Roaches Corner

Reoublucans Tough on National Security

2006-10-22T05:42:00.000-07:00

Condi Rice was given intelligence that America was going to be attacked by terrirusts before 9/11 occurred, she did nothing.
Bush said he wanted Osama dead or alive, Osama remains alive and not captured. Bush now says Osama is a small deal ( I guess so with things going abysmal in Iraq). Hoever the Republicans are now suing Osama's image in their new SCARE AD.

Cheney still has holdings in Halliburton which is still doing business in Iraq. So in essence Cheney ,as well as other Reublicans, are getting rich off this illegal and prolonged war as soldiers lose their lives.

Where is the outrage? Where is the moral outrage?

Bush Being Unpatriotic

2006-08-31T11:24:00.000-07:00

With NAFTA and Cafta and the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs, then add to it Walmart wanting other companies to ship jobs out of the country to bring in "cheap products", its no wonder salaries are depressed. These companies then expect citizens to buy these products in USA. However I fault the consumers for buying buying buying or following the adage shop til you drop. We are fueling our depressed salaries by shopping and doing little savings. If the consumers would get a clue and stop buying these foreing made products that our American companies out sourced, the eexectuves will get a RUDE awakening.

Bush and Rumsfeld want to say Americans arent patriotic for not supporting his CHOSEN war for oil in Iraq, but he fails to call these American companies unpatriotic for outseourcing jobs to impoverised countries ( their problem isnt our problem). Bush doesnt call himself unpatriotic for feeding the top 1% of country's wealthiest people while starving the other 99% but yet want the vote and support of the 99% for is illfated and chosen Iraq War. Bush is talking how he will fund his war but how is he going to get the debt down that he created for the rest of the country? He created this debt in this year and he should show how he plans for the rest of the country is to pay off his debt when he leaves office. Bish is setting up the rest of the 99% to be mired in debt. We should also change where Congress is allowed to vote themselves a raise..they get a raise when the lowest 20% minimum wage earner gets a raise. Coingress knew the expenses of living in Washington DC when they ran for office.

Lott Loves Lobbuinsts and Pork Barrel Spending

2006-08-30T16:44:00.000-07:00

Then there is former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-MS, who forever memorialized himself with this quote: "I'll just say this about the so-called Porkbusters. I'm getting damn tired of hearing from them. They have been nothing but trouble ever since Katrina."

Trent hates folks who checks up on him as he spends the USA citizens money on his lobbyists as they bathe him in their money.

Ted Stevens Unmasked

2006-08-30T14:05:00.000-07:00

Senators Tom Coburn and Barak Obama have proposed S.2590, legislation that would create a single website with access to information on nearly all recipients of federal funding. The bill cannot proceed, however, because one or more Senators placed a "secret hold" on it. Who is the secret holder? We want to know, and we want your help finding out. Call your Senator, and ask them to go on the record denying that they placed the hold. Senators who issue denials will be removed from the suspect list --- and those who do not, won't!

Ted Stevens has been unmasked as the secret senator to put a "hold" on the bill, now why? If it wasnt nefarious why be secretive Ted? Why put your other workmates under the cloud of suspecion? Why have th blogphere out you?

Bush's Invasion of Iraq Emboldened the Enemy

2006-08-30T11:01:00.000-07:00

With polls showing that a majority of Americans believe it was a mistake for the United States to invade Iraq and with many Democrats calling for a deadline for withdrawing U.S. troops, Rumsfeld called the Iraq war the "epicenter" of the struggle against terrorism. Last week, Bush said that setting a timetable for a troop withdrawal would embolden the enemy and cause chaos in Iraq and throughout the region

Bush emboldened the enemy when he and his neocons chose to invade Iraq. Both Iran and Iraq were natural enemies. That longer exists. Bush seems to forget.

Bush Signs Bill to Raise National Debt

2006-03-20T14:28:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON -- With no fanfare, President Bush signed a bill Monday pushing the ceiling on the national debt to nearly $9 trillion. The measure allows the government to borrow an additional $781 billion and prevent a first-ever default on Treasury notes. It also lets the government pay for the war in Iraq without raising taxes or cutting popular domestic programs.

The debt limit increase was the fourth of Bush's presidency, totaling $3 trillion. With the budget deficit near record levels, an additional increase in the debt limit almost certainly will be required next year. The measure allows the debt limit to rise from $8.184 trillion to $8.965 trillion.

When Bush leaves office, will he leave our country in better or worse shape than when he took office?

Bush's Speech in Ohio

2006-03-20T14:23:00.000-08:00

CLEVELAND Mar 20, 2006 (AP)— President Bush on Monday cited success in stabilizing an insurgent stronghold in northern Iraq, saying he has "confidence in our strategy" and critics should look beyond the images of violence to see clear signs of progress.
Bush tried a new tactic to boost sagging support for the war, relating to his audience in Cleveland a lengthy story about a campaign to rid the northern city of Tal Afar of terrorism against civilians. Success there "gives reason for hope for a free Iraq," he said.
Bush described how the insurgents who have been using murder and intimidation to run roughshod over the city now have been killed or captured by Iraqi forces and coalition troops working together.
The president's detailed description of the campaign and the eventual success story was meant to underscore another point the White House is trying to make: evidence of progress is more difficult than daily bombings and deaths to capture in media sound bites.
"In the face of continued reports about killings and reprisals, I understand how some Americans have had their confidence shaken," Bush told the City Club of Cleveland. "Others look at the violence they see each night on their television screens and they wonder how I can remain so optimistic about the prospects of success in Iraq. They wonder what I see that they don't."
Bush devoted a considerable amount of his appearance to taking questions from the audience in this Democratic leaning city. Right off the bat, he was challenged on his Christian viewpoint and whether he sees terrorism as a sign of the Apocalypse (he said he never thought of it that way) and how he restores confidence in U.S. leadership after the the reasons he gave for going to war with Iraq later proved false.
"Like you, I mean, I asked that very same question: Where'd we go wrong on intelligence?" Bush said. He said he is working to improve intelligence gathering because "the credibility of our country is essential."
But Bush also got his share of softballs, too he was invited back to for the Cleveland Hungarian Revolution 50th Anniversary and was complimented on his vision for a nuclear treaty with India and for his "very englightening" comments about Iraq.

Read more here http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory

Democrats Need To Get Off The Dime and Impeach or Censure President Bush

2006-03-17T06:46:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON — Democrats distanced themselves Monday from Wisconsin Sen. Russell Feingold's effort to censure President Bush over domestic spying, preventing a floor vote that could alienate swing voters.
A day of tough, election-year talk between Feingold and Vice President Dick Cheney ended with Senate leaders sending the matter to the Judiciary Committee.
"I look forward to a full hearing, debate and vote in committee on this important matter," Feingold said in a statement late Monday. "If the Committee fails to consider the resolution expeditiously, I will ask that there be a vote in the full Senate."
Republicans dared Democrats to vote for the proposal.
"Some Democrats in Congress have decided the president is the enemy," Vice President Dick Cheney told a Republican audience in Feingold's home state.
Feingold, a potential presidential candidate, said on the Senate floor, "The president has violated the law and Congress must respond."
"A formal censure by Congress is an appropriate and responsible first step to assure the public that when the president thinks he can violate the law without consequences, Congress has the will to hold him accountable," Feingold said.
Even as he spoke, Democratic leaders held off the immediate vote that Majority Leader Bill Frist requested. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said he didn't know if there ever would be one. Durbin said that Feingold had sought to use the censure resolution "as a catalyst" for thorough hearings and investigations.
The referral averted a debate and a vote that Democrats privately worried would alienate voters who could decide close elections.
Throughout the day, Feingold's fellow Democrats said they understood his frustration but they held back overt support for the resolution.
Several said they wanted first to see the Senate Intelligence Committee finish an investigation of the warrantless wiretapping program that Bush authorized as part of his war on terrorism.
Asked at a news conference whether he would vote for the censure resolution, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada declined to endorse it and said he hadn't read it.

What Is Immediate In Tip About Natalee Holloway

2006-03-17T06:18:00.000-08:00

Julia Renfro was on the phone of On The Record with Greta, in which Julia said Dompig received a "credible" tip that Natalee's body was buried in the sands around the lighthouse of Aruba.

Julia said this tip was received in January and Dompig "immediately" work to search the sands. However that "immediacy" is being done in March. If the tip was so credible why not search hours after receiving instead of months?

Aruba doesnt have cadaver dogs or other electronic equipment for doing body search so they will be paying another American company to do the search.
Julia also said Equusearch would not be allowed in this search since Tim Miller supported the boycott of Aruba in this fiasco search for Natalee Holloway.

Aruba would rather pay for search teams and dogs than take free services from another company because Aruba's feeling is hurt by the call for boycott.

Aruba fail to realize as long as the ghost of Natalee Holloway flits over the island there will be no peace and commerce for the island.

The Added Cost of Bush's Iraq War

2006-03-17T05:04:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON -- The Senate probably will give President Bush most of the money he wants for the Iraq war and Gulf Coast hurricane reconstruction while setting aside bipartisan worries about the enormous costs of both.
That's what the House did when it voted 348-71 Thursday to approve $92 billion in supplemental funds for Iraq and Afghanistan military operations and Hurricane Katrina cleanup, slightly less than what the president sought.
"Our troops need every resource available to stay safe on the ground and fight off insurgent attacks," House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said. The bill, he added, "recognizes the needs on the front lines of the war and responds."
Bush, in a statement, praised the House vote and urged the Senate to follow suit promptly. "This bill will give our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan tools they need to prevail in the war on terror," he said. "The legislation also provides for additional resources for the people of the Gulf Coast as they continue the work of rebuilding their lives and communities."
Despite concerns over massive budget shortfalls, House Republicans and Democrats alike were reluctant to vote against the measure. Doing so could invite election-year criticism that lawmakers were shortchanging troops at war or abandoning hurricane victims.
"How do you vote against it?" said Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas.
But 52 Democrats, including longtime war opponents, and 19 Republicans, mostly fiscal conservatives, opposed it despite that risk.
The conservative Republicans sought to lessen the impact on the deficit by cutting other programs in the budget to pay for the hurricane recovery money. Unsuccessful, they voted against the measure to make a statement.
"We're not going to support anything and everything wrapped around war funding," said Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga.
The Senate plans to complete its version of the measure this spring. In previous years senators have been reluctant to deviate significantly from Bush's blueprints for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and last year signed off on much of his initial requests for hurricane funding.
Congress will send a final bill to the president's desk shortly after the Senate acts.
Most of the House bill, $67.6 billion, would pay for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Once approved, the money would boost to nearly $400 billion the total spent on the conflicts and operations against terrorism since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Bush's 2007 budget anticipates an additional $50 billion for war, though the costs probably will be much greater.
The bill also contains $19.2 billion for cleaning up and rebuilding the Gulf Coast after Katrina struck last summer. That would bring total hurricane-related spending to more than $100 billion.
Lawmakers are taking up the bill at a delicate time, particularly for Republicans, who, along with the White House, control both houses of Congress. Bush's popularity is at a low point, the federal deficit continues to rise and public support for the Bush administration's Iraq policies is waning as sectarian violence threatens to push the country into civil war.
AP-Ipsos polling in early March showed that about four in 10 Americans supported the president's handling of Iraq, his efforts on foreign policy and terrorism, and his handling of hurricane recovery.
In defiance of Bush, the House bill also included a provision that would block Dubai-owned DP World from running or managing terminals at U.S. ports. That ban probably will not make it into the final bill now that the company has promised to sell its U.S. operations in the face of bipartisan congressional pressure.
Much of the new war money in the House bill would pay for operations and maintenance costs, equipment replacement and personnel expenses.
Of the total, $4.8 billion would go for training and equipping Iraqi and Afghan security forces. The administration contends that large numbers of U.S. troops can begin returning home once the Iraqi security forces themselves are able to safeguard their country.
The bill would provide more money for armored vehicles and nearly $2 billion for the Pentagon to develop technology to detect and destroy makeshift roadside bombs, the Iraq insurgency's weapon of choice and the leading killer of U.S. troops in Iraq.
Of the hurricane money, nearly $9.6 billion would go to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for removing debris, reimbursing state and local governments for building repairs and helping storm victims.
In the six months since Katrina hit, Republicans and Democrats have criticized FEMA's response to the storm; some objected to giving the agency so much money.
To address such concerns, the House would provide $13.5 million to the Homeland Security Department inspector general to audit and investigate disaster assistance.

ImpeachBush.org

2006-03-17T04:58:00.000-08:00

ImpeachBush.org welcomes the many thousands of people who have joined the grassroots impeachment movement this week following the placement of the full page newspaper ad in the San Francisco Chronicle.
The response to the newspaper ads in the San Francisco Chronicle and the New York Times have been amazing. If it were up to the people, Articles of Impeachment would have already been filed. The majority of Americans favor impeachment, by a 53% to 42% majority, if Bush lied about the reasons for going to war in Iraq, according to recent polls. And everyone knows that he did lie! The majority also favors impeachment if the President broke federal wiretapping laws by unleashing a massive secret spying operation on the people of this country. And he did!
But for impeachment to become a reality, it is necessary to a light a fire under the still-too-timid politicians in Congress. Senator Feingold moved to censure Bush this week for the illegal spying operation and Congressman John Conyers and 28 co-sponsors in the House have introduced House Resolution 635, which creates a special committee to investigate Bush’s impeachable offenses. These are good efforts but they require a groundswell of support over the next few months from the grassroots.
This is exactly how Nixon was forced from office in August 1974. The politicians from both parties knew full-well that Nixon was eligible for impeachment or could be forced to resign rather than face impeachment. But they were either too fearful and timid to take action, or they had been actually collaborating with Nixon. It was the outcry from below that changed the political calculus.
We are completely committed to stepping up the pressure. The politicians must feel the heat before they will act. The newspaper ads have been so effective that we want to keep placing them in newspapers around the country. Soon they will be complemented by radio spots. At the anti-war marches scheduled for this weekend, the third anniversary of the start of this illegal and catastrophic war in Iraq, ImpeachBush.org members will be holding ImpeachBush.org signs and banners and collecting thousands of signatures on the petitions.
The ImpeachBush.org movement is an exciting act of genuine grassroots democracy. All progressive and positive change in our country over the past two centuries has been the result of such grassroots movements.

Impeach Bush

2006-03-17T04:46:00.000-08:00

Sorry People

I know you folks are hurt when you hear the words Impeach Bush but its true. Of course, people are calling Bush imcompetent, liar, and hapless. All of those are true.

Bush is killing innocent people, driving USA to bankruptcy, and ruining trust in USA by other nations. Bush got to be presidet wasn't because he was qualified but because he was riding on the name of his father.

We need to get Bush out of office NOW to before USA is a third world country but where do we go to get our good name back?

How low can Bush numbers go?

2006-03-09T03:34:00.000-08:00

The latest CBS News poll has support for the president and his vice president dropping to 34 percent and 18 percent, respectively. If you add them together and divide by 2, you get a joint approval rating of 26 percent, 2 points above Richard Nixon's pre-resignation level.
How did George W. Bush drop so low? There are many moving parts: Gas prices are high, pensions are fading and the working class is struggling.
There are events that make it look like the fix is in for those in power: Halliburton caught but not punished for gouging the military, a drug bill benefiting drug companies, a Bush crony who is governor of Mississippi getting Katrina reconstruction money while New Orleans gets stiffed.
And there is, of course, the war.
For all these troubles, and many more, Bush would be doing better if he hadn't lost his ear. Gone is the man who picked up the bullhorn at ground zero, replaced by someone so clueless about the Dubai ports deal that he admitted he was out of the loop on the decision and then stubbornly went on to defend it.
Rovie, you're not doing one heckuva job. The Old Bush would have announced he was going to get to the bottom of the Dubai decision now that he was on the case. He would have feigned alarm, if not felt it, that a company owned by the country that was home to two of the 9/11 hijackers, and that recognized the Taliban but not Israel, would be doing business at six major U.S. ports.
Instead he gave his ace in the hole, 9/11, to others to play, and vowed to use his first veto to bat down any attempt to second-guess him. As his own party balked, he said he would let the 45-day review that the law requires take place after all, so Congress could come to see the facts as he does.
With 70 percent of the populace against the ports deal, the Old Bush wouldn't have let opponents be labeled racist xenophobes who are too unsophisticated to understand the nuances of global trade. I hear you, he would say, and I'm going to get to the bottom of this. Then he could have proceeded to do the deal anyway without the hemorrhaging.
But it's not just ports where Bush has gone tone deaf. He has so lost his touch on Iraq that even the military is turning against him. In a recent Zogby poll, only 23 percent of the troops agree with Bush that we should stay as long as necessary; 72 percent want out in a year.
With that goes one of Bush's most useful lines of defense. Whenever criticized for his policies in Iraq, Bush claimed the troops on the ground were with him, while taking a swipe at the patriotism of critics for undermining the troops.
Indeed, until now, the troops were with him, as you would expect. If you're risking your life in Iraq and have no choice about it, you believe it's for a worthy cause, or go crazy. If a friend dies, you have to believe it wasn't in vain. It's why there are fewer grieving parents against the war and more who cling to the notion that a child died for a good reason.
Our troops realize that the so-called Iraqi forces fighting alongside them aren't rising to the task at hand. No matter what Bush says, the number of battle-ready Iraqi battalions is somewhere around zero. Even among the Iraqi police and troops who can shoot straight and don't run away when attacked, there are imposters and infiltrators.
What's worse, now that sectarian violence has increased, it's hard to tell who's an enemy or a friend. Iraqis who used to live side by side are attacking each other on the basis of sect alone. Americans are in the middle.
Bush's own hand-picked intelligence czar, John Negroponte, predicts that the sect-on-sect violence unleashed in Iraq is so virulent it could inflame the whole Middle East. Instead of spreading democracy in the Middle East by invading Iraq, the U.S. may well be spreading civil war.
It's a mess, and if we're waiting for it to get straightened out before leaving, we are there for many, many years.
But Bush hasn't changed his rhetoric to fit the situation. In an interview on ABC last week, he defaulted to his two bromides on the war -- when Iraqis stand up, we will stand down, and the elections show that democracy is working. He even said, "We're making pretty good progress." With the mosques still burning and a curfew still in effect, that's in the category of Mission Accomplished.
If the military support is softening, it joins Bush's other constituencies in going wobbly. Bush is losing ground among his most loyal constituency, Republicans, where his approval may be lower than 34 percent if two obsessively loyal congressional leaders, Sen. Bill Frist and Rep. Dennis Hastert, fearlessly denouncing his Dubai decision are any indication.
It could be lower in the public at large, as well. I wonder how many of the 34 percent don't want to admit to a stranger on the phone how worried they are. "Fine, he's doing fine. Now don't call me again."
Of course, the religious right, enjoying rapture over Justice Samuel Alito, is still on board. That makes up 20 percent. So I'm going with the unscientific Carlson poll at 26 percent, splitting the difference between Bush's number and Cheney's.

Bush base key to McCain success in '08

2006-03-09T02:38:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON - Sen. John McCain's support of the Dubai port proposal is just the latest controversial issue on which the Arizona senator has backed President Bush. And that is no accident, political analysts say. Other Republicans can afford to distance themselves from a lame-duck president whose popularity has dropped to near record lows. But experts say that if McCain decides to seek the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, as many in the party expect him to do, he must show his loyalty in order to sway the distrustful Bush base. McCain has no choice, because "he's got reverse Hillary-itis," said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion at Marist College in New York. While Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York is solid with core Democrats but not so popular with independent voters, McCain is "solid with independents but has trouble reaching out to the base," Miringoff said in an interview.

In the latest Marist Poll, conducted in mid-February by Miringoff, McCain was the only possible 2008 candidate who was named by more than 50 percent of voters as someone who should run for president. He did so on the strength of "crossover appeal" to independents and Democrats unrivaled by any of the other 25 politicians from both parties in the poll, Miringoff noted. Dante Scala, a professor at St. Anselm College and an expert on New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation presidential primary, takes his analysis of McCain's political appeal a step further. "McCain is unusual among politicians in that in some sense, independents are his base," Scala said in an interview. That's fine in a general election, but not necessary an asset in the Republican primaries, he added. McCain won the New Hampshire Republican primary in 2000, largely on the strength of independent voters' support. But not long after that, his bid for the GOP nomination ran aground in South Carolina against a rejuvenated Bush campaign and its motivated base of social and religious conservatives, the dominant force in the national party.

Not surprisingly, then, as he assessing his chances in a second run for the GOP nomination, McCain is actively courting key figures in the Bush political network throughout the country, but especially in South Carolina. In January, for example, he held a meeting in a Spartanburg hotel with Bush loyalists, including Bush's state finance co-chairman, Barry Wynn. Two months before that, he lunched in Columbia with Bush fund-raisers John Rainey and C. Edward Floyd. And the senator's political advisers are trying to sign strategist Warren Tompkins, who ran the Bush campaigns in South Carolina in 2000 and 2004. McCain also has the backing of the South Carolina's senior senator, Lindsey Graham, perhaps the most popular politician in the state. That will help a lot, said Jack Bass, a College of Charleston professor who has written extensively about Southern politics. But "just what the Bush superloyalists will do is unclear," Bass said in an interview. South Carolina's large veteran and military retiree population will be "a significant source of strength" for McCain, who spent nearly seven years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, Bass noted.

But McCain's return to South Carolina after his loss in 2000 to apologize for not speaking out against the display of the Confederate flag at the state Capitol "won't help him with flag supporters," who overwhelmingly supported Bush, Bass added. Still, once Bush started running for re-election in 2004, "McCain has been mending fences with the conservatives almost as fast as Tom Sawyer," said Tom Schaller, a University of Maryland professor who is publishing a book this fall about Southern politics, "Whistling Past Dixie." Not only did McCain campaign aggressively for Bush's re-election, but in the 14 months since Bush's second term began, few senators have stood with the president as closely as McCain, even as the president's poll numbers steadily declined. Although McCain sponsored anti-torture legislation, he vigorously defended the increasingly unpopular war in Iraq. He brokered a deal that cleared the way for confirmation of the president's judicial nominees, including two Supreme Court justices, a top priority of religious conservatives. And amid GOP complaints about allowing a Dubai company to run the ports in six American cities, he urged caution and prudence. Moreover, he has spearheaded a compromise with Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., on legislation to rewrite America's immigration laws, an issue that divides both political parties. And as the scandal surrounding disgraced GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff has threatened to derail the Republican Party's efforts to retain control of Congress in the election this fall, McCain has used his reputation as a reformer to press legislation aimed at cracking down on influence-peddling on Capitol Hill.

John Weaver, McCain's chief political adviser, dismissed the suggestion of experts that the senator is unpopular with a large segment of Bush supporters. "We don't see it," he insisted. In most public opinion polls in recent months, McCain typically has been at the top, and "surely that isn't coming just from people who are not supporters of the president," Weaver said in an interview. Besides, he added, McCain "doesn't make decisions based on who he needs to curry favor with. The word 'curry' is not in his vocabulary." Nevertheless, having skipped the Iowa caucus in 2000, McCain is planning a trip there next month to aid the gubernatorial campaign of Rep. Jim Nussle. That should help him curry, or rather cultivate, the favor of Republicans in one of the most important states in the presidential nominating process. Victories in Iowa and New Hampshire could provide enough momentum for McCain to weather any setbacks in South Carolina and other Southern states where he remains suspect. If so, "the main question national Republicans will have to ask themselves is whether they want to risk nominating somebody less prominent and popular (with independents and Democrats) than McCain," said Schaller. "People like (Bush political adviser) Karl Rove must decide if they are going to vouch for McCain among wary conservatives or let the conservatives go after him."

San Francisco Supervisors Ask Lawmakers to Impeach Bush

2006-03-09T02:28:00.000-08:00

San Francisco's supervisors jumped into national politics Tuesday, passing a resolution asking the city's Democratic congressional delegation to seek the impeachment of President Bush for failing to perform his duties by leading the country into war in Iraq, eroding civil liberties and engaging in other activities the board sees as transgressions.
The supervisors, in voting 7-3 for the resolution, made it likely that San Francisco again will become grist for radio and TV talk shows. The city has appeared in the national media spotlight recently for voters' passage in November of a nonbinding measure banning military recruiters from public high schools and for Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval's recent comment on a Fox News show that the United States doesn't need a military.
Supervisor Chris Daly, one of the most progressive members of the board, sponsored the resolution, which also calls for the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney. Daly said the measure is justified in light of the administration's case for and handling of the war in Iraq, the federal government's inadequate response to Hurricane Katrina and recent revelations about a domestic wiretapping program."I think the case is clear, and I think it's appropriate for us to weigh in," Daly said.

San Francisco City Council Joins Impeachment Movement

2006-03-09T02:12:00.000-08:00

While we were working in the last week to raise sufficient funds to place the full page newspaper ad in the San Francisco Chronicle before March 18, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (the city council) voted by a 7-3 margin to support the impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. The resolution calls on the Democratic delegation from the city to move for impeachment. The timing of the ad couldn't be better. Similar resolutions are being offered in city councils around the country. The people must use all avenues to pursue this growing nationwide grassroots movement.

Just last week tens of thousands of people participated in the People’s Impeachment Lobby by sending letters to their Congressional Representatives.
Last Thursday, New York City’s historic Town Hall Theatre in Times Square filled up with people supporting impeachment. The event was sponsored by Harper’s magazine. Many of those in attendance took the ImpeachBush.org/VoteToImpeach.org petitions home with them promising to collect signatures in the coming weeks.
Radio personality Garrison Keillor has just released an article entitled "Impeach Bush." and actor Richard Dreyfuss called for impeachment, while speaking before the National Press Club in Washington.
28 members of US Congress have now signed on to H Res 635, including US Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), the original co-sponsor. The current 28 total co-sponsors are Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA), Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA), Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI), Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN), Rep. John Olver (D-MA), Rep. Major Owens (D-NY), Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ), Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), Rep. Martin Sabo (D-MN), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Rep. Fortney Pete Stark (D-CA), Rep. John Tierney (D-MA), Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA).
Everyone who has been active with ImpeachBush.org/VoteToImpeach.org as a volunteer, activist or donor should be proud. When this movement started, we were confronted by the naysayers who said it couldn’t be done. Bush was tall in the saddle back then. The people who have made this movement come alive didn’t persevere because the issue was “popular.” People have sacrificed to make this movement happen because it is critically important. There was too much at stake to remain passive.

My only question, What took so Long?

Greta's Jurine interview vs Dr Phil's Deepak interview

2006-03-06T23:52:00.000-08:00

Mark Furhman said Joran's interview raised more questions than it answered.

Jurine said he left Natalee on the beach because she wanted to stay there.

Remember this is Jurine's version of events.

Why would Natalee want to stay on the beach alone and in the dark, not knowing anyone or the island's customs?

I theorize, Natalee was passed out or unconscious at this point.

Jurine walks to make a phone call. Now he is barefoot at this point. He has left his shoes. Since he has to wait to be picked up, why not look for the shoes?
Jurine called Deepak but Satish picked him up. Deepak wanted to keep Satish out of it and wanted it to be said he picked up Jurine. Why does Deepak want Satish kept out of this and what is THIS?

Nadira in an earlier interview with Greta said Deepak and Satish left Jurine at the lighthouse. We now know that to be a lie.

Nadira said then that Jurine walked hom from the lighthouse. I can't see prettty boy waling to the bathroom let alone walking home from the lighthouse to his home barefoot.

Now by Jurine making the phone call to Deepak who is on the computer chatting with friends. Satish has to drive to the beach to get Jurine and then drive Jurine to home then get home himself.

How long did it take and was there enough time for Deepak to walk there or catch a cab?

would Deepak do this?

So if Deepak went back for Natalee, how much time did he have to do this?

Was another call made from Jurine to Deepak as Satish him drove home?

Men talk about their sexual conquests so did Jurine tell Satish anything on the way home and did Jurine make yet another call to Deepak once he was home?

Lets say Deepak did leave out of the house after Satish got home with the car. Did Deepak go to Natalee?

Lets say Natalee was already Dead. Does anyone think Deepak is sadistic enough to rape a corpse?

Did Deepak then Hide the body for Jurine?

There are still many inconsistent statements.

Compare Jurine's interview to that of Deepak's made by Dr Phil.

Is USA a Leader on Democracy and Women Rights?

2006-03-06T23:35:00.000-08:00

As the presidential election near, it struck me that there are some who aren't willing to embrace a female presidential candidate.

USA wants to be leader of the free nations but lagging far behind other freenations with females in leadership roles.

so much for leading.

Margaret Thatcher of Great BritainMargaret Thatcher was the longest serving Prime Minister for more than 150 years and was the first woman ever to take the role.
Her father, a shopkeeper and Mayor of Grantham, was a major formative influence.
Thatcher was educated at the local grammar school and at Oxford where she studied chemistry. She also became president of the university Conservative association.
Mrs Thatcher later read for the Bar, before being elected in 1959 as the Conservative MP for Finchley.

Golda Meir of IsraelEighteen years ago today (March 7, 1969), Golda Meir was nominated by the Labor Party to be Prime Minister of Israel. She held this esteemed position until 1974. Before Golda Meir became Prime Minister, she was the Foreign Minister for Israel from 1956 to 1965, During her time as Foreign Minister, she had the opportunity to work with the cooperative agricultural and urban planning programs between Israel and Africa. Golda Meir was very proud of her international, as well as domestic work. After this time she became the Secretary General of the Mapai Party. She was Minister of Labor from 1949 to 1956, a position which was her personal favorite, for she had the time to work with and for the people.

These two women served over fifteen years ago, so when will USA lead ok, its now play catchup?

On the issue of Women Rights in America.

Why is it so important for Roe vs Wade to be overturned?

Why is it important for a female to have a child of her rapist or incest? Why must a woman see daily the product of her sexual violation?

Men need to be raped to know the feeling. No I am not saying male children but adult men. Our lawmakers need to know what it feels like to be sexually violated. Perhaps they will know what it feels like.

Perhaps

Cheney's fall from grace is a liability

2006-03-06T23:33:00.000-08:00

The list of those who aided and abetted the elevation of George W. Bush to the presidency in 2000 is a long one. But none did more to put Dubya in the Oval Office than Dick Cheney.
Sure, there were others who played starring roles. Karl Rove, the grand strategist, for one. Then there was Katharine Harris (aka Cruella), the Florida secretary of state who read the election laws to Bush's advantage at every turn. And let's not forget the five Republican members of the U.S. Supreme Court who cut off the Florida vote recount that represented Al Gore's only chance of victory.
In the end, however, it was Cheney who made the difference for Bush.
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It's mostly forgotten now but the Bush-Gore contest, especially their debates, threatened to bring on a period of national narcolepsy. Who could stay awake? It was an irritating nerd (Gore) against an unqualified naif (Bush). Television sets went dark across the country. Enter Dick Cheney.
His meeting with Sen. Joseph Lieberman was the only debate in the campaign that produced anything like a clear winner -- Cheney. He was cool, smart, informed, just witty enough, and wise, something missing in both Bush or Gore. He brought enough adult supervision to the Bush campaign to make Dubya credible -- barely. Without Cheney it's hard to imagine Bush winning.
So it's stunning now to realize that Dick Cheney has become a yoke around the neck of the Bush presidency or, if you prefer a Nixonian reference, a cancer on the presidency. Just about every problem facing Bush today can be laid at Cheney's doorstep, from Iraq and the flap over warrantless wiretapping, to the White House's frosty relations with Congress and the Valerie Plame scandal.
Clearly, Bush, who needed Cheney desperately five years ago, would now be better off without him.
The Iraq war is largely a Cheney creation. He was the one who declared in 2002 that there was indisputable evidence that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Within the White House, he was the enabler of the Pentagon-based neoconservatives (Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Douglas Feith) who desperately wanted the war. Cheney even predicted U.S. troops would be greeted "as liberators."
He seems oblivious of evidence to the contrary. With the insurgency growing and casualties mounting among U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians, Cheney insisted recently that the insurgency was "in its final throes." Some throes.
His links to the oil industry, especially to his old employer, Halliburton, reinforce the belief that the Bush administration is too cozy with the oil industry, with its recent obscene profits. Cheney's convening of a secret committee made up heavily of oil executives to shape national energy policy hasn't helped.
The vice president has been a principal peddler of the notion that the congressional action authorizing Bush to attack Iraq gives the president unlimited power to do just about anything else in the name of fighting terrorism -- warrantless wiretapping, holding terror suspects (even an American citizen) indefinitely without charge, even torture. You name it.
Cheney's problems are compounded by his unfortunate demeanor. He comes across as sour, with a gruff, even snarling countenance and a remote secretive style that belies his obligation to conduct the public's business with some transparency. It's not just the public that Cheney stiffs. He treats Congress no less high-handedly. It's one reason Republicans on Capitol Hill are beginning to resist the White House.
Which brings us to the polls. The latest survey has Cheney's favorability rating down to a dismal 18 percent. Richard Nixon, on the eve of his forced resignation, enjoyed rock star popularity compared with Cheney. Bad as it is, it could get worse. The "Scooter" Libby affair is still out there.
Libby, Cheney's ex-chief of staff who's under indictment for perjury and obstruction of justice, reportedly has asserted he was "authorized by superiors" to discuss classified information with reporters, presumably including the fact that Valerie Plame, wife of a critic of the Iraq war, was a CIA operative. Naturally, Cheney tops the list of those suspected "superiors."
Bush might be able to shed the Cheney tarnish had he not made Cheney the most powerful vice president in recent memory, maybe in American history. Indeed, there is a perception in Washington and the country that Cheney rather than Bush runs the country. He's our first imperial vice president.
What it comes down to is this: Bush is a damaged president. Since his term has three years still to run, that's a serious condition for the country. Cheney is a major part of that damage. It's time for him to do the right thing. It's time for him to go.

Where is Amy Sher

2006-03-06T23:12:00.000-08:00

Did a botched policed investigation allow a murderer to go free?That is a question surrounding how police responded to the disappearance of a Billerica woman who is now presumed to be a homicide victim.Our I-Team has been investigating this case. I-Team reporter Joe Bergantino with more on what the police should have done.

Wendy Murphy, Attorney: “It’s unconscionable that the police would not at least have talked to her co-workers.”Former Prosecutor Wendy Murphy is talking about what Billerica Police failed to do in October 2002 when thirty-eight year old Amy Sher disappeared without a trace.Police received a phone call from supervisors here at the Lahey Clinic where Amy worked in the hospital’s finance department.Those supervisors told police that Amy had been a victim of severe emotional and physical domestic abuse for several years, that her husband e-mailed a resignation letter and that they feared she had been murdered.The police response? Police made one phone call to Amy’s husband, Robert Desmond, and did nothing else after Desmond told them Amy had decided to leave the area for a while.

Wendy Murphy, Attorney: “Maybe thirty years ago that’s enough, the police make a phone call, the guy tells him something, he’s the husband, she’s the wife, whatever he says goes because it’s a boys club. Thirty years ago maybe, not in this time frame. It makes no sense.”So why didn’t police, at the very least, drive over to Amy’s home and assess the situation?Daniel Rosa, Billerica Police Chief: “I would say normally that would be the procedure. This particular case presented itself a little differently at the outset.”

In other words, this wasn’t a case that began with a phone call from a home in the middle of a violent episode.Mary Lauby heads up Jane Doe Inc., an advocacy group for domestic violence victims.Joe Bergantino: “Is that a legitimate excuse?”Mary Lauby, Jane Doe, Inc: “No, a very simple no.”Another question, why didn’t police bother to interview Amy Sher’s co-workers to better understand the extent of her abuse?Joe Bergantino: “It boggles my mind as to why some basic things that I would do even as a reporter weren’t done in this case.”Daniel Rosa, Billerica Police Chief: “It’s an ongoing investigation and I’m not going to comment any further about that part of it. Again, I feel there was a response.”Joe Bergantino: “An acceptable response?”Daniel Rosa, Billerica Police Chief: “And I do feel there was a response and they’re following up on the case as we speak.”Wendy Murphy, Attorney: “It’s beyond incredible that they didn’t talk to her co-workers to find out more about what they knew.Joe Bergantino: “So how serious a mistake was this?”Wendy Murphy, Attorney: “If he killed her and they asked no questions of anyone, this is, in a sense, the police being responsible for a murderer walking free.”The police investigation in this case didn’t begin until April of last year, eighteen months after Amy disappeared.It was triggered when Amy’s mother and sister, from whom she had been estranged for ten years, hired a private investigator to get pictures of Amy and son Michael.The private detective found Amy’s husband and son but not Amy.

Joel Picchi, Private Detective: “Amy was nowhere to be found.”Last spring, State Police and cadaver sniffing dogs searched the home where Amy had lived but found nothing. They have questioned Robert Desmond who has stuck by his story.Joe Bergantino: “Why didn’t you file a missing person’s report?”Robert Desmond: “Because she moved out under a sad but amicable situation. She’s not a missing person in our view.”But authorities say Amy’s disappearance is now a homicide investigation.And surprising to many, Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley is defending the Billerica Police’s failure to investigate back in October of 2002.

Martha Coakley, Middlesex D.A.: “I’m not sure looking back at that that either the department could have done more or that we would have advised them to do more.”Amy’s family and victim advocates strongly disagree.Joani McCullough: “I think they should have taken it more seriously and somebody should have investigated.”Even in the past year, detectives have failed to do some very basic police work. They have not tried to subpoena Robert Desmond’s credit card records, phone records or computer hard drive. They never searched for Amy Sher’s car until the I-Team questioned why that had not been done. And more than a year into their investigation, they still hadn’t talked with Desmond’s parents or co-workers.

Trip Abroad Gives Bush a Respite From Domestic Woes

2006-03-06T21:42:00.000-08:00

There were no questions about the Dubai ports deal. There was little talk of Vice President Dick Cheney's accidental shooting of a fellow quail hunter. The words "Iraq" and "Katrina" hardly came up at all.
Through five days and three countries last week, George W. Bush got a little of what beleaguered American presidents always look for on foreign trips: a chance to set aside problems at home.
True, the trip had troubles of its own. Anti-Bush riots led by Islamists exploded from Hyderabad north to Kashmir, Islamabad was in lockdown because of the risks of bringing the president into Osama bin Laden's backyard, and an American diplomat died in a suicide bombing in Karachi. But compared with Mr. Bush's most recent trips to South America and Asia — one dominated by demonstrations led by President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and the other by problems in Iraq — the president's visit to the subcontinent was a relief for him.

India, where Mr. Bush spent two packed days, embraced him in a way the president had not experienced in a long time.
"He felt very warmly received," Andrew H. Card Jr., the White House chief of staff, said from the lawn of Islamabad's presidential palace on Saturday morning. The night before, in an open-air speech in New Delhi at a 16th-century fort, Mr. Bush said he had been "dazzled" by the spectacle of "this vibrant and exciting land."
This is not to say that all of India adores Mr. Bush, and its Muslim minority in particular is furious about Iraq. But over all, the United States is highly popular in India and Mr. Bush bestowed on the nation such an astonishing gift — last week's nuclear deal — that Indians greeted him like an American maharajah. Even before his arrival, a survey in the Indian newsweekly Outlook found that two-thirds of Indians "strongly" or "somewhat" regarded Mr. Bush as a friend of the country.
Mr. Bush, who can look miserable on foreign trips, often appeared moved and delighted as he raced around India. "I have been received in many capitals, but I have never seen a reception as grand as the one we just received," Mr. Bush said after a majestic arrival ceremony with horses and honor guards at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the 340-room pink and cream sandstone mansion built for the last of the British viceroys.
Rashtrapati Bhavan, now the home of the president of India, evokes all the romance and hubris of the dying Raj. But as evocative as the ceremony was for Mr. Bush, aides said he was more captivated by the India of the present — a functioning democracy of a billion people, a counterweight to China, a huge market for American goods. One of the president's favorite stops on the trip, they said, was a meeting with entrepreneurs in Hyderabad, the booming high-tech city.
"Yesterday I met with some Indian C.E.O.'s and American C.E.O.'s, kind of the old folks," Mr. Bush told a dozen men and women in their 20's and 30's at Hyderabad's Indian School of Business. "Today I'm meeting with the C.E.O.'s of tomorrow, the people that are going to help drive this great engine of economic prosperity for India — for the good of the world, is how I view it."
India cooperated with exquisite spring weather — it was only in the 80's in New Delhi, where lush gardens burst with dahlias and bougainvillea — and huge headlines. "It's a Deal — A Very Big Deal," screamed The Times of India across the front page on Friday morning, over a picture of Mr. Bush with his arm around the shoulders of the Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh. The two had just announced the pact that would give India help with nuclear power for its energy needs while allowing it to continue to develop nuclear weapons — a tough sell in a skeptical United States Congress, Mr. Bush acknowledged.
Indians made light of Mr. Bush's one faux pas, skipping a three-hour trip from New Delhi to the Taj Mahal, the tomb that a heartsick Mogul emperor built for his wife and still considered the world's greatest monument to love. "I am truly sorry that the president is not taking you to Taj Mahal this time," Mr. Singh said to Laura Bush as he toasted the first couple at a lunch on Thursday. "I hope he will be more chivalrous the next time you are here."
Mr. Bush bookended his trip to India with a surprise four-hour stop in Afghanistan and a 24-hour stay in Pakistan, where Mr. bin Laden is believed to be hiding in the remote tribal areas near the Afghan border. But Mr. Bush, the first American president to visit Afghanistan since President Eisenhower in 1959, and the first to visit Pakistan since President Clinton in 2000, bounced around Mr. bin Laden's terrain with defiance.
Unlike Mr. Clinton, who slipped into Islamabad for six hours on an unmarked military jet, Mr. Bush arrived with a roar on Air Force One. (Although Air Force One, the most recognizable 747 in the world, landed with its running lights off and shades drawn, making it a more difficult target for any ground-launched missile.) Mr. Bush also stayed the night at the fortress-like American ambassador's residence and took time out the next day to take a few swings with a cricket bat with students from the Islamabad College for Boys.
"Terrorists and killers are not going to prevent me from going to Pakistan," he had vowed in New Delhi.
Mr. Bush got home at 5 a.m. on Sunday and returned to his normal life, going to church later that morning, then taking a bicycle ride. On Monday, he would face Iraq, the ports deal, fallout from Katrina, rebellious Republicans, approval ratings in the mid-30's — and a Mr. bin Laden still on the loose.
His trip to the subcontinent was over.

Republican Congress Scrambling To Keep Their Jobs

2006-03-06T21:18:00.000-08:00

Republicans are scrambling to do whatever they can to keep their jobs. They have finally woke up to finally do their jobs. However is it much too little too late? These Republicans never did the business of the People but did the business of the president and his personal agenda.

We as a country would never have been in this position if the Rebuplican had done thir jobs. They allowed a dubius war with Iraq, exorbitant spending on this "slam dunk" war, warrantless wiretapping, tax cuts for rich during a time of war, and other things done in SECRECY, and now buying of our ports by Dubai.

This Congress allowed Bush to do whatever he wanted without any questions asked. That is reprehensibile.

These Rebulicans arent going contrary of Bush because it is the RIGHT thing to do but doing so to just get reelected.
Who is to say if this Republicans are reelected that they would continue to do the People buisness or resort back to following Bush?

Do we dare take a chance by just TRUSTING them?

Destination Under Scrutiny - Aruba - One Happy Island?

2006-03-06T21:04:00.000-08:00

A jewel in the Caribbean crown of memorable Destinations, Aruba delivers a wonderful Visitor Experience. You do feel very safe and welcome; the islanders are joyous, sparkling with enthusiasm and hospitality. Yet, Visitors still must balance perception with the reality.
Her name is on our minds – a most unfortunate incident – still unsolved after nine months – the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
The case put Aruba on the International map – a lovely Caribbean island caught in the harsh spotlight of the carnivorous media machine and the public appetite for sensationalism.
The intrigue lingers in the background of your visit. When queried, everyone there has an opinion – from the Managing Director of a Resort complex, to your Taxi Cab driver, to your waitress, to a Tourism Official. They grieve for the loss, they are alarmed that the public really only knows the spin of questionable “journalists”, they are numbed that their Island, known for Hospitality, security and almost perfect weather, has suffered such ignominy.
Having just returned from a five day Holiday (a birthday gift from my sons), peeling, rested, revitalized, please allow me to present a perspective. Just as their license plate proclaims, Aruba is “One Happy Island”.
But, not to second guess Island Officials, I do think that Aruba misjudged the media attention and did not effectively present the efforts undertaken there to provide a full picture of their response to the still unfolding unfortunate situation. This is an extremely sensitive issue in Aruba, and the situation goes beyond normal “Damage Control” for Destinations beset with natural disasters, such as hurricanes and tsunamis. One incident, one individual continues to roil the once gentle waters.
I look at Johnson and Johnson with Tylenol and even Wendy’s with the chili ingredient and admire the approach the respective companies immediately implemented to address a crisis. They simply took the wind out of the media sails, comforted the public with their concern, attention and action, and managed the situation through effective, honest and timely communication.
Aruba, I am told, has done about as much as a Destination could do, but we, the public, their potential Visitors, simply do not know that. About 72% of their Visitor traffic comes from the US, which is besieged and bombarded with news – print, on-line, television. And, we all love a good story, the more lurid and unsettling the better. Yellow journalism lives! Aruba misjudged our appetite, which is fed daily with detail, intrigue, innuendo and possibilities. In short, the Island did not effectively put into place a Crisis Management Plan at the onset, and they certainly need something substantial in place now.
First hand, I can assure you that we were treated courteously and generously. My sons, of the late 20’s tribe, were out almost every night until 3 am, enjoying the bars, the casinos, the nightlife, and, at no point did they feel threatened or unsafe. The same temptations exist here as elsewhere. Even with the aftermath of Carnivale, where the capital city of Oranjestad was a bit overzealous, police and good nature prevailed. I might add that the food was terrific, the weather unrelentingly perfect, and the Hospitality bountiful. And, I read that $230M is being invested in the Tourism product, impacting every facet of the Industry to further elevate the Visitor Experience – from renovation at the resorts, new construction, expansion of the Airport, to improved docking access for the Ocean Liners. But, the first question I am asked when I tell people about our visit is, “Have they found the young woman yet?” The intrigue and the impact continue!
It is very easy to become embroiled in the debate on whether or not the Holloway case has been handled appropriately in a legal fashion. Beyond the media frenzy and the political sensibilities (US versus a sovereign entity and even the Alabama boycott), the net result is that the story has “legs”, and, Aruba, as a Destination, will continue to be affected. And, we, the Consumer, are left buffeted by the media wind, therefore, becoming very circumspect with a travel decision.
It is a shame Aruba was not at the forefront with a strategic Crisis Management focus. Millions are spent on Brand Marketing, but their reputation has been tarnished. A first rate publicist or Public Relations Firm should have been retained as the “story” rocketed. Catch up and changing perception are tough assignments! The response will be debated for years. I am still curious about Aruban effort to date.
I shall return to Aruba, and I shall pass along the good news, for our Visitor Experience was simply splendid.

Bush Administration Running Scared

2006-03-05T21:35:00.000-08:00

The Bush administration, seeking to limit leaks of classified information, has launched initiatives targeting journalists and their possible government sources. The efforts include several FBI probes, a polygraph investigation inside the CIA and a warning from the Justice Department that reporters could be prosecuted under espionage laws.

Greta Didnn't Ask The Hard Question of Joran

2006-03-05T21:04:00.000-08:00

I will give it to Joran he was smooth as silk given he was an 18 yo anwsering questions
but that also raised some flags for me.

Most 18yo would not be that smooth. I heard his parents din't want him to do the interview. If that is true, that fact raised serious issues with me.
A 18yo overrules his parents objections. So who runs the household? Why wouldn't Joran's parents want him to clear the record? Since they were objecting, why weren't they a part of the interview? Joran had control over that as well? So who controls the Van Der Sloot's household?

Although I love Greta, she asked soft questions that Joran readily had answers. So where were the hard questions.

1 If all he did was leave Natalee on the beach why lie on the 2 innocent black men? Did Aruba clear their names?
2 Did he apologized to them?
3 Will the Vander sloots share some of that money(Joran's father is suing the Aruban governement which helped to botch this case and let his son free) to help the two black men clear their names of the lie Joran told on them?
4 Who said "something bad happened" and leading to the body? Early in the case, Dompig announced this and then retracted it?
5Why did Paulus call Deepak and Satish to their home and tell the three how to answer questions if all Joran did was leave Natalee on the Beach alive? Understand this, Paulus wouldn't call the three if Deepak was the guilty one.

6 Since Natalee is shy or whatever, why would she want to stay on a beach alone and not knowing anyone and not having any transportation back?

7 Keep ing with is though for a moment...Is aruba so dangerous a woman cant stay on the beach but yet disappear without a trace? does that sound reasonable and /or feasible to any sane and credible person??

8 why did Paulus tell them how to set up their computers to establish a time line or alibi??

9Why didnt Joran call his father instead of his friend's to take him home?

10Why would Joran say he wanted to go to school the next day to hell with Satish going to school the next day. Does Satish and Deepak march to Joran's every word like Paulus? Deepak was home and Deepak is a fanatic about his car, so why would Satish be chuffeuring Joran around? Why didnt Joran call a cab or his father
10 Understand this if Deepak went back AFTER Joran, why wasn't his father or stepfather called and put in jail like Paulus? Joran was the last one to see Natalee alive.
11 Joran said there were other folks on the beach, so were those people called to verify that?

Those folks had to know this was HOT case and if they were on the beach shouldnt they be able to substantiate Joran's claim

12Joran has watch many shows and read many blogs so he is following the case closely
he even knows the LAWS of USA. Does he really know or did his father fill him in on what to say
13 Joran is pointing away from himself to Deepak

Until Deepak tells his side...or they both are together on tv in separate rooms..different questions.

14 Who was the bartender that night and does the bartender slipp drugs in the drinks

15what a 17 yo doing drinking 151 rum in a club?

16 Joran said his father doesnt go to clubs when we know differntly
17 He took off his shoes so did he take off his socks as well or he walked through the sand in socks?
his father rmakes so much money Joran can leave a pair of shoes on the beach? Who runs the Vander Sloot's household?

18 Horan said he didn't have a condom, so he didnt have sex with Natalee/ Does anyone beleive this from a kid who drinks 151 Rum? No 17 Yo boy going to stop because he has no condom.

19 Was the headmaster of Aruba International School questioned? If so what was said? If not, why not? Were the student of the school questioned again why not?

Notice this also, some of the little information that came out in the early going of this case are being revelaed even by Joran himself

Lets say Joran left her on the beach, so where was Paulus?
Joran is still lying as well as his father.
Until I hear from Deepak and Satish, my gut says Joran and his father is guilty of Natalee being missing
Joran is still guilty to me. Maybe not of murder perhaps manslaughter. The guilty still lies with Joran.

Hillary Clinton 'unaware' of Bill's Dubai ties

2006-03-05T20:04:00.000-08:00

Hillary Clinton, a leading opponent of DP World's takeover of some US port operations, was this week forced to admit that she did not know her husband had advised Dubai leaders on how to handle the growing dispute.

But former President Bill Clinton's ties to Dubai and the United Arab Emirates should not have come as a surprise to his New York senator wife.
Mrs Clinton's own senatorial financial disclosure forms reveal that her husband earned $450,000 giving speeches in Dubai in 2002.
Officials from the UAE also donated between $500,000 and $1m to fund Mr Clinton's presidential library in Arkansas.
It was part of an effort by the emirates, said a person close to UAE officials, to forge a close relationship with a former US president who is influential and highly regarded in the region.
Mr Clinton's admiration for the UAE was last on display in November, when he made his fourth visit to the American University in Dubai and met students participating in the Clinton scholarship programme.
The UAE has also contributed $100m to Hurricane Katrina relief funds – which Mr Clinton had a leading role in raising.
Mrs Clinton's tough stance that the deal represented an "unacceptable risk" to national security has caused UAE officials some consternation.
Regarded as the leading Democratic candidate for the 2008 presidential elections, she has used the deal – which polls show is disliked by most Americans – and the anti-Arab sentiment it sparked to attack the Bush administration on national security, an issue that has been seen as a weak point for Democrats.
Although Mrs Clinton has been careful not to criticise the UAE directly, her stance has put her in the same camp as legislators who openly accuse Dubai of helping to finance the September 11 terrorist attacks and deem the UAE untrustworthy.
Privately, some Democrats see the revelations about his ties to the UAE as a classic Clinton dilemma. Mrs Clinton told the New York Post on Thursday that she did not know her husband had been contacted by Dubai officials two weeks ago and offered them advice on the deal. Although both Hillary and Bill Clinton say he stands behind her on the issue and there is no direct conflict, his relationship to the UAE has complicated her political stance on the transaction.
Meanwhile, the UAE has sought to quell the backlash against the takeover by hiring some Clinton officials - and Republicans - to lobby on Dubai's behalf.

Iran Softens Tone, but Talks With Europeans on Nuclear Program End in Bitterness

2006-03-05T19:54:00.000-08:00

VIENNA, March 3 — If diplomacy were a courtship, the rendezvous between Iran and Europe in a Viennese mansion on Friday could be called a failed seduction.
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, had asked for urgent talks with his former European negotiating partners, promising new ideas aimed at both restarting the negotiations and keeping Iran's nuclear case out of the United Nations Security Council.
But in nearly two hours of early morning talks, the Iranians rejected the Europeans' key demand for resuming the relationship: a return to an indefinite freeze on making enriched uranium, which can be used either to produce electricity or to make bombs.
The Europeans made their disappointment clear. "We were unable to reach agreement," Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany announced tersely to reporters. Mr. Steinmeier, the host of the meeting at his ambassador's residence, offered Iran a stark ultimatum: either stop enriching uranium and "return to the table of negotiations," or face judgment before the Security Council.
Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, who had canceled a trip to Kiev, Ukraine, to attend, was just as blunt, calling the failure to reach agreement "unfortunate."
So were the other two European officials, the French foreign minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy, and John Sawers, the political director of the British foreign office, who had taken the place of the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, who was ill.
The Iranians, according to participants in the talks, were visibly rattled. Mr. Larijani had come in with a new conciliatory tone. Gone was the combative talk about Iran's sovereign right to enrich uranium as a signer of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Rather, Mr. Larijani expressed sympathy for the European approach and support for the need to build confidence on all sides, so talks could continue under a November 2004 agreement with France, Germany and Britain. That agreement froze Iran's enrichment-related activities in exchange for potential political and economic rewards.
To that end, he said that Iran would be willing to implement a two-year moratorium on industrial-scale uranium enrichment and recommit itself to a more thorough inspection of its facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
However, continuation of the small-scale uranium enrichment operation that Iran restarted last month at its vast Natanz facility, and which Iran says is for research purposes, was nonnegotiable.
The Europeans, who spoke on condition of anonymity under diplomatic rules, said they were not surprised. But they responded with a quiet ferocity that has been unusual in their dealings with Iran.
Mr. Steinmeier rejected Mr. Larijani's request that the two sides announce publicly that "progress" had been made. He also brushed off Mr. Larijani's objection to public statements by the Europeans that no agreement had been reached.
The German foreign minister even said that since there was no progress to report, it made no sense for Mr. Larijani to join in the brief encounter with the news media on the steps of the ambassador's residence.
In an apparent protest, the Iranian delegation, which had pitched its flag next to those of Britain, France, Germany and the European Union, carried it away before the Europeans made their statements.
The dispute moves next to the session of the 35-country board of the International Atomic Energy Agency that will open in Vienna on Monday. In early February, the board overwhelmingly voted to report Iran's case to the Security Council, a move that reflected increasing suspicion that Iran was determined to develop nuclear weapons. The resolution allows Security Council action against Iran after a delay of at least a month.
It is not yet certain whether the board will try to pass another resolution next week, or whether one would be needed before the Security Council acts.
While the Europeans, together with the United States and a number of other countries, seem to be eager to have the Security Council take up the Iran issue, Russia is extremely reluctant.
Like the Europeans, the Russians had demanded that Iran stop uranium enrichment at Natanz. When Mr. Larijani was in Russia on Thursday, the Russians rejected the same offer he later presented to the Europeans, participants in Friday's meeting said.
But Russia does not support sending the matter to the Security Council, for fear that it would set off an irrevocable march toward punitive measures.
Russia's foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said Friday there was still time before the nuclear agency's board meeting to reach an agreement, one that would keep the agency at the center of efforts to resolve the confrontation.
"If the issues are sent to the Security Council, we are concerned that this would lead to escalation of the situation," Mr. Lavrov said, speaking in English, in an interview with American news organizations in Moscow. "I know how the Security Council works: you start with a soft reminder, then you call upon, then you require, then you demand, then you threaten. It will become a self-propelling function."
The Russians are negotiating with Iran on a possible face-saving joint venture, in which Russia would enrich Iran's uranium on Russian soil, under Russian control.
That procedure would allow Iran to continue to operate its Isfahan plant, which converts raw uranium into a form that is ready to be enriched, but not to master enrichment technology.
Contradicting Mr. Steinmeier, who said in Vienna that "time is running out," Mr. Lavrov said there was still time to resolve the crisis. But he acknowledged that he had no clear idea of how to proceed if Iran insisted on defying the agency's demands.
"I am very frank with you," he said. "I don't have an answer. I don't think anybody else has an answer."

Ex-Congressman Gets 8-Year Term in Bribery Case

2006-03-05T19:45:00.000-08:00

SAN DIEGO, March 3 — After acknowledging that he had "made a very wrong turn," former Representative Randy Cunningham was sentenced in federal court here on Friday to eight years and four months in prison for taking $2.4 million in bribes from military contractors in return for smoothing the way for government contracts.

The government, which called the misconduct unprecedented for its "depth, breadth and length," said the sentence was the longest ever handed down for a member or former member of Congress in a federal corruption case.
In a halting, cracking voice before journalists, friends, political associates and others, Mr. Cunningham, 64, stood before the judge and largely read from a statement as he pleaded for leniency and, turning to prosecutors, apologized for his crime.
"I rationalized decisions I knew were wrong," said Mr. Cunningham, a Naval pilot ace in the Vietnam War and "Top Gun" instructor who parlayed those experiences into a powerful political career. "Before there must be forgiveness, there must be redemption. No man has ever been more sorry."
Judge Larry Alan Burns of Federal District Court said the former congressman's conduct, which prosecutors said included keeping a "bribe menu" with the prices of influence, undermined faith in government and wasted tax dollars. In addition to some cash payments, Mr. Cunningham bargained for gifts like a sport utility vehicle, a Tiffany statue, Bijar rugs and candelabras.
Judge Burns said Mr. Cunningham, an eight-term Republican from Rancho Santa Fe who represented the northern suburbs of San Diego, could have retired to business long ago if he wanted to make copious money but instead engaged in bid rigging and badgering officials and other witnesses to help cover his tracks.
"You made a wrong turn and continued for three to five years," Judge Burns said, referring to what prosecutors documented as the period of misconduct. "I wonder how far you would have gone.
"You undermined the opportunity and option for honest politicians to do a good job."
The judge rejected Mr. Cunningham's request to delay his arrival in prison so he could visit his 91-year-old mother, saying Mr. Cunningham had had months to say his goodbyes.
Judge Burns, in recognition of what Mr. Cunningham's lawyers have described as his failing health, recommended sending him first to a prison medical center for evaluation. He also voiced admiration for Mr. Cunningham's war heroism.
Mr. Cunningham's lawyers had asked the judge for a six-year sentence, citing his military service and what they called health so failing that he may have seven years to live. Prosecutors urged the judge to abide by the 10-year sentence that Mr. Cunningham had agreed to after he pleaded guilty in November and resigned from Congress. Judge Burns noted that the sentence could be reduced by 15 months if Mr. Cunningham behaved well in prison.
Prosecutors said they might also seek a reduction if they are satisfied that he was cooperating with their investigation.
Mr. Cunningham was ordered to pay $1,804,031.50 in restitution for back taxes, penalties and interest owed to the government and was ordered to forfeit an additional $1,851,508, based on cash he received in his crimes.
The extent of corruption stunned his constituents and Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill and, along with the scandal centering on the lobbyist Jack Abramoff, sparked calls to change lobbying rules. The two investigations and others involving lawmakers and senior aides have emerged as major election themes.
Given Mr. Cunningham's focus on funneling federal money to specific projects in exchange for lobbyists' payoffs, his case put particular scrutiny on "earmarking," using measures to direct money to favored projects.
Proposals are circulating in the House and Senate to require more disclosure of the projects and their sponsors and to open opportunities to strip the earmarks slipped into bills at the last minute.
In the weeks leading up to the sentencing, sharper details of Mr. Cunningham's crimes emerged. In court papers, the government said he had behaved like an old ward boss, sketching out a "bribe menu" on a note card with the Congressional seal. One column offered $16 million in contracts in exchange for the title to a boat the contractor had bought for $140,000. The card further detailed how much more contract work could be bought for every additional $50,000 paid to Mr. Cunningham.
The papers document lavish travel on chartered jets paid by contractors with catered meals of lobster, wine and "other extravagances." Bribers put him up at top-of-the-line resorts like the Royal Hawaiian on Oahu, Hawaii and in the Greenbriar Resort in West Virginia.
Mr. Cunningham, the government said, "bullied and hectored" officials standing in his way and tampered with witnesses to have them play down or distort his misdeeds.
The principal co-conspirator in the case, Mitchell Wade, a military contractor who is the founder and former president of MZM Inc. in Washington, pleaded guilty last week in federal court to several charges, including giving Mr. Cunningham $1 million in bribes.
Mr. Cunningham's lawyers in court filings, including a psychiatric report, portrayed his life as disintegrating, saying ailments had left him with perhaps seven years to live.
The psychiatric report, by Dr. Saul J. Faerstein of Beverly Hills, Calif., said Mr. Cunningham suffered depression and suicidal thoughts, in addition to a history of prostate cancer and other ailments.
Searching for an explanation for Mr. Cunningham's conduct, Dr. Faerstein said: "Society needs heroes and wants them to be superheroes. The normal sense of mortality is suppressed in order to fulfill this role."
After the sentencing, two marshals approached Mr. Cunningham and escorted him without handcuffs from the courtroom, one of them guiding him by the waist, patting him on the back and whispering in his ear. Mr. Cunningham will spend perhaps a week or so in a jail across the street before moving to prison, said an assistant United States attorney, Phillip L. B. Halpern, who helped prosecute the case.
On March 23, the government plans to auction some of the antiques that Mr. Cunningham forfeited after pleading guilty, including French armoires, candlesticks, nightstands and a glass buffet.

http://www.juiceenewsdaily.com/index.php/2006/01/09/vice-president-dick-cheney-hospitalized-after-breathing-trouble/

2006-03-05T19:36:00.000-08:00

Vice President Dick Cheney was hospitalized when he complained of breathing trouble. The Vice President has now been released from hospital.
Cheney’s long history of cardiovascular disease and periodic need for urgent health care have several times raised the question of whether he is medically fit to serve as Vice President. Cheney sustained the first of four myocardial infarctions (heart attacks) in 1978, at age 37. Subsequent infarcts in 1984, 1988, and 2001 have resulted in moderate contractile dysfunction of his left ventricle. He underwent four-vessel coronary artery bypass grafting in 1988, coronary artery stenting in November 2000, and urgent coronary balloon angioplasty in March 2001.
In 2001 a Holter monitor disclosed brief episodes of (asymptomatic) ectopy. An electrophysiologic study was performed, at which Cheney was found to be inducible. A cardiac defibrillator was therefore implanted in his left upper anterior chest. As of 2004, it has never discharged.
On September 24, 2005, Cheney had an endo-vascular procedure to repair popliteal artery aneurysms bilaterally. (In other words, a catheter treatment technique was used in the artery behind each knee.) The condition was discovered at a regular physical in July, and, while not life-threatening itself, is likely an indicator that Cheney’s atherosclerotic disease is progressing despite aggressive treatment.
Cheney occassionaly requires the use of a cane for walking. This is due to a pre-existing foot condition and is unrelated to his cardiovascular disease, according to Cheney.

Cheney spreads suffering

2006-03-03T22:55:00.000-08:00

Vice President Dick Cheney's "worst day" was undoubtedly a traumatic event for a man who has helped deliver worst days for a great many Americans. Those who are suffering through lack of medical care, those who are caught up in the Medicare D prescription fiasco, those who can't afford to heat their homes, have all been having worst days under the Bush-Cheney administration.

Maybe the small boy in Iraq who had his arms blown off when his father was killed had a worst day. I suppose there are many worst days for the tortured "detainees" known only to the Bush-Cheney regime.
As for the beautiful small bird that Cheney missed when he shot his hunting companion, it was perhaps its best day.

Cheney Ties?

2006-03-03T21:34:00.000-08:00

Am I the only one who is outraged about the Army paying all of the disputed costs after the Pentagon's Defense Contract Audit Agency had questioned $263 million in costs for fuel deliveries, pipeline repairs and other tasks that were potentially excessive or unjustified to Kellogg, Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton? This was a $2.41 billion no-bid contract as well.Isn't anyone minding the store? Or does Vice President Dick Cheney have anything to do with this?

Bush Trims Budgets

2006-03-03T20:46:00.000-08:00

Funny how Bush is trimming other important departments. Although its not surprising, Bush wants to give the impression he is cutting the fat from federal's budget. Bush cuts these programs so there will be money to fund his "slam-dunk Iraq War. Yeah, the one where Cheney said the "insurgencies are in their last throes."

Then we hear this:
Bush's trimmed NASA budget harms young researchers most.

Bush wants to cut off our future explorations to fund his present War. Bush will get in front of the American people and say, look at what all we trimmed from the Federal doles. Many, if not most, Reublicans will drink that up as they are loyal even when they know Bush is lying.

Bush and His Speeches

2006-03-03T20:13:00.000-08:00

It amazes me that even when Bush has words written for him to read to the audience, he finds a mew way to mess up. We know he can't give or take questions on the fly. Now we see he can't even read.

Fore instance:

In a farewell speech in New Delhi, Bush ran into trouble when he praised Pakistan as "a force for freedom and moderation in the Arab world." The White House hastened to correct Bush's reference to Pakistan as an Arab nation, and said he meant to say Muslim.

When will USA admit we flubbed the presidentila elections? Bush and his cronies need to be run out of the country. Every day these idiots show new levels of incompetence as well as cronyism.

I have admitted I made a mistake by voting for Bush, when will you?

Able Danger Atta Photo Mystery Solved

2006-03-02T16:57:00.000-08:00

Sources close to the ongoing Department of Defense investigation into the controversial Able Danger data mining intelligence program, which purportedly identified Mohammed Atta and three other 9/11 hijackers a year before the worst terror attacks in US history, say the mystery person who actually obtained a much-disputed photograph of Atta for the Able Danger team has now been identified.
Ever since the Pentagon-ordered destruction in 2000 of 2.5 terabytes of data unearthed by Able Danger - allegedly including a chart featuring Atta's photograph that revealed terrorist links and patterns when clicked on - skeptics have long raised doubt about the very existence of the chart and the photograph in question.
It has now been confirmed that a female contract employee of defense contractor Orion Scientific, which provided personnel and proprietary software to the original Able Danger operation, has been identified as a result of investigation by the Pentagon's own Inspector General.

Identification of the mystery woman lends more credence to claims by Able Danger members, such as team leader Captain Mark Phillpott, Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer, and Orion analyst J.D. Smith, among others, that the Able Danger program did in fact identify four 9/11 hijackers well before the attacks.
Despite their best efforts, however, Able Danger members were unsuccessful in several attempts to relay their information to the FBI for further investigation and/or action. And although the team did meet with staff members of the National Commission charged with investigating the 9/11 attacks, their data was largely ignored, dismissed as "historically insignificant" and "not fitting the story the Commission wants to tell." There is no mention of Able Danger, its identification of five active Al Qaeda cells and other pre-attack threat assessment information contained in the voluminous official account of the 9/11 attacks.

In addition, the Pentagon, at the very highest level, has gone to great lengths to quash public discussion of the Able Danger findings. DOD actions to cover up the Able Danger data include gagging, muzzling and threatening Able Danger team members, last-minute cancellation of permission for team members to testify before Congressional committees looking into the affair, holding up promotions of military personnel, and in particular the vilification of LTC Shaffer, a Bronze Star-awarded twenty-two year veteran of the US Army Reserve, after he went public with the Able Danger story despite Pentagon opposition.

The DOD Inspector General probe began at the behest of Representative Curt Weldon, (R-Pennsylvania) who was upset by the Pentagon retribution aimed at LTC Shaffer. Weldon, vice-chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and an avowed supporter of the Bush Administration, surprisingly went to war with the Pentagon and his own party in an effort to bring the truth about the Able Danger program to light.
Weldon's efforts finally resulted in hearings last week before the House Armed Services Committee. Although much testimony was offered only in closed session, Undersecretary of Defense Stephen Cambone did partially testify in open session. Notably, Cambone called the Able Danger program "an enormous success" - a far cry from the previous Pentagon stance that there was little of value discovered by the program.

Representative Weldon continues to push for full disclosure of what he has termed "a massive cover up much bigger than that of Watergate."

Bush Is Afraid to Nix the UAE Deal

2006-03-02T16:42:00.000-08:00

Bush would rather insult the American people intelligence than to say NO to the UAE deal. I wonder why is that?

The oil-rich United Arab Emirates is a major investor in The Carlyle Group, the private equity investment firm where President Bush’s father once served as senior adviser and is a who’s who of former high-level government officials. Just last year, Dubai International Capital, a government-backed buyout firm, invested in an $8 billion Carlyle fund.

Another family connection, the president’s brother, Neil Bush, has reportedly received funding for his educational software company from the UAE investors. A call to his company was not returned.

Another administration connection, President Bush chose a Dubai Ports World executive to head the U.S. Maritime Administration. David Sanborn, the former director of Dubai Ports’ European and Latin American operations, he was tapped just last month to lead the agency that oversees U.S. port operations.

Then there is the cabinet connection. Treasury Secretary John Snow was chairman of railroad company CSX/. After he left the company for the White House, CSX sold its international port operations to Dubai Ports World for more than a billion dollars.
In Connecticut today, Snow told reporters he had no knowledge of that CSX sale. “I learned of this transaction probably the same way members of the Senate did, by reading about it in the newspapers.”

Is Bush going to scare the American people into "accepting" this deal by making us think UAE will retaliate by bombing us?

Is the Bush admistration Pimping itself?

Bush has done a good job of indoctrinating us with Fear, Terrorism, and Bombings. Now he wants us to forget those words and accept this deal. Is Bush SCHIZOPHRENIC.

Cheney May Be Coming to Rock Hill

2006-03-02T16:30:00.000-08:00

Is Vice President Dick Cheney coming to Rock Hill?
A blog post on the Washington Post Web site says yes, as does a top official with the S.C. Republican Party.
According to the washingtonpost.com politics blog "The Fix" and Scott Malyerck, executive director of the S.C. Republican Party, Cheney is scheduled to be in Rock Hill later this month to attend a fundraiser for Ralph Norman, a state representative and Republican congressional candidate. Norman is seeking to claim the 5th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives now held by Democrat John Spratt.
Malyerck told The Herald on Wednesday his understanding was that the visit was set for March 17. But Jennifer Mayfield, a spokeswoman in Cheney's office in Washington, would not confirm the visit.
"We don't have anything to announce," she said.
Nathan Hollifield, Norman's campaign manager, said he could not comment.
"If the vice president's people don't have anything to announce at this point, then we don't either," he said.
Norman himself also was tightlipped Wednesday.
"I can't comment either ... that's pretty much out of our control," he said of Cheney's schedule.
Robert Hopkins, district coordinator for Spratt's Rock Hill office, said it is "not surprising" to see Cheney come to York County because "the White House recruited Ralph Norman."
Norman, 52, a developer and first-term state legislator, was recruited by top Republicans and is considered the party's best chance to defeat the veteran Spratt, who party leaders say is vulnerable because the district is becoming increasingly Republican.
But York County's top Democrat said Republican gaffes -- with Cheney at the fore -- have eroded Republican popularity and support.
"The Republicans, with Cheney's leadership, have gotten us in a mess in Iraq and in a mess with the budget deficit," said Jim Morton, chairman of the York County Democratic Party. "The administration's backing of Ralph Norman does not hurt John Spratt."
Spratt has held the 5th District seat since 1982. Malyerck said a Cheney visit would show how important Spratt's seat is to Republicans.
"My guess is later this year we may see Air Force One land in South Carolina somewhere," he said. "What it shows is the importance of this race and how John Spratt is a key target for Republicans nationally."
Republican Park Gillespie of Clover is also seeking the nomination to face Spratt.

In age of terror, U.S. fears tunnels pose bigger threat

2006-03-02T16:22:00.000-08:00

SAN DIEGO — Special Agent Frank Marwood was showing a visitor the half-mile long, 80-foot deep smuggler's tunnel his agents discovered beneath the U.S.-Mexican border at Otay Mesa when his cellphone interrupted.

An agent was reporting in with a startling new find: another tunnel, this one shorter and more crudely built, but big enough to provide yet another subterranean port of entry into the USA.
These are busy days for the men and women who guard the nation's border — particularly for the team of federal agents charged with rooting out border tunnels.
The tunnel Marwood learned of last month was the 35th federal agents have found since Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorist attacks gave a new urgency to the search.
While drug smuggling and illegal immigration have long been border concerns, the threat of international terrorists entering the USA by burrowing under the border has made the effort to detect tunnels a national security priority.
"Of course they could" be used by terrorists, Marwood says of the tunnels his team unearths. "The potential is there, and that makes it unacceptable."
"It's a transnational threat," says Lt. Col. Steve Baker, an Army engineer who is part of a military effort to support the tunnel search. "You don't know that they're just bringing drugs through there."
No federal law prohibits building such tunnels. On Wednesday, a group of senators and House members introduced a bill that would make it a federal crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison to build or finance such tunnels. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she pushed the idea after Marwood gave her a tour of the tunnel here.
"What I found was amazing: a sophisticated tunnel, with lights, ventilation, pumps and a concrete floor," she said. "This really illustrates the danger — that smugglers will use these tunnels to subvert our border checkpoints, trafficking drugs, humans and weapons under the border."
Marwood, 54, is deputy special agent in charge of the San Diego office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security. He is also in charge of the ad hoc task force of half a dozen agents from ICE, the Drug Enforcement Adminstration and the Border Patrol who have been detailed to work together to find and stop the tunnelers.
Agents from the three agencies agreed to set up the team three years ago and operate out of an office in a nondescript building among the many featureless industrial buildings and warehouses near a border crossing at Otay Mesa.
The team was created not on orders from Washington but out of concerns from agents. The Border Patrol officers were discovering tunnels when their trucks sunk into the dirt after the ground had collapsed over shallow passages.
The discovery in January of the sophisticated tunnel brought attention to the team's efforts and the remarkable string of discoveries over the past 4½ years.
The big Otay Mesa tunnel — with 220-volt cables and pumps for water drainage — likely took more than a year to build, Marwood said. It required sophisticated engineering and moving hundreds of truckloads of dirt. The money it would take to build it suggests it was financed by drug smugglers, he says.
Agents brought in sniffing equipment to test the tunnel for radiation and biohazards. They were relieved when the tests suggested no nuclear, chemical or biological weapons had been conveyed.
The tunnel discoveries raise the question, however, of how such large-scale construction projects can go undetected in a technological age when sonar and other methods can spot mineral veins or treasures of ancient civilizations.

Republican controlled Congress abdicated its Job

2006-03-02T15:57:00.000-08:00

We wouldn't be in this quagmire over the ports, if The Republican controlled Cogress had done its jobe instead of following behind Cheney and Rove Admistration (Bush was and is AWOL) like LEMMINGS.

Republicans now are distancing themselves from Bush because of midterm elections. They should have distanced themselves before now. This is much too little too late.

The Republicans want "to show" they are listening to their constituents when they have been tone deaf from the start of this administration in '02.

Howling by the Republicans over this one issue is to show their constituents they GET IT so they can be re-elected. This should not be allowed to happen as long as Bush is in office.

There have been too many misques for both Bush and the Republicans.

Hurricane Katrina, Cheney's shooting, Privatization of Social Security, Bush's "slam dunk" Iraq War.

Bush wants to change the emphasis of why we went to war for WMD to giving democracy to people who never asked for it in Iraq. Bush shsouldn't be allowed to change WHY we went to war in Iraq. That is rewritting history ( borrrowing Bush's words).

If Bush is so TOUGH on National Security, Then Why?

2006-03-02T15:31:00.000-08:00

Why isn't every container which comes into our ports screeened?

Oh yes, the Administration will say that to screen every container would stop the international commerce system. Bah!

Japan screens 100% of containers which come in its port. If we are so adept and smart then why do we only scrreen 5%?

Something is greatly amiss here. Either the trumpeters of this fallacy are "tone deaf" or Japan exaggerates.

Remember Japan makes reliable and affordable cars, something Detroit has forgotten how to do.

Bush would say that UAE has made "progress" on terrorism. However, how much is progress, what is progress, and how much will progress continue by UAE. Does progress by UAE means it went from 1% to 4%, is that progress? Once this deal is consummated, does progress stop by UAE afterall, UAE would have the cookie it wants?

Where was National Seurity on this deal? Where was Bush? If Cheney is so good on foreign policy, where was his voice? Oh yes, Cheney was out shooting his friends in the face.

CheNey Is On the "OUTS" with Bush

2006-03-02T15:22:00.000-08:00

How so you ask?

Notice Bush is selling out Ports to UAE and not, Halliburton.

Joran, Where Are Your Sneakers?

2006-03-01T18:56:00.000-08:00

I hope Greta ask Joran why were his sneakers even off his feet to be left at the beach. Then, why did he leave them? If nothing happened why didn't he have time to put them back on? Even if his ride came, why didn't he tell his ride, wait I need to get my sneakers?

Even if Joran didn't "murder" Natalee, he had something to do with her disappearance. If not him then His father Paulus did it.

Pauis and Anita didn't want him to do the interview with Greta. Yes, even his lawyer.

Is Joran so psychom he thinks he is smarter than all the police, lawyers, and viewers?

The ABC Primetime Interview Offers Nothing New

2006-03-01T18:42:00.000-08:00

American viewers are being given the opportunity to hear Joran van der Sloot, “up close and personal” on PrimeTime on ABC. The interview, which has received much promotion, and conducted by Chris Cuomo, offers nothing new to anyone following the Natalee Holloway case.
It’s another opportunity for Joran and his family to present their side of the night Natalee disappeared. But, it is a familiar story. He claims they were together, cuddled, left her on the beach. He offers his remorse for leaving her, but contends he did nothing more, and knows nothing more about what happened to her.
While there is always value in actually hearing from those directly involved in an investigation, viewers, who have not followed the case, will be hard pressed to determine from this interview what is truthful and what is not.
For Aruban investigators, the interview and the tape of Joran gambling with Natalee and her friends, offers nothing of new value.
It has always been known that:
1. Joran met her before Carlos and Charlie’s.2. He was the last to be with her.3. His claims he left her alive.
Investigators were not aided by the civil case filed by John Kelly. The information presented was based on some facts, conjecture and anecdotes. All of what was known and claimed to the Aruban investigation team.
All of the competing agendas are not yielding any information that will further the investigation in any obvious manner. The agendas include:
1. The Holloway Twitty need to pressure the van der Sloots and continue to impose pressure on Aruban authorities through a carefully orchestrated media campaign.
2. The efforts of the van der Sloot family to reclaim the image of son Joran and force his exoneration by the Dutch courts.
3. The publicity needs of book agent Larry Garrison on behalf of David Holloway’s upcoming book.
4. The continuing need of US cable programs to use the story to hold onto slipping viewer interest.
All of these agendas do not coincide with the direct efforts of the investigation team to continue to put together a case that will point to what actually happened to Natalee Holloway and whether or not someone is criminally responsible for her disappearance and probable demise.
In that regard, efforts continue to construct the case, including an expected renewal of excavation of a plot of land in the dunes by the Lighthouse.

Civil Suit has no impact on Aruba Case

2006-03-01T18:38:00.000-08:00

The filing of a civil suit by the Holloway-Twitty family against Joran and Paulus van der Sloot does not alter the case of the prosecution in Aruba. In fact, the suit has no new information to add to the investigation.
The suit’s allegations are a mix of known events, facts, and anecdotes that are unsubstantiated. And there is no reference to witnesses or corroboration for most of the charges. Still, the standards of proof in a civil case are less than in a criminal proceeding.
The suit seeks to establish New York as the city of jurisdiction and compel Paulus and Joran to testify in the case, if a New York judge agrees to the jurisdictional claim. New York attorneys like Mickey Sherman, an experienced litigator in those courts, believes it is unlikely jurisdiction will be granted, or that if granted the case will be accepted.
In any case, a civil case cannot compel the van der Sloots to return to New York to appear. Nor is it clear that if the case is accepted, and a judgment imposed, that under Dutch law it will hold force in Aruba.
While John Q. Kelly is best known for his civil case in the OJ Simpson case, where he successfully represented the victim’s family, this is hardly analogous.
O.J. was charged with murder, tried, and acquitted. In this case, charges have yet to be brought, the investigation is continuing, and no judgment to guilt or innocence has been made.
So, while this suit made for great drama and moved the case back into the public’s eye, it has not offered any new evidence or insight into the conduct of the investigation in Aruba.

Van Der Sloot and Holloway Twitty Families Battle Over GMA Interview

2006-03-01T18:27:00.000-08:00

The highly promoted interview with Paulus and Anita van der Sloot brought nothing new to the investigation of their son Joran’s involvement in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. In fact, ABC’s Good Morning America had to agree to enough strigent conditions in the interview that it could only be what it was, a parents’ support of their son.
The family has always contended that Joran’s only flaw was leaving Natalee, alive he said, on the beach that fateful night. So they had an opportunity to repeat that to a national audience, after being promoted in a SuperBowl promotion. ABC never intended to make news with the interview, only to drive an audience to the Good Morning America program at the start of their February rating period.
Also as expected the Holloway Twitty family forcefully denounced the couple for their views and offered again that Paulus himself had a role in the disappearance of their daughter. Attorney John Kelly remarked that Joran is and has always been the key to finding out what happened that evening.
In sum, a ratings grabber used to good advantage by both ABC and the van der Sloots. But, it brought nothing new to the understanding of what happened the night she disappeared.
Investigation Continues
As reported over the last weeks, the investigation continues along the lines projected by the prosecution. The Alabama teens were questioned and the results are now in investigators’ hands. Other witnesses in Aruba have come forward, some have been re-interviewed. A dig by the dunes at the Lighthouse did commence. And files have been reviewed in Holland by Karen Janssen.
Also the prosecutor assigned by Theresa Croes, Attorney General, is completing an independent review of the case to be presented to the prosecutor.
All of this suggests an attention to detail and a firm commitment to compile all evidence and testimony in the hope that a case can be constructed to present to the court.
A “wait and see” mood by the Holloway Twitty family
Unlike other periods in the course of the investigation, the Holloway Twitty family seems prepared to “wait and see” what results from this current phase of the inquiry. There is much less acrimony, no talk of boycotts, and attorney John Kelly admits he is getting the briefings he needs to inform the family.
Only Beth Twitty, herself, seems intent, when at a loss for any new information, to ask viewers to call their representatives to pressure Aruba. She continues to claim that such pressure will somehow acclerate the process. Even her attorney, always calm in the center of this storm, has backed away from such efforts, because he sees that work is beng actively pursued to come up with a case.
Still, the level of acrimony and the sense of anger has been diluted by the aggressive pursuit of the case by prosecutors.

Bush: Locked out of Cheney's Secret Reindeer Games

2006-03-01T17:59:00.000-08:00

Bush going to veto any legislation against Dubai Port Deal that he saud he heard about 4 days later?

Bush was late on Katrina. There is a video out thats shows he knew and knew in details. Even Brown said there would be a catastrophe within a castastrophe.

He was late on Cheney shooting while drunk.
He nominates Harriet Miers who looked uncomfortable being there. She smiled pretty.

Bush's "slamdunk " Iraq War is turning horribly wrong. I notice that Bush is now making this a War to give the Iraq people democracy they didnt ask for. This war was suppose to be about WMD and terror. So when did the emphasis change?

I am shocked that Christian Republicans would support a man, s christian, a President who is so far out of the loop and tells lies. For them to support this president and not tell him the truth and even allow him to tell lies to the citizens of America, they don't deserve to be reelected. If they should call Bush on his lies NOW, its not for the Americans but to save their political skin. That is being disingenuos. If they had done their jobs before we wouldn't be mired in the tawdry mess that is Bush Adminstration.

How much incompetence are we going to tolerate from this aministration and Congress? How long?

Is Bush locked out of those secret meetings Cheney holds?

For an adminstration talking tough on Nationala Security, it is LATE at every juncture and President Bush is looking like an idiot. Do you really feel safe?
Dies Cheney lock Bush out of those secret meeeting on "National Security"?

Cheney and His National Security

2006-03-01T17:54:00.000-08:00

So, Vice President Cheney, a man who uses national security to hide every decision, every meeting, every dirty trick he can, has again moved one of his drinking bouts.

Dan Riehl Got His Boxers In A Knot Again

2006-03-01T17:50:00.000-08:00

Let me repeat something real fucking fast. Knock offthe bullshit all around. I'll send a gotdamned Christian Scientist to your door and YOU don't wantthat. Now stick to the topic and leave thepersonalities OUT of it. Everyone.OUT!Posted by: Dan Tuesday, February 28, 2006 at 11:08PM

President Bush Offered a Challenge

2006-03-01T17:45:00.000-08:00

President Bush has put forth a challenge tonight that I simply can’t ignore. The president yesterday said he wanted those who are critical and questioning of this port deal to “step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a Great British company.”
Well, first of all, Mr. President, to equate any country to your principal partner in the coalition ignores that special relationship this country’s enjoyed with the United Kingdom for decades and decades. This also is not just a British company and an Arab company, as I think you well know.
Peninsula and Oriental Steam Navigation is a British privately owned company. Dubai Ports World is a UAE government controlled and owned company. You see the difference, of course.
And furthermore, the money used to fund the 9/11 attacks, most of it, in fact, was sent to the hijackers through the UAE banking system. In fact, two of the hijackers were originally from the UAE.
The UAE stonewalled U.S. efforts to track al Qaeda bank accounts after 9/11. In addition, the Emirates does not recognize Israel as a sovereign state. And the UAE was a transfer point for shipments of nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya.
And if those aren’t good enough reasons, I would just suggest I’m at a complete loss to offer what might be considered good reasons.

Bush and Dubai Ports

2006-03-01T17:04:00.000-08:00

Bush allows firms to dictate security at our ports. Isn't that like letting the fox decide whoch chicken it wants to eat.
Congress Ed Markey introduced a bill to have 100% if the containers inspected. Shot down. Shot down before the ink was dry.

Is Congress still living in the pre 9/11 era as Rove said of Democrats?
Bush, Chertkoff, and Rumsfeld said they didn't know anything about this deal.
Who is running things?

Bush said he would veto any legislature against this deal which he said he didn't know about until it hit the news stands.

Who is the president? Hello? Do we have an informed president or just a lemming?

Is Bush still living in the pre 9/11 era as Rove said of the Democrats?

Bushitarianism: defined as policing every aspect of public and private behavior while doing it all in secrecy in the guise of democracy /religion and protecting USA from terrorism

Bush and Hurricane Katrina Video

2006-03-01T16:44:00.000-08:00

Bush is shown on video tape being briefed about Hurricane Katrina and its destructive path.
Bush, 4 days, said "I don't thin anyone could have anticipated a breach of the levees. " Michael Brown can be heard saying he believed in his gut the levees would be breached.
Brown can be heard telling Bush not enough disaster teams.Also Brown was concerned about a catastrophe within a catastrophe.

Does this reborn Christian, who is George Bush, ever tell the truth?

Who Owns Our Debt?

2006-02-28T17:33:00.000-08:00

We have borrowed alot of money from the Saudis, so if this deal on Debai doesn't go through will the Saudis as for their money? Is this why Bush is vowing to veto a deal who said he doesn't know anything about?

Do you think that Bush is afraid the Saudis will call in the debt? Is that intimidation by the Saudis or fear by Bush?

If its intidation by the Saudis, isn't that like terrorism? In order to keep the Saudis from dumping our debt we have to open our ports to them and let terrorist in.

If this is fear by Bush isn't that being LAX on Terrorism?

Why did Bush let his middle manager decide this HOTBED deal without consulting him?

Bush is showing his and his administration's incompetence. How low can it go?

Will Cheney Retire After Mid Term Elections?

2006-02-28T17:23:00.000-08:00

It's trial balloon time: the conservative magazine Insight, published by the company that puts out The Washington Times, has the latest now-it-can-be-told by our-sources report suggesting Vice President Dick Cheney could bow out after the mid-term elections.And it seems this story is linked to Cheney's upcoming legal problems, with the "i-word" being raised. Bottom line: it sounds as if some are nervous about what the rest of the year holds for Cheney and want to extricate the White House and GOP from him.

This story qualifies as a classic message-sender/trial balloon story.Clearly, some faction within the White House is trying to send out a message to Cheney (Time to think about packing your bags and PLEASE take that shotgun with you when you go) or to Republicans (We may be going down in the polls so low now that weeds are starting to grow around us but if we Dump Dick we can reinvigorate the White House AND get a fresh-face in place who will then have a good chance to win in 2008).But make no mistake about it: this isn't likely a story that was invented by a refugee from a tabloid. It's a send-em-a-message story:
Vice President Dick Cheney is expected to retire within a year.A pretty definitive statement. It means the source is a good one.
Senior GOP sources envision the retirement of Mr. Cheney in 2007, months after the congressional elections. The sources said Mr. Cheney would be persuaded to step down as he becomes an increasing political liability to President Bush.Could the initials be DB or KR? But it's "senior GOP sources" so could it be BF? Or even GHWB?
The sources reported a growing rift between the president and vice president as well as their staffs. They cited Mr. Cheney's failure to immediately tell the president of the accidental shooting of the vice president's hunting colleague earlier this month. The White House didn't learn of the incident until 18 hours later.Translation: Cheney aide Mary Matalin might want to start sending out her resume ASAP. The White House is not pleased about how Cheney's wounding a hunting friend played out.
Mr. Cheney's next crisis could take place by the end of the year, the sources said. They said the White House was expecting Mr. Cheney to defend himself against charges from his former chief of staff, Lewis Libby, that the vice president ordered him to relay classified information. Such a charge could lead to a congressional investigation and even impeachment proceedings.The key here is that LAST phrase: there are fears (at least in the part of the White House or GOP where the magazine's source works) that Cheney will face impeachment hearings.
"Nothing will happen until after the congressional elections," a GOP source said. "After that, there will be significant changes in the administration and Cheney will probably be part of that."And now the speculation will begin on who Bush will pick to replace Cheney. One of the more peculiar aspects of our democracy that still seems rooted in royalty is that the presidential party's political candidate or the President gets to handpick the Vice Presidential candidate or new Vice President. The party and Congress invariably ratify it.

read more here http://www.themoderatevoice.com/posts/1141114674.shtml

Congress Slapped State Department

2006-02-28T16:46:00.000-08:00

CONGRESS just slapped the State Department hard over its willful failure to put the nations safety ahead of sucking up to the Saudies.
The new Homeland Security law enacts stricter visa controls people wishing to gain entry to the United States from one and only one country: Saudi Arabia. The only folks who lobbied against that policy were State Department officials, who often do the bidding of the Saudi royal family.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...

Lobbyist Turns Senator but Twists Same Arms

2006-02-28T16:38:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 — It might be said that Senator John Thune went through the revolving door — backward.

As a lobbyist in 2003 and 2004, Mr. Thune earned $220,000 from the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad, a small but ambitious company in South Dakota. The railroad hopes to rebuild and rehabilitate 1,300 miles of track, the nation's largest proposed railroad expansion in more than a century.
Now, as a junior senator from South Dakota, Mr. Thune is working to make that happen, raising questions about whether there should be curbs on lobbyists-turned-lawmakers in the same way that there are on those who take the more traditional route of leaving Capitol Hill for K Street.
Last year, his first in the Senate, Mr. Thune wrote language into a transportation bill expanding the pot of federal loan money for small railroads, enabling his former client to apply for $2.5 billion in government financing for its project. The loan has yet to be approved; Mr. Thune said he was trying to promote economic development in his home state.
"I don't apologize, and never will," said Mr. Thune, a Republican, "for working for South Dakota companies that are creating South Dakota jobs."

There are no legal restrictions on the legislative activities of former lobbyists who get elected to Congress. But in the wake of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal and the subsequent focus on ethics, Mr. Thune's experience has put a spotlight on what some experts call "the reverse revolving door."
The issue is among those likely to be debated on Tuesday, when the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration meets to draft changes to the lobbying law. Senator Mark Dayton, Democrat of Minnesota and a member of the rules committee, is furious with Mr. Thune over the rail project, and intends to propose language imposing a two-year ban on lawmakers' getting "personally and substantially" involved in matters affecting former clients.
"This makes some of the Jack Abramoff deals look like penny ante," said Mr. Dayton, who has a prominent constituent, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., that is fighting the rail expansion. "It's the most despicable special-interest deal I've ever seen in all my 30 years in government."
Independent experts do not go that far, and Mr. Thune, a former House member and former South Dakota state railroad director, has a long history with railroad issues. Yet some outside experts agree with Mr. Dayton that a cooling-off period for former lobbyists is necessary.
Currently, lawmakers and Congressional aides are barred from lobbying former colleagues on Capitol Hill for one year after leaving public office. On Tuesday, Senator Trent Lott, Republican of Mississippi and the chairman of the rules committee, is expected to propose legislation that would go further, rescinding House and Senate floor privileges for former lawmakers who become registered lobbyists.
Mr. Lott's bill does not address the issue of lobbyists who get elected to Congress. But Keith Ashdown, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a government watchdog group, said lobbyists-turned-lawmakers should step aside from legislation involving former clients.
And James Thurber, an expert in money and politics at American University in Washington who has testified before the rules panel, said candidates should not lobby for a year before Election Day.
"If they're going to be running for the Senate or the House they should not be lobbying right up to the election," Professor Thurber said, adding: "The conflict of interest is too serious. In a representative democracy, you have to be very careful about cutting off the linkages to specialized interests while you're in office, as well as just before you get in office and after you leave."
According to public records and a list compiled by Professor Thurber, at least eight current members of Congress worked as lobbyists before being elected. Some, like Mr. Thune and Representative Dan Lungren, Republican of California, became lobbyists during a hiatus in public service.
Mr. Lungren, a former House member and California attorney general, worked as a lobbyist from the late 1990's until he returned to the House in 2005. Mr. Thune, who retired from the House in 2002, began lobbying after he lost his bid for a Senate seat that year. He continued through 2004, when he ran again and won.

read more here http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/28/politics/28lobby.html

James Zogsby Playing the Race Card

2006-02-28T15:46:00.000-08:00

James Zogsby, founder of Arab-American Institute, doesn't want bigotry against Arabs but where was he for Blacks or Afro-Americans, or even the Mexicans of this country? Oh yes thoseethnic groups don't count as they don't own anything. Then either he is against bigotry all together or he is against bigotry where he is paid by some to denounce it. Back to prostitution.

Republicans Fury

2006-02-28T15:16:00.000-08:00

Bush Admistration has done things in such away as to tell Republicans do it like the Administration wants or its the highway. For the longest the Republicans have followed keeping in step with the beating drum. Now they are rebelling.

Bush is losing support of the Republican Party.

Bush has done many things without keeping the senior Republican leaders apprised of its doing. Cheney loves secrecy and Bush is a lackey to that secrecy.

Republicans are now hearing from their constiuents and the sounds heard aren't soft and comforting. Republican leadership is much like prostitution. Seeling their support to the best paying "john." The Republicans are going to get a AIDS from their johns. They need to stop selling theor votes. Some have thats why the furor.

Sen Susan Collins, chairman of Senate's homeland security is one who is furious over this deal as most Americans.

Bush Is Scaring Us on Homeland Security

2006-02-28T14:48:00.000-08:00

For George Bush to be president, he knows very little that is happening in his Administration. Bush came out to say he would veto on the Dubai Ports deal, but admitted a day later he didn't know anything about the deal. How can that be?

Bush has drummed into us he is HARD on Terrorism to gain support on his "slam dunk" Iraq War. We fight terrorism over there so we don't fight terrorism here. However, now He is inviting terrorism in this country by allowing Dubai to own or operate our ports. Who is Bush working for US or the terrorists?

It is being played out over and over, Bush got the job not because he was competent but because he was a rich man's kid. Bush level of incompetence shows new lows.

Bush hides behind he didn't know.

He didn't know about about Katrina.
He didn't know about the Dubai Ports deal.
He didn't know about Cheneys "drunken" shooting incident.

Bush is now saying that if the deal doesn't go forth then we lose the airspace for our planes for Bush's Iraq War in Dubai. Isn't this blackmail?

That we would lose an ally. Isn't that blackmail?

Dubai used to support al Queda. Whose to say Dubai wouldn't retyrn to supporting this organization?

Bush is PUTTING the fox in the chicken coop.

NSA Surveillance Scandal

2006-02-28T14:19:00.000-08:00

Democratic Senate Judiciary Committee members send U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales a list of six (6) questions in advance of the Committee’s February 6, 2006 hearing concerning the NSA’s surveillance authority, including requests for all documents and correspondence between President Bush’s Administration and Congress from September 11 through and including September 14, 2001 concerning “the Authorization for Use of Military Force.”

see more here http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/nsa/djudgonz12706ltr.html

Are Reporters Too Wary of Bush and Republicans

2006-02-27T16:42:00.000-08:00

Renana Brooks, a clinical psychologist practicing in Washington who said she had counseled several White House correspondents, said the last few years had given rise to "White House reporter syndrome," in which competitive high achievers feel restricted and controlled and become emotionally isolated from others who are not steeped in the same experience. She said the syndrome was evident in the Cheney case, which she described as an inconsequential event that produced an outsize feeding frenzy. She said some reporters used the occasion to compensate for not having pressed harder before the Iraq war. "It's like any post-traumatic stress," she said, "like when someone dies and you think you could have saved them."“White House reporter syndrome?” The doctor is in.

Let's see now, the VP shot someone; didn't report it until it was too late to test for alcohol; blamed the victim initially; and then magnanimously took the blame later once the damage control was completed. To say this was an inconsequential story shows the psychologist's bias; that someone would post this nonsense shows bias. It's all so convenient... the reporters have a syndrome of some sort. Why, how could it be otherwise? How unreasonable for them to be wary of a presidential spokesman who insults a leading senator by referring to them as 'yodelling?' Where was this site's psycho-babble calling Scot McClelan immature and unprofessional? Or where was the psycho-babble analyzing a president who is borderline illiterate and incapable of substantive thought? Where was the analysis pointing out GWB behaves like he has tunnel-vision and is so overwhelmed by events he retreats into soundbites he thinks he understands? Of course, what can we expect of 'reporters' who think alternative perspectives are not needed since we can trust panels exclusively made up of republicans and conservatives? I

Bush and Dubai: Is This Being Tough on Terrorism?

2006-02-27T16:23:00.000-08:00

The debate over the administration's decision to bless a $6.8 billion dollar port security bill intensified this morning, with Homeland Security Chief Chertoff defending the deal. I'd like first to provide some background on the deal which is receiving little attention from critics of the takeover. Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation, a U.K. company, currently controls the U.S. ports in question. Those ports are located in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. It's the fourth largest port company in the world. The shareholders of that company agreed to the deal, in which Dubai Ports World (DP World) would pay $6.8 billion to take over that company. (DP world has since announced it will take out a loan to finance the cash deal). The Bush administration gave the green light to the deal. This deal makes DP World the third largest port operator in the world. Before the deal, it was the seventh largest.

Port security is the neglected middle child of our national security debate. Only some 5% of containers coming into the U.S. are inspected. According to 2004 figures, in the three years after 9/11, we spent about $500 million on port security. That's what we spend every 3 days in Iraq. The Coast Gaurd has estimated it needs about $5.6 billion to make our ports "minimally secure"--meaning having locks on gates, security cameras, basic access control, etc. The Bush administration has barely even begun to fund that. So when we finally get the chance to have a public debate on port security, we should make sure it's an informed one and one aimed at best securing the safety of the American people.

Now, let me make it clear. The government of Singapore has an interest in PSA, Port of Singapore, which does operate various U.S. ports. Its interest is via Temasek Holdings, a Singapore government investment agency. But I think it's one thing to have an investment interest in a company and quite another to have the foreign state controlling the company. One of main criticisms of the Dubai deal centers on sovereignty. The CEO of DP World is Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, who works directly for the Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. For all the U.S. regulations DP World will have to follow, for all the safety it may be able to guarantee us, the fact remains a foreign government will hold our physical and economic safety in its hands.

Unlike Singapore, this is a government that formally recognized the Taliban. One of the emirates in the UAE was essentially the center for al-Qaeda's illegal financial dealings, with hundreds of thousands of dollars flowing from the UAE to the 9/11 hijackers. (For a comprehensive list of UAE-9/11 links, click here). On the one hand, Bush never fails to remind us of the 9/11 hijackers, and on the other hand, he wants America to forget that some of those hijackers were UAE nationals. Of course, no one is implicating the government that controls DP World as having been aware or facilitating these connections. The truth is that since 9/11, that government has dramatically clamped down on terrorism and suspicious financial dealings within its borders.
But how can a President who so readily invokes 9/11 be so quick to forget its lessons? The review of DP World was incomplete, at least incomplete to satisfy the public uneasiness about having this foreign nation--with so many ties to the darkest of days--securing the lives of millions of Americans. The President has spent so much PR money and effort scaring Americans into thinking terrorists will strike again, that he has now boxed himself in when he desires to give DP World a stake in our national security. No matter how trustworthy that company is, Americans are simply not comfortable with having a Middle eastern country control our ports. It may be irrational, but that is a political reality the President must deal with.
The company itself may be adequately qualified for the job, but there are other considerations which must be wieghed. Just a couple years ago, our embassy in Abu Dhabi was shutdown to a terrorist threat. What happens if DP World, because of its new interest in the United States, becomes a target? What will occur if those 6 ports have to be shut down because of a terrorist threat? As Commander Flynn explained, even a two-week shutdown of U.S. ports "will collapse the global trade system." It's all speculation, of course, but these factors merit serious consideration and a robust public debate before we hand our security over to this company.
What is unquestionably one of the most important decisions about our national security was made by the same cabal that has long ago lost our trust on such matters. The decision was made in secret, without a full investigation and without the input of those who will be most affected by this deal. If this administration has the temerity to invoke 9/11 at every press conference and speech, then let it show us that why we can feel trust a foreign government to prevent another such attack.

Cheney Exposed? White House "Discovers" 250 Emails Related to Plame Leak

2006-02-27T16:12:00.000-08:00

The White House turned over last week 250 pages of emails from Vice President Dick Cheney's office senior aides had sent in the spring of 2003 related to the leak of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald revealed during a federal court hearing Friday.

The emails are said to be explosive, and may prove that Cheney played an active role in the effort to discredit Plame Wilson's husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a vocal critic of the Bush administration's prewar Iraq intelligence, sources close to the investigation said. Sources close to the probe said the White House "discovered" the emails two weeks ago and turned them over to Fitzgerald last week. The sources added that the emails could prove that Cheney lied to FBI investigators when he was interviewed about the leak in early 2004. Cheney said that he was unaware of any effort to discredit Wilson or unmask his wife's undercover status to reporters.

Read More http://counterpunch.org/leopold02252006.html

UAE asked for Review and Not the White House

2006-02-27T15:48:00.000-08:00

I find it amazing that UAE asked for the 45 days review as declared by our law and not by the White House. What is going on here? The same White House that is so HARD on terrorism. The same WH that said we want to fight the terrorists in Iraq and not here.
Why is the White House so ready to break OUR Laws to allow this deal. We need to hold this administration for breaking our laws.
Also consider this, the deal is due to be finalized Mar 2, that is Dubai will take over ownership of 22 ports even as we "go" through this 45 day review. Something is amiss here.

Many flags have been raised including by the Coast Gaurd which said it was an intelligence failure.

Bill Frist went into closed door session and returned to the microphone to say he was satisfied with what he was told and that the deal should go forth. Was Bill Frist taken to the woodshed?

Susan Collins came from the same meeting and she said she is even more convinced that we should have more reviews and that Congress should have the final say and not the White House.

Our Government Is Selling Off Our Assests

2006-02-27T15:42:00.000-08:00

We have borrowed so much money from foreign countries and are in so much debt, consequently OUR government is selling off our assests.

Does anyone care?

DuBai Ports Connection Runs to Bush and Others

2006-02-27T15:34:00.000-08:00

The Lou Dobbs show, CNN, 2/22/06:

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The oil-rich United Arab Emirates is a major investor in The Carlyle Group, the private equity investment firm where President Bush’s father once served as senior adviser and is a who’s who of former high-level government officials. Just last year, Dubai International Capital, a government-backed buyout firm, invested in an $8 billion Carlyle fund.

But there’s much more:

Another family connection, the president’s brother, Neil Bush, has reportedly received funding for his educational software company from the UAE investors. A call to his company was not returned.

Snow: Who knew?
Then there is the cabinet connection. Treasury Secretary John Snow was chairman of railroad company CSX/. After he left the company for the White House, CSX sold its international port operations to Dubai Ports World for more than a billion dollars.
In Connecticut today, Snow told reporters he had no knowledge of that CSX sale. “I learned of this transaction probably the same way members of the Senate did, by reading about it in the newspapers.”
It just doesn’t stop:
Another administration connection, President Bush chose a Dubai Ports World executive to head the U.S. Maritime Administration. David Sanborn, the former director of Dubai Ports’ European and Latin American operations, he was tapped just last month to lead the agency that oversees U.S. port operations.
Conspiracy theory? Let’s follow the gagillions of dollars and let the players speak for themselves:
December 2002-February 2003: Carlyle Group Purchases CSX Lines, LLC
February 27, 2003#2003-07CSX and The Carlyle Group Complete Conveyance of CSX Lines
Jacksonville, FL, and Washington, DC - CSX Corporation (NYSE: CSX) and The Carlyle Group, a global private equity firm, announced today that they have completed the conveyance of CSX Lines, LLC, from CSX to a venture formed with The Carlyle Group. CSX received $300 million, consisting of $240 million in cash and $60 million of securities issued by the venture.
As part of the transaction announced December 17, 2002, former CSX Lines President and CEO Charles G. (Chuck) Raymond and his management team will lead the Charlotte, N.C.-based ocean carrier, now named Horizon Lines, LLC.
- Carlyle Group Website/Press Release
January 2003: Bush Nominates John Snow, Chairman and CEO of CSX to be Treasury Secretary
President George W. Bush nominated John William Snow to be the 73rd Secretary of the Treasury on January 13, 2003 . The United States Senate unanimously confirmed Snow to the position on January 30, 2003 and he was sworn into office on February 3, 2003 . As Secretary of the Treasury, Snow works closely with President Bush on a broad array of economy policy issues.
Before coming to Treasury, Snow was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CSX Corporation, where he successfully guided the global transportation company through a period of tremendous change.
- Treasury Dept. Website
December 2004: DP (Dubai Ports) World announces agreement to purchase CSX’s shipping terminals
In December 2004, DP World - International made it’s most ambitious move to-date, with the announcement that it had signed a definitive agreement with CSX Corporation to acquire the international terminal business conducted by CSX World Terminals and other related interests for a cash consideration of US$ 1.15bn, completion of this transaction is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2005.
The CSX World Terminals container terminal portfolio consists of interests in 9 terminals with 24 berths and a combined future capacity of 14.6 million TEU across operations in Asia, Europe, Australia and Latin America.
- DP World Website
December 2005 - Early 2006: DP World makes bid to purchase Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (“P&O”), a UK company that operates some US ports
The increased recommended cash offer is a revision to the terms of the original recommended proposals in respect of the Deferred Stock (the “Revised Proposals”). With the exception of the price and the timetable, the Revised Proposals are subject to the same terms and conditions which apply to the Deferred Scheme as set out in the document posted to P&O Stockholders on 20 December 2005 (the “Scheme Document”).
- DP World Press Release
“Scheme Document”? You really can’t make this shit up.
To sum it all up, Lou Dobbs lays the smackdown on the Chimp:
DOBBS:
President Bush has put forth a challenge tonight that I simply can’t ignore. The president yesterday said he wanted those who are critical and questioning of this port deal to “step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a Great British company.”
Well, first of all, Mr. President, to equate any country to your principal partner in the coalition ignores that special relationship this country’s enjoyed with the United Kingdom for decades and decades. This also is not just a British company and an Arab company, as I think you well know.
Peninsula and Oriental Steam Navigation is a British privately owned company. Dubai Ports World is a UAE government controlled and owned company. You see the difference, of course.
And furthermore, the money used to fund the 9/11 attacks, most of it, in fact, was sent to the hijackers through the UAE banking system. In fact, two of the hijackers were originally from the UAE.
The UAE stonewalled U.S. efforts to track al Qaeda bank accounts after 9/11. In addition, the Emirates does not recognize Israel as a sovereign state. And the UAE was a transfer point for shipments of nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya.
And if those aren’t good enough reasons, I would just suggest I’m at a complete loss to offer what might be considered good reasons.

Two Tiers, Slipping Into One

2006-02-27T15:15:00.000-08:00

R ICK DOTY is a 30-year veteran of Caterpillar, the big tractor and earth-moving equipment manufacturer. He is paid $23.51 an hour as a machinist, and he receives additional benefits worth almost as much. That sets him far above newly hired workers consigned to a much lower wage scale.
To these fellow workers, Mr. Doty, who is also a local union leader, struggles to justify an inequality that he helped to negotiate.
"I remind them they are making more now than they were before they came to Cat," said Mr. Doty, who spends part of his day at the one-story union hall of United Automobile Workers Local 974 arguing that $12 to $13 an hour is good pay here. "And I assure them that five years down the road, when the present contract expires, we in the union are going to improve their lot in life."
That does not seem likely. After more than a decade of failed strikes and job actions — mainly in Illinois, where Caterpillar has its biggest factories — the U.A.W. reluctantly accepted a two-tier contract that provides for significantly lower wages and benefits for newly hired employees. The new second tier is as much as $20 an hour below the cost of employing Mr. Doty, 50, and a dwindling band of other veterans.
As older workers depart, at Caterpillar and at other companies, the longstanding wage advantage that manufacturing workers enjoy over their counterparts in services or construction is shrinking fast. The trade-off is the promise of a manufacturing revival at long last in the old Rust Belt, as new hires come aboard at much lower labor costs.
"What we've done is reposition ourselves to actually grow employment in our Midwestern plants," said Jim Owens, Caterpillar's chief executive. "We finally have a labor cost that is viable."
Caterpillar is adding a significant chapter to the labor cost-cutting that is widespread in America, particularly at old-line manufacturing companies. Until recently, cutbacks in the wages and benefits of hourly workers were limited mostly to money-losing companies: failing steel mills, for example, and struggling airlines. They have said that their survival was at stake.
Now, however, even healthy and highly profitable companies like Caterpillar are engaging in the practice, and as they do so, the longstanding presumption that factory workers at successful companies can achieve a secure, relatively prosperous middle-class life for themselves and their families is evaporating.
"Caterpillar is a powerful symbol of this process," said Harley Shaiken, a labor economist at the University of California, Berkeley. "It dominates its field. It is one of America's largest exporters, and it is very profitable. If there ever was a company that could bring back the social contract of the mid-20th century, it is Caterpillar. But it chooses not to."
AS Caterpillar's managers see it, they have no choice. "There is a balance that must be struck between being competitive and being middle class," said Douglas R. Oberhelman, a group president. Although Caterpillar's factories are among the most productive in the world, the managers argue that the company cannot afford to be more generous simply because it is doing well right now.
"You could say that in good times you could afford a different kind of package and in bad times you couldn't," said Christopher E. Glynn, the director of corporate labor relations. "The real question is: What's competitive? And our target is competitiveness."
The new contract reflects the company's success in imposing a "market competitive" pay scale; that is, wages and benefits that attract enough qualified workers by being slightly better than the packages offered by others in each community or region where Caterpillar has operations.
In the Midwest market, the competitive wage-and-benefit package is about $23 an hour, on average, Mr. Glynn says. Caterpillar's package for new hires in the U.A.W. contract ratified 13 months ago is pegged above that, at $28 an hour, which includes about $9 an hour in benefits.
Only the most skilled workers in the new lower tier — electricians and machinists, for example — make more than $20 an hour, or $41,000 a year, while in the gradually expiring upper tier, everyone does, even unskilled laborers and shop helpers.

Texas Nonprofit Is Cleared After GOP-Prompted Audit

2006-02-27T09:37:00.000-08:00

Group Says Probe Was 'Political Retaliation' by DeLay Allies

The Internal Revenue Service recently audited the books of a Texas nonprofit group that was critical of campaign spending by former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) after receiving a request for the audit from one of DeLay's political allies in the House.
The lawmaker, House Ways and Means Committee member Sam Johnson (R-Tex.), was in turn responding to a complaint about the group, Texans for Public Justice, from Barnaby W. Zall, a Washington lawyer close to DeLay and his fundraising apparatus, according to IRS documents.

Johnson, a member of the subcommittee responsible for oversight of the tax agency, sparked the IRS's interest by telling IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson in a letter dated Aug. 3, 2004, that he had "uncovered some disturbing information" and received complaints of possible tax violations.
Johnson said he was sure the IRS would follow up. "I ask you to report back your findings of each of these investigations directly to me," he told Everson in the letter, according to a copy obtained by The Washington Post.
The IRS sent two auditors last year to comb the 2003 books of Texans for Public Justice and an affiliated foundation that collected donations for the organization. No tax violations were found, according to a letter the IRS sent the group.
But the circumstances behind the effort -- which were uncovered by the group's director and founder, Craig L. McDonald, using the Freedom of Information Act -- prompted him to allege that the audit was an abuse of the IRS's mandate. He said there was no evidence of wrongdoing in the complaints.
"This audit was political retaliation by Tom DeLay's cronies to intimidate us for blowing the whistle on DeLay's abuses," McDonald said. "Enlisting the IRS to intimidate critics is a dirty trick reminiscent of Richard Nixon. . . . It is not a crime to report a crime, as we did with DeLay."
IRS spokesman Terry Lemons said that federal law barred him from providing a detailed response. But he said, "The IRS makes its audit decisions based on the law. Political considerations do not play a role. We are an agency of career civil servants," excluding Everson and the IRS chief counsel.
Steven T. Miller, the senior IRS official in charge of tax-exempt organizations, said that though he could not address how Johnson's request was handled, referrals related to improper political activity generally must be judged reasonable by two career employees before an audit can proceed.
Texans for Public Justice, based in Austin, has been a thorn in the side of the state's politicians since its founding in 1997. It bills itself as "a non-partisan, non-profit policy and research organization which tracks the influence of money and corporate power in Texas politics." According to McDonald and the group's tax returns, about 45 percent of its $310,000 budget in 2003 came from individual donors. The rest came from an affiliated, tax-exempt group the IRS also audited, the Public Justice Foundation of Texas.
The group regularly publishes detailed reports on campaign spending and corporate lobbying. It is perhaps best known for its March 2003 allegation of illegal spending by corporations during DeLay's successful 2002 campaign for a Republican takeover of the Texas legislature -- claims that culminated last year in the indictment of DeLay and two campaign aides for money laundering and conspiracy to hide corporate donations.
The events leading to the IRS probe are laid out in documents the agency released to McDonald in response to his request for all records related to allegations of wrongdoing by the foundation. It began when Zall wrote a July 19, 2004, letter to Johnson complaining about the Texas nonprofit group and noting that the lawmaker had "jurisdiction to review the Internal Revenue Service's supervision of tax-exempt organizations," according to a copy.

read more here http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/26/AR2006022601227.html

Bush Plays the RACE Card on the PORTS

2006-02-27T06:27:00.000-08:00

Bush and the Republicans shouldn't talk about the race card as they played it very well against the blacks so should the Arabs be treated any better than the black citizens of America?

Bush played the RACE card with the the citizens of America in Hurricane Katrina. Now, he wants to say one race shouldn't be singled out for owning any of our ports.

Of course, the poor blacks or Afro Americans didn't have anything to line Bush and his cronies pockets so they were singled out or left out to beg for help or die in the flood.

Bush wants the Arabs in the loop as they can line his pockets.

It still boggles my mind that Bush vehemently said he would veto any legislation against the Dubai deal but a day later says, he DIDN"Y know anything about the deal.

How can a President veto something when he doesnt know about it?

Bush lies again or Bush is plain incompetent.

Bouquets, brickbats await Bush in the city of nawabs

2006-02-27T05:21:00.000-08:00

HYDERABAD, FEB 26: Hyderabad is the only city apart from Delhi that figures in the itinerary of US President George W Bush when he comes to India this week.
The city of nawabs, where Mr Bush will spend about four hours on Friday, is gearing up to impress upon the President to give it a Consulate status. It may be recalled the external affairs ministry had recently announced setting up of a Secretariat in Hyderabad — the first to be outside Delhi.

Owing to perceived threats from Jihadis and Naxalites, Mr Bush’s security has decided to take him to the various destinations in the city by air. The decision has relieved the Municipal Corporate of Hyderabad and the city police, who are expected to to ensure a smooth passage.
“We had planned to erect platforms for cheering groups to welcome the President at various traffic junctions,” a senior official involved in protocol said.
According to city police commissioner AK Mohanty, US Marine helicopters are being reassembled at Begumpet Airport amidst tight security, while another US airforce aircraft brought two container loads of special communication and surveillance equipment.
Unlike former president Bill Clinton’s visit to
Hyderabad in 2000, Mr Bush will hop over the city in a team of Sikorsky VH-3D helicopters specially brought for the purpose.
As per the tentative agenda, he will be meeting farmers and women leaders at the Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University. Later, he will visit the Indian School of Business, promoted by the elite of India Inc in collaboration with American B-schools, to have an interaction.
As the President flies around the town, First Lady Laura Bush is expected to visit two places out of five she prefers. She will be going around the city by road. Though not finalised, she will definitely visit Freedom Foundation — an asylum for orphan children whose parents died due to AIDS.
But while the government is all set to greet Mr Bush, his visit is expected to be marred by demonstrations and morchas by Communist parties and hardcore Muslim groups, who have announced a slew of protest programmes. The grand finale of the protest campaign will be on March 3. Some Muslim groups have already started organising signature campaigns to record their protest against Mr Bush’s visit to Hyderabad.

Bush Says He Is Tough on National Security, Is He?

2006-02-26T20:38:00.000-08:00

Bush wants the Iraq War and warrantless wiretapping to continue as that is being STRONG on National Security; however, Bush has done nothing about securing the Ports or the Borders.

People wise up. Bush has been lying to us since the start of the Iraq War.

The Holloway/Twitty Lawsuit Against Joran and Paulus Vander Sloot

2006-02-26T20:26:00.000-08:00

Beth Twitty and Dave Holloway vs Joran and Pualus Van Der Sloot Lawsuit

2006-02-26T19:00:00.000-08:00

http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/hway/hwayvds21606cmp.html

Jacko Lawyer Tom Mesereau Quits

2006-02-26T18:53:00.000-08:00

A year ago, Tom Mesereau was living large as Michael Jackson’s criminal defense attorney. As the prosecution offered witness after witness in the state of California’s child molestation case against Jackson, Mesereau won kudos for swatting each one away.
But the party is over. Yesterday, Mesereau and his partner Susan Yu resigned as Jackson’s attorneys. Since the end of the child molestation case last June, the pair had been representing Jackson in civil matters, including a $4 million lawsuit brought on by Jackson’s ex-business partner Marc Schaffel.
Last week, neither Mesereau nor Yu showed up for Schaffel’s deposition in that case — a sign that something was wrong. Yesterday, when Jackson’s longtime associate Evvy Tavasci was set to be deposed, Schaffel’s attorney Howard King received notice that the pair no longer represented Jackson.
Calls and e-mails to Mesereau and Yu were not returned last night, but the issue, sources say, is money. Like all of Jackson’s employees, the attorneys have not been paid.
Also leaving Jackson’s legal team is Houston attorney Michael Sydow. I told you a couple of weeks ago that Sydow was out, along with Brent Asycough, associate and friend of self-appointed Jackson lawyer and spokesperson, Brian Oxman.
In fact, Oxman and Mesereau have clashed for more than a year. At one point Mesereau managed to get Oxman fired from Jackson’s criminal defense, but Oxman resurfaced after the trial and continued to make public appearances on behalf of Jackson despite Mesereau’s warnings to stop.
Jackson has now run through so many attorneys in Beverly Hills and its environs that he may have exhausted the supply. He is now represented by Thomas Mundell of Westlake Village, Calif.
I’m told that in Schaffel’s deposition, as well as a few others in the same case, Mundell — no doubt highly qualified in most matters — was unprepared and did not have a full grasp of Jackson’s Byzantine world or the cast of characters who have come and gone in the last few years.
Interestingly, Jackson’s signature appears on the form changing attorneys, dated Feb. 21, 2003, which is odd since he’s been abroad since a one-day appearance in the U.S. on Nov. 23, 2005. Otherwise, Mesereau would only have seen Jackson in person at his own deposition in London last September at the Dorchester Hotel.
According to sources, Mesereau was so tired from the quick trip that he can be heard dozing on the videotape. Sydow did all of the talking, which didn’t amount to much in the way of objections. That nine-hour inquisition of Jackson is said to be devastating for the singer, enough so that Mesereau may have seen the case was a loser.
Ironically, Mesereau was so high on adrenaline after winning Jackson’s criminal case last June that he and Yu left their firm and started a new one based on “saving” Jackson from all legal predators.
But they could have asked a host of former attorneys — which include John Branca, Bert Fields, Brian Wolf, Zia Modabber and so on — who have tried to untangle Jackson’s many messes, only to leave unappreciated, uncompensated and unfulfilled.
Mesereau leaves at a time when Jackson faces several civil suits, including a $48 million breach of contract from Darien Dash, a $90,000 suit from his veterinarian for owed fees and a recovered memory/child molestation case in New Orleans.
There may be more, since today marks nine weeks since any of Jackson’s 60 or so employees have received paychecks.
Mesereau will be missed. Despite the fact that he doesn’t return phone calls and took our admiration of him last spring for granted, I will always recall his deft cross-examination of District Attorney Tom Sneddon’s many shaky witnesses.
No one in the courtroom will ever forget the famous assertion Mesereau elicited from the mother of Jackson’s teen accuser, Janet Arvizo, that the singer planned to kidnap her children via a hot air balloon. It was priceless, and no doubt won Jackson his acquittal.
Meantime, we’re still trying to figure out what Yu’s e-mail handle means. The first part, without the domain, is “michaelhandsomeboy.”

From Gretawire: MIcrosoft vs Gneral Motors

2006-02-26T18:33:00.000-08:00

I received this today and thought of you under your desk trying to fix your computer: For all of us who feel only the deepest love and affection for the way computers have enhanced our lives, read on.At a recent computer expo, Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated, "If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon." In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release stating: If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics (and I just love this part): 1) For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day. 2) Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car. 3) Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this. 4) Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine. 5) Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive — but would run on only five percent of the roads. 6) The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation" warning light. 7) The airbag system would ask, "Are you sure?" before deploying. 8) Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna. 9) Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car. 10) You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.

From Gretawire: Natalee Holloway

2006-02-26T18:02:00.000-08:00

Greta,In regards to the issue of convenient forum in the Natalee Holloway case and burdening the taxpayers of the Great State of New York... well, as one of the taxpayers of the State of New York, I would like to say that I don't mind at all. It is zero inconvenience to me. Just the opposite: I would gladly contribute and also raise money to offset costs, if my beloved city and the Great State of New York would allow the Natalee Holloway lawsuit filed by John Q. Kelley on behalf of the family to proceed.God bless all good and kind people. The truth in this case will come out and I truly hope that is a very, very scary prospect for those hiding, covering up, lying to police, investigators, a grieving innocent family, all friends, all good hearts all over the world and your family, friends and neighbors — the good hearts of Aruba. We are all suffering — the truth will come out. God is watching and judgment day is approaching.Great thanks, Greta, to you and the OTR team for the great job you all do,David

Cheney’s bumbling is nonstop

2006-02-26T17:56:00.000-08:00

Vice President Dick Cheney has been widely criticized across party lines for the way he handled his quail-hunting accident. He kept it secret for a day, then didn’t put it out himself, but had his host call a newspaper.
Finally, under pressure (including from the White House, by his own account), he agreed to an interview, and then only on Robert Murdoch’s Republican-friendly Fox network.
He took full responsibility for the shooting. Good. But he also offered some gibberish of a defense for his post-shooting behavior, selling it to nobody who had an open mind.
If he has bumbled his way through this, nobody should be surprised. Dick Cheney is, after all, the most — how to say this politely? — overrated man in Washington. ...

Democrats Will Pound Bush On His Strongest Trick: National Security.

2006-02-26T17:36:00.000-08:00

How can Bush be strong on National Security when the ports are most VULNERABLE and little money is shifted to them for security. Remember only 5% of containers are now searched. Do you really think it will go up under Dubai?

Democrats will say Bush has POUNDED into Americans that we should be afraid. So we fear but yet he is giving our ports to a goverment owned company where the terrorists hail.

Sure people will say Dubai is an ally but will they STAY an ally. They probably had their plans together to befriend America, to get on the good side, and when we aren't watching blow up America. Bush since he loves oil and in the oil industry was paid enough to turn his eyes to what is going on.

I am not for Democrats and certainly not for Bush any longer. However, something needs to change on Capitol Hill.

I am tire of all the secrecy, incompetent cronies in jobs, Bush coming late to crisises, and backroom deals by Puppet Bush.

Democrats need to get their act together and get an real game plan. I would like to see John McCain in office. He has been through wars and torture unlike Camp Cupcake Bush and Deferment Cheney and Rumsfeld.

Whe will Americans say enough is enough?

Impeach Bush and Cheney

Bush uses fundraiser to stress war on terror

2006-02-26T16:59:00.000-08:00

MISHAWAKA, Ind. -- President Bush turned to the war against terror in campaigning on Thursday for a Northern Indiana lawmaker seen as potentially vulnerable in this fall's elections.

The president condemned those responsible for bombing a Shiite shrine in Iraq this week.
"Whoever did this is trying to stop the advance of freedom," Bush said during his appearance on the campus of Bethel College. "The U.S. strongly condemns the person responsible. This is not a religious person, but an evil person."
He also praised religious leaders in Iraq who are calling for calm in the wake of rioting in the streets, which led to dozens of deaths Thursday.
Bush's 33-minute appearance drew more than 500 supporters who paid $500 per plate. He was at a campaign fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Chris Chocola, R-Bristol.
The president said news out of Iraq that the gleaming dome of the 1,200-year-old Askariya shrine had been reduced to rubble served as a reminder that there is much work to do on the other side of the globe.
Inside the Wiekamp Athletic Center, few disagreed.
"The president was very clear on his decision-making process and I don't think the party has done a good job of explaining that," said Charles Hasnerl, 36, a financial planner from Knox. "I have full faith and confidence in our military, our president and Congressman Chocola."
Outside, there a different opinion could be seen and heard from dozens of protesters who braved a crisp, windy day to carry signs along the street where Bush's caravan entered the campus.
"My main concern is our commitment to the foolish endeavor in Iraq," said Marshall D'Arcy, 62, Ogden Dunes, who said he was a Vietnam veteran. "This war is just as stupid and ignorant as that one was."
Bush began his remarks by endorsing Chocola for another term in Congress, calling him a "decent, down-to-earth" person who is a "rising star in the House."
He then touted their common support for the war on terror and agreement on domestic issues like giving federal dollars to religious groups that provide social services.
Chocola is not believed to be in serious jeopardy of losing a re-election bid but his district is evenly matched between Democrats and Republicans.
The president spent most of his speech talking about the war on terror, noting again that the events of Sept. 11, 2001, changed the way he views the world.
Alternative energy was also on his mind. Bush repeated his support of developing ways to wean America off foreign oil.
"I want us to develop new batteries so you can plug in your car at night and drive 40 minutes on electricity and not use a drop of gas," Bush said. He also said he supports the continued research and development of ethanol, a corn-based gas alternative -- and a subject dear to the hearts of many corn farmers in Northern Indiana.
At the corner of Liberty Drive and La Salle Avenue, where only students were allowed to protest, Bethel freshman Ryan DeLine, 24, Mishawaka, was the lone holder of a placard that read: "$500 could feed a family for two weeks."
DeLine, whose fingers were red from the cold, had been standing on the corner for nearly two hours. Not to protest Bush, he said, but to expose the folly of paying $500 for a plate of chicken when so many families -- particularly in New Orleans, where he has traveled twice on mission trips -- are in need.

Cheney's shot heard around the world

2006-02-26T16:49:00.000-08:00

Unscrupulous liberals are now claiming that alcohol might have been involved in Cheney's tragic hunting accident. They are saying that there is something suspicious about the 22-hour delay between the time the incident occurred and the time it was reported, claiming that he may have needed that time to sober up before talking to the sheriff's deputies. They are also trying to make hay out of the fact that Cheney acknowledged he had had a beer at lunch and that he consumed a quick cocktail right after the accident, as if to conceal the fact he had been drinking while hunting. These wild-eyed critics even have the temerity to suggest that Cheney's two convictions for drunk driving may indicate that he has a drinking problem of long standing. Don't fall for these liberal lies, people.Be assured that your vice president was cold sober when he whirled around and blasted his 78-year-old hunting buddy in the face with a shotgun.

I do believe Cheney was drunk when he shot that man. Why else for the delay? Cheny said he wanted to find out the facts or how the man was doing. However, did he ride in the ambulance with the man he shot? Was he pacing in the corridors awaiting word of the man's condition? If Cheney is so concerned, why would he be home with another cocktail instead of at the hospital drinking water?

People, Cheney is spinning another lie. Why is everyone ready to believe Cheney's accounting when ANYONE with half a brain knows that isn't how shootings are handled?

Schweitzer's Plan of Coal to Diesel Fuel

2006-02-26T16:36:00.000-08:00

The processing steps are several, and potential environmental burdens real, yet, according to a recent Reuters story, the Governor of Montana "wants to solve America's rising energy costs using a technology discovered in Germany 80 years ago that converts coal into gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel. The Fischer-Tropsch technology, discovered by German researchers in 1923 and later used by the Nazis to convert coal into wartime fuels, was not economical as long as oil cost less than $30 a barrel...But with U.S. crude oil now hitting more than double that price, Gov. Brian Schweitzer's plan is getting more attention across the country and some analysts are taking him very seriously". Apparently Governer Schweitzer feels that "Montana could supply the entire United States with its aviation, gas and diesel fuel for 40 years without creating environmental damage". Right.
According to the South African firm Sasol's website, the only continuous commercially successful application of the Fischer-Tropsch technology to coal gas has been done by them. Sasol's material states that: “Sasol has pioneered the commercial application of Fischer-Tropsch technology since the early 1950s when we built our first petrochemical plant at Sasolburg and began producing fuel based synfuels and chemicals. This pioneering spirit has resulted in Sasol being recognised as a global technology and innovation leader, and we are now poised to deliver the world's cleanest diesel early in 2006, when our first international commercial scale gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant at Doha in Qatar commences production,” says Sasol chief executive, Pat Davies".

this hypothetical list does not reflect on any specific patented, or trademarked coal conversion process, either pro or con.
*Dig coal.
*Sort, crush, grade and clean it, disposing of the stone and washings, if any.
*Ship to conversion operation.
*Leach coal with strong acid solution if needed, to remove heavy metals and sulfer.
*Treat the acid wash water prior to disposal, producing a heavy metal bearing sludge.
*Generate methane (natural gas) from the coal's carbon content, borrowing hydrogen from water (steam) inside the coal gasification process step.
*Synthesize the "coal gas" (methane) into liquid hydrocarbon fuel (this is the Fisher-Tropfsch process step).*Manage, according to regulations of the governmental entitites where the process is deployed, aqueous waste, waste steam, fly ash, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, coal tar, "char", various sulfer compounds or elemental sulfer, and so on.
*Deliver liquid hydrocarbon fuel to refinery.
*Refine and distribute liquid fuel products.
*Continue to liberally consume hydrocarbon fuels in overpowered cars, SUV's and Mega-Trucks, once freed from the price increases that otherwise would be caused by worsening oil shortages.

The US probably will need to convert coal to liquid fuels. Come to think of it, it's bound to happen in this century (we're fond of the long view). But, setting expectations to a negligible environmental burden is wrong. Every process has its inputs and outputs. And while we're still in reality mode, a 40-year supply won't help our grand children much will it?
Efficiency is where the game needs to start.

US Ports Security

2006-02-26T16:13:00.000-08:00

Steven Flynn thinks the its outrageous that our govenment allows Port owners or mangers provide security to the ports they manage in USA.
Where is the USA government? When is the government do the job we pay our taxes to do.
Bush is asleep at the wheel. Bush has drummed into us about Terrorism, terrorism, and terrorism. Now he is going to delegate the responsibility of security to our ports to another nation.

Funny, I and perhaps, we didn't know our ports were owned by other foreign governments. Why didn't we know this? What are we paying our taxes for, to be kept in the dark?

Iraq: The Slam Dunk War will be The Civil War

2006-02-26T15:58:00.000-08:00

James Baker during Senior Bush Administration said if they invaded Iraq at that time, it would be a Civil War. That was over ten years ago. George Bush must not have heard that but chose to listen to his Neo-Cons cronies.

Does anyone really believe that the 22 hour curfew in Iraq has stem the growing anger? In fact, those men and women will be just as hostile if not more hostile when the curfew is lift.

Bush broke Iraq and now he OWNS it. Unforfortunately, we do too.

Why Should Anyone Worry About Whose Communications Bush and Cheney Are Intercepting, If It Helps To Find Terrorists?

2006-02-26T15:37:00.001-08:00

Although the Bush Administration does not encourage public debate over decisions it has made regarding how to govern, more and more people are asking questions about the ways and means employed during this presidency.

In my last column, I addressed the seemingly irresolvable issue of the allocation of government powers - among the president, Congress and the federal courts - regarding matters of national security. Since then, the debate about the Bush Administration's refusal to comply with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act - and its parallel insistence on defending its warrantless wiretapping -- has only continued.
news230

Both Republicans and Democrats have raised questions about the administration's defiance of the law in the name of fighting terrorism. One organization at the forefront of concern about this blatant lawbreaking is the ACLU - which recently convened a panel in Washington to discuss this subject. This broad-based dialogue, in which I participated, certainly added to my understanding. Not surprisingly, it raised issues that need further attention.

One, in particular, that has been gnawing at me, is the question why anyone should worry about the government listening in on conversations if they are doing nothing wrong. This is an old question that often arises in issues relating to privacy. Yet frankly, it still annoys me every time it is asked.
The Why-Should-I-Worry Question
The NSA surveillance program seeks to uncover persons in the United States who are conversing internationally and by telephone or email with known al Qaeda organization or operative abroad, or with affiliates of such organizations and operatives.
"I am not personally worried about the government listening to any of my conversations, for not only do I not know anyone even remotely connected with terrorism," one questioner said to me after the panel, "But furthermore, I would be happy to give up my privacy," she said, "if it helps to find terrorists." This young lady wanted to know why others were so concerned about the government's using the latest technology to find terrorists.
Let's set aside the issue of whether the President can simply ignore the FISA law validly enacted by Congress - and signed by a prior president. I will return to that in another, later column, for it is an important question that is not going to go away. Here, I will look only at the issue of whether the average American has anything to truly be worried about, as NSA electronically sifts through endless digital exchanges to find the proverbial needle-in-a-haystack.

One Reason Americans Should Worry: Data Mining Makes MistakesColumn continues below ↓

The details of the NSA surveillance program remain cloaked in secrecy. None of the experts with whom I spoke had any knowledge of its operations, other than what has been leaked, principally to New York Times reporter James Risen. In his book, State of War: the Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration - a fascinating and alarming read because it reveals ongoing incompetence within the intelligence community - Risen himself provides some details.
"The NSA is now eavesdropping on as many as five hundred people in the United States at any given time," Risen writes, "and it potentially has access to phone calls and e-mails of millions more." He adds that "NSA is now tapping into the heart of the nation's telephone network through direct access to key telecommunications switches that carry many of America's daily phone calls and e-mail messages."
Experts believe the way NSA is handling such masses of digital traffic is probably by what is called "data mining" - the use of computer algorithms to search automatically through massive amounts of data.
They also believe that the greatest threat that such non-human snooping has for the average American is that it frequently produces false positives. This is a point that was made by Jim Harper, Director of Information Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, during the ACLU's panel discussion.
Data mining's search tools, according to experts, are not particularly accurate at flushing out terrorists. Indeed, such electronic sleuthing frequently makes mistakes in who it tags as targets.
The government may claim data mining is accurate - but Americans ought to be wary: Even greater claims of accuracy are typically made for fingerprint identification, and that has already gone grievously wrong in one notorious war on terror example.
Fingerprints on a bag holding detonators involved in the 2004 Madrid subway terror attacks were supposedly linked to Portland, Oregon attorney Brandon Mayfield. As a result, Mayfield - also suspicious in authority's eyes because he'd converted to his wife's religion, Islam -- found himself in solitary confinement for two weeks as a "material witness." But in the end, the FBI was wrong; the prints weren't his.
With Data Collection Greatly Increased, Where Is All The Data Going?
Aside from the potential of mistakes, an even more serious problem is the remarkable increase in collection of data about Americans. While computers certainly make our life easier, and it is difficult now to imagine how we got along before the Internet, we pay a price in privacy for these marvels.
Literally gigantic amounts of digital data are being collected about almost every American: data that is connected to credit cards, airline tickets, motor vehicle licenses, health records, business records, satellite pictures of your home, and more. No organization gathers and hoards more private information than the federal government.
It was the mining of both privately-collected and government-collected data, that the Department of Defense's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program envisioned exploiting. Congress may have rejected the TIA program, but the technology has not been rejected. In fact, many believe it is being employed by NSA in its electronic surveillance of Americans. (If so, Congress may have been bypassed twice - with not only its passage of FISA, but its clear-cut rejection of the TIA program, ignored by the executive.)
With NSA listening to some five-hundred telephone calls at any given time and apparently potentially capturing millions others, mountains of digital information are accumulating. There is no oversight of the NSA program. And under the Patriot Act, the information NSA is gathering can be shared with other law enforcement authorities.
Many people trust the government not to abuse or misuse this information. Based on experience, I don't. But if you do, imagine what a hacker might do after cracking into all that private and government information - the kind of security breach that happens every day. Such hacking could trigger scenarios that range from blackmail to graymail to identity theft, to others knowing more about you and your life than even you may know.

Why Should Anyone Worry About Whose Communications Bush and Cheney Are Intercepting, If It Helps To Find Terrorists?

2006-02-26T15:37:00.000-08:00

Jurine's Famile needs money: From an Email

2006-02-26T15:28:00.000-08:00

Yes they are desperate for money too so i assume they thought the advance to a book deal was going to go somewhere and now it is tied up in a lawsuit. as i recall his home was no palace but i also recall he did win a lawsuit against thearuban gov?

From an Email: Jurine Blames Deepak

2006-02-26T15:19:00.000-08:00

IMHO it was a pr move against deepak for saying they gang banged natalee in and out of consciousness injoran's house. joran did this to un-implicate himselfand put the big question mark back over the kalpoe brothers' heads in the american court of publicopinion, face it most people don't know the details ofthe case as we all do.that was the goal and i would not be surprised if thequeen of sheba there in aruba was not inticate inputting the spin on it.but you see, edward junior didn't get an interview sohe is not going to be perpetuating the myth muchlonger and queen vashti is going to have to findanother haman to hang her bushit on.get what i mean?

Joran Says He is Admitting He Lied But Now Telling The Truth

2006-02-25T19:21:00.000-08:00

Hives don't lie Joran. You can't say you were nervous .

As according to him, Aruba police interrogated him for 12-18 hours a day. The lights don't cause hives. He was lying and uncomfortable with the lies he was telling.
Your missing sneakers don't lie. Bad business to admit you left your sneakers and was in the car too late to go back and get them. Your sneakers should have been found the next day but they wern't so where are they Jurine?

It Was The SNEAKERS, Jurine

2006-02-25T17:48:00.000-08:00

" IT WASN'T ME" BY SHAGGY oops JURINE
(Joran) Yo
(Deepak)What do you want man?
(joran)My Parents just caught me.(Satish)You let them catch you?
(Joran)I don't know how I let this happen
(Deepak)What happened?
(Joran)The friend next door, you know? ManI don't know what to do
(Deepak) Say it wasn't you
(Joran)My Mommy came in and she caught me red-handedCreeping with the girl next doorPicture this we were both butt-nakedBanging on the bathroom floorHow could I forgetThat she was not in Holland.All this time she was standing thereShe never took her eyes off me.
(Deepak)How you can grant your mum access to your pad?
(Satish)You better watch your back before she turn you in as the killerBest for you and the situation not to call the beanerTo be a true player you have to know how to playIf she say you're guilty, convince her say you're gay.Never admit to whatever she say.
(Joran)I tried to keep her from telling my dad.But she wouldn't believe me when I told her it wasn't me......(observer)No really? I am not surprised

President tries to defend ports sale to Arab firm

2006-02-25T15:41:00.000-08:00

A lesson for Bush: You reap what you sow

Irony is a constant in politics. Since Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush has deliberately defined the world in the black-and-white, us-versus-them language of his war on terror. Now, the rhetorical demons he so assiduously promoted are coming back to bite.

They are doing so in the form of what should be a run-of-the-mill corporate takeover. A company based in the United Arab Emirates has bought another company based in the United Kingdom.

In a normal world, this would be a ho-hum event. However, in the fraught world of Bush's war on terror (or "long war" as he now likes to call it), the sale is anything but.

The ostensible problem is that the British company, Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., manages six vital U.S ports, including those of New York, Miami and New Orleans.

The sale would put management of these ports in the hands of an Arab, state-owned company, Dubai Ports World.

What's more, critics of the sale say, two of the 9/11 terrorists came from the U.A.E.— a country made up of seven emirates, including Dubai.

What more need be said?

All of this has left Bush and Co. in the unusual position of decrying guilt by association.
The American president points out, correctly, that the arch-conservative and profoundly undemocratic U.A.E. government is a staunch U.S. ally.

His defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld notes — also correctly — that terrorists can come from anywhere, including the U.S. and Britain. Why condemn an entire nation because a few of its citizens made the wrong choice?

The editors of The Wall Street Journal, who find the entire episode distasteful, note that security at these ports will continue to be handled by the U.S. government.

The only effective difference is that profits made by running the ports will flow to princelings in Dubai rather than capitalists in the City of London.

But among Americans, none of this seems to matter. A citizenry whose fears have been so successfully exploited by this administration remains unconvinced.

"I'm a big Republican and I think Bush has lost his mind," Newark longshoreman Tom DiDomenico told a local news service here in New Jersey.
Those kinds of fears, however irrational, are echoed throughout the U.S. — which may explain why opposition to the sale is growing among both Democratic and Republican lawmakers.
New Jersey has filed a lawsuit to prevent the takeover. In Washington, Democratic senators want to ban any foreign, state-owned firms from operating U.S. ports.
Republicans are so uneasy about the deal that Dubai Ports has agreed to temporarily delay the U.S. portion of its takeover.
For his part, Bush has vowed to veto any Congressional bill blocking the transfer.
In effect, he is saying that his war on international terror should not be transformed into a war against international capital.

Americans are understandably confused by this.
In the wake of 9/11, they were told by this same president that it was just fine to arrest and lock up Muslim immigrants without charge.

They were told that when it came to taking prisoners of war in places like Afghanistan, it was necessary for America to abandon its long commitment to the Geneva Conventions.

They were told it was necessary for the U.S. to hold prisoners indefinitely and without charge at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba or other secret jails in Europe and the Mideast.

They were told it was crucial for American interrogators to be able to employ techniques against prisoners that both the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations have said amount to torture.
They were told that the war on terror required Americans themselves to give up some civil rights — that it was necessary for the president to authorize illegal wiretaps; that in some national security areas, it was necessary for the courts to be denied jurisdiction.

They were told that they had to put up with government intrusion at an unprecedented level, that virtually everything they did, from using the Internet to reading library books was, and had to be, subject to FBI surveillance.

They were told that their soldiers had to invade Iraq and, if necessary, die there.

So, perhaps, it is understandable that so many Americans balk at the idea of their ports being run by an Arab company. It is irrational; it is even racist.

But in the topsy-turvy world that George W. Bush helped to create, it is sadly logical.

Bush Says Iraq at `Moment of Choosing,' After Bombing

2006-02-24T17:54:00.000-08:00

Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President George W. Bush said Iraqis face ``a moment of choosing'' amid escalating sectarian violence, and appealed for ``restraint and unity.''
``The days ahead in Iraq are going to be difficult and exhausting,'' Bush said today in a speech in Washington to the American Legion, the largest U.S. veterans organization. He appealed for patience, saying Iraq's leaders are ``committed to stopping civil strife.''
Iraq imposed a curfew in Baghdad and three nearby provinces in a bid to end violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims sparked by a bombing at the Golden Mosque in Samarra two days ago. At least 114 Iraqis have since been killed in related violence, and 184 Sunni mosques damaged or destroyed in retaliation, according to a tally of incidents on the Web site of the main Sunni political faction, the Iraqi Islamic Party.
Bush condemned the Golden Mosque bombing, calling it ``an affront to people of faith throughout the world.'' He pledged to help Iraq bring those responsible to justice.
Daytime curfews were put in place in the capital and in Diyala, Babil and Salaheddin until 4 p.m. local time today to help quell violence, an Interior Ministry official, who declined to be identified, said in a telephone interview. Iraqi government television is reporting that the daytime curfew will continue tomorrow, according to the Associated Press.
Fomenting Civil War
Insurgents are trying to foment civil war, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said in an interview yesterday.
``Every time there is an incident like this, the place tips a bit nearer to being ungovernable,'' Jeremy Greenstock, the U.K. special representative in Iraq from September 2003 to March 2004, said on British Broadcasting Corp. radio today.
A major eruption of violence would create problems for the Bush administration's plan to reduce U.S. troop strength to less than 138,000 as more Iraqi troops take over security tasks.
``We're not necessarily on the verge of a civil war, but it's not beyond the pale of possibility,'' former Defense Secretary William Cohen said in an interview today. ``This could very well spin out into a major civil war with our troops very much on the front lines over there and caught in between.''
U.S. troops should ``stay on the sidelines'' so that Iraqi military forces can try and establish order, Cohen said. ``To the extent the United States is seen as aiding one side or another at this point would only aggravate the circumstances,'' he said.
About 55 percent of Americans said it was a mistake to send troops to Iraq, up 4 percentage points from last month and 10 points from last year, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll of 1,000 adults Feb. 9-12. The margin of error was 3 points.
`Toughest Test'
Bush said he's optimistic Iraqis will achieve democracy because they held elections in December. ``The way ahead is going to require some patience as the process unfolds,'' he said.
``What the extremists are trying to do is foment civil war but we don't see it succeeding,'' Pentagon Assistant Secretary for International Security Affairs Peter Rodman told reporters during a briefing on the military's progress report to Congress.
``This is probably the toughest test so far'' for the political process, Rodman said. ``I am struck that over a three- year period the leaders of the communities have been quite resistant to this. The test is whether the political process continues.''
Among the signs Rodman is monitoring are whether leaders are ``calling for calm'' and whether the political process resumes soon. The military is reviewing whether regular Iraqi army units are leaving their posts, Lieutenant Gene Renaurt, Joint Chiefs of Staff strategic plans director, told reporters.
``They continue to remain,'' he said. ``You don't see any coalition troops around. Why? Because the Iraqi Army and police force have found a way to cooperate.'' The Iraq Army is enforcing the curfew ``and that is holding,'' he said.
Congressional Report
The Pentagon report said Iraqis are building a security force of 232,000 people, an increase of 40,000 from October. Army battalions capable of leading operations increased to 53 from 36, the report said.
Renaurt cautioned against concluding that Iraq is moving toward civil war. ``You can't base that assessment on a `crisis' because the more desperate the terrorists become, the more they'll try to make the crisis bigger,'' Renaurt said. ``The key is what do you see after the crisis militarily, and militarily we continue to see a focused Iraqi Army working closely with the police force.''
Israel and Iran
Bush in his speech today also warned Palestinian and Iranian leaders that ``elected leaders must deliver real change in people's lives or the voters will boot them out at the next election time.''
He repeated his calls for Hamas leaders to recognize Israel, disarm and reject terrorism if they expect to win global support for building ``a prosperous, independent, Palestinian state.''
Bush also said the world also is ``speaking with one voice'' to demand that Iran stop ``defying the world with its ambitions for nuclear weapons.'' He said he's seeking $75 million in U.S. funding to help Iranians ``win their own freedom'' through expanded radio and television broadcasts and support for reformers and human rights activists.
Iran, the Middle East's second-largest oil producer, says its nuclear program is intended to produce energy for civil purposes.

Bush strikes stormy waters as voters lash sale of ports to Arabs

2006-02-24T17:48:00.000-08:00

THE torrent of criticism has been extraordinary. For most of the week, on virtually every radio station, Americans have heaped scorn on the Bush Administration.
Conservative radio shock-jocks have talked about organising demonstrations outside the White House. And on the ubiquitous cable television networks, even Fox News, the outpouring of alarm has not let up - indeed, it only increased after a shaken George Bush told Americans they had nothing to worry about.
Picture a potent mix of latent anti-Arab sentiment in America, growing concern the Bush Administration is dysfunctional and politically inept, and a sense that Mr Bush can no longer be trusted with national security. That is behind the furore over the approval of the takeover by an Arab company of terminals at six US ports.
The takeover of the British-owned P&O company by Dubai Ports World, based in the United Arab Emirates, was thoroughly vetted by the Homeland Security officials and the Pentagon. But in this politically hysterical environment, it does not matter.
Mr Bush and his spokesmen can repeat forever that the United Arab Emirates is an ally in the "war on terror" and that to block the takeover would send a terrible signal to the Arab world.
No one is listening, not most Americans and certainly not Democrats who have played on anti-Arab sentiment to attack Mr Bush on their party's greatest vulnerability and until now Mr Bush's greatest strength: keeping America safe from terrorists.
But most telling for the Administration is that congressional Republicans have been even more scathing in their criticism than the Democrats. When a Bush supporter such as the congresswoman Sue Myrick can send Mr Bush a one-sentence letter saying, "In regards to selling American ports to the United Arab Emirates, not just no, but HELL NO!", the Administration is in terrible political trouble.
Hillary Clinton led the charge for the Democrats, saying the approval was "a failure of judgement". Senator Clinton said the decision was taken without "alerting the President that several of our critical ports would be turned over to a foreign country" - a point that in the end might hurt Mr Bush the most.
The suggestion that Mr Bush does not know what is going on, that he is shielded by his minders and that key decisions on security, the fight against terrorism and the war in Iraq have been left to the Vice-President, Dick Cheney, is probably untrue.
But perceptions matter. In the past week a report by a Republican congressional committee concluded that Mr Bush, who was on holiday at his Texas ranch, was not told for more than 24 hours that New Orleans had been flooded after Hurricane Katrina. He was not told Mr Cheney had shot a hunting partner for hours after the shooting. And on the takeover of US ports, Mr Bush had to admit he read about it in the press after leading Republicans expressed outrage about the deal and said they would legislate to stop it. As Lindsay Graham, a close Bush supporter in the Senate put it, the Administration has become "incredibly tone deaf".

read more here http://smh.com.au/news/world/bush-strikes-stormy-waters-as-voters-lash-sale-of-ports-to-arabs/2006/02/24/1140670261951.html

Port Deal Strains Bush Ties to Conservatives

2006-02-24T17:33:00.000-08:00

The controversy over the Bush administration's decision to allow a company from the United Arab Emirates to manage shipping operations at six major U.S. seaports has strained ties between the president and some of his strongest supporters, conservative Republicans.
The political firestorm over the ports controversy has been a bipartisan affair, with Republicans like New York Congressman Peter King breaking with the president over the issue.
"It has to do with a country that has had unusually close ties to terrorism and it is a risk we just cannot take," King said.
Opposition Democrats see a rare chance to criticize the Bush administration on national security, which in recent years has been the president's political strong point.
"If 9/11 was a failure of imagination, and Hurricane Katrina was a failure of initiative, this process is a failure of judgment," said Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton of New York.
Administration officials hope that the decision by the company to delay the ports takeover will give the president time to convince members of Congress that the changeover does not pose a threat to national security.

"This deal would not go forward, if we were concerned about the security for the United States of America," said Mr. Bush.
Political analysts say the president will have to make a special appeal to congressional Republicans to win their support on the ports deal. Republicans control both chambers of Congress, but are worried about losing seats in the November midterm elections.
Washington-based analyst Stuart Rothenberg says conservatives are quick to recall their successful effort last year to block Mr. Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. The president withdrew her nomination after a barrage of criticism from many of his supporters, who argued that she was not sufficiently conservative.
"For some conservatives, it was like a cold dish towel across their face, reminding them that, 'wait a second, we thought we were totally supportive of this president, now we know, maybe we have to keep an eye on him.' And, conservative groups have become much more animated and activist and second guessing of the president," Rothenberg said.
The strains between the president and his Republican supporters in Congress could intensify in the months ahead, as lawmakers wrestle with a growing federal budget deficit, a major concern for many conservatives.

Joran's Sneakers

2006-02-24T17:10:00.000-08:00

Lets say we buy all of what Joran said in his interview as true. Lets not Cherry pick what we believe he said as factual and say others were lies.

We are then left with the SNEAKERS

if there was nothing amiss with Natalee on the beach then

1 why were the sneakers off his feet to begin with? ( what was he doing that he would lose his sneakers)
Remember sex was consensual so there shouldnt be any wrestling or tussling?

2 when noticed off why not put back on?
3 why leave the sneakers?
4 why can't the sneakers be picked up by hand if not put on?
5 when picked up why couldn't he go back and get them?
6 the next day why can't the sneakers be found?
7Did Natalee tell Joran, you left your sneakers?
8Why can't the sneakers of "innocent" Joran be found even to this day?

Folks when posting about Joran always include the SNEAKERS, nag that fact into place

No innocent person leaves his sneakers or not go back to retreive them.

Joran was Baited With Money

2006-02-24T16:58:00.000-08:00

so who is working against the Vandersloots/that person told that Jroan would be in New York to do this interviewso John's lawsuit took the wind out of the sails of Joran interviewand gave more impetus and sweat factor for Paulus.Do you think ABC paid Joran for the interview?seems rather dumb for Joran to do an unterview inless he though he was toosmart to be caughtI can believe his father would say no body no case and allow Joran to dothis interview with advice.Unless they are desperate for money.Aruba being sued by Paulis when Aruba allowed him and his son to get awaywith murder.Then notice Joran said there is no girl to say he drugged or raped them...he didnt say he didnt do it just that there was no girl to say itwas this a subliminal message to would be witnesses? or the girls?Any American who goes on Royal Carribean or Aruba...and something badhappens to them after these cases...well I wont say what I am thinking....oki willthey deserve it....damn this is a wakeup call.busineeses would rather protect their name and money than to seek the truthand justice.

Here's my take and I'm thinking out loud here. lol
Someone in Aruba grew tired of the Natalee Holloway case being ignored. They've been watching JVDS and knew that he was coming to the US. They knew that J Q Kelly represented Beth...that person contacted Kelly and told him about the VDS's travel plans...that set this entire thing in motion. And the civil suit? What a brilliant move by Kelly.
Was JVDS paid for the interview? I say yes...plus his air fair was paid by ABC and Nancy Grace said his hotel room was paid for by ABC.

So the little smuck came to America to clear his name. bahaaaaaaaa what a buffoon.

Scubajap Back[edd;ing

2006-02-24T16:33:00.000-08:00

Scubajap posted that according to Satish's official statement, he told the police that he picked up Joran> at the beach. Someone is either mistaken or lying. As to who, your guess is as good as mine. Posted by: TJR Friday, February 24, 2006 at 12:58 AM

I want to settle this for the moment, If David Kock and Satish deny it was in his official statement, then I MUST be mistaken, as I will not contradict them, they have the statements.

BTW-I never said that EVERYONE knew about it from the beginning, only that I had the information for some time, and I was informed it was in his declaration. So the source that gave me that info MUST be mistaken also. That is as far as I will go with that, except to say I had very good reason to believe what I was told, because of where it came from. It is a muddle, and I am just as confused by this turn> of events as the rest of you. I am in wait-and-see> mode. Over and out

Posted by: scubajap Friday, February 24, 2006 at> 01:25 AM

Scubajab was sent to RiehlWorld to muddy the waters as if Americans would believe her spiel about Joran. Now she sees Joran isn't following the script that Aruba provided, she wants to backpeddle.

NOW WHAT ABOUT THE SNEAKERS? INNOCENT PEOPLE DONOT LEAVE THEIR SNEAKERS WITH A WOMAN WHO WANTS TO STAY ON THE BEACH UNLESS SOMETHING HAPPENED. Why did Joran leave in such a hurrry he couldn't get his sneakers or come back to get them?

Dan Riehl's Take on His Buddy Joran's Primetime Interview

2006-02-24T16:26:00.000-08:00

What D'ya Think?
My quick take - I thought he was being very honest at the start, including when Natalee said certain things about her Mother. However, I didn't feel quite the same as the story went on. Perhaps it was his almost constantly looking off to his left. Anyone know if he is right handed, or left?
I can't say I concluded he was out and out lying, but I still had a sense there was something more. But I can't make a final judgment based on what I saw. I would like to see all three boys hooked up to a lie detector, but can't imagine any of them would comply. If Satish did drive Joran home, face it, he would be pretty much off the hook.

As for the sneakers ... that's a very difficult part of his story to get past.

Beth Holloway Twitty On Larry King

2006-02-24T16:11:00.000-08:00

Beth said that Deepak panicked when the gardener gave his testimony. Deepak called an Aruba girlfor her to establish him an alibi but she in turned panicked and called 1-800 fbi and told them she didn't want to be involved.

Joran On Primetime: From an email

2006-02-24T16:00:00.000-08:00

in a way, i'm glad ABC didn't ask all these questions--#2 by the way is aGREAT one---if they had asked then Joran would have had the chance to "fool"more people with his lying answers. now that these questions go unansweredit hopefully will leave many people asking the same thing....why weren't themost important things asked? why didn't he go back for his shoes? it's notlike he had to go back very far. I'M SURE after viewing this interview,many of those who thought him innocent will be giving it a secondthought------how could they not? he was a HORRIBLE or should i say a greatliar. Any kindergarten teacher should have been able to see through thatbody language!!!! i think you should send these questions to ABC and seewhat kind of response you get. C.

Dubai Port Deal Fiasco.

2006-02-24T15:37:00.000-08:00

Eighty perccent of our ports are controlled by foreign countries. We use these countrries ships for our needs as we no longer have a shipping industry.
Bush doesn't know the difference between "illegal and lega" immigrants who cross over the borders in his Texas, so how is he to know the difference between a British company and a Dubai goverment owned company?

Bush said he learn of the deal when the story broke in the newspaper, so why would he throw the weight of his office behind a deal he knows nothing about as in a VETO?

One has to wonder who is running the White House because it most certainly isn't Bush?

Jrine On PrimeTime TV

2006-02-23T21:48:00.000-08:00

I wonder if Jurine had ABC to agree not to ask some questions

Yeah I watched it

but this is what wasnt asked

1 why did he need 2 other men to have sex with one woman
2 he was asked if he gave her a date rape drug but wasnt asked if he had the bartender to give it
3 if he had nothing to do with Natalees death why and she was alive why didnt he go back to get his shoes

4 since deepak and satish said they didnt pick him up who did and why?
5 why arent Deepak and Satish and Jurine still friends if Natalee still alive and unharmed.
6 if he was telling the trut or telling the truth now why did Deepak and Satish have to go to his home so many times to get the Story right?

7 Did he call his father
8Did his father pick him up since Deepak and Satish denied the ride home?

9 Did he wake his Dad when he got home?
seedyrum, the angry and recalcitrant skeptic

Bush's Legacy Or Not

2006-02-23T16:46:00.000-08:00

Bush doesn't care about his legacy, just lining his pockets and those of his cronies. However, his legacy will live on.

Neil and Jeb Bush hopefully don't have aspirations of holding other public political offices. George Bush's Legacy will be a burden for them to bear.

These two brothers will have to overcome Georges, lateness, tonedeaf, fumbling and Trust Me mantra. Americans won't forgive the Bush family for its sellout of America to foreign entities will ties to terrorism and the failed Iraq War.

Neil has his own ties to Carlyle Group which has ties to Dubai which has ties to terrorism.