Mr. Abdelrazik to sign the affidavit; his signature would have made it a sworn affidavit.
"The matter is under litigation and we cannot comment," said Anne Howland, spokeswoman for current Foreign Minister David Emerson. Other senior officials said the file is actually being handled in the Prime Minister's Office."
"I wish I had a magic wand and make this case go away ... I find it unethical to hold him like this in limbo with no future, no hope and all because ... Obviously I cannot address the issue of the no-fly list ..."
"Mr. Abdelrazik "has reached the end of his rope, he has no money, no future, very little freedom and no hope. Should this case break wide open in the media, we may have a lot to explaining to do."
Well, it's broken open now so deal. Just send a fucking plane already.
If you can do it for Brenda Martin, you can do it for Abousfian Abdelrazik.
Cross-posted at Creekside
Write a letter, make a call, send a fax to :
David Emerson, Foreign Affairs :
Telephone: (613) 943-0267
Fax: (613) 943-0219
EMail: Emerson.D@parl.gc.ca
2148 Kingsway
Vancouver, British Columbia
V5N 2T5
Telephone: (604) 775-6263
Fax: (604) 775-6284
Stephen Harper : E-mail : pm@pm.gc.ca Fax: 613-941-6900
h/t to Roger in Comments for the reminder to post this access info.
Bees, honey, vinegar, no crayon - you know the drill.
... concealing test failures and providing flawed parts for emergency radios used by Special Forces and Air Force teams in Iraq and elsewhere.The next trip to answer for non-performance came when it was revealed that a major component of the US border security system simply did not work. The company involved, IMC, through what appears to have been a "no-bid" contract, was suppose to have installed and tested the equipment for the US Remote Video Surveillance Program on the US side of the Canadian and Mexican borders. When the DHS Inspector General reviewed the installation it was discovered that the system did not function, much of the work had not been done and was wrapped in an agreement which violated federal contracting rules. IMC is a wholly owned subsidiary of L3.
... the manager of the border security project was Rebecca Reyes, who is now director of policy, procedures and administration at L-3 subsidiary, MPRI. She also happens to be the daughter of Silvestre Reyes, a member of the U.S. Congress from Texas, a former Border Patrol agent who is now a senior member of both the Armed Services and Select Intelligence Committees of the House of Representatives.
Saudi Arabia arrests alleged gays in raid
Associated Press - June 21, 2008
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — A Saudi newspaper says religious police have arrested 21 allegedly homosexual men and confiscated large amounts of alcohol.
Al-Medina daily says the Commission for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which employs the religious police, was told Friday of a large gathering of young men at a rest house in Qatif, in eastern Saudi Arabia.
The paper says scores of men were initially arrested but only 21 remain in detention.
Homosexuality is seen as a sin in Islam and prohibited in Saudi Arabia and most other Muslim nations. In the conservative kingdom, the offence can be punished by flogging or prison.
New immigration reforms put applications on hold
Ottawa officials are awaiting instructions from ministry about which candidates will be processed
June 21, 2008 - Nicholas KeungNewly passed immigration reforms, which the federal government said were aimed at reducing a staggering backlog of applications by would-be immigrants, are creating a new logjam.
The backlog, which stood at 925,000 before the legislation was brought in, could grow by an additional 90,000 because officials have stopped processing new applications.
Prospective immigrants who submitted applications after Feb. 26, when the legislation was introduced, have been told by Citizenship and Immigration Canada that their applications are being put on hold until further notice.
It is expected that Canada's Minister of Citizenship and Immigration will, within the next several months, be providing instructions to visa offices as to which applications are to be accepted for processing and which are to be returned unprocessed," Canadian visa officers explained in letters to applicants.
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The move to stop processing new applications has baffled immigration lawyers and consultants, with some worried their clients' applications will be discarded altogether and they will be asked to reapply. Immigration officials declined to comment yesterday. The immigration reforms, passed by the Senate this week, give Immigration Minister Diane Finley the power to reject applications even if applicants meet all the criteria, and to instruct officials to cherry-pick immigrants based on labour market needs.
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With the minister's instructions not expected until the fall, the number of people waiting in this latest queue could reach almost 90,000.
Also, while an applicant will get a refund of the processing fee if an application is returned, fees for professional help from lawyers and consultants are not refundable.
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According to immigration's notification to applicants, once the instructions are issued, officials will start processing those applications received on Feb. 27, the day after the legislation was introduced, and proceed in chronological order.
The Senate, on a voice vote, gave preliminary approval to a ban on allowing nurse practitioners to perform surgical abortions. That move comes just a month after the state Board of Nursing concluded that practitioners with special training are medically qualified to do the procedure.Ah! The State Board of Nursing decided nurse practitioners are qualified.
That isn't the belief of Rep. Bob Stump, R-Peoria, the sponsor of HB2269. He said only doctors should terminate a pregnancy, at least in part because of the potential complications.That would be Bob Stump the doctor? No?
Separately, the House gave final approval to SB1048, which would make late-term abortions illegal in Arizona. The state's original ban, approved in 1997, was blocked by a federal judge before it ever took effect.Enter Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano.
That measure now goes to Gov. Janet Napolitano. But both face an uncertain future.Un huh. Which is exactly what Planned Parenthood of Arizona says will happen.Napolitano vetoed a slightly different version of the late-term abortion bill earlier this year. And while lawmakers altered provisions she did not like, the governor said she would prefer they spend their time trying to prevent unwanted pregnancies rather than interfering with a woman's relationship with her doctor.
Napolitano has never before dealt with the question of whether people other than doctors can perform abortions. But the governor has consistently vetoed legislation she believes restricts access to the procedure.
Carol Bafaloukos said the demand for abortion at the Tucson clinic is greater than the availability of doctors.It's worth noting here that Andrews is a nurse practitioner - a registered nurse with advanced training and admitting privileges with authority to act independently of doctors in most places. And the Arizona Board of Nursing approved her role with Planned Parenthood, dismissing the complaint.Planned Parenthood has allowed Mary Andrews, a nurse practitioner, to perform abortions in Tucson since 2001. But that fact was not widely known until a complaint was filed against her with the Board of Nursing.
Backers of Stump's measure said the issue is strictly one of patient safety.Yup. Here comes the argument they always use and look who's using it. The Center for Arizona Policy, an anti-abortion group.
But the legislation is being pushed heavily by not just the Center for Arizona Policy but also by Ron Johnson, who lobbies on behalf of the state's Catholic bishops.Hmmm. That figures. And one could be excused for believing that all Catholics, especially bishops, will find any excuse to interfere with a woman's reproductive choices.
Well, sit back, pour yourself a healthy three-fingers and read this. (Hardline Catholics should grab some beads and start chanting... or something.)
RICHMOND, Va. - Authorities are investigating whether a Catholic charity violated state and federal law by helping a 16-year-old illegal immigrant who was in the organization's care get an abortion.As a plate of fettuccine is my witness the most astounding thing about this is that both stories appeared on the same day and they don't involve South Dakota or Florida.Workers with Commonwealth Catholic Charities helped the girl travel to and from the procedure in January and signed a consent form for the abortion, Joanne Nattrass, the charity's executive director, said in a statement Thursday. She declined further comment.
[...]
The federal department is looking into the charity's actions and the role played by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The conference receives $7.6 million a year in federal funds to place unaccompanied illegal immigrant children in foster care until they're reunited with relatives, sponsored, or returned to their homeland. The girl is from Guatemala but was living in Virginia when the abortion took place.
