Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Bush: CIA must grow by 50%
Bush: CIA must grow by 50%. Despite all the protestations of support for the "Intelligence Reform" bill stuck in Congress, it appears that Georgie really isn't all that interested in seeing the bill pass. The LA Times and The Guardian are reporting that "President George Bush has ordered a historic expansion of the CIA, increasing the number of the agency's spies and analysts by half in an attempt to improve its effectiveness in the pursuit of terrorists." Georgie, in the same memo, reportedly "ordered a 90-day study into the feasibility of transferring the CIA's paramilitary operations to the Pentagon." Now it appears to this Crank that if you're giving the newly appointed director of the CIA "90 days to draw up a budget and plan" to overhaul the spy agency and also looking into transfering some responsibilities to another government agency that it stands to reason that you're not really all that interested in seeing the "Intelligence Reform" bill passing. I mean, if you expected the intelligence bill to pass and there to be a new national intelligence director wouldn't you already have that person lined up and wouldn't you just wait for the bill to pass and then write a memo to that person? Of course you would, but then you're not Georgie and you'd also be expecting the intelligence bill to pass.
All of which makes this Crank wonder exactly what Big Daddy and Georgie are saying while on the phone to those Radical Republicans in Congress and exactly what is going on at that White House-GOP "leadership" retreat.
Bush: CIA must grow by 50%. Despite all the protestations of support for the "Intelligence Reform" bill stuck in Congress, it appears that Georgie really isn't all that interested in seeing the bill pass. The LA Times and The Guardian are reporting that "President George Bush has ordered a historic expansion of the CIA, increasing the number of the agency's spies and analysts by half in an attempt to improve its effectiveness in the pursuit of terrorists." Georgie, in the same memo, reportedly "ordered a 90-day study into the feasibility of transferring the CIA's paramilitary operations to the Pentagon." Now it appears to this Crank that if you're giving the newly appointed director of the CIA "90 days to draw up a budget and plan" to overhaul the spy agency and also looking into transfering some responsibilities to another government agency that it stands to reason that you're not really all that interested in seeing the "Intelligence Reform" bill passing. I mean, if you expected the intelligence bill to pass and there to be a new national intelligence director wouldn't you already have that person lined up and wouldn't you just wait for the bill to pass and then write a memo to that person? Of course you would, but then you're not Georgie and you'd also be expecting the intelligence bill to pass.
All of which makes this Crank wonder exactly what Big Daddy and Georgie are saying while on the phone to those Radical Republicans in Congress and exactly what is going on at that White House-GOP "leadership" retreat.
George Will's Silliness or Calling the Kettle Black
George Will's Silliness. Juan Cole picks apart George Will's "parroting the ridiculous and pernicious line about major universities having few political conservatives in them."
Cole's last paragraph in response to Will's assertion that academia has marginalized itself is a nice bit of work:
George Will's Silliness. Juan Cole picks apart George Will's "parroting the ridiculous and pernicious line about major universities having few political conservatives in them."
Cole's last paragraph in response to Will's assertion that academia has marginalized itself is a nice bit of work:
Academia has not marginalized itself. It has been marginalized. Perfectly reasonable beliefs such as that workers should have a right to explore unionizing without fear of being fired have been redefined by Joe Coors and Richard Mellon Scaife as "out of the mainstream." Thinking that it was a bad idea to invade Iraq [. . .] was defined as out of the mainstream and unpatriotic. Corporate media bring in a parade of so-called "experts" (often lacking credentials and saying ridiculous things) from "think tanks," in Washington and New York instead of letting academics speak. (There are some exceptions, obviously, but I am talking about over-all numbers). Wouldn't you like to hear about Ayman al-Zawahiri from someone who actually had read him in Arabic? The universities have such experts. The think tanks mostly just have smelly little orthodoxies of the Right.
News You Won't See in USA Today (part II)
BBC reports: Iraq health care 'in deep crisis': "Iraq's health system is in a far worse condition than before the war, a British medical charity [Medact] says." Medact calls "the war [. . .] a continuing public health disaster that was predictable - and should have been preventable." According to the report Iraqi hospitals suffer from drug shortages, poor sanitation, inadequate staffing levels, lack of drugs, damaged buildings,etc. which result in the quality of care being worse than pre-invasion levels. U.S. precision bombings left 12% of Iraqi hospitals damaged and both of main public health laboratories destroyed. Medact goes on to report that rebuilding efforts have, surprise surprise, been hampered by "mismanagement and corruption."
It seems only fair that if we in the U.S. have to suffer through mismanagement and corruption so should our vassal states.
Now, don't you have some holiday shopping to do?
UPDATE: Aljazeera has a much more in-depth account of the Medact report. Go figure.
BBC reports: Iraq health care 'in deep crisis': "Iraq's health system is in a far worse condition than before the war, a British medical charity [Medact] says." Medact calls "the war [. . .] a continuing public health disaster that was predictable - and should have been preventable." According to the report Iraqi hospitals suffer from drug shortages, poor sanitation, inadequate staffing levels, lack of drugs, damaged buildings,etc. which result in the quality of care being worse than pre-invasion levels. U.S. precision bombings left 12% of Iraqi hospitals damaged and both of main public health laboratories destroyed. Medact goes on to report that rebuilding efforts have, surprise surprise, been hampered by "mismanagement and corruption."
It seems only fair that if we in the U.S. have to suffer through mismanagement and corruption so should our vassal states.
Now, don't you have some holiday shopping to do?
UPDATE: Aljazeera has a much more in-depth account of the Medact report. Go figure.
Monday, November 29, 2004
Terror Threat Level
While I was off in the hinterlands of red-statedom celebrating five hundred odd years of death and destruction I happened to be reading the newspaper. Surprises of surprises in the Sunday edition of the Virginia Pilot (sorry no online version of the letters to the editor) was a letter wondering why the Terror Threat Level (or whatever Homeland Security is calling it these days) wasn't elevated during the holiday. Said letter writer wondered if it had anything to do with the election of Georgie. Said letter writer ironically guessed that those terrorists had been scared straight by Georgie's election and thus the lack of terror warnings since the election. Said letter writer's logic got me thinking and wondering if Georgie & Co. will be issuing terror alerts now that Big Daddy Dick and Uncle Rove have another four years to fuck things up. I'm betting that Uncle Rove will play the terror warning card the next time Big Daddy thinks the ultra-rich are due another tax break.
While I was off in the hinterlands of red-statedom celebrating five hundred odd years of death and destruction I happened to be reading the newspaper. Surprises of surprises in the Sunday edition of the Virginia Pilot (sorry no online version of the letters to the editor) was a letter wondering why the Terror Threat Level (or whatever Homeland Security is calling it these days) wasn't elevated during the holiday. Said letter writer wondered if it had anything to do with the election of Georgie. Said letter writer ironically guessed that those terrorists had been scared straight by Georgie's election and thus the lack of terror warnings since the election. Said letter writer's logic got me thinking and wondering if Georgie & Co. will be issuing terror alerts now that Big Daddy Dick and Uncle Rove have another four years to fuck things up. I'm betting that Uncle Rove will play the terror warning card the next time Big Daddy thinks the ultra-rich are due another tax break.
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Ohh...That "Strong Economy"
Dollar Falls, Yet Again. When the "first deputy chairman of the Russian central bank" sets off a dollar selling spree you know we're teetering on the brink of disaster. While the Russians only have about $60 billion of their foreign-exchange in dollars, the Japanese and Chinese have in excess of $100 trillion in dollars so if they started re-aligning their portfolios it could spell trouble for all of us. The only thing saving us is that it would be risky for the Chinese and Japanese to unload all their dollars without losing a lot of money in the process.
Dollar Falls, Yet Again. When the "first deputy chairman of the Russian central bank" sets off a dollar selling spree you know we're teetering on the brink of disaster. While the Russians only have about $60 billion of their foreign-exchange in dollars, the Japanese and Chinese have in excess of $100 trillion in dollars so if they started re-aligning their portfolios it could spell trouble for all of us. The only thing saving us is that it would be risky for the Chinese and Japanese to unload all their dollars without losing a lot of money in the process.
Monday, November 22, 2004
Another Post-Election Revelation
Officers See Need For Bigger Iraq Force (washingtonpost.com). One really has to wonder what kind of planning, if any, is going on here. It seem increasingly likely that Karl Rove and his Radical Republicans did everything to keep these sorts of stories from breaking before the election. It's highly unlikely that the professional military thought they weren't going to need extra troops in the coming months, but Karl did his best to keep such concerns under wraps until Georgie Boy was safely elected.
Officers See Need For Bigger Iraq Force (washingtonpost.com). One really has to wonder what kind of planning, if any, is going on here. It seem increasingly likely that Karl Rove and his Radical Republicans did everything to keep these sorts of stories from breaking before the election. It's highly unlikely that the professional military thought they weren't going to need extra troops in the coming months, but Karl did his best to keep such concerns under wraps until Georgie Boy was safely elected.
Saturday, November 20, 2004
Radical Republicans=Anti-Choice
Negotiators Add Anti-Abortion Clause to Spending Bill. According to a report in the NYT, the Radical Republicans in Congress have wasted no time in pushing their agenda. In a midnight backroom deal Radical Republicans add an amendment to restrict access to abortion.
So remember "W" never stood for Women in the Radical Republican world view. It was, like much of the Radical Republican campaign, just an empty marketing strategy cooked up by doing some focus groups and push polls.
Negotiators Add Anti-Abortion Clause to Spending Bill. According to a report in the NYT, the Radical Republicans in Congress have wasted no time in pushing their agenda. In a midnight backroom deal Radical Republicans add an amendment to restrict access to abortion.
The abortion language would bar federal, state and local agencies from withholding taxpayer money from health care providers that refuse to provide or pay for abortions or refuse to offer abortion counseling or referrals. Current federal law, aimed at protecting Roman Catholic doctors, provides such 'conscience protection'' to doctors who do not want to undergo abortion training. The new language would expand that protection to all health care providers, including hospitals, doctors, clinics and insurers.The Times report includes this interesting little tidbit:
Ms. Boxer [why not Senator Boxer?] said that she complained to Senator Ted Stevens, the Alaska Republican who is the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, but that he told her that House Republican leaders insisted that the provision, which was approved by the House in July but never came to the Senate for a vote, be included in the measure.Now is the time to start writing and calling your Senator and Represenatives. Democratic Senators like Kerry, Kennedy, and Boxer who all have political capital to spend or those outgoing Senators need to block this bill from passing by any means necessary. It's time to call the Radical Republicans on this sleazy tactic of holding the the American public hostage to their radical agenda. If we cave on this issue, it will only embolden the Radical Republicans. This isn't an idle threat to a woman's right to choose. The Times article notes that
there are four states - Hawaii, Maryland, New York and Washington - that pay for some abortions for low-income women through their Medicaid programs. Under the language included in the omnibus bill, hospitals would not have to comply with those requirements.Next time it will be language allowing pharmacists to refuse filling prescriptions for contraceptives of all kinds.
So remember "W" never stood for Women in the Radical Republican world view. It was, like much of the Radical Republican campaign, just an empty marketing strategy cooked up by doing some focus groups and push polls.
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Friday, November 19, 2004
The Same Old Story.
Bush signs debt ceiling increase into law - Nov. 19, 2004. Well, as CNN and numerous other media outlets are reporting the Radical Republicans in Congress and George Bush have raised the U.S. debt ceiling for the third year in a row. Interestingly enough we actually ran up against our debt ceiling sometime back in mid-October and have been raiding our "cash reserves" to keep things like the Iraq war going. Among the many questions we should be asking our elected officials, especially if they were at the Radical Republican convention in New York, is why a vote to increase the debt ceiling wasn't scheduled before the election? I mean if we ran out of credit back in October why did it take until late November to schedule a vote?
The Radical Republicans are trying to peddle the same old tired story about the 2001 recession, and 9/11, and the Iraq War, and maybe even Bill Clinton as being responsible for the rising debt. Anything but the failed policies of Georgie and the other Radical Republicans. So much for being the party of personal responsibility. This from CNN/Reuters:
So not only do we have an ever increasing national debt, but the Conference Board announced:
Bush signs debt ceiling increase into law - Nov. 19, 2004. Well, as CNN and numerous other media outlets are reporting the Radical Republicans in Congress and George Bush have raised the U.S. debt ceiling for the third year in a row. Interestingly enough we actually ran up against our debt ceiling sometime back in mid-October and have been raiding our "cash reserves" to keep things like the Iraq war going. Among the many questions we should be asking our elected officials, especially if they were at the Radical Republican convention in New York, is why a vote to increase the debt ceiling wasn't scheduled before the election? I mean if we ran out of credit back in October why did it take until late November to schedule a vote?
The Radical Republicans are trying to peddle the same old tired story about the 2001 recession, and 9/11, and the Iraq War, and maybe even Bill Clinton as being responsible for the rising debt. Anything but the failed policies of Georgie and the other Radical Republicans. So much for being the party of personal responsibility. This from CNN/Reuters:
Republicans say the 2001 recession and the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks are responsible for the fiscal shortfall.I'm really wondering when the national press, CNN especially, will stop printing Radical Republican talking points as news. That CNNMoney has only a wire story about this is indicative of how far CNN has fallen (not that it was ever really good or great).
So not only do we have an ever increasing national debt, but the Conference Board announced:
The leading index fell again in October, the fifth consecutive decline, and the weakness in recent months has become more widespread. The major contributors to October's decline were the real money supply, the interest rate spread, and consumer expectations.Let's review, our country is ruled by Radical Republican jackasses, we're in a War we can't win and which is turning large parts of the world violently against us, the terrorist we wanted captured "dead or alive" is footloose and fancy free, we're deeper in debt, and the economic miracles the Radical Republicans promised aren't materializing. Hmmm...maybe if we cut taxes on the rich some more...or maybe if we invade another country...or maybe if we bash some more gays...or...anyone...Bueller...Bueller....Bueller...
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Red Staters Don't Like Margaret Spelling?
Supporter of leftist feminist values?That's how some red stater over at redstate.org describes Georgie's pick for Sec. of Education. "Augustine" even goes so far to use the most horrorific of all slurs, calling Spelling a "liberal." She is responsible for "water[ing] down conservative views" and opposing "the traditional family and the parental role in education." This last bit is clear code for homeschooling. The only conclusion this Crank can reach is that at least some of the Radical Republican Right that has taken over the Congress won't be satisfied with anything less than the abolishment of the Dept. of Education. Never mind that bit in the Constitution about providing for the "general Welfare." One shudders to think about the red state reaction to a Bush court nominee.
Supporter of leftist feminist values?That's how some red stater over at redstate.org describes Georgie's pick for Sec. of Education. "Augustine" even goes so far to use the most horrorific of all slurs, calling Spelling a "liberal." She is responsible for "water[ing] down conservative views" and opposing "the traditional family and the parental role in education." This last bit is clear code for homeschooling. The only conclusion this Crank can reach is that at least some of the Radical Republican Right that has taken over the Congress won't be satisfied with anything less than the abolishment of the Dept. of Education. Never mind that bit in the Constitution about providing for the "general Welfare." One shudders to think about the red state reaction to a Bush court nominee.
Dollar in Sight of All-Time Low v Euro
First the deficit, then the dollar, what next? Dollar in Sight of All - Time Low Vs Euro: "The U.S. currency skidded to an all-time low of around $1.3045 per euro in New York trade on Wednesday. Against the Japanese unit, it plunged to around 103.80 yen a level not seen since the beginning of April. [. . .] The euro and the yen have gained nearly seven percent against the dollar since October. Underlining its weakness, the dollar was at 83.31 on the trade-weighted index, a nine-year low."
If the dollar gets much lower, something the NYT's article thinks is unlikely only because the Japanese and the EU will step in to protect the Yen and Euro, investors that are funding Georgie's tax cuts will start looking elsewhere to invest their money. Now the Japanese and EU may step in, but currency markets are fickle and there is no telling what the markets will do if Georgie, DeLay, and Big Daddy Cheney push through another round of tax cuts to keep our "strong economy" strong. Once Georgie et al pile on some more pork and well...that Bush "strong economy" won't be looking so strong to the world's investors.
First the deficit, then the dollar, what next? Dollar in Sight of All - Time Low Vs Euro: "The U.S. currency skidded to an all-time low of around $1.3045 per euro in New York trade on Wednesday. Against the Japanese unit, it plunged to around 103.80 yen a level not seen since the beginning of April. [. . .] The euro and the yen have gained nearly seven percent against the dollar since October. Underlining its weakness, the dollar was at 83.31 on the trade-weighted index, a nine-year low."
If the dollar gets much lower, something the NYT's article thinks is unlikely only because the Japanese and the EU will step in to protect the Yen and Euro, investors that are funding Georgie's tax cuts will start looking elsewhere to invest their money. Now the Japanese and EU may step in, but currency markets are fickle and there is no telling what the markets will do if Georgie, DeLay, and Big Daddy Cheney push through another round of tax cuts to keep our "strong economy" strong. Once Georgie et al pile on some more pork and well...that Bush "strong economy" won't be looking so strong to the world's investors.
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
House Hypocrisy
Ohhhh....those "moral" Republicans.
The justification that state and county indictments should be ignored because they are often poltically motivated is just delicious. Really, it is. I'm sure lots of defense attorneys out there will be making this argument in the coming months.
Ohhhh....those "moral" Republicans.
GOP Pushes Rule Change To Protect DeLay's Post (washingtonpost.com): "House Republicans proposed changing their rules last night to allow members indicted by state grand juries to remain in a leadership post, a move that would benefit Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) in case he is charged by a Texas grand jury that has indicted three of his political associates, according to GOP leaders.So despite adopting this rule in 1993 to show how ethical Republicans were compared to Democrats, the Republicans are now doing anything to protect their dark prince of politics. Rep. Eric I. Cantor's (the Republican deputy whip) attitude towards this rule change shows just how bankrupt and craven the Republicans have become,"'this [proposed rule change] is going to pass, assuming it's submitted, because there is a tremendous recognition that Tom DeLay led on the issue to produce five more seats' for the Republicans." Of course, all the other Republicans are playing nice in order to keep DeLay in power. In all reality letting them do so might be good for Democrats in the 2006 mid-term election in that this little "rule change" might help convice all those regular Joe's and Jane's out there that DeLay and his Republican cronies are nothing more than well-shod hucksters.
The proposed rule change, which several leaders predicted would win approval at a closed meeting today, comes as House Republicans return to Washington feeling indebted to DeLay for the slightly enhanced majority they won in this month's elections."
The justification that state and county indictments should be ignored because they are often poltically motivated is just delicious. Really, it is. I'm sure lots of defense attorneys out there will be making this argument in the coming months.
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Fat Kats in Kuwait
Reuters via Yahoo!News is reporting that Rep. Henry Waxman has obtained State Dept. memos detailing that both the U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait and Jerry Bremer pressured Halliburton's Kellog, Brown, & Root (KBR) to award a sub-contract to Altanmia Commerical Marketing Company of Kuwait. Altanmia is the sub-contractor at the center of the investigation into whether or not (most likely whether) KBR overcharged the U.S. government some $61 million for fuel deliveries to Iraq.
Reuters quotes emails that implicate the Ambassador and Bremer,
We, of course, can't expect the Republican-controlled Congress to launch investigations anytime soon, but we can write letters demanding that they do and keep reminding ourselves and the rest of America of the total bankrupty of the Bush Adminstration. It seems that we invaded Iraq not to spread democracy and freedom but to line the pockets of oil executives from Texas, including Dick Cheney, and friends in Kuwait. It's good to know that Iraqis were waiting in line for hours to get gasoline so that the wife of a KBR executive could get a new Cartier watch after "losing" hers at the Kuwaiti Hilton. It's good to know that Dick Cheney, who is one pretzel incident away from the Presidency, headed up a corporation with such a strong sense of morals, character, and decency. One has to wonder why these documents weren't made available to Rep. Waxman before the election.
Reuters via Yahoo!News is reporting that Rep. Henry Waxman has obtained State Dept. memos detailing that both the U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait and Jerry Bremer pressured Halliburton's Kellog, Brown, & Root (KBR) to award a sub-contract to Altanmia Commerical Marketing Company of Kuwait. Altanmia is the sub-contractor at the center of the investigation into whether or not (most likely whether) KBR overcharged the U.S. government some $61 million for fuel deliveries to Iraq.
Reuters quotes emails that implicate the Ambassador and Bremer,
According to the documents, on Dec. 2, 2003, Richard Jones, the U.S. ambassador to Kuwait, sent an e-mail directing unidentified officials: "Tell KBR to get off their butts and conclude deals with Kuwait NOW! Tell them we want a deal done with Altanmia within 24 hours and don't take any excuses." [. . .] "If Amb. Bremer hears that KBR is still dragging its feet, he will be livid," referring to the U.S. civilian administrator of Iraq, Paul Bremer.More troubling is that the documents contain emails that point to Halliburton's penchent for accepting bribes. According to one email quoted by Reuters, State Dept. officials reported that KBR executives,
"are on the take; that they solicit bribes openly; that anyone visiting their seaside villas at the Kuwaiti Hilton who offers to provide services will be asked for a bribe."Waxman is quoted as saying that these documents highlight the extent to which adminstration claims that Haliburton's contracts were "awarded without political interference" are false.
We, of course, can't expect the Republican-controlled Congress to launch investigations anytime soon, but we can write letters demanding that they do and keep reminding ourselves and the rest of America of the total bankrupty of the Bush Adminstration. It seems that we invaded Iraq not to spread democracy and freedom but to line the pockets of oil executives from Texas, including Dick Cheney, and friends in Kuwait. It's good to know that Iraqis were waiting in line for hours to get gasoline so that the wife of a KBR executive could get a new Cartier watch after "losing" hers at the Kuwaiti Hilton. It's good to know that Dick Cheney, who is one pretzel incident away from the Presidency, headed up a corporation with such a strong sense of morals, character, and decency. One has to wonder why these documents weren't made available to Rep. Waxman before the election.
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