Port Authority Gives Out $1 Mil In E-Z Passes

It looks like the MTA isn't alone in giving away taxpayer dollars to their favorite people. The Port Authority, funded by New York and New Jersey, have been doling out more than a million dollars worth of E-Z passes. None of this of course, was done with the permission of the taxpayer.

From The NY Daily News:

The Port Authority loses $1 million a year in tolls from almost 7,600 employees and retirees who get free E-ZPass tags, thanks to union contracts and agency tradition.

"The program only represents a fraction of a percent of our toll revenue," Port Authority spokesman Marc La Vorgna told the Daily News. "It is a commitment that was made mostly through collective bargaining."

The E-ZPasses work on the agency's bridges and tunnels. About 4,000 of them go to active employees, the rest to retirees.

Gov. Paterson, through a spokeswoman, did not take a position on the matter. New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine called on the Port Authority to drop the perk, calling it inappropriate.

This blows away the mere $30,000 in freebies the MTA has been found to give away to their board members. Although many of these have gone to union members, it should still have been done with the knowledge of the public...and not simply come out in the news like this.

Rove Defends Lobbyists

Alan Colmes calls Karl Rove out on McCain's lobbyist connections...and Rove performs poorly:

In Iraq, Mercenaries Outnumber Troops

We are well into our sixth year of war in Iraq and the costs of the occupation continue to increase. While the "surged" troop level has roughly stayed the same since last year, costs are rising and now we know what that is attributable to. Trust me, it isn't for any type of large bonus for our soldiers.

From TPM:

Today private military contractors supporting the U.S. occupation in Iraq far outnumber U.S. troops inside the country.

All together, these non-uniformed workers have cost nearly $100 billion, accounting for roughly 20 percent of the total U.S. budget for the five-year war.

That's according to the most comprehensive study to date (.pdf) of private contractors in Iraq, released today by the Congressional Budget Office.

The CBO estimates that more than 190,000 contractors were working on U.S.-funded contracts in the Iraq theater as of early 2008. This is somewhat higher than past estimates and far outnumbers the roughly 150,000 U.S. troops inside the country.

Now many of these contractors are from the region, but the companies that employ them are largely U.S. based. Using employees from local countries or from Africa is much cheaper for these corporations, such as Halliburton, KBR or Blackwater USA. The biggest problem with this set up of course is the accountability factor. Under the Republican Congress, no one looked at what was going on. Now that the Dems are in charge, they come up with the numbers, facts and figures, but as for doing anything about it.....well, the only thing we've seen are stern statements and terse letters, nothing that would include actual justice.

The Arctic Is Melting....And Fast

Visiting our nation's...or any nation's park system is a great thing to do in the summer (or any season depending on where you are). Camping, fishing, hiking the trails...all great activities, unless of course, the trails get completely washed out. That is what happened up in Auyuittuq National Park on Baffin Island in Canada last month, but this was no freak summer storm. The truth of the matter is much more frightening than thunder bolts and lightening.

From MSNBC:

The problems started last month with two weeks of record temperatures on Baffin Island that reached as high as 81 Fahrenheit, well above the July average of 54 F.

That, Scott said, triggered massive melting that sent "a huge pulse of water through the park," washing away 37 miles of a trail used by hikers and destroying a bridge over a river that is otherwise impassable.

Earlier this week, once the extent of the damage had become clear, 21 visitors had to be evacuated by helicopter.

"We're not as worried about the flash flooding as we are about the instability of the ground and the slumping and the cracks appearing all along that entire" length of trail, said Scott.

Melting permafrost, glacial deterioration and anything resulting from record warmth up in the polar regions is a terrible reality. This year we might see the first summer of an ice-free Arctic Ocean for the first time in recorded history and who knows how far back. While some people may think the problems up there have nothing to do with them down here, the reality is that our planet is a closed-system and what affects one region affects us all.

Cokie Roberts Is An Idiot

Seriously, she gets paid to say crap like this on television?

Iraqis Look To Chinese For Oil Deal

So much for that "liberator" loyalty from the Iraqis to the United States, the oil minister reported that serious discussions for a $1.2 billion dollar deal with China is in the works to develop Ahdab oil field. Western oil companies have been salivating over the oil in Iraq and expected to get all of it, but that hasn't been the case, much to chagrin of those that donated so much to Bush for that desired outcome.

From RawStory:

The announcement came after a meeting between Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani and China's ambassador to Baghdad.

No further details were released, but if the deal is signed it will be the first Saddam Hussein-era oil deal to be honored by the new Iraqi regime.

In 1997, Saddam's government signed an agreement with the state-owned China National Petroleum Corp., despite United Nations sanctions that barred direct dealings with Iraq's oil industry.

That is perhaps the most significant aspect of this story, that a Saddam-signed contract is being honored. Now that he has been gone for over five years, foreign companies are starting to clamor for their oil. With demand rising exponentially (as in China) sources of oil, especially those that are easy to extract are sought out with greater intensity. Just like any other rich developed nation, China is going to do whatever it takes to get raw materials and is not afraid to make themselves look bad in order to do it, as we've seen many times already and especially in Darfur.

So What If The Bald Eagle Goes Extinct?

Let's face it, bald eagles, salamanders, owls, herons, minnows, sturgeons and hundreds of other varieties of animals and plants that are on the endangered species list have become a major pain....to big business. These American creatures get in the way of mining operations, clear-cutting forests, mountain top removal and developers looking to profit off the land. What's the problem if a couple of species disappeared so that a few rich people can get richer? That's the reason we voted for George Bush, right? Well thanks to our Pretzeldent, we can look forward to a nice gutting of the Endangered Species Act.

From TPM:

If approved, the changes would represent the biggest overhaul of the Endangered Species Act since 1988. They would accomplish through regulations what conservative Republicans have been unable to achieve in Congress: ending some environmental reviews that developers and other federal agencies blame for delays and cost increases on many projects.

The changes would apply to any project a federal agency would fund, build or authorize. Government wildlife experts currently perform tens of thousands of such reviews each year.

"If adopted, these changes would seriously weaken the safety net of habitat protections that we have relied upon to protect and recover endangered fish, wildlife and plants for the past 35 years," said John Kostyack, executive director of the National Wildlife Federation's Wildlife Conservation and Global Warming initiative.

Oh, are you concerned that we are destroying our national wildlife without any regard for the planet we live on? Wiping out innocent animals and the plants they (including us) eat that maintains a healthy ecosystems isn't your thing? Well don't worry, because the Bush Administration says individual federal agencies can determine on their own if things are copacetic without the Endangered Species Act. You believe them right? Of course George Bush would never lie to you.

How The Military Views John McCain

While McCain may be the war hero and Barack Obama is not, merely having worn a uniform does not qualify someone to represent veterans. The real test is how the Presidential candidate has supported troops with their votes in the Senate. Instead of buying rhetoric wholesale, military voters are looking at the big picture, and they do not like what they see in John McCain.

Governor Paterson, Leave Our Water Alone!

An issue not on the radar in New York and especially New York City should start getting a lot of press. With the economic climate as sour as it is, Governor Paterson and other Empire State leaders are looking at alternate revenue streams. Unfortunately, not all of those monetary possibilities are too smart or safe.

From The NY Times:

There is the utterly fortuitous prospect of a lucrative gas boom coming at a time when New York is desperate for new revenue, and upstate is equally desperate for new economic activity.

There is the national energy crunch to push for domestic exploration. There is the eternal conflict between upstate and downstate over water issues and land rights. There are conflicting instincts among landowners: hope of winning the gas lottery versus fear about the consequences for the environment and on the quality of life in their communities.

Industry officials, who have largely kept a low profile, say that they welcome state oversight and that the industry has a track record of being environmentally responsible. But they also warn that a drilling moratorium or undue regulation could discourage production.

“New York has to be careful how it deals with these issues so it doesn’t send a negative signal to the industry that chills the interest in the play in New York State,” said Tom West, an Albany lawyer who represents several gas companies. “These companies have limited investment dollars, and they’re going to invest them where the natural gas opportunities exist and where there’s a regulatory climate that promotes it.”

Natural gas is a finite resource and in the time of soaring gas prices, new areas are being voraciously sought so that the material that makes our petro-economy go can be extracted and sold at market rates. The problem is that where Paterson and the oil/gas industry is looking is where much of New York City gets drinking water from. Sending a "negative signal to the industry" is fine by me as long as our water stays clean. New Yorkers take pride in having the best big-city water in the country and we are not about to lose that....and our health, at the expense of the oil and gas industry.

Thankfully, as the article points out, we have Councilman Gennaro on our side to fight against the industry and (for now) the short-sighted Governor.

Neo-Cons Look At Georgia And Lust For War

As the situation in Georgia worsens, the world looks on in horror as hundreds and now thousands are dying in a war being fought over a tiny sliver of land in the northern area of the new Georgian Republic. CNN and MSNBC report the death toll in between their coverage of the Olympics. The realities and complexities of the event, dealing with oil and natural gas pipelines are too much for the networks and cable news outlets....but on Fox News and other neo-con entities, this tragedy is a great thing for them.

ThinkProgress sums up their bloodlust:

Russia’s increasing aggression is putting a spark into American neoconservatives. Today on the Times op-ed page, one of their leaders, William Kristol, claims the U.S. must “defend” Georgia’s sovereignty as a reward for its participation in Iraq, while the conservative Washington Times is calling for “maximum pressure” on Russia:

Bill Kristol: [Georgia] has had the third-largest military presence — about 2,000 troops — fighting along with U.S. soldiers and marines in Iraq. For this reason alone, we owe Georgia a serious effort to defend its sovereignty. Surely we cannot simply stand by as an autocratic aggressor gobbles up part of — and perhaps destabilizes all of — a friendly democratic nation.

Washington Times: It is in America’s interest to exert maximum pressure on Russia to withdraw its troops and halt the interference in Georgian territory. This latest act shows the need for greater resolve in establishing a European security system that can be an effective check on Russian power

Writing in the Washington Post today, Robert Kagan goes even further, suggesting that the Georgia-Russia conflict may be the start of World War III:

Do you recall the precise details of the Sudeten Crisis that led to Nazi Germany’s invasion of Czechoslovakia? Of course not, because that morally ambiguous dispute is rightly remembered as a minor part of a much bigger drama. […]

The mood is reminiscent of Germany after World War I, when Germans complained about the “shameful Versailles diktat” imposed on a prostrate Germany by the victorious powers and about the corrupt politicians who stabbed the nation in the back.

Like a good neoconservative, Kagan also links the Western response to the conflict and its wider policy towards Russia as “appeasement.”

Hearing them talk sends shivers down my spine. If they had as much power in 2008 as they had in 2001, I'd be running for the hills. Now this is where we tell them to STFU and sit down. This isn't about beating back communism or corruption, beholden to Georgian sovereignty or any of that crap. This is purely about oil, money and power....and whether we control it indirectly or Russia does.

Chris Wallace Makes A Fool Out Of Rick Davis

Every once in a while, Chris Wallace forgets he works at Fox News and acts like a journalist. Yesterday was one of those days, when Rick Davis came on to the show and Wallace smacked him upside the head with a few nuggets of truth and then catching him trying to spin his way out of an unescapable trap.

Pittsburgh Considers Tasers In Schools

Over the last couple of years numerous stories have come out about taser abuse and the "non-lethal" weapon's ability to kill a small but sizable percentage of it's victims. Compared to being punctured by a bullet, tasers are a better alternative yet sometimes, the advocates of the device take it too far, such as into schools with young children around.

From The Tribune-Review:

The president of a school safety consulting firm said districts like Uniontown Area, which is considering arming its police officers with Tasers, have to take a conservative approach to their deployment and develop a comprehensive policy.

But an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union said it's hard for him even to see a need for Tasers in a school setting.

Uniontown school officials intend to draft a Taser policy for their school police officers that might be discussed as soon as the school board's Aug. 18 meeting and could be considered for adoption next month.

The school's director of security says giving the district's three officers the option of using a Taser is more about providing the safest possible conditions for children, staff and visitors than as a weapon "directed at the students."

The director may say that the weapons will not be directed at students, but when the taser is in the hands of a school police officer, bad news (or tragic news) is just around the corner. As the Tribune notes, a 17 year old boy died last month in Winnipeg after officers used a taser on him after seeing him wield a knife. Another 17 year old kid was killed in North Carolina for throwing groceries at the store manager and advancing on the cops. Instead of being used as an alternative only to deadly force, the taser is used in all sorts of circumstances and many officers take advantage of the device.

What makes it worse is that too many poorly-conducted studies show the taser is safe, allowing for the companies that make the weapons secure more contracts while society is saturated with it and forced to accept this sometimes lethal non-lethal device.