INQUIRER: The fuss, critics said, is about political deceit and the stoking of citizen cynicism. “The mayor got credit from the public for turning down a big pay raise. Then, by the end of the term, he took it,” said City Controller Alan Butkovitz. “It undermines the credibility of the government.” For some of those who have long been frustrated with Street, news of the retroactive raises was a fitting capstone for an administration that is seen to have struggled in its final years. “This guy just doesn’t seem to have a shame bone in his body,” said Brett Mandel, […]

Islamabad, Pakistan (Dec. 27) – Senator Arlen Specter lays flowers for former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto after her assassination. Senator Specter visited Bhutto’s local party headquarters in the wake of the assassination with Representative Patrick Kennedy (left) and U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson UPDATE: Bhutto had been scheduled to meet hours later with US Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Representative Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island. Senator Latif Khosa, a lawmaker from Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party, said she had planned to give the lawmakers a report outlining complaints on “pre-poll rigging” by Musharraf’s government and the military-run Inter-Services […]

ASSOCIATED PRESS: BARSTOW, Calif. (AP) — A pack of pit bulls surrounded a woman [NOT pictured] and mauled her to death, authorities said Wednesday. Police found Kelly Caldwell, 45, lying in the street around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, and took her to a hospital, where she later died, the San Bernardino County sheriff’s department said. After the mauling, the dogs ran to a nearby house. Deputies shot one dog to death when it returned to the scene and acted aggressively as paramedics were trying to save Caldwell’s life, authorities said.A second dog was shot to death Wednesday morning when it, too, […]