Saturday, May 26, 2007
"Burn Their Idols In The Fire" -Deut 7:5-6
From The Denver Post:
The lightning bolt broke off one of Jesus' arms and a hand and damaged one of his feet, sending marble plummeting to the ground during a Saturday afternoon storm.
"There were pilgrims up there on the hill," Sister Ilaria said. "The biggest miracle is no one got hit with the falling debris."
The statue of Jesus, which had one hand pointing to his "sacred heart" and the other outstretched, sits atop a mountain near the shrine in the foothills of Golden. Drivers on Interstate 70 can see the statue in the hills, and at night, light illuminates the white marble.
Jesus, wearing a robe and glancing down, is 22 feet tall with an 11-foot base.
Now the nuns are considering the costs of repairing the marble edifice, who rely solely on contributions. Perhaps using those donations to help those less fortunate, the ones Jesus and other biblical figures supposedly command us to give comfort and aid would benefit more than a marble statue repairman.
Whats News Depends On Where You Are Watching It
Cable news networks and particularly Fox News is known to focus on sensational stories over 'hard news' in order to boost their ratings and advertising dollars. Plenty of figures have been posted in the past on how many stories and time is devoted to missing white women, Michael Jackson and Paris Hilton. The latest study from the first quarter of 2007 shows that not much has changed. Fox still talks about crap and avoids real news while CNN and MSNBC are better but still lacking.From Media Bistro:
According to PEJ's first quarter News Coverage Index, "MSNBC and CNN were much more consumed with the war in Iraq than was Fox." (See the chart to the right.)
In daytime, FNC devoted 6 percent of its time to Iraq, and 17 percent of its time to Anna Nicole. For CNN, the mix was 20 percent Iraq, 5 percent Anna; for MSNBC, the mix was 18 percent Iraq, 10 percent Anna.
"Fox also stood out for its lack of coverage on the firings of the U.S. attorneys, compared with the other channels. The story, which gained real momentum in mid March, consumed a mere 2% of Fox’s total airtime. CNN devoted twice that percent (4%) and MSNBC four times (8%)," the report says...
Fox still garners the largest share of cable news viewers which really isn't that surprising. Fox gets it that most people really do not want to hear what is going on in the country. Ignorance is bliss for many cable-owning Americans. It is a sad reality that so many people choose to be deluded with 'riveting' nonstop coverage on who Anna Nicole Smith's baby's daddy is rather than be informed on how Republicans keep flushing our country down the drain.
Throngs Neck Bridge Gets Four New Little New Yorkers
These four little female Falcons are the first to be born on the Throngs Neck Bridge in over twenty years. They're cute now, but those pigeons and other smaller birds better watch out when they get bigger.
UMass Gives It To Andy Card
From The Huffington Post:
AMHERST, Mass. — President Bush's former chief of staff Andrew Card was loudly booed by hundreds of students and faculty members as he rose to accept an honorary degree at the University of Massachusetts on Friday.
The boos and catcalls _ including those from faculty members who stood onstage with Card _ drowned out Provost Charlena Seymour's remarks as she awarded the honorary doctorate in public service. Protesters claim Card lied to the American people in the early days of the Iraq war and should not have been honored at the graduate student commencement.
Card smiled slightly while Seymour spoke and raised his hand in thanks, then sat down without speaking.
What the &%@# was he smiling at? He knew he didn't deserve the degree. He has no honor and does not deserve a graduate degree in anything other than destroying the Constitution. He recently made the news again when James Comey testified that Card went to John Ashcroft's hospital bedside to manipulate him into approving illegal wiretapping. Andrew Card is a sinister human being that should be in jail for his crimes, not given a bullshit degree from any University.
Terrorism With A Camera
There is going to be a hearing on the matter in the near future, so if you like to photograph all the interesting sights and people of New York, stay tuned for when this is going to happen. The last thing city rule makers need to be doing is cracking down on artists armed with 35mm cameras. They should pay attention to other things than this type of Big Brother crap.
Ferrets Against Giuliani
Friday, May 25, 2007
Bush's Bible Believing Base
From Editor and Publisher:
NEW YORK About one-third of the American adult population believes the Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally word for word, a new Gallup poll reveals. This percentage is only slightly lower than several decades ago.
Gallup reports that the majority of those "who don't believe that the Bible is literally true believe that it is the inspired word of God but that not everything it in should be taken literally." Finally, about one in five Americans believe the Bible is merely an ancient book of "fables, legends, history, and moral precepts recorded by man."
There is also a strong relationship between education and belief in a literal Bible, Gallup explains, with such belief becoming much less prevalent as schooling continues.
So for those of you out there that are having children, please educate your young ones. I have had enough education to be included in that one in five that believe the book is recorded by man to teach morals and tell fables. I do not mean to sound elitist or anything like that, its just religious history shows that this what happened in human history over the past few thousand years. Cultures throughout the world wrote down what their ancestors told them around the fire late at night and taught the good word.
The number of literal believers has gone down, but there is no reason for that decline to stop. There is nothing wrong with learning your morals from religion of course. Just do not use it to attack other societies that you deem 'non-believers' (that goes for all religions). Come on, can't we all just get along?
Reagan Speaks From The Grave On Giuliani
From The American Spectator:
Jim Kelly NSC came in to report Philippine legis. is giving us trouble on renewing our mil. bases there. And Giuliani (U.S. Attorney) is talking of drawing up an indictment against Marcos. I think he's crazy.
The quote comes from a June 14, 1988 entry in the diary of our 40th President. If thats what he thought of him then, imagine what he would say after seeing him as a Mayor of New York. Prosecuting someone in the Philippines is nuts when your jurisdiction is in the Northeast is a little out there and the conservative deity's judgment cannot be questioned (at least by the current crop on Neo-Cons and other wing-nuts).
How will the Republican community take this news? It certainly has the possibility of coming up in the next Republican debate, or at least from his new enemy Ron Paul. If the American Spectator can print it, the movement can use it as well.
Fighting Republican Memory Loss
Fred Thompson: Idiocy From The Sidelines
From The Greenwich Times:
"We're living in a nation beset by suicidal maniacs," Thompson said, launching into criticism of the immigration bill.
A strong supporter of the Iraq war, Thompson criticized Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for publicly stating the war has been lost -- "fine, fine message to those people giving their lives for us" -- and the Democrats for debating a timetable for "surrender.
"Al-Qaida have a 100-year plan," Thompson said. "We have a plan until the next election."
Thompson also reiterated his support for President Bush's tax cuts, which have particularly benefited many of the lower Fairfield County residents who sat in the audience last night.
Wow, "beset by suicidal maniacs," those are some tough words about America out of his mouth. Apparently I should fear for my life every time I leave my apartment because those suicidal terrorists are everywhere. Actually Fred, they are more likely to be found in Iraq, spawned by the chaos that President Bush has brought to the war torn country. The war that you support.
Then the non-candidate switched to the benefits of tax cuts??? Well yeah, of course they benefit the people of Greenwich, it is only the richest town in the country. If you were running for President of Greenwich, CT then those tax cuts would be fantastic. Unfortunately for the crowd, the race is for a nation of 300 million people, who are mostly not as wealthy as the residents of Fairfield County. Those tax cuts are only helping to fuel the gap between rich and poor, turning our democracy into an aristocratic society with some haves and a lot of have-nots.
Perhaps you should stick to Hollywood Mr. Thompson.
The Intolerant, Gay-Hating Mitt Romney
From The Huffington Post:
"What you look for in a leader is someone who will welcome and treat with respect people who made different choices and have different beliefs in their lives and have differences. I have nothing but respect and feelings of tolerance for people with differences from myself and feel that way with regards to those who are gay," he said.
He noted that one of his Cabinet members was gay and that he appointed gays to positions of responsibility in his administration.
"I oppose discrimination against gay people," Romney said. "I am not anti-gay. I know there are some Republicans, or some people in the country who are looking for someone who is anti-gay and that's not me."
He said he is opposed to gay marriage because it's not in the best interest of children.
Oh I see, it is for the young ones' sake. Give me a break, the sexual orientation of a parent has nothing, I repeat nothing to do with how well they will do their job in raising a child. That right-wing talking point is as old and tired as counting how many times Mitt flips his position on any given issue. Why not just come out and say what you believe in that lovely little Republican heart of yours? Or do you have any principles at all besides winning over the audience that is in front of you at any given time?
Leaving Baghdad
Ron Paul Gives Rudy Homework
From WCBS-TV:
Among the books Texas Rep. Ron Paul said Giuliani should read, believe it or not, the "9-11 Commission Report."
"I'm giving Mr. Giuliani a reading assignment," he said Thursday at the National Press Club. "This is what I expect him to read before the next debate."
He's calling for Giuliani to read a total of four books, including "Dying To Win," "Blowback" and "Imperial Hubris." In addition, Paul said his campaign chairman said he would be happy to send Giuliani "Cliff's Notes," in case he is "too busy giving hundred-thousand-dollar speeches on national security."
Very nice hit at the end about the speeches. Paul certainly knows how to dig under someone's skin. Giuliani showed his pain by lashing out with a statement that had nothing to do with what Paul was talking about.
"Mayor Giuliani said it best," said a spokesman. "It is extraordinary and reckless to claim that the United States invited the attacks on Sept. 11. And to further declare Rudy Giuliani needs to be educated on Sept. 11 when millions of people around the world saw him dealing with the terrorist attacks firsthand is just absurd."
This isn't an education on 9/11. It is a course on how the world works with us in it. Actions have consequences both on a playground and the world stage. It seems Rudy was probably the schoolyard bully that just didn't care about who he hurt or what he wrecked.
Ron Paul knows what he is talking about when it comes to Osama. And he has friends with serious records to back up those statements. Michael Scheuer used to lead the CIA force that hunted Bin Laden. Michael said "This war has to do with our foreign policy and its impact in the Islamic world." It would be nice if Rudy actually read those books but I'm not holding my breath, the man is on track to be as thick-headed and stubborn as our current failure-in-chief.
Bird Delivers Karma For The President
From ABC's Political Radar:
As President Bush took a question Thursday in the White House Rose Garden about scandals involving his Attorney General, he remarked, "I've got confidence in Al Gonzales doin' the job."
Simultaneously, a sparrow flew overhead and left a splash on the President's sleeve, which Bush tried several times to wipe off.
Deputy White House Press Secretary Dana Perino promptly put the incident through the proper spin cycle, telling ABC News, "It was his lucky day...everyone knows that's a sign of good luck."
To watch the video, CLICK HERE.
Perino tried to spin the event, but the bird shat on Bush for a reason. It was symbolic of how Bush bombs other countries, leaving the stain of an imperialist foreign policy that bullies the world with abandon. So as our footprint is creating chaos in the world, so did the little sparrow for George Bush and one of his expensive suits.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
9/11 Claims More Victims
From The New York Times:
By making a formal connection between Mrs. Dunn-Jones’s death and her relatively brief exposure to the dust, the medical examiner’s decision could have a wide impact on how the city deals with the growing number of illnesses and deaths linked in some way to ground zero.
The city is already under pressure to re-examine the deaths of people like James Zadroga, 34, a New York police detective who worked at the debris pile in the months after the towers fell. Although a New Jersey pathologist who conducted an autopsy last year concluded that Detective Zadroga’s death was linked to trade center dust, city officials have not accepted that finding.
“The city medical examiner has now accepted what thousands of people with 9/11-related illnesses and their doctors have long understood: that ground zero dust was harmful and even deadly,” said Representative Carolyn B. Maloney.
I am proud to say that Carolyn Maloney is my Congresswoman. She is speaking truth that the city still refuses to accept. Many more than Dunn-Jones and Zadroga succumbed to the effects of the dust. There are countless more that are sick and possibly dying. Meanwhile the city and especially then EPA chief Christine Whitman want to deny the reality. By doing that they can escape blame for not adequately protecting the rescue workers from the toxic air.
New York City and the entire nation deserves more than this. It is time for the various responsible factions of our government stand up and take responsibility for their negligence. And if they try to avoid it, they will be pulled into the glare of the spotlight so everyone can see their callous disregard for the brave men and women that helped rescue survivors and begin to repair Lower Manhattan.
A Gay Linguist Is Still A Linguist
One of the examples brought into question in recent years is the number of Arabic linguists who have been discharged from their service because of their sexual orientation. In all, 58 have been let go. That means over a thousand hours a week is lost when we could have been deciphering information from Al Qaeda and other nefarious sorts all over the Middle East. One ex-linguist recently gave an interview to give his side of the story.
From the AP:
Former Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Stephen Benjamin said his supervisor tried to keep him on the job and urged him to sign a statement saying he was not gay. Benjamin said his lawyer advised against signing because the statement could be used against him later if other evidence surfaced.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Benjamin said he was caught improperly using the military's secret level computer system to send messages to his roommate, who was serving in Iraq. In those messages, he said, he may have referred to being gay or going on a date.
"I'd always had been out since the day I started working there," Benjamin said. "We had conversations about being gay in the military and what it was like. There were no issues with unit cohesion. I never caused divisiveness or ever experienced slurs," said Benjamin, who was in the Navy for nearly four years.
"I'd always had been out since the day I started working there," Benjamin said. "We had conversations about being gay in the military and what it was like. There were no issues with unit cohesion. I never caused divisiveness or ever experienced slurs," said Benjamin, who was in the Navy for nearly four years.
Benjamin's story blows holes in the current law on the books, the one the Pentagon vows to follow, despite all of the evidence that shows the law is a failure. Thankfully outgoing Rep. Marty Meehan is taking up the issue and trying to force a change.
"At a time when our military is stretched to the limit and our cultural knowledge of the Middle East is dangerously deficient, I just can't believe that kicking out able, competent Arabic linguists is making our country any safer," Meehan said.
Meehan has organized a letter signed by 40 other members of the House to seek an investigation on the sanity of letting all of those linguists go. It isn't a repeal of the law, but it is a start. The issue is just one small piece of the picture that shows the policy is a sham and that we need to treat all of our soldiers equally, no matter who they want to sleep with.
Jesus & George
Hillary's Aide Is A Fool
From the AP:
NEW YORK — Warning that her campaign needs "a new approach to winning," Hillary Rodham Clinton's deputy campaign manager wrote a memo this week urging the Democratic front-runner to bypass next year's Iowa caucuses to focus time and money on states where she's faring better.
Her advisers fearing backlash from Iowa Democrats who cast the first votes of the 2008 presidential race, Clinton denounced the memo hours after it leaked from her headquarters and played down an internal debate over campaign strategy. "I am unalterably committed to competing in Iowa," she told The Associated Press.
The memo from Mike Henry emerged days after a Des Moines Sunday Register poll of likely caucus-goers showed Clinton trailing rivals John Edwards and Barack Obama in Iowa, which is to hold its caucuses Jan. 14, 2008.
Thankfully for Clinton's sake she denounced the memo (and the guy should be fired IMHO) because Iowa is worth whatever it takes. It wasn't long ago that the new Democrat on the block Wesley Clark saw his star fade fast after ditching the Democratic faithful in Iowa.
What Clinton's real problem now is her vote on the war. She's a hawk trying to put on sheep's clothing, but it just ain't working. She says she's against the war, but wouldn't come out and denounce the new "compromise" bill that gives Bush everything he wants without any actual compromise. If she wants to win in the Democratic primary, she better start listening to the people about Iraq.
Bush Threatens Veto To Protect Oil Companies From Gouging Consumers
From Dow Jones:
The vote comes as lawmakers weigh a number of measures in the face of soaring gasoline prices. The House ignored a veto threat Tuesday to overwhelmingly pass legislation that would allow the Justice Department to sue members of the 11-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, under U.S. antitrust laws.
Democrats defended the anti-gouging package, saying it provides safeguards aimed at protecting small businesses and taking account of supply disruptions created by natural disasters and other problems.
Republicans are "asking this congress to wait until a more perfect time ... to help the American consumer out," said Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill. "The American people are suffering right now and they are demanding this Congress take action right now. There can never be a more perfect time for this Congress to take action."
Of course I didn't expect anything different from the President. The only silver lining here is that at least we get the Republicans on record for supporting rich oil executives instead of their constituents who take the hit in the pocketbook. Now if Republicans were smart, they would support the Democratic bill so that we can override the President's veto....I won't be holding my breath.
More Of Goodling's Goodies
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Markowitz Gets Tough On Atlantic Yards Opponents
From The New York Times:
In the case of Atlantic Yards, Community Board 6’s resolution last September, though strongly critical, was almost purely symbolic: the project is being managed by a state agency, the Empire State Development Corporation, and is exempt from the city land-use process.
But Celia Cacace, who has been on the board since the early 1980s — long before Mr. Markowitz was elected — said that he took her aside at a community event a few months ago to criticize her and her colleagues.
“He said, ‘I’m going to get rid of everybody on the board that voted for this,’ ” according to Ms. Cacace, 71, whose term expires next year. “He says, ‘Remember, you are my appointee.’ Every time I tried to say something he totally lambasted me.”
Treating an old lady like that is terrible and so is letting her go from her position. Despite the obvious pro-business bent that Marty has over the citizens of the area, there is no excuse to lambast anyone that volunteers time to help make their neighborhoods a better place to live in.
Although passionate civic leaders will try to fight to the end, it seems that stopping the project is a lost cause. There are lawsuits still pending on the matter, but I don't see any change in momentum to be very likely. The city wants the revenue that Atlantic Yards will create and has the state to back them up. Unfortunately it seems that the people have lost out on this one.Pleading The Fifth Is The New Trend
From RawStory:
Susan Ralston, the former executive assistant to top White House adviser Karl Rove, invoked her rights against self-incrimination while she was being asked to answer questions by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the Committee's Chairman, Rep. Henry Waxman, announced in a memo Tuesday. The deposition for which she sat concerned contacts between convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and Rove, as well as the White House more broadly."The subjects this morning that she will be unable to testify to...are the subjects of the relationship between Jack Abramoff and his associates and White House officials, including Ms. Ralston, and the subject of the use by White House officials of political e-mail accounts at the RNC," Ralston's lawyer, Bradford Berenson said, during the May 10 deposition. "She has material, useful information about both of those subjects."
With a grant of immunity, Ms. Ralston just may provide the goods to finger Karl Rove as the evil mastermind of the White House. It is far past the time for this man to be forced out of the Executive branch. Since George would never kick out a loyal partner such as Rove (nor Alberto as well), someone else will have to do it for him. Now if Congress could take the next step past issuing subpoenas and physically remove him from office, we can truly start to get somewhere.
Goodling Gives Up Gonzales
Can Flamingos Go To Hell?
From Yahoo News:
LONDON (AFP) - A pair of gay flamingos have adopted an abandoned chick, becoming parents after being together for six years, a British conservation organisation said Monday.
Carlos and Fernando had been desperate to start a family, even chasing other flamingos from their nests to take over their eggs at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) in Slimbridge near Bristol.
But their egg-sitting prowess made them the top choice for taking an unhatched egg under their wings when one of the Greater Flamingo nests was abandoned.
Jane Waghorn, the facility's spokeswoman mentioned that the couple have tried to steal eggs from other flamingos in the past, but to no avail. Now that they have have found the chick, their family can truly begin. She also noted that couples like Carlos and Fernando are not uncommon for flamingos either. So now that Falwell is unable to bash the same-sex couple in the U.K., will Dobson and Pat Robertson step up to battle the gay flamingo community?
Falwell Funeral Missing An Obvious Few
From the AP:
Some Republican figures were expected for the funeral, but none of the party's presidential candidates said they could attend. The White House was sending a midlevel aide. Among the Virginia Republican leaders attending was Attorney General Bob McDonnell.Falwell, 73, died a week ago after collapsing in his office at Liberty University. His physician said Falwell had a heart condition and presumably died of a heart rhythm abnormality.
Despite the absence of the Presidential contenders, there were approximately 10,000 that showed up for the funeral. Those who attended were quite diverse, including a mid-level White House aide, leaders of the religious right, students of Falwell's Liberty University and protesters of course. One person that thankfully didn't attend was Mark David Uhl, who is currently in jail for planning to bomb the funeral. Despite the long list of terrible things Falwell did with his life, there is no excuse for that type of crap.
Rudy's An Idiot
Monica Goodling, An Immune Felon
From the AP:
Goodling, 33, quit the department last month and initially pleaded the Fifth Amendment on Wednesday. After being granted court-approved immunity, she admitted that in some instances she may have weighed the political views and affilations of job applicants for jobs as career prosecutors _ a violation of federal law."I may have gone too far, and I may have taken inappropriate political considerations into account on some occasions," Goodling said. "And I regret those mistakes."
Justice Department documents show Goodling attended numerous meetings over a year's time about the plans to fire the U.S. attorneys and corresponded with the White House and at least one of the ousted prosecutors before the dismissals were ordered.
Goodling also testified that Deputy Attorney General McNulty was not fully candid in his testimony and that it was pretty much all his fault. Placing blame on others while squeaking through on an immunity deal seems to be turning out perfectly for her and the White House. McNulty has clearly become the fall guy for the Administration so that Gonzales can remain in his post.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
From Rustbelt To Greenbelt
From The New York Times:
LACKAWANNA, N.Y., May 21 — Empty grain elevators and dormant railroad tracks line the Buffalo River to the east and Lake Erie to the west, interspersed with empty fields overgrown with gnarled shrubbery. Test wells that monitor decades of buried industrial waste dot the landscape. A passenger ship, rust overtaking its aqua paint, sits beside a decaying mill.The road from Buffalo to this city to the south offers a stark reminder of the region’s faded past as a hub of industry and shipping.
Yet in the past few months, a different sight has emerged on the 2.2-mile shoreline above a labyrinth of pipes, blackened buildings and crumbling coke ovens that was once home to a behemoth Bethlehem Steel plant: eight gleaming white windmills with 153-foot blades slowly turning in the wind off Lake Erie, on a former Superfund site where iron and steel slag and other industrial waste were dumped during 80 years of production.
“It’s changing the image of the city of Lackawanna,” said Norman L. Polanski Jr., the city’s mayor and a former Bethlehem worker who lost his job when the company stopped making steel here in 1983. “We were the old Rust Belt, with all the negatives. Right now, we are progressive and we are leading the way on the waterfront.”
That type of leadership is exactly what the Great Lakes region needs, along with any other part of the country that has suffered economic depression due to the changing of the times. Building clean energy sources such as wind turbines and large solar panel systems is the way to go for the future. Forget about the high tech ideas like hydrogen and use what the Earth gives us naturally and is easy to use.
Al Gore Versus The Media
Resisting The American People, Bush Is Doubling Up In Iraq
From The San Francisco Gate:
The little-noticed second surge, designed to reinforce U.S. troops in Iraq, is being executed by sending more combat brigades and extending tours of duty for troops already there.
The actions could boost the number of combat soldiers from 52,500 in early January to as many as 98,000 by the end of this year if the Pentagon overlaps arriving and departing combat brigades.
Separately, when additional support troops are included in this second troop increase, the total number of U.S. troops in Iraq could increase from 162,000 now to more than 200,000 -- a record-high number -- by the end of the year.
Bush touted the first escalation in January before the State of the Union. Now that we all know that move was an abysmal failure, the next escalation is being kept under wraps. Typical bullshit from the White House. Their power goes unchecked by Congress, which is too weak to press ahead for a solution to this mess. Bush can only increase the risk of more dead American soldier if Congress keeps writing the checks.
NYC Taxis Are Going Green!
From WCBS-TV:
According to the mayor, it will be 25 miles per gallon or bust. That's the fuel efficiency that the mayor is pushing for the city's taxi fleet by the year 2012.
"There's an awful lot of taxicabs on the streets of New York City obviously, so it makes a real big difference," Bloomberg said. "These cars just sit there in traffic sometimes, belching fumes; this does a lot less. It's a lot better for all of us."
Currently, roughly 90 percent of the city's 13,000 yellow cabs are Crown Victorias. And while they may be roomy inside for passenger comfort, they get a paltry 10 to 15 miles per gallon for city driving.
Hybrids can do a lot better than 25 miles an hour, but considering how taxi drivers handle their cars it is pretty good. I've heard some drivers complain about the hybrids lack of power, but frankly I tell them "tough." The air of New York is much more important than enabling their (mostly) reckless driving.
More On Fox From The Simpsons
Now here's the conclusion:
Over 5 1/2 Years Later....
From WCBS-TV:
The key move was an amendment, offered by Rep. John McHugh, R-N.Y., of Watertown, to the House's 2008 Defense Authorization bill, providing funding for a second team in Gotham. What remains is for Congress to approve adding two CST teams to the 55 now in existence nationwide and add more money for fiscal 2008.
The teams are widely scattered with at least one in every state and territory, in such locations as Indianapolis; St. Paul, Minn.; Santa Fe, N.M.; Boise, Idaho; Phoenix; Topeka, Kan.; Honolulu; Augusta, Ga.; Stark, Fla.; Rapid City, S.D., Tacoma, Wash.; Smyrna, Tenn.; and St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.
New York's Congressional delegation has complained vigorously to the Bush administration that funds for homeland security were being funneled to states and small cities where the actual terrorist threat was minimal compared to New York, where planes hijacked by terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center and killed nearly 2,800 people on Sept. 11, 2001.
Why didn't the Republican controlled Congress with Bush flying high at the time swiftly enact this rather inexpensive program? The truth is Bush and his buddies may like to talk tough about terrorism, but in reality do very little about it. Protecting New York City should be priority number one and being the 56th recipient of this program is completely unacceptable.
Bush's Pay Increase For The Troops Is Illegal
From BradBlog:
Increases in military salary are traditionally determined by increases in average civilian salary, according to a method of measurement called the Employment Cost Index. Regardless of the actual dollar increase in salary, the base pay for service-members must be at least 0.5% above the corresponding civilian pay because of a Defense Authorization Act which Congress passed in 1999.
The Democrats forgot about the law as well, but they want to fund the troops an extra half-percent, a move the White House "strongly opposed." Now both are required to adhere to the rules on the books. Democrats shouldn't mind at all, but the President has a history of not caring about pesky little things that get in his way. It would be nice if the House Republicans still left over from 1999 would remind George about the bill they passed, but Bush doesn't really care for their opinion either.
Monday, May 21, 2007
How Fox Gets Away With It
Rep. Moran Compares Bush To Lenin
From RawStory:
"This administration, I've never seen an organization that learned the lessons of Lenin as clearly as these guys," said Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) in a Thursday interview. "These guys must tack up Lenin's philosophy on their bedstand every night. Particularly when Lenin suggested if you say something often enough, with enough conviction, everybody will believe it."
Moran was referring to the tactics being used by the Bush administration to fight moves in Congress to close Guantanamo Bay. The Congressman, who has served his Virginia district since 1991, sits on the Defense Appropriations subcommittee, which decides the Pentagon's annual budgets. Moran has been tasked by the subcommittee's chairman, Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), with devising a plan to shutter Guantanamo Bay.
The congressman spoke to RAW STORY in the Rayburn Room off the floor of the House of Representatives. He had just successfully advanced an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2008 Defense Authorization bill that would require Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to report on how every detainee at Guantanamo Bay could be transferred away from the controversial base. Passing on a close 220-208 vote, the amendment could be an early indicator of the difficulties that may be faced in the broader effort to close the base for good.
Moran is also pissed off at Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney. The comment about doubling Guantanamo may have been meant to get applause from the sycophantic audience, but it does not work in reality. Sixty thousand prisoners are now housed in Iraqi and American detention centers in the chaotic country over there, and there is no way they would all fit in Guantanamo.
FDNY Sued For Recruiting Discrimination
New York's bravest are being targeted for a discrimination suit that alleges the testing required join the FDNY is skewed to hurt minority's chances for getting the job. The Department of Justice filed the suit in Federal Court today against the city.From WCBS-TV:
Captain Paul Washington is the past president of the Vulcan Society, a group that brought a lawsuit against the FDNY five years ago. That lawsuit was the basis of the current federal investigation.
"The fire department will be getting what it deserves for not having acted on their own. They have had more than enough opportunity," Washington told CBS 2 in April.
"The guy who gets the 99 or 100 on a test isn't going to be any better than the guy who gets the 80 or 75. The fire department knows that, the mayor's office knows that, everybody does," Washington adds. "They should not use that test as a barometer on who's going to get on the job or not."
Other major cities such as Los Angeles and Boston have 40 to 50 percent or more of their ranks filled with minorities. In New York that number is between 8 and 9 percent. The city claims that the suit is unwarranted and that the Fire Department has made changes to their policy to accept for people of color. Yet no real change has been seen yet since Paul Washington first filed a suit five years ago. It seems like the city is just stalling and because of that, what is left of our Justice Department is set to prosecute and achieve some equality for what is seen as the most honorable fire department in the world.
NILF Alert!
McCain Goes For Romney's Throat
Not only was the conversation about immigration, it went completely personal. Going off of a couple of Romney's prior statements, McCain compared undocumented Guatemalan workers that Romney employed to the varmint hunting that Mitt says he has taken part of in the past.
From Rawstory:
"Maybe I should wait a couple weeks and see if it changes," Ryan Sager reports Senator McCain saying in reference to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's position on immigration. "Maybe he can get out his small varmint gun and drive those Guatemalans off his yard."
How nice of McCain to compare Guatemalans to varmints. It is easy to tell how pleasant a person John McCain really is. This type of attack says a lot about McCain and his chances. He knows his campaign has been sagging in a big way for the last couple of months, so he went after the more favored Romney with abandon. I doubt these stunts McCain has been pulling will do him any good. Seeing Giuliani attack Ron Paul at the last debate garner a lot of applause, McCain has joined the race to appease right-wingers any way he can, including attacking his primary opponents in the most personal of ways.
Smithsonian Bent Over For Republicans
From The Houston Chronicle:
WASHINGTON — The Smithsonian Institution toned down an exhibit on climate change in the Arctic for fear of angering Congress and the Bush administration, says a former administrator at the museum.
Among other things, the script, or official text, of last year's exhibit was rewritten to minimize and inject more uncertainty into the relationship between global warming and humans, said Robert Sullivan, who was associate director in charge of exhibitions at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.
Also, officials omitted scientists' interpretation of some research and let visitors draw their own conclusions from the data, he said. In addition, graphs were altered "to show that global warming could go either way," Sullivan said.
Sullivan left the museum in disgust after his bosses tried to reassign him. As scientists are continually attacked for using science instead of GOP talking points, our country will continue to lose credibility in the world's scientific community.
Impeach Gonzales Now!
Matthew Diaz: Convicted For A Mitzvah
From The New York Times:
In early 2005, as he was concluding a six-month tour of duty as a legal adviser at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Diaz sent an anonymous note to a New York civil liberties group containing the detainees' names.
The Center for Constitutional Rights earlier had won a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that terrorism suspects had the right to challenge their detention. But the Pentagon was refusing to identify the men, hampering the group's effort to represent them.
''I had observed the stonewalling, the obstacles we continued to place in the way of the attorneys,'' Diaz told the newspaper. ''I knew my time was limited. ... I had to do something.''
Diaz later apologized to the court for his actions, but stayed resolute in why he acted so bravely for those being imprisoned at Guantanamo. As an officer his ultimate duty is to uphold the Constitution, not the criminal activities of the Bush Administration. He may now claim the act was cowardly, but it made a world of difference for those that have been unjustly detained and tortured for several years now.
The Supreme Court had already decided that the detainees deserved to be able to face their accusers in court, but the Pentagon stonewalled on revealing the names of the prisoners. Diaz fulfilled the obligation of the Army without the top brass' approval. For that he deserves a medal, not what was doled out in a military court. He still has a ray of hope however. Rear Admiral Rick Ruehe still has to approve the sentence. Hopefully the Admiral still has the decency to see what this case is really all about and dismiss the jury's verdict.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Lou, They Aren't Aliens
From Orcinus' discussion of Lou Dobbs' May 8th broadcast:
DOBBS: Well, I appreciate it. Thank you, Joe. Laura Flanders, let's talk about Mitt Romney at ...
LAURA FLANDERS, AIR AMERICA: I wanted to come back for a minute to the L.A. story, the last two stories. I think if Dr. King were alive today, he would be talking about what happened on L.A. on May 1st. When you talk about abuse, 240 rounds of rubber bullets and tear gas.
We've gone from legal punishment of illegal aliens to physical punishment, and it's not helped by language like yours, Lou, talking about these [marchers] as being illegal aliens...
DOBBS: Laura, Laura, Laura, that's ridiculous.
FLANDERS: They're not aliens, they're people. And the vast majority of people at these marches are utterly legal. They're not aliens, Lou. They're people, and you're dehumanizing them with that language.
That is exactly what Lou specializes in, dehumanization. It is why right-wing hate groups love to cite him (and appear on his show) in their publications to incite hatred towards the newest immigrants in our country. Due to a backlogged immigration system that does not let very many people in from the south, millions are forced to trek across parched and dangerous deserts to find jobs.
Instead of finding common ground with these immigrants, Lou conveniently forgets his own history (and many others) and chooses this absurd nativist route that helps no one. His type of dialogue only hurts all of us, whether directly from an immigrants' standpoint or collectively when it comes to the health of our nation and what America is all about.
What Are We Still Doing There?
Arlen Specter Is Clueless
From Reuters:
Asked on CBS' "Face the Nation" whether many Republicans would join the majority Democrats in voting against Gonzales possibly as early as this week, Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania said, "I think so."
"You already have six Republicans calling for his resignation," he said. "I have a sense ... that before the vote is taken, that Attorney General Gonzales may step down."
Gonzales has refused to resign under mounting pressure that began after criticism of the Justice Department's firing of U.S. attorneys which Democrats claimed was done mainly for political reasons.
But President George W. Bush has solidly backed Gonzales so Democrats in the Senate -- who have tried to broaden their complaints against the attorney general -- scheduled a rare "no confidence" vote in hopes of pressuring him to leave.
Congress hasn't been able to pressure the President yet on anything, since he has taken up the role of unitary executive. Six Republicans and all of the Democrats voting for a "No Confidence" of Gonzales won't do anything to stop the White House and what he has accomplished for the power of the executive. The only thing that can stop the Administration from its criminal acts is a vote for impeachment.
The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree Of Dr. Laura
From The Salt Lake Tribune:
The soldier son of talk radio relationship counselor Laura Schlessinger is under investigation for a graphic personal Web page that one Army official has called "repulsive."
The MySpace page, publicly available until Friday when it disappeared from the Internet, included cartoon depictions of rape, murder, torture and child molestation; photographs of soldiers with guns in their mouths; a photograph of a bound and blindfolded detainee captioned "My Sweet Little Habib"; accounts of illicit drug use; and a blog entry headlined by a series of obscenities and racial epithets.
The site is credited to and includes many photographs of Deryk Schlessinger, the 21-year-old son of the talk radio personality known simply as Dr. Laura. Broadcast locally on 570 KNRS, "Family Values Talk Radio," the former family counselor spends three hours daily taking calls and offering advice on morals, ethics and values. She broadcast a show from Fort Douglas, in Salt Lake City, last week.
Are these the kind of family values that Dr. Laura admires? She would never admit to it, but one has to ask, how the hell did her kid get so twisted? Perhaps it was seeing the horrors of war or maybe it had to do with his homelife. The military recently banned myspace from its computers much to aggravation of the blogging world and all sites affected by the ban, but maybe it is a good thing to get this guy off the tubes, especially when you hear thoughts like these:
"Yes . . . F---ING Yes!!!" said one blog entry on the Schlessinger site. "I LOVE MY JOB, it takes everything reckless and deviant and heathenistic and just overall bad about me and hyper focuses these traits into my job of running around this horrid place doing nasty things to people that deserve it . . . and some that don't."
Looks like the military needs to put him in a mental ward, definitely not fit for the battlefield. It is kids like these that give us a bad name and rapport with the countries that we invade and occupy, not to mention the idiotic policies that put us there in the first place.
War Pigs: 2007
Dancing In The Streets
From The New York Times:
Norman Siegel, one of the lawyers who filed the suit against the city, boogied in the parade alongside some hip-hoppers and spoke to the crowd afterward. “Dancing is expressive activity, and the government should not be regulating or prohibiting our right to dance,” he said. Two lower courts have already rejected his argument that dancing is a form of free expression, but last month he asked the Court of Appeals to review those decisions.
Though Ms. Tamam said the parade was less about protesting than advocacy and education, many groups took the opportunity to call attention to the law.
“I’ve been screaming, ‘Fight the cabaret laws’ for four hours,” said Luis Vargas, 35, a Manhattan health counselor and a member of the newly formed House Coalition, made up of house music devotees who oppose the cabaret laws. “We refuse to give up the cause. It’s not a crime to dance.”
It isn't a crime to dance, but Bloomberg has been dragging his feet with no rhythm in sight to change the law. He has said in the past he would have it changed, but nothing has been done since. This may seem like a silly little thing, but it is a big deal for many party-goers.
Norman and his supporters have gone to the courts, only to leave in vain. The judges dismissed his argument that dancing is a freedom of expression. That is just ridiculous. The Court of Appeals is going to look into the matter, but Bloomberg can clear it up quickly along with the City Council. So Mr. Mayor, what is the big deal? Get your groove on and update the law already.
The Indecent Holy Bible
From Reuters:
HONG KONG (Reuters) - More than 800 Hong Kong residents have called on authorities to reclassify the Bible as "indecent" due to its sexual and violent content, following an uproar over a sex column in a university student journal.
A spokesperson for Hong Kong's Television and Entertainment Licensing authority (TELA) said it had received 838 complaints about the Bible by noon Wednesday.
The complaints follow the launch of an anonymous Web site -- www.truthbible.net -- which said the holy book "made one tremble" given its sexual and violent content, including rape and incest.
The situation caused quite a disturbance in the city that China has tried to communize. Ministers in the region have largely shrugged off the controversy, citing that just because it is written does not mean it is advocated for. As for the bible being put in foil wrappers behind the counter, it seems highly unlikely. Still, the porn industry has to have an ironic smile for this one.