Monday, February 28, 2005
Damn Activist Judges
The LA Times is reporting that yet another activist judge is getting in the way of Georgie & Co. little war on the Constitution, by ruling
Since the "Justice" Dept. plans on appealing the ruling, I thought I'd include a few tidbits from it
The LA Times is reporting that yet another activist judge is getting in the way of Georgie & Co. little war on the Constitution, by ruling
that President Bush has no authority to order an American citizen jailed indefinitely as an enemy combatant, and ordered terrorism suspect Jose Padilla be released within 45 days.Don't the judges know that the only ones capable of interpreting the Constitution are Georgie, Alberto Gonzales, and the Supreme Court (as long as they rule in favor of Georgie & Co.). I mean really. We can't have a democracy if these judges keep making laws from the bench. How is our dear leader supposed to get anything accomplished if the courts, public opinion, and the Congress keep getting in the way?
Since the "Justice" Dept. plans on appealing the ruling, I thought I'd include a few tidbits from it
The court finds that the president has no power, neither express nor implied, neither constitutional nor statutory, to hold Petitioner as an enemy combatantand
If the law in its current state is found by the president to be insufficient to protect this country from terrorist plots, such as the one alleged here, then the president should prevail upon Congress to remedy the problem.This last bit is a bit scary, given the present state of legislating. Now...if only we could find some "activist judges" to rule on the legality of extraordinary rendition.
Just Standing Around Waiting....
At least 122 Iraqi police recruits and others have been killed in a suicide bombing in Hilla south of Baghdad. The New York Times article goes on to note that
Of course, we need to remember that as Paul Wolfowitz reminded the U.S. Senate, "Democracy is a messy thing." Or as Rummy, Grand Duke of Freedom, so famously said, "Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things." So what we have in Hilla and elsewhere is just the normal sort of stuff that happens when you have freedom and democracy. It's not a country spinning out of control. It's not a foreign policy failure. It's just freedom and democracy. Let freedom Reign!
At least 122 Iraqi police recruits and others have been killed in a suicide bombing in Hilla south of Baghdad. The New York Times article goes on to note that
Many attacks have been similar to the one in Hilla, with bombers steering their vehicles into crowds of hopeful applicants gathered outside Iraqi police stations and national guard compounds.So much for our ability to provide security for the Iraqi police and national guard. So much for the ability of Iraqi police and national guard to provide security for their own recruits. According to American officials, at least 1,300 "Iraqi security officers" have been killed in such attacks, not including today's carnage. The frequency of these kinds of attacks and our inability to prevent them highlights just how preposterous the Bush Administration claims about the number of Iraqi police and national guard units trained and equipped are.
Of course, we need to remember that as Paul Wolfowitz reminded the U.S. Senate, "Democracy is a messy thing." Or as Rummy, Grand Duke of Freedom, so famously said, "Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things." So what we have in Hilla and elsewhere is just the normal sort of stuff that happens when you have freedom and democracy. It's not a country spinning out of control. It's not a foreign policy failure. It's just freedom and democracy. Let freedom Reign!
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Tsunami Relief?
NewsMax a conservative "news" outlet on the Internet has this bit of "news" of Jerry Falwell Liberty University's tsunami "relief" efforts. According to the press release. Sorry, I mean according to the "news" article
NewsMax a conservative "news" outlet on the Internet has this bit of "news" of Jerry Falwell Liberty University's tsunami "relief" efforts. According to the press release. Sorry, I mean according to the "news" article
One team, led by Dr. Jerry Spencer, Liberty University's director of international crusades, provided relief on the coast of Kerala State. This area was chosen over areas of greater devastation primarily because team members had the opportunity to plant a church in the region, which guarantees a long-term impact there.Hmmm....so the relief seems to be mostly in the form of building a church. The "news" report goes on to boast that the "relief" effort
distributed 10 kilograms of rice, one kilogram of potatoes and one kilogram of onions, and also provided fishing nets to area fishermen and funds to purchase bicycles for area evangelists.Now maybe this is a miss print. Maybe they distributed the ten kilos of rice to each family, but the bicycles seemingly only went to those willing to do evangelical work. While the fishing nets were appreciated, I'm sure the local population is wondering why the Liberty team was so insistent on the building of a church. Future missions to the tsunami-hit area will focus on developing "vacation Bible schools and Bible-distribution programs that will assist the local Christians to further establish their ministries in the region." Nothing like using a natural disaster to help you spread the "word." I mean, never mind helping to re-build schools, or homes, or other kinds of infrastructure, what's important in responding to a natural disaster is that the local population have access to bibles and to vaction's to read the bible. That's the true spirit of charity.
Put A Fork in Them...
The Reuters.com headline says it all: "Talon News Web Site Closes Amid Heavy Criticism." Guess they couldn't take the heat generated by Jeff Gannon or whatever the hell his name is.
The Reuters.com headline says it all: "Talon News Web Site Closes Amid Heavy Criticism." Guess they couldn't take the heat generated by Jeff Gannon or whatever the hell his name is.
Thursday, February 24, 2005
F**cking Republicans
The Associated Press is reporting that
The Associated Press is reporting that
The Kansas attorney general is demanding abortion clinics turn over the complete medical records of nearly 90 women and girls, saying he needs the material for an investigation into underage sex and illegal late-term abortions.Nice sentiments, protecting kids and all, but too bad it comes at the expense of medical privacy. This appears to be nothing more than a attempt to intimidate women who seek abortions in Kansas as "Kline demanded [. . .] complete, unedited medical records for women who sought abortions at least 22 weeks into their pregnancies in 2003, as well as those for girls 15 and younger who sought abortions." Those "records include the patient's name, medical history, details of her sex life, birth control practices and psychological profile." Sounds like a fishing expedition to me.
[. . .] Attorney General Phill Kline, an abortion opponent, insisted Thursday: 'I have the duty to investigate and prosecute child rape and other crimes in order to protect Kansas children.'
Republican Dirty Tricks
Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo points us towards this Social Security announcement about USANext. USANext is the organization that's hired the producers of the Swift Boats ads to bash the AARP as anti-Military and pro-homosexual agenda among other leftist sins.
Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo points us towards this Social Security announcement about USANext. USANext is the organization that's hired the producers of the Swift Boats ads to bash the AARP as anti-Military and pro-homosexual agenda among other leftist sins.
Penalty Upheld Against United Seniors Association, Inc. for Misleading AdvertisingStay tuned for more Republican Dirty Tricks.
Judge Denies Appeal of $554,196 Civil Monetary Penalty
On August 8, a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Appeals Board Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) issued a ruling upholding the imposition of a $554,196 civil monetary penalty against the United Seniors Association, Inc. (USA Inc.). The ALJ found that USA Inc. violated Section 1140 of the Social Security Act, which protects Social Security program words and symbols from being used in a misleading manner. Over the course of several years, USA Inc. mailed solicitations to senior citizens in envelopes that appeared to be from, approved, endorsed or authorized by SSA. USA Inc. targeted these solicitations to senior citizens with envelopes that included such terminology as “SOCIAL SECURITY ALERT” in prominent, red type. USA Inc. consistently refused to cooperate with OIG’s compliance efforts over the course of 5 years. Therefore, OCIG proposed the penalty, and the parties had a full evidentiary hearing in April 2003. The ALJ’s August 8th ruling found that: USA, Inc. had “deliberately contravened the law,” the $554,196 penalty was reasonable, and USA’s envelopes created a “serious threat to the ability of the Social Security Administration to communicate freely with the public.” USA Inc. has the right to appeal the ALJ’s decision to the full HHS Departmental Appeals Board.
Weak Dollar, Soaring Oil, and Georgie Fiddles
Reuters.com reports that oil reached "a new four-mounth high" with U.S crude selling for $52.05 per barrel. London Brent crude is selling for $49.68 per barrell up a $1.17. That "prices have soared by about $6 in the past two weeks" is troubling because as Reuters notes, "a steep fall in the dollar -- the currency of international oil trade -- spurs funds to switch money out of foreign exchange markets and into commodities such as energy, metals and coffee." The Radical Republican tax cut fueled deficit is starting to have serious economic consequences as central banks and other money managers are pulling away from the dollar. The Saudi's and other OPEC countries that are heavily invested in dollars, and thus dependent on dollars for their income, are unwilling to see oil prices go lower for fear of seeing their real income decline. But never mind all this, just be glad Georgie Bush and the Radical Republicans gave you a tax cut for buying that oversized gas guzzling SUV for your "business."
I'm sure somewhere there are a bunch of Republicans hatching up another tax cut to "solve" the problem. Or maybe they're hatching up some kind of "reform" that will entail borrowing trillions of dollars and putting millions of Americans's retirement at risk. They'll do this because addressing the very real structural problems facing the U.S. economy will mean admitting that their policies of tax cuts, encouraging corporations to move overseas, gutting corporate accountability regulations, etc. are in large part responsible for these structural problems. It's the old Republican bait and switch all over again, except this time the stakes are much higher. Republicans are like parasites that just don't starve their host they kill it and when that happens you can say bye bye to public schools, safe roads, safe air travel, clean drinking water, regular trash pick up, public hospitals, public funding of mega-sports stadiums, and even the Republicans's most sacred of sacred cows the military won't be able to buy million dollar missles or billion dollar planes because the dollar won't buy diddly. In their zest for tax cuts and corporate welfare the Republicans have forgotten that Constitution they love to say they are following starts off by stating that the purpose of government is to "promote the general Welfare." Never mind that one of the duties of Congress is to "lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the [. . .] general Welfare of the United States." Funny how the Radical Republicans always forget about that bit.
Reuters.com reports that oil reached "a new four-mounth high" with U.S crude selling for $52.05 per barrel. London Brent crude is selling for $49.68 per barrell up a $1.17. That "prices have soared by about $6 in the past two weeks" is troubling because as Reuters notes, "a steep fall in the dollar -- the currency of international oil trade -- spurs funds to switch money out of foreign exchange markets and into commodities such as energy, metals and coffee." The Radical Republican tax cut fueled deficit is starting to have serious economic consequences as central banks and other money managers are pulling away from the dollar. The Saudi's and other OPEC countries that are heavily invested in dollars, and thus dependent on dollars for their income, are unwilling to see oil prices go lower for fear of seeing their real income decline. But never mind all this, just be glad Georgie Bush and the Radical Republicans gave you a tax cut for buying that oversized gas guzzling SUV for your "business."
I'm sure somewhere there are a bunch of Republicans hatching up another tax cut to "solve" the problem. Or maybe they're hatching up some kind of "reform" that will entail borrowing trillions of dollars and putting millions of Americans's retirement at risk. They'll do this because addressing the very real structural problems facing the U.S. economy will mean admitting that their policies of tax cuts, encouraging corporations to move overseas, gutting corporate accountability regulations, etc. are in large part responsible for these structural problems. It's the old Republican bait and switch all over again, except this time the stakes are much higher. Republicans are like parasites that just don't starve their host they kill it and when that happens you can say bye bye to public schools, safe roads, safe air travel, clean drinking water, regular trash pick up, public hospitals, public funding of mega-sports stadiums, and even the Republicans's most sacred of sacred cows the military won't be able to buy million dollar missles or billion dollar planes because the dollar won't buy diddly. In their zest for tax cuts and corporate welfare the Republicans have forgotten that Constitution they love to say they are following starts off by stating that the purpose of government is to "promote the general Welfare." Never mind that one of the duties of Congress is to "lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the [. . .] general Welfare of the United States." Funny how the Radical Republicans always forget about that bit.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
This Just In...
Responding to claims that the Bush administration strong arms scientists to suppress scientific evidence and theories that conflict with Radical Republican ideology, "White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said, 'The president makes policy decisions based on what the best policies for the country are, not politics. People who suggest otherwise are ill-informed.'"
Ok...you can stop laughing now.
Responding to claims that the Bush administration strong arms scientists to suppress scientific evidence and theories that conflict with Radical Republican ideology, "White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said, 'The president makes policy decisions based on what the best policies for the country are, not politics. People who suggest otherwise are ill-informed.'"
Ok...you can stop laughing now.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
CNN.com - Oil above $50 amid OPEC jitters - Feb 22, 2005
CNN.com reports, "Light sweet crude for March delivery climbed $1.90 to $50.25 a barrel in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange." And if that wasn't bad enough for the ailing U.S. economy struggling under four plus years of Radical Republican mis-management, CNN also reports that iron ore prices are soaring. That means steel prices are set to explode. That means the U.S. trade deficit is set to explode. Add to that the cheap dollar policy pursued by Georgie Bush and things don't look good. Now that we've outsourced the manufacture of steel, automobiles, washing machines, etc. we're increasingly vunerable to such shifts in commodity prices.
CNN.com reports, "Light sweet crude for March delivery climbed $1.90 to $50.25 a barrel in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange." And if that wasn't bad enough for the ailing U.S. economy struggling under four plus years of Radical Republican mis-management, CNN also reports that iron ore prices are soaring. That means steel prices are set to explode. That means the U.S. trade deficit is set to explode. Add to that the cheap dollar policy pursued by Georgie Bush and things don't look good. Now that we've outsourced the manufacture of steel, automobiles, washing machines, etc. we're increasingly vunerable to such shifts in commodity prices.
Saturday, February 19, 2005
You Too Can be a "Reporter."
From CNN comes the transcript of Jeff Gannon (or whatever his name really is) being interviewed by Anderson Cooper:
From CNN comes the transcript of Jeff Gannon (or whatever his name really is) being interviewed by Anderson Cooper:
GANNON: All my stories were usually titled 'White House Says,' 'President Bush Wants,' and I relied on transcripts from the briefings, I relied on press releases that were sent to the press for the purpose of accurately portraying what the White House believed or wanted.So there you have it. Repeating White House talking points word for word is now "reporting;" which is technically correct in one sense of the word, but..... Now, does anyone know the meaning of "is?" But back to Gannon. From his answer it is clear that his whole purpose for being in the White House briefing room was so that he could give the White House a "news" organization that wouldn't investigate its crazy ass claims. Remember, this fits with the White House plan to circumvent the national media and take the "story" straight to the local/regional press outlets because the locals were less apt to question White House "stories."
COOPER: But using the term 'reporting' implies some sort of vetting, some sort of research, some sort of -- I mean, that's called faxing or Xeroxing, if you are just lifting transcripts and putting them into an article.
GANNON: If I am communicating to my readers exactly what the White House believes on any certain issue, that's reporting to them an unvarnished, unfiltered version of what they believe.
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
The Emperor Has No Clothes (in case you hadn't noticed).
Robert Scheer has a withering rebuke of Georgie & his gang of Radical Republicans in a LA Times Op-Ed. Scheer ends his piece with this indictment of the current residents of the White House:
9-11 wasn't quite the intelligence failure Georgie & Company want us to think it was. It was a failure of character, judgment, and priorities. Only a self-indulgent and lazy President would remain on vacation after receiving a report titled, "Bin Laden Determined to Strike US." It was a failure of judgment and priorities as Rice was scheduled to give a speech on missile defense on Sept. 11, 2001. Despite numerous warnings that Al Qaeda was a threat, Georgie Bush and his team failed to take them seriously. None of this, of course, absolves al Qaeda and bin Laden for their actions.
As Scheer notes, the recently released "secret" 9-11 report "exposes the administration as woefully incompetent if not criminally negligent." It is now clear why Georgie, Big Daddy Cheney, et al resisted the 9-11 commission, failed to support its work in any meaningful way, and then kept its full report from public view until well after the election. High Crimes and Misdemeanors indeed! Instead of getting ourselves in dither over the dismantling of Social Security, we should be drafting Articles of Impeachment for Georgie and his gang.
Robert Scheer has a withering rebuke of Georgie & his gang of Radical Republicans in a LA Times Op-Ed. Scheer ends his piece with this indictment of the current residents of the White House:
The terrible fact is that the administration took none of the steps that would have put the protection of human life ahead of a diverse set of economic and political interests, which included not offending our friends the Saudis and not hurting the share prices of airline corporations.As we all now know, the FAA and Condoleezza Rice (who lied to the 9-11 Commission about there not being a smoking gun) knew that almost half (52 of 105) of the FAA daily intelligence reports mentioned al Qaeda, Osma bin Laden, hijacking plans, and using those hijacked planes as suicide bombs. Remember it was Rice who, under oath mind you, claimed that no one had imagined anyone, anywhere using planes as weapons. This person is now Sec. of State. Again and again, we see Georgie Bush's penchant for supporting failures (unless those "failures" happen to benefit the poor).
9-11 wasn't quite the intelligence failure Georgie & Company want us to think it was. It was a failure of character, judgment, and priorities. Only a self-indulgent and lazy President would remain on vacation after receiving a report titled, "Bin Laden Determined to Strike US." It was a failure of judgment and priorities as Rice was scheduled to give a speech on missile defense on Sept. 11, 2001. Despite numerous warnings that Al Qaeda was a threat, Georgie Bush and his team failed to take them seriously. None of this, of course, absolves al Qaeda and bin Laden for their actions.
As Scheer notes, the recently released "secret" 9-11 report "exposes the administration as woefully incompetent if not criminally negligent." It is now clear why Georgie, Big Daddy Cheney, et al resisted the 9-11 commission, failed to support its work in any meaningful way, and then kept its full report from public view until well after the election. High Crimes and Misdemeanors indeed! Instead of getting ourselves in dither over the dismantling of Social Security, we should be drafting Articles of Impeachment for Georgie and his gang.
Monday, February 14, 2005
Ooops! Again and Again...
CNN.com reports:
CNN.com reports:
A test of the U.S. missile defense system failed Monday when an interceptor missile did not launch from its island base in the Pacific Ocean, the military said. It was the second failure in months for the experimental program.This is the missle system Georgie has already started deploying at Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. That the Pentagon can't even get the thing to launch in a test is troubling to say the least. How safe do you feel? Each one of these "tests" costs U.S. tax payers $85 million. We can pay a lot of teachers with $85 million, or support a lot of after-school literacy programs, or even help a lot of people pay for housing with that $85 million, or even fight terrorism with that $85 million. Seems Georgie has a taste for spending millions and billions on policies and programs that fail, and fail, and fail again.
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Chomsky Speaks Out
Noam Chomsky speaking to Aljazeera.Net on the "logic" of the Georgie Bush & Radical Republicans:
Noam Chomsky speaking to Aljazeera.Net on the "logic" of the Georgie Bush & Radical Republicans:
There is a very simple principle that goes a long way towards explaining decisions of the Bush administration. If some policy is beneficial to wealth, privilege and power, it should be promoted.
If some policy is beneficial to the large majority of the population but of no particular concern (or even marginally costly) to wealth, privilege and power, it should be undermined.
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Here We Go Again....
From The New York Times. In an Interview with Fox News Condi Rice issued this warning to the Iranians
Meanwhile Geogie & Co. aren't doing much saber rattling about
From The New York Times. In an Interview with Fox News Condi Rice issued this warning to the Iranians
We have believed all along that Iran ought to be referred to the Security Council and then a variety of steps are available to the international community.'' [. . .].Just to make sure the point was clear Rice also said, "Iranians need to hear that if they are unwilling to take the deal, really, that the Europeans are giving ... then the Security Council referral looms." And then just to make doubly sure there was no confusion, Rice told reporters after her meeting with NATO and EU leaders, "I think everybody understands what the 'next steps' mean." Back in Washington, Georgie chimed in with this little bit, "the reason we're sending that message is because Iran with a nuclear weapon would be a very destablizing force in the world." I wonder if the generals in charge of providing security in Iraq are already being "requested" to start planning for the invasion of Iran via Iraq. I knew the 80s were making a bit of comeback, I just didn't know it'd be in such a big way.
'They need to hear that the discussions that they are in with the Europeans are not going to be a kind of waystation where they are allowed to continue their activities; that there's going to be an end to this and that they are going to end up in the Security Council.'
Meanwhile Geogie & Co. aren't doing much saber rattling about
evidence that North Korea had gone beyond building new weapons for its own small nuclear arsenal, and may have provided aid to other nations by selling a partly processed form of uranium that can be enriched into bomb fuel. While there is some dispute about when the uranium was sent to Libya, there is some evidence that the transaction took place as recently as early 2003.Sure we sent a mid-level diplomat to China to beg the Chinese to do something about the N. Koreans and their penchant for producing and selling nuclear-bomb material to other countries, but have said nothing about how a N. Korea with an active and productive nuclear arms program is a destablizing force in the world (at least not in the grand way we have with Iran). Gee, no wonder the Iranians are a bit miffed. I mean India, Pakistan, and N. Korea all have nuclear bombs and Georgie isn't threatening to take them to Security Council.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Double Speak
Via the Washington Post this piece of good news for those worried that the Bush White House would become even more cravenly political
Via the Washington Post this piece of good news for those worried that the Bush White House would become even more cravenly political
[Karl] Rove [. . .] will become a deputy White House chief of staff in charge of coordinating policy between the White House Domestic Policy Council, National Economic Council, National Security Council and Homeland Security Council.How McClellan can utter such statements with a straight face is beyond me.
Rove will continue to oversee White House strategy to advance Bush's agenda and will 'make sure we have an open and fair process for the development of policy and to make sure the policy is complementary and consistent with the various councils,' White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
Monday, February 07, 2005
Setting Priorities
Budget Nightmare. Georgie's budget includes a "11.5 percent [cut] at Housing and Urban Development." The Education Department bears the brunt of about a third of Georgie's proposed cuts. Even the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention are facing cuts. Bush defended his cuts by saying: "'It's budget that sets priorities, [. . .] "It's a budget that reduces and eliminates redundancy. It's a budget that's a lean budget.'" I guess housing people isn't a priority. Funding literacy programs or vocational education aren't priorities for the Radical Republicans.
In another sign of the hubris of the Radical Republicans, Joshua Bolten the budget director for the White Hose "said the administration would soon be coming forward with a supplemental request for an additional $81 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan." Bolten noted that to provide such figures now "wouldn't be responsible" because doing so would be just guessing. Never mind that the whole concept of budgeting is nothing more than a bunch of educated guesses. Ohhhh...and guessing about how much we need to support the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq would be admitting that we're stuck in Iraq with no exit strategy. And including the amounts for Iraq would give truth the lies Georgie is spreading about cutting the exploding deficit.
The good news is that by 2010, according to Georgie's budget we'll only have a deficit of some 207 billion dollars. Makes you wonder what ever happened to that surplus we had a few years ago. Just for comparison's sake that's only 39.1% of GDP, as compared to 37.2% of GDP.
For the hard numbers GPO's site.
Budget Nightmare. Georgie's budget includes a "11.5 percent [cut] at Housing and Urban Development." The Education Department bears the brunt of about a third of Georgie's proposed cuts. Even the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention are facing cuts. Bush defended his cuts by saying: "'It's budget that sets priorities, [. . .] "It's a budget that reduces and eliminates redundancy. It's a budget that's a lean budget.'" I guess housing people isn't a priority. Funding literacy programs or vocational education aren't priorities for the Radical Republicans.
In another sign of the hubris of the Radical Republicans, Joshua Bolten the budget director for the White Hose "said the administration would soon be coming forward with a supplemental request for an additional $81 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan." Bolten noted that to provide such figures now "wouldn't be responsible" because doing so would be just guessing. Never mind that the whole concept of budgeting is nothing more than a bunch of educated guesses. Ohhhh...and guessing about how much we need to support the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq would be admitting that we're stuck in Iraq with no exit strategy. And including the amounts for Iraq would give truth the lies Georgie is spreading about cutting the exploding deficit.
The good news is that by 2010, according to Georgie's budget we'll only have a deficit of some 207 billion dollars. Makes you wonder what ever happened to that surplus we had a few years ago. Just for comparison's sake that's only 39.1% of GDP, as compared to 37.2% of GDP.
For the hard numbers GPO's site.
Sunday, February 06, 2005
Support the Troops!
The New York Times reports,
The New York Times reports,
Bush's budget would more than double the co-payment charged to many veterans for prescription drugs and would require some to pay a new fee of $250 a year for the privilege of using government health care, administration officials said Sunday.So remember kids, today's lesson is that George Bush and the Radical Republicans support our troops, unless, of course, doing so means raising taxes on their rich buddies.
Friday, February 04, 2005
Oh Kenny Boy!
From the The New York Times. More from the Enron file, you know the company headed by "Kenny Boy." Fine upstanding company. Good friends with Georgie et al. The kind of folks we should be investing our "personal accounts" with.
From the The New York Times. More from the Enron file, you know the company headed by "Kenny Boy." Fine upstanding company. Good friends with Georgie et al. The kind of folks we should be investing our "personal accounts" with.
In one January 2001 telephone tape of an Enron trader the public utility identified as Bill Williams and a Las Vegas energy official identified only as Rich, an agreement was made to shut down a power plant providing energy to California. The shutdown was set for an afternoon of peak energy demand.Of course at the time Kenny Boy dismissed claims that Enron was manipulating the market as nothing more than "conspiracy theories." Keep in mind these are the guys who helped to draft the Bush energy "plan" that Georgie urged Congress to pass in his SotU address.
'This is going to be a word-of-mouth kind of thing,' Mr. Williams says on the tape. 'We want you guys to get a little creative and come up with a reason to go down.' After agreeing to take the plant down, the Nevada official questioned the reason. 'O.K., so we're just coming down for some maintenance, like a forced outage type of thing?' Rich asks. 'And that's cool?'
'Hopefully,' Mr. Williams says, before both men laugh.
The next day, Jan. 17, 2001, as the plant was taken out of service, the State of California called a power emergency, and rolling blackouts hit up to a half-million consumers, according to daily logs of the western power grid.
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Here We Go Again
From CNN.com
From CNN.com
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has signaled that the Bush administration is adopting a harder line towards Iran -- but she has stopped short of explicitly calling for regime change.I wonder if she'll start talking about mushroom clouds anytime soon?
'The Iranian people should have a chance to determine their own future,' Rice told reporters en route to London on her first international trip as secretary of state.
'They should be no different from the Iraqis or other peoples around the world.'
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
You Know Civil Liberties are Threatened When...
CNN.com runs headlines like: "Growing threat to UK terror plans - Feb 2, 2005." That's right, defending civil liberties like the right to a trial, or the right not to be detained forever at the whim of some shadowy government committee, etc. is a threat to fighting terrorism. Orwell is spinning in his grave. As Conservative leader Michael Howard said of terrorist suspects, "'their innocence or guilt must be determined by a court of law, not by the Home Secretary.'" Tony Blair's government is attempting to introduce house arrest for suspected terrorists after the British high court ruled that "disappearing" terrorist suspects broke human rights laws. If only the U.S. had such a high court. Imagine that.
CNN.com runs headlines like: "Growing threat to UK terror plans - Feb 2, 2005." That's right, defending civil liberties like the right to a trial, or the right not to be detained forever at the whim of some shadowy government committee, etc. is a threat to fighting terrorism. Orwell is spinning in his grave. As Conservative leader Michael Howard said of terrorist suspects, "'their innocence or guilt must be determined by a court of law, not by the Home Secretary.'" Tony Blair's government is attempting to introduce house arrest for suspected terrorists after the British high court ruled that "disappearing" terrorist suspects broke human rights laws. If only the U.S. had such a high court. Imagine that.