Turkish official: Quake-hit Van a 'ghost city'

Two powerful earthquakes that struck eastern Turkey have left a city of half a million a virtual ghost town, and survivors need relief aid desperately, a local official said Monday.

A magnitude-7.2 quake last month and a magnitude-5.7 quake last week flattened some 2,000 buildings, killed 644 people and left thousands homeless in the eastern Turkish province of Van, where an unusually cold November is forcing survivors to endure even more suffering.

Very few state-owned buildings in the provincial capital, also called Van, survived the quake, provincial Gov. Munir Karaloglu told the state-run Anatolia news agency. Many residents have fled because they fear going back into their homes even if they are not damaged.

"It is a ghost city," said Karaloglu. "Almost none of the buildings are in use."

Karaloglu called on the country to show "even more mercy" in the face of mounting needs, ranging from housing to food and warm clothing.

The remaining quake homeless were suffering through unseasonably frosty weather. The Anatolia agency cited weather officials as saying Monday that temperatures dipped as low as -15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit) overnight in the town of Ercis, which was the worst hit by the first quake.

The HaberTurk newspaper reported that a 7-year-old handicapped girl who had been living in makeshift tent died of pneumonia in Ercis on Sunday. Her father claimed that he could not obtain a proper tent from authorities, the newspaper report.

Several countries, including the United States and Israel, have sent in tents and prefabricated homes.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45284397/ns/world_news-europe/

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Why the Religious Right Can't Seem to Get the Candidate It Wants (Time.com)

Was it just a month ago that religious conservatives were busy trying to stir up concerns about Mormonism and rally evangelicals behind Rick Perry? At the time, it looked like Perry's slide in the polls could be reversed and his debate performances improved. Since then, however, his support has cratered ? and if Perry can come back from his latest squirm-o-rific moment, he should change his name to Lazurus.

If the whispers about Mitt Romney's faith have faded, it's not because conservative evangelicals suddenly feel ashamed about their qualms, but because they're starting to realize that it's a lost cause. They find themselves without a strong candidate to stand behind. And that's remarkable. For three decades, the influence and power of the Religious Right within the GOP has been an article of faith. But if the movement is so powerful, why couldn't it field a single viable candidate for a presidential election that was supposed to favor Republicans? (See what Mitt Romney's fiscal plan says about GOP tax cut mania.)

It wasn't supposed to be this way. Mike Huckabee was supposed to join Romney in the race for a second go-round, and this time evangelical leaders were going to throw their support behind him instead of splitting their endorsements among the field as they did in 2008. If Huckabee wouldn't run, then maybe Congressman Mike Pence ? a fan favorite at social conservative gatherings ? could take his place.

But Huckabee and Pence both passed on the race. Michele Bachmann jumped in, and that was good ? until it wasn't. "She and Perry were supposed to be the evangelical candidates," says Michael Cromartie, who directs the Evangelical Studies Project at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. "They're not going anywhere." Herman Cain caught fire for a few weeks, but now he seems intent on burning his campaign down to the ground. (See a TIME video with Cain)

Barring a come-from-way-behind Rick Santorum boomlet, that leaves Newt Gingrich as the last Anybody But Romney candidate to rise in the polls. Voters sometimes go for unconventional candidates, but they are unlikely to fall for a man whose campaign slogan seems to be: "Listen Up, Stupid People. Because I Am Very, Very Smart."

In part, then, religious conservatives are left without a winning candidate to support because stronger competitors simply chose not to run. But that fact itself indicates the relative weakness of the Religious Right. Social conservatives comprise a significant percentage of the GOP primary electorate, particularly in early states like Iowa and South Carolina. The prospect of their unified support should have been tempting enough to persuade a candidate who pleases Religious Right leaders to enter the race. By the time they were able to find a candidate willing to run, however, it was too late in the campaign cycle for Perry to ever get his footing, even if he hadn't also suffered from a habit of sabotaging his own cause.

But candidates also know that the Religious Right ? not to mention the evangelical electorate ? is too divided to be able to deliver unified support. To call the movement loosely organized would be generous, and it is populated by too many would-be kingmakers. In 2008, they scrambled to pragmatic choices: Pat Robertson endorsed Rudy Giuliani, Paul Weyrich and Bob Jones III backed Romney, John Hagee and Jerry Falwell supported McCain, and Huckabee won the approval of conservatives like Don Wildmon and Tim LaHaye.

In addition, there is a serious but oft-overlooked theological and cultural division that runs through the Religious Right. Most people think of the movement as a co-production of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. But while those two religious leaders did partner on some efforts, they had deep differences and kept largely to their own operations ? Falwell with the Moral Majority and Robertson with the Christian Coalition. Falwell was a Baptist and a fundamentalist, highly skeptical of the charismatic Pentecostal tradition of Robertson. When Robertson ran for the GOP nomination in 1988, winning the Iowa caucuses, Falwell backed George H.W. Bush, with whom he had a long-standing relationship. (See pictures of George H.W. Bush.)

This election cycle's version of the Robertson-Falwell split was between backers of Michele Bachmann (of the charismatic school) and Rick Perry (from more fundamentalist Baptist and Methodist roots). Even if one or both of the politicians had turned out to be stronger candidates, they would have had a hard time uniting conservative evangelicals behind them.

But perhaps the simplest answer to the question of why the Religious Right doesn't have a viable candidate this year is that it has never been terribly influential in selecting the Republican nominee. Look at the Republican nominees since the rise of the Religious Right: Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bob Dole, George W. Bush, and John McCain. Reagan's place in popular history as the candidate of the Religious Right is actually a fluke of history. Many evangelical Christians entered politics for the first time in 1976 to support the candidacy of Democrat (and fellow evangelical) Jimmy Carter. When they became disillusioned with Carter ? and mobilized by Falwell and Co. ? they supported the Republican nominee in 1980. But the Religious Right didn't play much of a role during that year's primaries, and if it had, a divorced, non-church-going former actor would not have been the first choice of social conservatives.

Nor were George H.W. Bush, Bob Dole, or John McCain much beloved by religious conservatives. Again, Pat Robertson won Iowa in 1988 over the Episcopalian Bush. Pat Buchanan mounted a challenge to Bush in 1992, and was the choice of many conservative religious leaders in 1996 over Bob Dole. Even George W. Bush was embraced by religious conservatives only after preferred candidates Gary Bauer and John Ashcroft barely cracked single digits in the polls.

Every time, as Cromartie reminded me, "Evangelicals find ways and reasons to say why they would vote for the nominee ? even John McCain." And they will again this year. Already, many of the evangelical leaders I've talked with speak of Romney's nomination as an inevitability and are looking to focus evangelical attention on beating Obama. Still, they have to wonder why their supposedly-powerful cultural and religious movement never gets the candidate it wants. (See pictures of Barack Obama's college years.)

Amy Sullivan is a contributing writer at TIME, and author of the book The Party Faithful: How and Why Democrats are Closing the God Gap (Scribner, 2008). Articles of Faith, her column on the intersection of religion and politics, appears on TIME.com every Friday.

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Penn State scandal: Assistant coach won't be at Saturday's game

Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary won't be at Penn State's last home game, citing "threats." Joe Paterno is seeking legal advice, according to reports.

?Penn State University struggled to stem the damage on Thursday from a sex abuse scandal that ended the 46-year career of football coach Joe Paterno, one of the most revered U.S. sports figures.

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Paterno was fired late on Wednesday after it was revealed he was told in 2002 that his former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky engaged in allegedly sexually inappropriate behavior with a young boy in a campus locker room. While Paterno told his boss, he did not call the police.

NBC News, citing sources, reported on Thursday night that Paterno had hired prominent Washington criminal defense lawyer J. Sedgwick Sollers. Paterno has not been charged with any crimes in the Sandusky case.

A spokesman for Sollers' firm, King and Spalding, could not confirm the report. But Scott Paterno, one of Paterno's sons, tweeted: "No lawyer has been retained."

Separately, the university's athletic department said that Mike McQueary, one of the football team's coaches and a central figure in the sex abuse scandal, would not take part in Saturday's game against the University of Nebraska. It cited "multiple threats" against him.

McQueary was a graduate assistant in 2002 when he saw Sandusky allegedly raping a young boy in the locker room showers. He reported the incident to his supervisors, including Paterno, but not to the police.

Police have plans to boost security at Penn State's final home football game on Saturday, although interim head coach Tom Bradley said he was not concerned about the safety of players.

"We are obviously in a very unprecedented situation," Bradley told a news conference on Thursday of the challenge facing him. "I am going to find a way to restore confidence and start a healing process with everybody."

Sandusky was charged on Saturday with sexually abusing eight young boys over more than a decade and former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and former finance official Gary Schultz, were charged with failing to report an incident.

Sandusky, Curley and Schultz have all denied the charges.

Along with Paterno, Penn State University President Graham Spanier was also fired on Wednesday after 16 years in the job.

In a statement hours before he was sacked on Wednesday, Paterno announced he would resign and said, "With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."

He met his legal obligation by reporting the abuse allegation to Curley, legal experts said.

But he stands accused of moral failings for not calling police.

Paterno's fall from grace, weeks after becoming the winningest all-time coach in major U.S. college football, is taking various forms.

On Thursday, Pennsylvania's two U.S. senators, Republican Pat Toomey and Democratic Bob Casey, reversed their nomination for Paterno to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- the nation's highest civilian honor.

"We hope the proper authorities will move forward with their investigation without delay," Toomey and Casey said in a joint statement.

Penn State's board of trustees will meet on Friday to appoint a special committee to investigate the events that lead up to the charges against Sandusky outlined by a grand jury. A press briefing is expected in the afternoon.

A ninth possible victim, now in his 20s, has since come forward and Pennsylvania police have set up a telephone hotline to receive information about the sexual abuse allegations.

"I'm still a big Penn State fan, but I wholeheartedly agree with the firing," said Paul Brosky, 40, of Horsham, Pennsylvania, wearing a Penn State shirt. He said Paterno should have reported the incident once he saw nothing was being done.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/egLjkZyqqhU/Penn-State-scandal-Assistant-coach-won-t-be-at-Saturday-s-game

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Italy moves toward economic and political change (AP)

ROME ? Under pressure to control its dangerous debt, Italy sped a package of reforms toward approval Friday and prepared to hand its dysfunctional government over to a technocrat who Europe hopes can save the country from going broke. Financial markets around the world rallied in relief.

In its own step toward stability, Greece, which preceded Italy as the epicenter of the European debt crisis, installed a new prime minister. The Dow Jones industrial average in New York rose 2 percent, and markets in Britain, France and Germany posted similar gains.

A set of austerity measures cleared the Italian Senate by a vote of 156-12. The lower chamber of Parliament will vote Saturday, and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said he will step down once the reforms are passed.

In a sign of confidence from investors, Italy's borrowing costs fell sharply. The yield on benchmark Italian 10-year bonds fell to 6.48 percent, safely below the crisis level of 7 percent reached earlier this week.

Greece, Ireland and Portugal all required international bailouts after their own borrowing rates passed 7 percent. The Italian economy would not be so easy to save. It totals $2 trillion, twice as much as the other three countries combined.

An Italian default could tear apart the coalition of 17 countries that use the euro as a common currency and deal a strong blow to the economies of Europe and the United States, both trying to avoid recessions.

The Senate chamber resounded with warm applause for Mario Monti, the distinguished economist expected to succeed Berlusconi. He was unexpectedly named senator-for-life this week, putting him in line to lead.

"Our warmest and most cordial welcome," Senate President Renato Schifani told Monti after proclaiming him senator-for-life, an honorific reserved for the handful of Italians who have most contributed to Italian society.

A Cabinet meeting has been scheduled immediately after the vote in the lower house Saturday, suggesting Berlusconi might tender his resignation then.

The austerity measures will be not enough to revive the dormant Italian economy. They raise the retirement age to 67, but not until 2026. They call for the sale of state property and privatizing some services but contain no painful labor reforms.

The reforms also offer tax incentives to companies that hire young workers in a country where the unemployment rate for people ages 15 to 24 hovers around 25 percent. Unemployment overall is closer to 8 percent.

"There is more to be done," said Herman Von Rompuy, president of the European Council, which sets the political course for the European Union. "The country needs reforms, not elections."

He added that Europe expects Italy to pass the reforms, at least as a first step.

In Greece, Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, a former vice president of the European Central Bank, assumed control of a temporary coalition government that will try to push through tough economic reforms and keep Greece from defaulting.

The Papademos government must pass a euro130 billion, or $177 billion, bailout from the European Union. That was the deal that Padademos' predecessor, George Papandreou, said he would put up for a vote. He later backed off and resigned.

Papademos will lead a government with ministers from three parties. The bitter rivalry of conservatives and Papandreou's Socialists is being set aside as Greece tries to get its financial act together.

Von Rompuy held previously scheduled talks with Berlusconi on Friday night, though no statement was released afterward. He also called on President Giorgio Napolitano, a sign of the EU's keen interest in the next steps of Italy's transition.

The hope is that politically neutral governments will have the strength to push through deeply unpopular and painful economic reforms needed to reduce the two countries' massive debt.

Italy has about euro1.9 trillion, or $2.6 trillion, in debt, and must roll over more than euro300 billion of its debts next year alone. But economic growth is weak, and without a strong economy, debt service can consume more and more of the budget.

The markets have clearly favored a Monti government, and many politicians have appeared to support it as well. Elements of Berlusconi's nearly defunct government argue for early elections, but others have thrown their support behind Monti, as have many in the opposition. The Northern League, whose support to Berlusconi has been key over his two decades in public life, remained opposed but seemed almost resigned by Friday afternoon to the reality of a broad-based Monti government.

Monti has won kudos from across Italy's political spectrum and abroad because he has defied being affiliated with the right or the left, said Thomas Klau of the European Council of Foreign Relations.

"The first thing he can bring to Italy at this juncture is his deep understanding of both the economic dynamics and political dynamics in Europe," he said. "His intellectual leadership and authority are recognized across Europe" ? a contrast to Berlusconi, he said.

___

Elena Becatoros in Athens contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111111/ap_on_re_eu/eu_italy_financial_crisis

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VICE Goes Inside Medellin, Colombia's Fashion Week (VIDEO)

The provocateurs at Vice have just released the latest in a series of videos tracking down the world's most under-the-radar, unexpected and interesting fashion weeks. This time, it's Medellin, the Colombian fashion capital that also happens to be the hometown of notorious drug kingpin Pablo Escobar.

But, just 90 seconds into the clip, host Charlet Duboc declares "We're going to have a big, fashionable time and not take any cocaine." It's the sort of comment that sets the tone for the typically edgy video which could rate as not safe for work even if you work at a fashion house.

There's more to the program than just cliches, however. Duboc finds a class divide in the Colombian conceptions of fashion, as well as a strikingly diverse cityscape in Medellin. From trade shows to the high-fashion runway to a native event celebrating the idea of purely Colombian beauty, which translates to models with "help" from copious amounts of plastic surgery, the idea of local fashion proves surprisingly slippery.

"It is often implied that to be beautiful there is a need to have surgery," one local tells Duboc. "Not just the breasts but also the face. Everything."

It's an assertion Vice checks into in the second and third parts of the show -- along with a meeting with Roberto Escobar, Pablo's brother.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/10/vice-goes-inside-medellin_n_1086016.html

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Lindsay Lohan?s dad appears in Florida court

The estranged father of actress Lindsay Lohan made his first appearance in court on domestic violence charges.


    1. Bergeron: Maybe ?DWTS? should be once a year


      Image: Tom Bergeron


      ?One season a year works very well for ?American Idol,? ? he told TV Guide. ?I certainly think that?s one of the things th?


    2. Perfect! J.R. can do no wrong on ?Dancing?


    3. ?Stairway to Heaven? turns 40 ? let?s retire it!


    4. Lohan reports to jail, released hours later


    5. Red carpet: Does Reese top them all?

Michael Lohan walked out of the jail Wednesday afternoon. Bail had been set at $5,000.

The 51-year-old Lohan told reporters he ?didn?t do anything? and this was his girlfriend?s way of making money.

Lohan is accused of grabbing his on-and-off girlfriend and pushing her down multiple times during an argument at her Tampa condo Sunday. The judge told Lohan to stay away from 28-year-old Kate Major.

Authorities say Lohan went to Major?s condo and that she decided to let him stay even though she had a temporary domestic violence injunction against him in Sarasota County.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Article source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45048326

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Adobe plans layoffs, overhaul to focus on digital (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Adobe Systems Inc plans to lay off more than 7 percent of its workforce and take a charge of up to $94 million as part of a restructuring to focus on core businesses such as digital media and marketing.

The news, announced just months after the world's largest maker of design software had projected better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue, surprised Wall Street and wiped 9.2 percent off its shares.

Adobe, known for its Photoshop and Acrobat software, is updating its suite of products to keep pace with trends and moving to support the increasingly popular HTML5 programing language.

The company did not specify where or what changes might occur. In September, CFO Mark Garrett warned that its print and publishing segment was expected to stay flat this quarter from the previous one.

Revenue from Japan, which accounted for 13 percent of the company's sales last fiscal year, had also taken a hit from the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan earlier this year.

The 750 positions to be eliminated -- spanning all business units and geographies -- reflected shifts in investment toward digital media and marketing, changing priorities, and reductions in unspecified projects, spokeswoman Jodi Sorenson said.

Adobe, which reported a total head count of 10,041 at the end of the fiscal third quarter, is expected to shed more light on its internal overhaul during its annual analysts' conference on Wednesday.

For now, the company is sticking with previous estimates for the fourth quarter for both revenue and earnings excluding items.

In September, Adobe projected revenue of $1.075 billion to $1.125 billion, and earnings excluding items of 57 cents to 64 cents a share, on a non-GAAP basis.

The company said in a statement on Tuesday it expects to record pre-tax charges of $87 million to $94 million for consolidation and severance, of which $73 million to $78 million would be booked in the fiscal quarter ending December 2.

Shares in Adobe slid to $27.62 in extended trading, from a close of $30.42 on the Nasdaq.

(Editing by Bob Burgdorfer)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/software/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111109/bs_nm/us_adobe

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'Homeland': Fighting terrorism on TV (Politico)

Six episodes in and pulling huge ratings for a freshman show, ?Homeland,? the new face of counterterrorism on cable, is this decade?s answer to ?24.?

The Showtime drama, starring Claire Danes and ?Band of Brothers? alum Damian Lewis, looks at how the war on terror has become increasingly complex 10 years after Sept. 11. U.S. engagement abroad has changed dramatically, Osama bin Laden is dead, and the state of the economy, not national security, is dominating the airwaves. ?Homeland? reflects that change as CIA agents try to keep their work in the conversation.

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?The country is in a very different place right now. We are aware that the terrorism threat still lurks, but we have a more nuanced attitude toward it,? David Nevins, president of entertainment at Showtime, told POLITICO. ?Certainly, in the very early days after Sept. 11, when Jack Bauer was first being written, there was no awareness of any of the costs. It was a do-whatever-it-takes attitude.?

Nevins, who oversaw production for ?24? when he was president of Imagine Television, is part of a pack of ?24? alums behind ?Homeland.? The show?s co-creators, Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon, also served as executive producers for the real-time series.

A nail-biting psychological thriller, ?Homeland? is adapted from ?Hatufim,? an Israeli drama centered on two prisoners of war returning home from Syria. The American version focuses on a lone POW and stars Danes as Carrie Mathison, a CIA agent and Middle East terrorism expert.

While in Iraq, Mathison learned that an American POW?s allegiances were turned by Al Qaeda and is covertly working for the enemy. Soon after, Marine Sgt. Nicholas Brody, played by Lewis, is found after eight years as an Al Qaeda POW. Mathison, suffering from bipolar disorder and on probation after her unauthorized work in Iraq, is convinced that Brody, the war hero, is the turned POW.

On adapting ?Hatufim? for American eyes, Gansa told POLITICO with a laugh, ?We thought, ?Change the names and put it on American television, and we will be fine.??

?But the situation is quite different,? he elaborated. ?We are oceans away from the wars we are fighting. We didn?t think a couple returning POWs would be enough to sustain a series here. We thought the show needed the idea that one of these soldiers had been turned, the thriller aspect of it.?

Along with the rapid-fire pace and tense plot twists that ?24? fans are used to is a spotlight on military families. When Brody returns to Washington after eight years, his family life has fallen apart. His wife is having an affair with his best friend, and his son greets him with a handshake and uncomfortably declares, ?It?s nice to meet you.?

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Obama donor discussed Solyndra with White House (AP)

WASHINGTON ? A major donor to President Barack Obama discussed with White House officials a solar energy company that received a half-billion dollar federal loan and later went bankrupt, newly released emails show.

The emails released by a House committee appear to contradict repeated assurances by the Obama administration that the donor, George Kaiser, never talked about Solyndra Inc. with the White House.

Solyndra's name came up at a White House meeting with Kaiser last year at a time when the California company was seeking a second federal loan, after it had already received a $528 million loan in 2009, the emails show.

The second loan was not approved. Instead, an investment venture controlled by Kaiser made a private loan that resulted in the firm and other investors moving ahead of taxpayers in line for repayment in case of a default by Solyndra.

Solyndra, the first renewable energy company to receive a federal loan under the 2009 stimulus law, declared bankruptcy in September and laid off its 1,100 workers, leaving taxpayers on the hook for more than a half-billion dollars.

The company's implosion and revelations that administration officials rushed to complete the loan in time for a September 2009 groundbreaking have become an embarrassment for Obama and a rallying cry for GOP critics of his green energy program.

Kaiser, an Oklahoma billionaire, was a "bundler" for Obama's 2008 campaign, raising between $50,000 and $100,000 for the president, records show. He also was a frequent White House visitor in 2009 and 2010. White House officials for months have denied that Kaiser talked about Solyndra during those visits. One the nation's richest men, Kaiser owns an oil company and other energy interests and is chief donor to the George Kaiser Family Foundation, which invests in early childhood education and community health.

In one email released Wednesday by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Kaiser said that when he and a foundation official visited the White House last year, officials showed "thorough knowledge of the Solyndra story, suggesting it was one their prime poster children" for renewable energy.

In another email, a Kaiser associate appears confident that Energy Secretary Steven Chu would approve a second loan for Solyndra.

"It appears things are headed in the right direction and Chu is apparently staying involved in Solyndra's application and continues to talk up the company as a success story," Steve Mitchell, managing director of Kaiser's venture-capital firm, Argonaut Private Equity, wrote in a March 5, 2010, e-mail. Mitchell also served on Solyndra's board of directors.

The emails and other released Wednesday were obtained through a request to major investors for Solyndra-related documents, said Sean Bonyun, a spokesman for the Energy Committee.

The emails were released as the White House faces a Thursday deadline to respond to a committee subpoena for White House documents related to Solyndra.

White House officials accused the GOP-led committee of misleading the public by making it appear that Kaiser pushed for the original 2009 loan rather than the emergency loan last year, which was never approved.

"Even the documents cherry-picked by House Republicans today affirm what we have said all along: This loan was a decision made on the merits at the Department of Energy," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said in an email Wednesday. "Nothing in the 85,000 pages of documents produced thus far by the administration or in these four (pages) indicate any favoritism to political supporters. We wish that House Republicans were as zealous about creating jobs as they were about this oversight investigation."

Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., who heads a subcommittee that is investigating the Solyndra loan, said the emails contradict White House claims that Kaiser did not actively lobby White House officials on Solyndra.

"It is clear from these documents that Kaiser and his employees enjoyed ready access to the West Wing of the White House and exercised influence throughout the loan process," Stearns said

A spokesman for the Kaiser Family Foundation denied that Kaiser had lobbied for a Solyndra loan.

"To reaffirm our previous public statements, George Kaiser had no discussions with the government regarding the loan to Solyndra," the spokesman, C. Renzi Stone, said in an email.

Hours after committee Republicans released the emails, Democrats on the panel issued an eight-page memo that disputed nearly all of the GOP claims. The memo quotes an interview Kaiser gave Tuesday by videoconference with Republican and Democratic staffers on the committee.

In the interview, Kaiser stated, "I have never lobbied for Solyndra."

The Democratic memo cites several emails not included by Republicans in their release of documents Wednesday, including one in which Kaiser tells Ken Levit, executive director of the Kaiser foundation, that he sat next to Obama for two hours at a Las Vegas dinner fundraising dinner that also included Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

"I talked in general about the Chinese and solar, but I didn't want to get too specific with him," Kaiser wrote of his Oct. 22, 2010 dinner with Obama. "I never mentioned Solyndra directly."

The emails also show Kaiser chiding subordinates who urged him to personally lobby White House officials on behalf of Solyndra. Kaiser's foundation had invested $400 million in the solar company.

"I question the assumption that WH is the path to pursue when both of your issues here are with DOE," Kaiser wrote in an email to Mitchell, referring to the White House and the Energy Department. If the White House intervened, Kaiser added, "I am concerned that DOE/Chu would resent the intervention and your problem would get more difficult."

Democratic Reps. Henry Waxman of California and Diana DeGette of Colorado said that far from showing a concerted effort by Kaiser to lobby on behalf of Solyndra, the emails and the staff interview with Kaiser show the opposite.

To declare that Kaiser exercised improper influence "is a stretch, to say the least," they wrote.

___

Matthew Daly can be followed at http://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111110/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_solar_investigation

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