"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit."
-Albert Schweitzer
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
I don't remember? Really? That's so Reagan era!
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform holds a hearing: "Allegations of Misconduct at the General Services Administration." The hearing inquires about allegations that GSA Administrator Lurita Doan failed to follow proper procedures for awarding federal contracts, attempted to intervene in contract negotiations, and engaged in partisan political activities on federal property. Rep. Braley questions GSA head Doan on a political briefing given at GSA headquarters.
After she was done "not remembering" and was leaving, CSPAN caught the audio and you could hear her griping about the investigation and telling one of her people to take her glass, cause she doesn't want "them to have my fingerprints. They've got me totally paranoid!"
Gee.. what does the guy in Baghdad RIGHT NOW have to say?
"Honestly, Wolf, you'll barely last twenty minutes out there. I dont know what part of Neverland Senator McCain is talking about when he says we can go strolling in Baghdad."
Today the House voted to end the war by passing an Iraq war funding bill that came with conditions. A funding bill, mind you, that provides more money for the military than the president asked for. The bizarre response from the White House? Democrats are taking money away from the troops. Bastards!
Arizona Governor Fife Symington comes clean about seeing the mystery aircraft that literally filled the skies over Phoenix a decade ago, but instead of admitting this at the time, he held a comedy press conference where one of his aides dressed as a space monster and was hauled off by the police. Symington says he lied to keep people from panicking. Hooray for protecting our innocence or whatever!
But why is Symington doing this now? Sure, he’s a Republican, so he’s been repeatedly indicted for various felonies and even convicted of bank fraud, but that happened 10 years ago, too. Very odd, considering his past...
Fife Symington's cousin, Stuart Symington, was First Secretary of the Air Force when James Forrestal, the first Sec Def, "committed suicide" At least one senior military person linked Stuart Symington to a type of UFO "control group," and that was General Arthur Exon, former base commander of Wright-Patterson AFB, in an interview he gave in 1990. According to Exon, Symington was one of the "unholy thirteen," one of those who knew the most about Roswell. Forrestal, said Exon, was another.
It's a sign of weakness to not admit when you were wrong :(
"The fact of the matter is, 30% will believe Bush, Republicans and Fox News regardless of anything to the contrary. They would cling to one lie after another rather than admit they were duped. They will do anything, believe anything, say anything, except that they were wrong.
That’s why they admire Bush so much. No matter how wrong He is, He refuses to admit it nor take responsibility. To them, Bush is the epitomy of strength in the face of adversity. They have supplanted reason with blind faith and absolutely no reasoned argument can penatrate that faith. To give up on that faith would be a sign of weakness."
LAKEWOOD, Colo. Lakewood police chased ,shot and killed a buffalo Saturday afternoon that somehow got loose and eluded officers for several hours.
The buffalo got loose at about 11 a.m. Police spent more than an hour trying to corner the bison at one point near 6th Avenue and keep it under control until the owner could come to retrieve the animal, but it escaped.
Just after 2 p.m., police trapped and then shot the large animal. That happened at Kyffen Elementary near 1st Ave. and Flora Way.
Several people in this neighborhood spotted the animal walking near his home at 6th and Indiana shortly before 1 p.m.
It wasn't immediately clear where the buffalo escaped from.
A mature female bison weighs 1,100 pounds and a bull can weigh as much as 2,000 pounds.
Lakewood police animal control officer Michael Brogran said the young animal did minor damage to a couple of cars and that no one was hurt.
He writes memos legalizing torture, and denies Due Process to people in Gitmo that were later freed... it's not until lawyers get fired do people get upset, but hey, they're Americans!
FOX news tries again to smear Valerie Plame by saying she was not a covert officer because she was "not covert under the law"... they should of read the law first! Of course, their listeners won't and will repeat the talking points anyway!
(4) The term "covert agent" means—
(A) a present or retired officer or employee of an intelligence agency or a present or retired member of the Armed Forces assigned to duty with an intelligence agency—
(i) whose identity as such an officer, employee, or member is classified information, and
(ii) who is serving outside the United States or has within the last five years served outside the United States;
Victoria Toensing has spent the last few years playing the White House's pit bull by attacking Valerie Plame's status as a covert CIA agent. She claims to have been involved in writing the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982 - It's too bad she forgot section, 4 A ii.
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) felt the CIA director ended the debate on whether Plame was covert or not. “Gen. Michael Hayden said, quote, ‘Ms. Wilson was covert,’ end of quote,” Cummings said.
So who you going to believe? The CIA director or FOX news?
Matt Drudge of the Drudge Report puts at the top of his webpage that since the "surge", the rate of killings has dropped 60%. Great news for all the Bushites who want to repeat the talking points. Only problem is, it's not true :( If anyone clicks on the link and pays attention to the source, they'll see the article is not from a credible, independent media outlet but from the Kuwait News Agency (or KUNA). Kuwait is still America's biggest ally in the Gulf (for obvious reasons) and so the source of the story is a huge tell here.
BAGHDAD, March 14 (KUNA) -- "The rate of killings of US troops in Iraq has been on the decline, down by 60 percent, since the launch of the new security measures in Baghdad, according to statistics revealed by the Multi-National Force -Iraq Combined Press Information Centre.
Only 17 members of the US military in Iraq have been killed since February 14 till March 13, compared to 42 from January 13 to February 13; the rate was on the decline during the first month of the security crackdown, compared to a month before.
Two of the 17 soldiers died at US Baghdad camps of non-combat causes.
The remarkable decrease in killings among the US troops came at a time when more of these troops were deployed in the Iraqi capital, especially in districts previously regarded as extremely hazardous for them such as Al-Sadr City, Al-Azamiyah, and Al-Doura."
But if you keep reading the story (as many Drudge readers will not) even the author of this quasi-article admits that it's untrue! He writes:
"The statistics excluded US troops killed in other governorates such as Al-Anbar, Diyala, and Salahiddin."
So much for including the whole country...
If you look at http://icasualties.org/, the number of American troops killed from Feb. 14 through March 13 is 73, not 17, or more than four times higher than the article states. In the prior month, from Jan. 14 through Feb. 13, which was a remarkably bloody period, 116 American troops died. So the tally did drop overall, and that's great news, by it was 37 percent, not nearly the 60 percent as the story reports. And the decline in deaths per day is even less, because, as the article also fails to note, February only has 28 days.
The U.S. death rate for the 28-day period in question is 2.61 deaths a day. The daily American death rate since the war began four years ago is 2.37 deaths a day.
This means, Americans are dying now in Iraq at a higher-than-average rate for this conflict. So much for the Drudge Report :(
Surprise, Surprise! Rove wanted to fire them all :(
"New unreleased e-mails from top administration officials show that the idea of firing all 93 U.S. attorneys was raised by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove in early January 2005, indicating Rove was more involved in the plan than the White House previously acknowledged. The e-mails also show how Alberto Gonzales discussed the idea of firing the attorneys en masse while he was still White House counsel — weeks before he was confirmed as attorney general...
...What has made the issue a political firestorm is the White House's insistence that the idea came from Miers and was swiftly rejected.
White House press secretary Tony Snow told reporters Tuesday that Miers had suggested firing all 93 attorneys, and that it was "her idea only." Snow said Miers' idea was quickly rejected by the Department of Justice."
This is by far the most disgusting and stupid move ever!
"Top House Democrats retreated Monday from an attempt to limit President Bush's authority for taking military action against Iran as the leadership concentrated on a looming confrontation with the White House over the Iraq war.
Officials said Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of the leadership had decided to strip from a major military spending bill a requirement for Bush to gain approval from Congress before moving against Iran.
Conservative Democrats as well as lawmakers concerned about the possible impact on Israel had argued for the change in strategy."
The leader of the pack. Rep. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.) led the charge to kill off the Iran provision. People should let him know their dissatisfaction. His office number: (202) 225-5235
Halliburton is off to Dubai to do business with Iran and skip out on Taxes!
For all you flag wavers who think Iran and terrorism are the greatest threat, consider this... "Halliburton, today, sells about $40 million a year worth of oil field services to the Iranian government." With YOUR 401K MONEY, These companies are funding terrorists
So the move to Dubai will increase profits and increase support for the business in Iran, which supports terrorism, great! Not to mention, not having to pay U.S. Taxes! At least the Democrats are onto them!
Our Vice President, Dick Cheney was officially CEO of Halliburton from 1995 to 2000, but still continues to earn a massive salary (“deferred compensation” and millions in “deferred compensation”stock options) for his continued hard work: giving Halliburton billions in no-bid contracts in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and even the hurricane-wrecked U.S. Gulf Coast.
But how did Halliburton serve the troops? Maybe they're trying to escape prosecution...
"DENVER — "Rocky Mountain High," the late John Denver's love letter to his adopted state, has became Colorado's second official song.
Lawmakers passed a resolution that puts Denver's 1972 anthem alongside the lesser-known "Where the Columbines Grow," which was adopted in 1915.
Ron Deutschendorf, Denver's brother, called the move "very cool. He'd be very honored. We are very proud. I am going to call my mom and tell her." John Denver was born Henry John Deutschendorf and he changed his name in 1969.
Sen. Bob Hagedorn, who pushed for the second tune, said "Rocky Mountain High" has been an unofficial state song for years and has introduced many people around the world to Colorado.
Hagedorn said some people believe the song is about drug use, but he disagreed. Hagedorn, who said he is a recovering alcoholic and serves on the board of the state's largest drug treatment facility, said he would not promote a song that encouraged drug use."
Yeah, right, whatever.. he obviously didn't know John or remember the 70s.. mush have smoked himself stupid :)
"After the empty decoy motorcade left the airport, the real one traveled to the palace at speeds of up to 60 miles an hour under heavy military guard, with 20,000 troops and police assigned to his protection, lining his route with submachine guns visible on the street and on rooftops. The motorcade passed nearby protesters carrying a large sign that read “Yankee Go Home” and another banner displaying the Communist hammer and sickle."
Sadly, he tried to humor them with jokes on this trip so they'd like him more than Hugo (who was also touring the region)
Here are a few of his funnier statements... I wonder how they translated into Spanish!
"The important reason (expansion of daylight-saving time) passed is to increase consumer spending," Downing says. "Congress is working on behalf of retailers."
The biggest business to benefit from daylight-saving time, according to Downing, has a sweet tooth. At this time next year, there will be one more hour of daylight trick-or-treating.
"The reason a week of daylight-saving time is being added in the fall is the American candy makers have been pressing for it for 35 years," Downing says.
The General says "Republicans are not good for the military"
"We've got this thing that so many military believe that Republican administrations are good for the military. That is rarely the case. And, we have to get a message through to every soldier, every family member, every friend of soldiers that the Republican party, the Republican dominated Congress has absolutely been the worst thing that's happened to the United States Army and the United States Marine Corps."
and they even knew about the problems at Walter Reed...
"Senior Republicans who knew about problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center while their party controlled Congress insist they did all they could to prod the Pentagon to fix them.
But C.W. Bill Young, R-Fla., former chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, said he stopped short of going public with the hospital’s problems to avoid embarrassing the Army while it was fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Young and Thomas M. Davis III, R-Va., the former chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, both acknowledged in interviews that they were aware of patient care problems at Walter Reed long before The Washington Post exposed them two weeks ago.
At a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing Wednesday, Young detailed his efforts to assist patients at Walter Reed during visits he or his wife made to the hospital as early as 2003. He described repeatedly confronting the hospital’s then commander, Gen. Kevin C. Kiley, about patients who, they discovered, had received poor care.
Young said his wife, Beverly, found one Walter Reed patient lying in his hospital bed without sheets or blankets, having soiled himself. Another, who suffered from a battlefield brain injury, had fallen out of his bed three times, even after Young had told Kiley about the problem, the lawmaker said. And he said a third patient, who had an aneurysm, died after a respiratory therapist ignored family warnings about the patient’s fragile condition and treated him anyway."
Painting Over the Problems at Walter Reed's Building 18
It's not every day one gets to witness a whitewash in action, but Walter Reed Army Medical Center provided just such an opportunity yesterday.
In Sunday's Washington Post, Dana Priest and Anne Hull described the woeful conditions of Room 205 in Walter Reed's Building 18: "Behind the door of Army Spec. Jeremy Duncan's room, part of the wall is torn and hangs in the air, weighted down with black mold. When the wounded combat engineer stands in his shower and looks up, he can see the bathtub on the floor above through a rotted hole."
The Army mobilized. Painters were deployed to cover the offending wall with a fresh coat of white semigloss. And television crews were invited in to inspect the result."Some of the paint is still wet against that wall, so be careful," Walter Reed public affairs officer Donald Vandrey, standing on the bed in his socks, advised the film crews. "They just finished repainting it about 10 minutes ago."
They have some sort of love/hate relationship with sex, love it but hate to admit it, especially if it's gay sex.. and they have to pay for it :) and if you thought Jeff Gannon was an anomily, meet Rod Majors!
He mainly talks about how much attention he has gotten since his past was revealed, and how supportive his new conservative friends such as Michele Malkin have been. Too bad they won't support pornography or the gay lifestyle in public! That destroys traditional family values :( I did think it was funny that unlike Jeff Gannon, he is not gay, but only gay for pay!
He think the Libby verdict will help and the critics are poking the bear?
"This is the best news for Republicans and conservatives there could be. All conservatives will now circle the wagons, after going dormant last fall for whatever reason. [Right, I simply cannot imagine what that reason might be.] The more the Democrats and liberals gloat, the better news it is for us. They are POKING THE BEAR! They'll be SORRY!!"
Is Rush intentionally referencing the infamous sex scene in Libby's book?
At age ten the madam put the child in a cage with a bear trained to couple with young girls so the girls would be frigid and not fall in love with their patrons. They fed her through the bars and aroused the bear with a stick when it seemed to lose interest. Read more here
What I don't get is how so many politicians that claim to visit Walter Reed failed to improve the bad conditions.. soliders have been complaining about the place even before they announced that they were going to permanetly close the place a few years ago.. which is a shame considering the historic significance of the place :(
Funny how Blair was portrayed in The Queen.. and the part in the movie when she said that how quickly the public can fall out of favor :( I guess they should of seen this picture! What is wrong with politicians :(
"In his youth, Tony Blair's rebellious streak often landed him in trouble. He was almost expelled from school for persistent rule-breaking and was once arrested as he tried to climb into his dormitory through a window.
The future Prime Minister remained equally impish when at Oxford - as this extraordinary picture of him making a lewd hand gesture demonstrates.
...One of his contemporaries revealed that the young Blair was lucky to escape a second brush with the law after "flashing" from a college window as a student prank.
Peregrine Sharrock gave a vivid account of how, in his final year reading law at St John's, Blair dropped his tennis shorts in the hope of attracting the attention of female staff at a solicitor's office across the road.
Fortunately for him, the women either failed to notice his full-frontal display or turned a blind eye to it, as no complaint was made to the college and the incident was forgotten - until now."
