Bronwen

International:
In Los Cabos, Mexico and American family was held at gunpoint in their car and robbed. The bandits made off with the family's plane as they were about to take off from the hotel airstrip. The detective, Juan Carlos de Jesus Jimenez , says the thieves broke one of the cars windows and held the family at gunpoint, forced them out, then set the automobile on fire. The plane was most likely stolen for drug smuggling. All victims are unharmed; unfortunately the suspects as well.

I have no desire to travel to even the nicest parts of Mexico. This comes as no surprise, and I bet the plane shows up after a little while and the thieves never get caught. Mexico has no justice, and many Mexicans in America act as if there were none; it is quickly becoming so.

International:
China is insisting upon an apology from CNN whose commentator, Jack Cafferty, called the Chinese leaders "a bunch of goons and thugs" and labeled its products as "junk." "We are shocked and strongly condemn the vicious remarks by Cafferty, we solemnly request CNN and Cafferty himself take back the malicious remarks and apologize to the Chinese people." Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said. Jack Cafferty holds that he was referring to the Chinese government, not it's people.

Why doesn't China just block CNN along with all the other stuff the Marxist country filters. Heaven forbid anyone hear the truth! You really can't make communism sound pretty. We pay china to poison our dog food and paint our toys with lead. Really China, you're lacking much needed reform and you can't hide it anymore.

National:
Senator John McCain called for an extension on the deferral of federal taxes on gasoline to last through the summer. "In so many ways, we need to make a clean break from the worst excesses of both political parties, Somewhere along the way, too many Republicans in Congress became indistinguishable from the big-spending Democrats they used to oppose." McCain said on tax day. He asked for the 18.4 cent federal tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax to be delayed until Memorial day instead of labor day. This would deprive the federal government of about $10 billion dollars. The money saved by tax payers is expected to benefit the entire economy. McCain is said to be drafting a bill in support of this tax delay.

I spend at $50 dollars to fill up my tank. I'll convert to bicycling like Andrew if this tax goes into effect. That's ridiculous! The federal government doesn't need any more money. Fire some people and get rid of redundant, unnecessary social programs. Give us the relief at the gas pump! I like McCain's campaign strategy!

National:
Sen. Arlen Specter (head of the Judiciary Committee) asked the democratic presidential nominees as well as McCain if they would support faster confirmation of federal judges. discharge," Specter would like to discharge three appellate court nominations from the committee and bring them straight to the Senate floor for a vote. "I write to find out how you would vote on the proposed discharge petition, but also, candidly, to focus the public's attention on these nominations," Specter said in his letters. He ended by signing all of them "good luck".

For the most part, I agree with Specter's view. The committee's undermine the power of the senate as a whole in this case. This move may cause more dissension among the senate as a whole, but overall would cause members to be more attentive to what is going on.