Rudy's An Idiot

And he sounds just like Mr. 28% (George W. Bush) here talking about why we were attacked on September 11th. Playing on people's fears and using manipulative phrases is something that the President has inspired in at least this one Republican contender.

Monica Goodling, An Immune Felon

Ex-Justice Official Monica Goodling pled the fifth last month to avoid possibly incriminating herself over the U.S. Attorney scandal. Well her testimony today showed that she did indeed commit crimes by helping to get rid of several U.S. Attorneys due to political reasons. Rep. Bobby Smith (D-VA) nailed her on the point, even though she tried to weasel out of admitting she broke the law.

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.

Though Goodling forgets that there are tons of emails and documents showing she met with the White House over who to fire. Getting a hold of those documents have been tough, but the pieces of the puzzle are starting to fall into place and it paints a much larger picture than just a spotlight on Paul McNulty. In the end, the portrait will show all of them in the sun, hopefully shown being led into their jail cells, where they belong (Monica excluded of course).

From Rustbelt To Greenbelt

Western New York has its areas that resemble the Great Lakes Region (it is on the east side of Lake Erie) and all of the dilapidated buildings that once represented the enormous steel industry in the area. For many decades the rust has accumulated all over the area, leaving many jobless and spurning the depopulation of the entire region. But now something is different on the horizon of one town upstate named Lackwanna.

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

The Young Turks talk about how Al Gore and the media have gotten along, in addition to how the media treats other candidates. For the traditional news outlets, it is all about fluff and hardly any substance. Seriously, who cares if Edwards got a $400 haircut? If that is such a pressing issue, why not ask Bush why he spends over $10,000 on a suit.

Resisting The American People, Bush Is Doubling Up In Iraq

George Bush really doesn't give two shits about our country, its people, our constitution and our standing in the world. He especially doesn't give a damn about the troops, even though he claims to support them more than the 'traitorous' Democrats. The reality is that most of the country wants us out of Iraq to spare more American blood spilled in vain. Hearing that, Bush's next illogical step is to actually double the size of our forces in occupied 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.

We all know that Bush is going to veto any bill that gets in his way but that does not matter. Let him cut the funding by denying the spending bills with vetoes. As long the Democrats muster the courage to continue sending the President the same exact bill without compromises, then we will have a chance to end the war. If Bush won't budge, neither should we.

NYC Taxis Are Going Green!

After the PlaNYC was introduced by the Mayor a month ago, there were a lot of great programs being reviewed. However one was missing, the taxis that hurtle down the streets and avenues of the city. Well Bloomberg made sure they were included today, promising that the entire fleet will consist of hybrids by 2012.

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

Last time I threw up a clip from this episode, Kent was about to expose the truth onto YouTube.

Now here's the conclusion:

Over 5 1/2 Years Later....

New York City finally has something in the works so that we can have WMD experts based here downstate. The "Civil Support Team" is already based in areas like Boise, Topeka and upstate NY because those are key targets for terrorists, ya know? The two Republican Congressmen from the area, Vito Fossella and Peter King announced at a little press conference to strut their stuff. They claim to have jumped several Congressional hurdles to introduce this, but it seems like a no-brainer to have brought more security to the NYC area immediately following 9/11.

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

Not only is it immoral to raise the income of our brave fighting men and women less than the rate of inflation, it is illegal. The law provides troops with receiving a pay increase of at least 0.5% higher than their civilian equivalents. Since inflation was at 3.3 percent, that gives then 3.8, almost a full point more than what the President wants to give our soldiers.

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.

How Fox Gets Away With It

Ever wonder how the Fox Network can throw up cultural garbage on their main television network and then scream at the decline of society's morals on their cable news channel? Leave it to one of Fox's own, The Simpsons, to explain it all:

Rep. Moran Compares Bush To Lenin

Lenin is known as one of the most influential leaders the 20th century had under its belt and now George Bush can get an honorable mention next to the communist icon. Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA) compared the two in regards to how both utilized the tool of propaganda to conform the masses. The Virginian Representative voiced his frustrations today about the troubles he faces dealing with the Administration over Guantanamo Bay.

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.

After going after Bush again for not closing the facility, he wrapped up the interview by saying that all of these prisoners could be tried in American courts. Unfortunately they are kept locked up for years without trial in Cuba and Iraq with no end in sight. Moran pointed out the Moussaoui case where he was given a trial and it allowed the rule of law to succeed. The process showed that America does have great ideals that would show us in a better light, if only they were followed by the President and his band of crooks.

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.