WASHINGTON, October 31 – Well Bush’s most recent decision wasn’t one full of surprise, just two days ago we reported the likelihood of Alito’s nomination and now the federal appeals court judge has received the formal nomination.

Bush is obviously trying to calm his supporters down with offering them this ideal conservative choice. He also knows that on the other hand he will have liberal groups opposing him simply because of his points of view. Liberal organization Planned Parenthood already announced to oppose his confirmation simply because he would obstruct basic reproductive rights. Meanwhile a group opposing the Miers confirmation, Concerned Women For America announced that they will support this candidate with all they’ve got since he’s an all-time favorite of this organization.

Opinions are heavily divided on this choice, Bush’s loyal conservatives on one hand and liberal Democrats on the other hand. It is very likely though that Alito will get the confirmation since the Democrats cannot oppose greatly without speaking out against him in extremes, something that is not likely to happen. Yet his confirmation would change the future of America incredibly, with a conservative minded Justice on board the Supreme Court decisions would sway the other way around, to the right. Don’t forget Alito is replacing a progressive Justice, often the swing-vote on many ethical cases.

BRISBANE, October 30 – Today the President of the Australian Medical Association warned that the current attention for the avian influenza might cause a sort of hype amongst the public.

Dr. Mukesh Haikerwal of the AMA shared his concerns about the general public reacting in utter despair to the news of the last few weeks. He urges that people do not try to get flu shots that might not even work or buy tablets, sprays or other drugs that aren’t even effective against a possible outbreak. He wanted the public to be sure that Australia is prepared for a potential pandemic but he also noted that there is no immediate danger of such a disaster. Bird to human transfers have been very scarce and only reported in Asia so far, where people live much closer to their poultry, and human to human transfers have not even been proven to occur so there is no direct danger for the public health.

Meanwhile Europe is experiencing an incredible spread of the potentially deadly H5N1 strain. Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria and even England have seen cases of the H5N1 variant of the bird flu.

WASHINGTON, October 29 – After Harriet Miers stepped down from her position as Supreme Court nominee Bush was challenged to find a new more suitable nominee to please his conservative base. Many believe that Judge Samuel Alito of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit is leading the shortlist, perhaps a very short shortlist since Alito arrived in Washington late last night.

President Bush was widely criticized after the failed nomination of Miers, although she stepped back it is believed that she was pressured to do so because not even Bush’s loyal base would support her confirmation due to the lack of qualifications and track record. The nomination of Alito would widely please his supporters, Alito is nicknamed “Scalito” because his philosophy is very similar to that of Justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative favorite. When his clerk was asked why Alito arrived in Washington he friendly smiled and said he would have to take a message for Judge Alito.

Still a few problems remain, Alito would potentially replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. O’Connor was often the swing-vote on ethical issues making it a 5-4 win for the left side but with Alito as replacement this would swing the votes entirely the other way. Also there is some pressure on the President to replace a female Justice by a female nominee, even the First Lady urged this. It is to be seen what will come of this but it’s sure Bush could use a win. The news of the indictment of Scooby Lewis, chief of staff of Vice-President Cheney did not fall well and is just another speck in a streak of bad news.

WASHINGTON, October 28 – The United States government has announced they’re spending millions of dollars in preparation of a potential avian influenza pandemic.

The biggest news is the contract they awarded to Chiron Corp. to manufacture an avian influenza vaccine. The contract is worth an astonishing $62 million. This is the second mega-contract being awarded to a pharmaceutical company to work on a bird flu vaccine, earlier Sanofi-Aventis was awarded a contract worth $100 million. The Senate made clear they’re investing a total of $8 billion in the future to prepare for a global pandemic.

The manufacturer of Tamiflu, Swiss-based Roche, meanwhile announced they’re stopping shipments of Tamiflu to U.S. private sellers to prevent hoarding. Spokesman Alexander Klauser explained that they want to make sure that there is enough supply for when the drug is really needed, when the flu season starts. So far the flu season hasn’t started yet but prescriptions for Tamiflu have gone up 400% in comparison to last year.

WASHINGTON, October 27 – What many anticipated over the last few days has happened. While there seemed no easy way out, at least not without admitting political defeat, Miers managed to control the damage by claiming she is stepping down because of a fight over executive privilege.

Her position was almost unmanageable after the truckloads of critique that hit her doorstep. Bush probably thought that her lack of paper-trail would weaken the positions of the opposition but instead it increased their focus on her qualifications which were overwhelmingly lacking. President Bush probably realizes now that nominating his long-time friend and loyal employee was not a smart choice, her simple standpoints and lack of qualification for the job made it a very tough sale.

Bush’s administration is the next target, it seems as though he has no credit left. Approval ratings are historically low, more and more doubting the reasons for the Iraq invasion. The federal government is almost out of control with expenses doubling under Bush’s leadership as opposed to Clinton’s. Mostly due to sky-high homeland security and defense budgets as well as the costly Medicare program. His careless response to the devastation of hurricane Katrina and his hollow promise to provide a constitutional ban on gay marriages are even making his loyal base doubt their leader. Without them he’s nowhere on his ambitious agenda.

WASHINGTON, October 26 – All over the nation people gathered today to pay attention to the grueling landmark achieved by the 2,000th U.S. soldier killed in Iraq. The soldier was killed on Tuesday and the news traveled fast fueling many anti-war protesters to gather and protest in public.

From New York’ Time Square to Hawaii, everywhere protesters sat down in silent prayer for the many victims that have occurred since the beginning of this false war in Iraq. The enormous death toll is just another point for the U.S. citizens to question Bush’s approach to this war. Cindy Sheehan, the vigilante who raised nationwide attention against the war by persisting to talk to President Bush about why her son had to die in Iraq, vowed to chain herself to the fence before the White House in silent protest.

In other news the three major Sunni political parties joined hands in the fight against the constitutional draft. They fear that there single efforts would not suffice and have now made an alliance in the Iraq Accord Front. Trying to raise awareness and gather support for the elections in December they are urging Sunnis to stay involved in the political process and make sure they will have enough seats in the National Assembly. If this message will come across to the many Sunni insurgents looking to create a blood-campaign against the Shiites and Kurds is yet to be seen.

BAGHDAD, October 25 – The Iraqi citizens have approved the constitutional draft en masse. The referendum saw almost an unanimous approval by the Shiits and Kurds and only the Sunni population rejected it in majority making the total approval rate 79%.

The division between these population groups is telling for the situation in Iraq. Sunnis are the backbone of the Iraqi insurgents and are the ones attacking the democracy being built. The Shiite and Kurdish communities have embraced the constitutional draft as it was set up by them, it favors their position in the Iraqi public life after being dictated for the past few decades by Saddam Hussein. The Sunni population of course reject this because they are cut off from the profits of the rich oil fields which fall under control of the Shiites and Kurds now. Their fault was that they boycotted the elections earlier this year so they had no say in the constitutional draft and now at the referendum they did not have enough voting power to overturn the constitution.

Sunnis have announced extreme measures against the democracy now, they have even called upon the United Nations to intervene because there are mistreated. Most likely insurgent attacks will rise in the coming weeks trying to disrupt the democratic process.

WASHINGTON, October 24 – Today President Bush announced his nomination for the position of Federal Reserve Chairman: Ben Bernanke the Chairman of his Council of Economic Advisers. Bernanke has very big shoes to fill as current Chairman for an astonishing 18 years Alan Greenspan is leaving the position is a pretty sound manner. Although the economy has been better it is currently crawling back to the top and Greenspan has done an incredible job over the last few years becoming the true “body” of the Fed.

Bernanke has a tough time ahead for sure, although the economy is on the rise right now there are a few factors making this a rocky road ahead. The sky-high energy prices are one big issue and the natural disasters like Katrina, Rita and Wilma aren’t exactly helping. Inflation is on the rise too and it is likely that the soaring real estate market will crash in the near future too. With these prospects ahead Bernanke needs to establish his credentials early on market analysts say. Many believe he needs to be tough from the get-go on interest rates or he might not have enough credit to stay on the job.

However it will play out, Bernanke is not a man to envy right now. The enormous federal budget deficit, an incredible trade gap and a big shortage of national savings, he has his work cut out for him.