Maine: George W. Bush

Good morning. I'm on the road much of the day.

The bank bailout continues apace in the UK too, but with a difference; from the Guardian:

The government today confirmed it will take majority control of Lloyds Banking Group, with the taxpayer owning 65% of the voting shares in return for insuring ?260bn of the group's toxic assets.

After days of detailed negotiations the terms of the takeover were announced by the Treasury, with Lloyds making a commitment to lend at least ?28bn over the next few years.

The government is to insure the bank's riskiest loans and in return the taxpayer will up its ownership of the bank from 43% to 65% - rising to 77% when non-voting shares are included.

[img_assist|nid=918|title=U.S. Senate candidate Laurie Dobson wants the Kennebunkport Board of Selectmen to indict President Bush|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=175|height=262]Laurie Dobson, an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate, doesn’t want President Bush or Vice President hanging around her neighborhood. If they come to Kennebunkport, she wants them arrested.

It sounds pretty outlandish at first.

State Rep. Ethan Strimling, running for the Democratic nomination to U.S. Congress from the first district, is taking aim at President Bush today for what Strimling is calling Bush's "dangerous rhetoric against Iran." "Once again, we see a president ignoring his own intelligence experts in favor of his saber-rattling advisors who seem bent on making another military blunder, this time in Iran," said Strimling. "He's trying to twist the intelligence on Iran, just like he did with Iraq."