1000
Bush's reason for war. Or is it a reason for confrontation that has yet to exacerbate?
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If somebody's trying to harm our troops, or stop us from achieving our goal, or killing innocent citizens in Iraq, that we will stop them.
To begin, Bush has never stopped anyone from doing anything in Iraq. The number of dead, as Bush would say it "innocent citizens in Iraq" is skyrocketing. There is absolutely no basis to his statement in that he says the USA military will STOP them. They have never stopped them, nor will they. Iraq is caught up in a civil war that needs to be resolved through political measures. If the war continues to escalate with a continued infusion of weapons to stop Americans there won't be any Iraqis left to call citizens.
HENRY (on camera): Top Democrats privately believe the president is prepping for war with Iran to divert attention from mistakes in Iraq. White House officials call that nonsense, and insist the president is committed to solving the Iranian crisis through diplomatic means.
No one I know believes Bush is doing anything except seeking means to invade Iran for it's oil. There is a lot of credence to that. Iraq has announced a policy that favors America for receiving it's oil reserves.
Iraq struggles to re-distribute oil wealth
Amidst criticism in the Middle Eastern press that Iraq's new oil policy overly favors America, an internal debate rages in Iraq over regional control of oil and its proceeds.
Foreign, most of which are American, are allowed 70 percent of oil revenues to recover their investment initially,...
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=64994
According to a debate I heard on the radio, this policy is not only volatile due to it's redistribution equitably throughout the ethnicities of Iraq but there is a ground swell against the sale of the majority of the oil to the USA. I am quite confident that Maliki sold his soul to Bush in where the oil is shipped and sold in order to faciliate the policy of provincial sharing of Iraq's oil wealth. Simply put, Bush and Cheney invaded Iraq with the military force of the USA, to take control of Iraqi oil. This is proof of same.
Bush Defends Moving Against Iranians Who Help Shiites Attack U.S.-Led Forces in Iraq
President Bush decided several months ago to allow American troops to make targets of select Iranian operatives inside Iraq whom military officials have accused of helping militants build sophisticated and powerful roadside bombs. He and other officials faced repeated questioning about the policy, which was disclosed in recent weeks, after The Washington Post published articles on Friday exploring Iran’s regional influence and the administration’s approaches to containing it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/27/world/middleeast/27policy.html?hp&ex=1169874000&en=2e7741b0c5372ee3&ei=5094&partner=homepage
This is simply creating tensions and reasons for escalation. Besides it is based in a FALSE premise in that the 'targeted' Iranians are some type of covert set of agents when in fact they were actually diplomats working out of the Iranian consulate in Kurdistan.
Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney are "W"rong.
There is no basis for war.
Arresting diplomats is an aggressive move by Mr. Bush and IF Iran were to move against USA forces, which I sincerely doubt they will, then they have the upper hand in an international court/venue. No one country can simply force their way into a consulate and take Iranians prisoner. He is simply trying to hold onto power inappropriately. Bush is ACTIVELY threatening the sovereignty of Iraq by taking this aggressive stance with diplomats from another country. By arresting Iranian diplomats who is to say Bush won't do the same to ANY country that wants to establish diplomatic relations with Iraq. It is an outrage.
What Bush is attempting to do is 'create' the 'idea' that Iran is on the verge of nuclear annihilation of the region. That is hideous. Iran is not even close to establishing a process to produce nuclear fuel.
Is it any wonder that the most inflammatory reports about Iran is coming from an 'oil industry' news rag?
Iranian legislator says Iran installing 3,000 centrifuges (Iran-Nuclear)
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) _ Iran is currently installing 3,000 centrifuges, a top legislator said Saturday in an announcement underlining the country will continue to develop its nuclear program despite UN sanctions.
Legislator Alaeddin Boroujerdi said the installation underway at an Iranian uranium-enrichment plant “stabilizes Iran‘s capability in the field of nuclear technology,‘‘ Iran‘s IRNA news agency reported.
Three inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency who arrived in Iran on Saturday are scheduled to visit the uranium-enrichment plant in Natanz, Iranian television reported.
Iran last week barred 38 inspectors from the United Nations nuclear watchdog because they come from countries that voted for sanctions on Iran. Iranian television did not give the nationalities of the three inspectors and the IAEA could not immediately confirm their arrival in Iran.
http://www.oilweek.com/news.asp?ID=7268
Let's just say for the sake of argument that all reports are true and Iran is barring inspectors (how convenient an excuse is that). None of this indicates Iran has the capacity for nukes. But. Yet, men like Gates, Rumsfeld and Cheney will advocate Israel to move against Iran and drop bombs on the facility.
Huh?
I have never witnessed such fear and war mongering in my life. And self righteous. This Oil Rag would like to take 'the lead' in promoting fear of Iran when they don't have the facts at all. If this is not a clear demonstration of the corruption that the Bush White House breeds then I don't know what is.
There is every indication other countries and primarily Russia is trying to quell the tensions between The West and Iran. To what avail is hard to say. Aladdin Broujerdi is not a spokesperson for the Iranian national government. He probably has more political aspirations in this to take leadership away from Ahmadinejad than actual facts to any event. In appearing 'tough on Bush' he gets attention he can snowball into political gain.
Security Counselor
// Igor Ivanov to Help Iran Avert War
Yesterday Russian national security council secretary Igor Ivanov arrived in Iran for another shot at convincing Tehran to make some concessions to the international community. Mr. Ivanov's visit coincided with another sharp spike in tension in the relations between Iran and the West and the beginning of clear preparations by the United States for a new war in the Persian Gulf.
The Russian Game
Last week marked the halfway point of the period in which the United Nations Security Council has decreed Iran must cease its enrichment of uranium. On December 23 of last year, the members of the Security Council voted unanimously in favor of a resolution threatening sanctions against Iran if Tehran does not agree to the international community's demands to cease its enrichment activities. The sixty days that the Security Council gave the Iranian authorities to consider the ultimatum will run out in February. It is already clear, however, that Iran will not fulfill the demands of the international community and that, in fact, Tehran intends to play the game of escalating tension for even higher stakes.
Last Saturday the head of the Iranian parliamentary commission on national security and foreign affairs, Aladdin Broujerdi, announced that the nuclear facility in Natanz is starting construction on 3,000 new centrifuges. The Iranian Atomic Energy Agency, however, preferred to deny the news from parliament: an official representative of the organization stated that "there will be no new centrifuges installed at Natanz." The Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry did not explain the apparent contradiction in the official versions of events, saying only that "technical problems" had something to do with it.
Most likely. both the announcement by Mr. Broujedri and the denial from Iran's Atomic Energy Agency are part of a premeditated political plan dreamed up by the Iranian government, which is continuing to taunt the West and to drop hints of the upheaval that will lie ahead if Iran succeeds in beefing up its nuclear capacity. Meanwhile, the Western media has recently reported more than once that Iran is planning to increase the number of working centrifuges to 54,000 and that the Iranian authorities intend to inaugurate them en masse to coincide with the 28th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, which will be celebrated in February.
The news of the 3,000 centrifuges is far from being the only example of Iran's provocative behavior. Out of a team of 41 inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that were supposed to visit Iran this weekend, only three arrived in Tehran on Saturday: the other 38, who represent countries that voted in favor of introducing sanctions against Iran in the Security Council session on December 23 of last year, were refused entry visas. Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, commenting on the incident, said that the last word on which inspectors would be allowed into the country and which would not rests solely with Tehran and that the decision did not in any way contradict the spirit of Iran's cooperation with the IAEA.
http://www.kommersant.com/p737640/Ivanov_Help_Iran/
THE ACTUAL truth lies with the UN and the IAEA.
Russia...
...At a joint press conference yesterday with his Russian colleagues, Iranian national security council secretary Ali Larijani said that Iran needs more time to consider what should be down with its nuclear program. As it has done before, Tehran is still trying to play for time – with Russia's help.
THE STRATEGY of the Bush White House is one of assassination which is long held as illegal on an international scale. When the White House states "...US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that President Bush has given orders that all Iranian agents discovered in Iraq are to be seized or killed...." that IS assassination or capture leading to torture. KILLED is dead. Iranians are actively being sought by the USA military against the will of the Iraqi Unity Government for death. That is assassination.
The American Battle
While Russia and Iran continue their long-standing game, in which each tries to use the other to amass more clout in the international arena, the United States is beginning to take a new line in relations with Iran. Since the beginning of this year, Washington has been giving signs that it wishes to deal decisively with the situation once and for all. At the beginning of January, US President George Bush openly accused Iran of supporting the Iraqi insurgency and declared that the United States would henceforth oppose not only the insurgents but also Tehran's influence in Iraq, which the US considers a key reason for the ongoing instability in the country. Though American soldiers detained six employees of the Iranian consulate in Irbil, Iraq on January 11, however, Tehran refused to take the bait and refrained from making a fuss over the incident.
At the end of last week, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that President Bush has given orders that all Iranian agents discovered in Iraq are to be seized or killed. Tehran officially condemned the order, calling it "an act of terrorism."
IN REGARD TO IRAQ
Asad Abu Ghalal, the governor of Najaf Province, said the fighters in the orchard were Iraqi and foreign, some wearing the brown, white and maroon regalia of Pakistani and Afghan fighters. He said they had come to assassinate Shiite clerics and attack religious convoys that were gathering in Najaf, one of Shiite Islam’s holiest cities, and other southern cities for Ashura, a Shiite holiday that starts Monday night.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/world/middleeast/29iraq.html?hp&ex=1170133200&en=c6a2cb7aaee532e0&ei=5094&partner=homepage
WHERE IN THIS DOES IT SAY IRANIANS ARE INVOLVED? Nowhere.
AND HOW BIZARRE IS THIS? Iran has Star Wars technology. I'll be darn. The USA doesn't even have Star Wars technology but Iran does.
Iran Set to Launch 'Star Wars' Satelllites, Systems
21:11 Jan 27, '07 / 8 Shevat 5767
(IsraelNN.com) Iran is poised to launch a satellite into space, a step that could herald a new dimension in Tehran's strategic capabilities, Aviation Week and Space Technology, a U.S. publication, said this week.
A recently assembled, 30-ton ballistic missile-turned space launcher could also be used for testing longer-range missile strike technologies, according to the report which the weekly magazine said would appear in its January 29 issue.
The Iranian space launcher "will liftoff soon" with an Iranian satellite, said Alaoddin Boroujerdi, chairman of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, according to the weekly.
Boroujerdi made his announcement during a speech to students and clerics in Qom last month, where Iran has conducted some of its ballistic missile tests, said the magazine.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=120349
Everyone needs to stop wanting to kill Iranians for the pure pleasure of reducing fear.
The fact of the matter is that Iran has had this technology and has simply converted a POTENTIAL into a reality. Well, guess what? We all know about it now.
AND BACK TO Iraq according to Mr. King:
KING: At least 17 people were killed and dozens wounded today in attacks across Baghdad -- the deadliest, a bombing at a pet market in the center of the city.
A PET MARKET. Dear God not a pet market. Somehow that makes it so much worse than humans in a market place. Jeeze !
ANDERSON COOOPER seeks to make a star out of Michael Ware. Michael, as he reports, was 'caught' in a section of Baghdad now CONTROLLED by al Qaeda, according to Mr. Ware.
CNN's Michael Ware, of course, has been covering the war since it began, and has watched the city spin out of control. In September 2004, on Baghdad's Haifa Street, U.S. troops were battling supporters of Ayman al-Zarqawi, former leader of al Qaeda in Iraq. They captured a Bradley Fighting Vehicle during the battle. You can see them cheering on top of it in this photo.
When Michael heard that al Qaeda in Iraq had claimed the area as its own, even plastering its banners on the street, he went there to see for himself. And that's when he was caught by al Qaeda insurgents.
Michael was in New York this week. And Anderson talked to him about that terrifying day. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Al Qaeda in Iraq had actually put its banners on a street in Baghdad, in central Baghdad.
WARE: Yes, they did.
And this was a symbolic passing of power here in the center of the capital. These men intercepted my vehicle, and, with grenades with the pins pulled, so that they were live, pulled me from the car, and, with my own video camera, are preparing to film my execution.
So, as far as we're aware, after that day on Haifa Street, I'm the only Westerner that we know of who's been in the control of Zarqawi's organization, al Qaeda, and to have lived to tell the tale.
NEVER ONCE.
NOT ONE TIME.
Does this news team point to the FACT that the USA is defeated in Iraq by al Qaeda. They simply state, 'the fight must go on' and to make that point Cooper uses the dire experience of Mr. Ware as reason for war. The Mr.s Cooper and Ware go on and on about 'the good ole days' when Iranians were the enemy and war was war, NO MATTER WHAT. Kill, kill, kill is the cry of CNN's Anderson Cooper, the well paid puppet of a Neocon King in the Oval Office.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN ANCHOR: John, no complains here.
Search and rescue efforts are under way tonight in the waters off Southern California, where a U.S. Navy helicopter crashed today near San Clemente Island. At least one of the four people aboard was killed. A Navy spokesman said the chopper was on a routine training mission when it went down.
An update now on the story we brought you earlier this week. CNN has obtained exclusive video of a convicted Russian uranium smuggler. The video was taken by detectives in the nation of Georgia just moments after his arrest last year. Georgian authorities say the smuggler had just under 100 grams of weapons-grade uranium in his coat pocket, uranium they say he planned to sell it to a Middle Eastern buyer. They are now trying to figure out where the uranium came from.
LET ME GUESS. The Russian uranium smuggler shot down the helicopter near San Clemente Island and now we all have to fear the Russian smugglers among us that are more than likely raiding every uranium centrifuge in the USA today.
THEN there is that completely horrible attack by a mountain lion. It was definately horrible. And of course...
JEFF CORWIN, ANIMAL PLANET: Absolutely. If you're in a situation where your life is at stake, defend yourself.
You have to remember, this creature is a predator by nature. And if he feels that his meal is too much of a challenge or at a risk to its own life, he'll sort of set it free. And that's basically what happened.
The reason why that gentleman survived is because his wife was brave, she took action, and she drove that creature away.
KING: So running is wrong?
CORWIN: Running is wrong. If you run, you're basically a yarn ball. You don't want to -- you don't want to run from a creature like this.
Even in situations, for example, in zoos, in natural history centers, where they have large predatory cats that are conditioned to be with people and even like people, humans when they run very fast near a large cat like that, it automatically stimulates a predator response to chase. You never, ever, ever run from a bear, a mountain lion, or even a dog, for example.
Good advise from Mr. Corwin. A remarkably similar name to a crocodile man.
Steve Irwin's last documentary is screened
The final documentary made by the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin has been screened in Australia.
The film, entitled 'Ocean's Deadliest', was made in the days leading up to Irwin's death, after being stabbed in the chest by a stingray barb.
The television star's widow, Terri Irwin, introduced the programme, which was broadcast on the Channel 9 network in Australia.
'Ocean's Deadliest' is narrated by explorer Philippe Cousteau, who was part of the team that travelled with Irwin during the making of the documentary.
http://www.rte.ie/arts/2007/0129/irwins.html
THANKS TO Steve Irwin and his heroic daughter we have come to understand creatures of Earth at a time when we direly need connectedness between a planet, it's inhabitants and morality.
enough
Friday, January 26, 2007
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Creating Bush Dreamscape
Stupid Premise Number One
COOPER: But, Mike, as you well know, a lot of people -- supporters of the president's policy will say, yes, of course it's going to need a political solution, but you can't have a political solution unless there's security, unless there's, you know, an end to these death squads. It's sort of a catch-22.
THERE is always an answer, Andy. The problem is that you don't see it EXCEPT ONE WAY. It's like that same rhetoric that keeps pouring out of CNN. There is only one way to think about peace in the Middle East and that is Western Domination.
"W"rong
MIKE MURPHY, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes, that's exactly right. The idea behind the president's strategy is use our military power to try to create a monopoly of force in Baghdad so these extra government actors on both sides can't create the civil war or political strategy, particularly among the Iraqis who have not shown a lot of sophistication or courage is possible.
The other way to go is partition. You got three choices -- leave, partition or try to create a security situation by using American force -- which is tough, but that's where the president is going -- and hope the Iraqi political class comes together in a compromise.
I think it's a fair bet, it's the bet the president is making. The question, is will he be able to sustain support for this thing against a hostile Congress long enough to give it a shot. And that's up in the air.
FOR ONE, Mr. Murphy makes it sound as though 'partioning' Iraq is his idea. That's a joke. The ethnic elements of Iraq have been partitioning that country for millenium. It has nothing to do with some 'idea' of Bush or anyone else.
Ever see a map of Iraq, Andy? Of course you have. Ever notice the OBVIOUS? Of course you have. The north is where the Kurds are, the south is where the Shia are and the middle of the country has been the place WHERE Saddam lived with his military out of the reach of, guess what? Ah, come on guess. Yep, The FORMER No Fly Zones.
Which brings me to a 'side note' in that with so many downed aircraft over An Albar lately, is there some kind of USA strategy to attempt to 'create' a No Fly Zone over An Albar in hopes that something like a benevolent entity will settle there as they did in the north and south of Iraq? Just an observation.
At any rate, it is hideous to say that Bush has 'a chance' in Iraq of achieving an end to his means. It's over in Iraq. The Maliki government is being disregarded by Bush because Bush wants to keep the Sunnis that supply his oil happy. You don't think for one minute that Bush/Cheney or anyone eles had NO CLUE as to why the radicals of Islam are predominately Shia, do you? Is there any doubt as to why the Shah lost Iran? I mean Iran was once no different than Iraq. A country that was BUILT by Western Purpose. Why was the Shah removed from power? Why were their hostages? The then President Carter could not have stopped the overthrow of the Shah if he wanted to. It was a 'do or die' circumstance for the Shia. Just that simple. Whey would Iraq be any different?
COOPER: But, Mike, as you well know, a lot of people -- supporters of the president's policy will say, yes, of course it's going to need a political solution, but you can't have a political solution unless there's security, unless there's, you know, an end to these death squads. It's sort of a catch-22.
THERE is always an answer, Andy. The problem is that you don't see it EXCEPT ONE WAY. It's like that same rhetoric that keeps pouring out of CNN. There is only one way to think about peace in the Middle East and that is Western Domination.
"W"rong
MIKE MURPHY, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes, that's exactly right. The idea behind the president's strategy is use our military power to try to create a monopoly of force in Baghdad so these extra government actors on both sides can't create the civil war or political strategy, particularly among the Iraqis who have not shown a lot of sophistication or courage is possible.
The other way to go is partition. You got three choices -- leave, partition or try to create a security situation by using American force -- which is tough, but that's where the president is going -- and hope the Iraqi political class comes together in a compromise.
I think it's a fair bet, it's the bet the president is making. The question, is will he be able to sustain support for this thing against a hostile Congress long enough to give it a shot. And that's up in the air.
FOR ONE, Mr. Murphy makes it sound as though 'partioning' Iraq is his idea. That's a joke. The ethnic elements of Iraq have been partitioning that country for millenium. It has nothing to do with some 'idea' of Bush or anyone else.
Ever see a map of Iraq, Andy? Of course you have. Ever notice the OBVIOUS? Of course you have. The north is where the Kurds are, the south is where the Shia are and the middle of the country has been the place WHERE Saddam lived with his military out of the reach of, guess what? Ah, come on guess. Yep, The FORMER No Fly Zones.
Which brings me to a 'side note' in that with so many downed aircraft over An Albar lately, is there some kind of USA strategy to attempt to 'create' a No Fly Zone over An Albar in hopes that something like a benevolent entity will settle there as they did in the north and south of Iraq? Just an observation.
At any rate, it is hideous to say that Bush has 'a chance' in Iraq of achieving an end to his means. It's over in Iraq. The Maliki government is being disregarded by Bush because Bush wants to keep the Sunnis that supply his oil happy. You don't think for one minute that Bush/Cheney or anyone eles had NO CLUE as to why the radicals of Islam are predominately Shia, do you? Is there any doubt as to why the Shah lost Iran? I mean Iran was once no different than Iraq. A country that was BUILT by Western Purpose. Why was the Shah removed from power? Why were their hostages? The then President Carter could not have stopped the overthrow of the Shah if he wanted to. It was a 'do or die' circumstance for the Shia. Just that simple. Whey would Iraq be any different?
Andy wanted to talk about the State of the Union address. There isn't anything to talk about. It was a dreamed up set of words with absolutely NOTHING to do with Bush's focus. FOCUS. Try focusing on that graph.
This is the American Research Group. They do this every year. They try to find the high points and the low points so others can learn how to make good speeches and bad ones. The American Research Groups assumes there is at least one GREAT speech of duration every year and that is the State of the Union.
That is sometimes true about The State of the Union
LINK - CLICK HERE
This year the State of the Union address had NO high spots, it had a lot of low spots, but, more than that. Bush absolutely 'lost it.' Ah-ha. He lost it back in November and there just seems to be no putting Humpty Dumpty back together again.
Yep.
JOE KLEIN, "TIME" MAGAZINE COLUMNIST: I don't think so. I think that what we were getting here was the same old rhetoric, and also, I think that if there was any headline in this speech, is that he really did open a discussion on health insurance and on health policy this time.
But I agree with Andrew, this speech was genuinely underwhelming, and I would suspect an awful lot of people were watching "American Idol," which may be affecting Bill Schneider's numbers there.
THERE YOU GO. A man with his pulse on reality. Andy should try it sometime. I have yet to understand the 'merit' in American Idol. It is a stupid show and people go on 'it' to be seen. You know. I have yet to watch one episode or show or segment of American Idol. I find it just that insulting.
enough
Friday, January 19, 2007
Andy hasn't heard of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
This is a 14 kiloton explosion by the USA in the Nevada Desert in 1951. It was conducted at the Nuclear Test Range with 'exposed' military personal in attendance. It was called Operation Buster-Jangle (click on).
Jordan can obtain the technology for nuclear energy, but, is still bound by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Cooper seems to have lost his way in reporting news rather than creating propaganda. Good example, excellant as a matter of fact, of how out-of-line this news team is with the facts and professional journalism.
Cooper was signed for another $4 million contract and compared to the National Debt I guess the government, oh sorry CNN, sees it as next to nothing. I agree, it is money for someone whom is mostly next to nothing in practicing excellance in journalism. If all one can do to keep an audience, is practice Bush's Culture of Fear, then it ain't worth watching.
Jordan's king says he seeks "peaceful" nuclear program
Jordan's King Abdullah II has told an Israeli newspaper that his country wants its own nuclear program.
In an interview with the daily Haaretz, King Abdullah said his desert kingdom, which borders Israel and has a peace agreement with it, wanted nuclear power "for peaceful purposes" and was already discussing its plans with western countries.
"The rules governing the nuclear issue have changed in the entire region," the Jordanian leader told Haaretz, noting that Egypt and several Gulf states have declared their desire for a nuclear program. Though Jordan would rather see a nuclear-free Middle East, he said, "every desire we had on this issue has changed".
Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, would not comment on the king's remarks published on Friday.
The US State Department indicated that it had no objection to a peaceful Jordanian nuclear program.
Deputy spokesman Tom Casey, without mentioning Jordan by name, said every country that adheres strictly to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty "has the right to develop civilian nuclear power for the benefit of their people".
Shlomo Brom, a researcher at Israel's Institute for National Strategic Studies and former head of strategic planning for the Israeli military, said King Abdullah was probably not serious about developing a nuclear program.
"The Jordanians don't have the resources," he said.
Brom said the Jordanian king was probably trying to make the point that if Iran, which is moving ahead with its nuclear program despite international protests and UN-imposed sanctions, is allowed to become a nuclear power, then a regional nuclear race will be unavoidable.
"Abdullah might be saying that if the Iranians aren't prevented from getting a nuclear program, Jordan and everyone else will want one of their own," Brom said.
Israel fears that Iran's nuclear program, which the Iranian Government says is for civilian purposes, is actually intended to produce nuclear weapons that could be used against Israel. Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, has said Israel should be "wiped off the map".
Israel is widely believed to have nuclear weapons of its own, but has never officially confirmed that it does.
The fact that Israel is believed to have nuclear weapons is what fuels nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.
Debate on Olmert nuclear 'slip'
The press in the Middle East has had time to reflect on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's apparent acknowledgement on Monday that Israel possesses a nuclear weapons capability.
Some Arab commentators make much of the statement, arguing that Israel is undermining both regional stability and the international nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Others are not surprised by it.
Although Israeli commentators consider it as confirmation of what has long been known, some suggest the revelation has compromised Mr Olmert's role as prime minister.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6175333.stm
SEE, in my opinion this entire issue really isn't about Iran having nukes or Pakistan already having nukes, it is about the 'reactionary' issue of why nukes at all? In other words, nuclear armament is a big expense for any country outside the five recognized nuclear nations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Why should countries such as Pakistan even embark on nulcear proliferation as they won't be able to afford to maintain their program except at the expense of it's people. Nuclear proliferation in this instance is a human rights issue.
What continues to be amazing to me is the monies poured into a country like Pakistan by the Bush White House to maintain air space to Afghanistan. Those monies only proliferate nuclear arsenals. If any country of Asia can maintain nuclear weapons outside the Non-Proliferation Treaty it is India. With a growing populous and economy there is every indication that it will indeed be able to support a nuclear arsenal without hardship on it's populous. India will need nuclear technology with a large population in order to keep up with energy demands of a burgeoning economy. However, it needs to seek alternative fuels and energy as well.
What is more curious than anything about the USA wanting to increase it's own arsenal is the fact that India is sitting right next to China. Sounds like a rather interesting set of 'checks and balances' of nuclear power not just with China and Russia but also North Korea.
The last time there was any sanity in the Middle East was during the Clinton White House. As a matter of fact, Hillary Clinton played a very big role in recognizing Pakistan and advocating it's acceptance at high diplomatic levels. Hillary and Chelsea spent time in Pakistan before the coupe nation it is now.A Clinton and a Bhutto Share a Joke in Pakistan
By TODD S. PURDUM
Hillary Rodham Clinton, admired and attacked as a strong woman in her own country, came to Pakistan today to admire and consult with another one: Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who greeted the First Lady at a luncheon for prominent women with a sisterly joke on the perils of power.
"The First Lady does not know it, but according to newspapers in Pakistan, Mr. Asif Zardari is de facto prime minister of the country," Ms. Bhutto said, referring to her husband, who is often painted as a sinister threat behind the throne and who had met Mrs. Clinton's plane on her arrival in a driving rain 12 hours earlier. "He says, 'Only the First Lady can appreciate it's not true.' "
In fact, Mrs. Clinton's first stop on her 12-day, five-nation official visit to South Asia was a study in the subtle role of spouse without portfolio. In her biggest solo venture since the collapse of her health care plan last year, she is re-introducing herself as a First Lady not only of the land but also of the world, wading into a region thick with the geopolitical goo of nuclear proliferation, financial aid and human rights abuses.
Mrs. Clinton's aides said most of those issues had come up, at least elliptically, in a 25-minute private talk with Ms. Bhutto, but Mrs. Clinton did not raise them. And the First Lady's staff made it clear that such an agenda is the stuff of Ms. Bhutto's scheduled meeting with Mr. Clinton in Washington next month. The Prime Minister is likely to try once again to assure Washington that her country is not trying to develop nuclear weapons, the possibility of which has been the main irritant in American-Pakistani relations and has led to a Congressional ban on any new aid since 1990.
On this trip to Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, Mrs. Clinton is determined to emphasize what she calls "the human issues" of health, education and social progress, especially for women and children in a place of dreadful poverty. Those causes are no less complex if slightly less controversial than some others she has taken on, and consistent with her interests over the last 25 years.
After praising the uphill efforts of Ms. Bhutto (Radcliffe, '73) to improve the lot of women and encourage family planning in a country where the average woman bears six children and is restricted to the role of wife and mother, Mrs. Clinton (Wellesley, '69) added "a particular word of thanks for your emphasis on children."
"It is an emphasis that is the most important in my personal opinion, because by investing in the education and health of children, we are saying that the future is worthwhile, that every child will be given the opportunity to live up to his or her God-given potential," Mrs. Clinton told the group of about 60 women in the Prime Minister's official residence in the shadow of the Margalla Hills above the city.
Minutes later, as if to make that point, Mrs. Clinton strolled the grounds with her daughter, Chelsea, Ms. Bhutto and two of her children. Then the Clintons paid their respects to Islam by visiting the cavernous Faisal Mosque, financed by the Saudi royal family beginning in the 1970's, where Secret Service agents in stocking feet kept a respectful distance and Chelsea, who is on spring vacation from school where she has been studying Islam in 10th grade history class, asked well-informed questions.
For her part, Ms. Bhutto said: "I and the rest of the people of Pakistan have been utterly fascinated by the First Lady's heroic efforts to substantively restructure the responsibilities of the office of First Lady, and to provide caring and sensitive leadership on the key social issues of the modern era. Women who take on tough issues and stake out new territory are often on the receiving end of ignorance."
Not to say Pakistan didn't have a nuclear program either. It existed at least in theory since 1975 or so. It was conducted clandestinely by A. Q. Khan. However, in nations that are preceived as mostly powerless in the world such as Pakistan and Iran the 'idea' of that nation having the 'ultimate' energy and a few steps away from nuclear weapons serves as a political wedge. A. Q. Khan was a popular figure and a national hero whether or not the nation of Pakistan should have obtained the technology for that purpose outside the treaty. The very same can be said about President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his popularity that lead to his presidency. It has been an obvious plus for this Iranian president to tout himself as a strong leader undaunted by outside criticism of his nuclear ambitions.
But, to return to the issue at hand and why 'scandalizing' nuclear capacity for ratings is grossly in poor judgement as a journalist, is that it creates a social buzz that can be detrimental in the long run. In other words, in countries such as Iran where a political leader is valued for their commitment to nuclear energy and possibly taking the step to nuclear weapons, promotion of such technology is a very dangerous and irresponsible act.
In this case Jordan has no intention of seeking anything besides nuclear energy. So, for Cooper to 'go off' on a tangent stating:
The reason became even clearer today: nuclear weapons in the Middle East. The race to get them appears to be escalating. While Iran continues to develop its nuclear program, a program they claim is peaceful, another Muslim country has announced they want to go nuclear, Jordan.
Will it lead to a nuclear arms race in this explosive part of the world?
Is a grossly immoral discussion. Rather than 'nuclear weapons' the world should be engaged in backing the IAEA in their inspections to secure safe facilities in countries that should questionably have them in the face of the cost of development vs. the actual benefit to their people. The 'fear' of nuclear weapons are almost mute when considering the issue of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl.
SOVIET SAYS IT SEEKS MORE ATOMIC POWER; Ambitious Plan Behind Schedule Huge Reactor-Making Factory Likely to Speed Progress Reactor Manufacture to Double Transmission to East Europe Soviet Less Fearful of Mishap
An ambitious Soviet program for the expansion of nuclear energy fell short of its goals in 1979. According to progress reports in the Soviet press, only two of five intended reactors produced electricity.
http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F10E17FA3E5C12728DDDAD0994D9405B8084F1D3
Ah, yes, there was a day when a Russian nation was seeking greater capacity to nuclear competency as well. But, no different than the issues of Three Mile Island and other maintainence dangers in dealing with the two Texas reactors recently with cracks at the base of their reaction chambers, Russia also realized that this technology while beneficial is tenuously a good idea.
The point to this entry is to point to the irresponsibility in the media that has allowed bozos like Cooper to actually hold discussions on 'non-existant' dangers. The reason Iran is in the 'hot seat' is to PREVENT Bush from invading the country without cause and not because it actually has capacity. Iran is completely reactionary to the Neocon President of the USA.
Iran's president spurns critics, UN on nuclear work
By Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press January 19, 2007
TEHRAN -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed back over the US military buildup in the Gulf, saying yesterday that Iran is ready for any possibility in the standoff over its nuclear program.
The president made clear he was not backing down in his tough rhetoric toward the United States, despite criticism at home. Conservatives and reformists alike have openly challenged Ahmadinejad's nuclear diplomacy tactics, many saying his fiery anti-Western remarks are doing more harm than good.
Ahmadinejad said their calls for compromise echo "the words of the enemy."
The Iranian President is doing the only thing he can do as his nation's leader while realizing the brevity of being a Shi'ite nation, he is 'faking' it in the face of escalating war mongering by Bush with a 'surge' which is a non-existant strategy. Currently in Iraq, Mr. Bush is losing the war in a very big way. In order to maintain any kind of presence due to the attrition of the Iraq war, he is consolidating already severely damaged military units in order to come up with enough people to command into battle.
IAEA says Congress report on Iran's nuclear capacity is erroneous and misleading
Claims about programme are 'unsubstantiated'
Leak shows watchdog detected five major errors
The UN's nuclear watchdog has attacked the US Congress for what it termed an "erroneous, misleading and unsubstantiated" report on Iran's nuclear programme.
In a letter to the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives' intelligence committee, a senior director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the report was "incorrect" in its assessment that Iran had made weapons-grade uranium at a site inspected by the agency. Instead, the letter said, the facility had produced only small amounts of uranium, which were below the level necessary for weapons.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,1873114,00.html
The true reality for Iran is to realize Maliki is actually sitting in the cat bird seat. He is watching an American president struggle with his war losses while struggling with his political domestic losses. Mr. Maliki should realize his clout OVER a USA Republican consitutency that is harassing him in a way that will increase the civil war he is trying to deescalate. Bush ain't all that and neither is Iran. But, due to the high stakes for Iran and the Shia and far smaller stakes for Bush the war mongering continues while Russia is coming to the aid of Iranian fears to damper the extremism and possible danger of 'falling off' the rhetoric wagon for Iran into perilous war that would destroy it's infrastructure. Russia is also concerned of Bush being as stupid as he is all over again and actually invading Iran on rhetoric alone.
This news hour is adding to those tensions and contributing to a run away train in the Middle East. The USA, if it is to ever be viewed as a serious partner in international stability needs to return to serious leadership and one that is competent to lead not just the USA forward but the global community in dire need of leadership with cool heads and vision.
I doubt if the rest of the program will be this needy of CORRECTION, but, I'll take a look.
This is a propaganda statement to de-escalate the reality of the current attacks on Shia elements within the Iraq society by the Maliki government. This is intended to cool the heels of those surrounding the victimized Cleric al Sadr to prevent them from hiding him.
COOPER: Well, a potentially major development today in Iraq: U.S. and Iraqi forces detaining a top lieutenant to radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.A statement from American forces did not mention the aide by name, saying, merely, that Iraqi forces detained him based on credible intelligence that he's the leader of an illegal arm -- illegally armed group involved in the organized kidnapping, torture and murder of Iraqi civilians.
How real of an arrest this is, though, we simply don't know.
The strategy to kill Cleric al Sadr goes like this, since Bush can't assassinate him openly. Take down a large constituency of that militia, 400 so far, limiting the ability of the militia to protect him so that the USA military can, supposedly 'against' the wishes of Maliki, then arrest the top aid so that interrogators can come out and say there is strong evidence that the Cleric has been promoting 'death squads' and therefore needs to stand trial and then executed by hanging as was Saddam. It is all being done according to Bush for the best outcome of the Shia.
This is problematic because, in my opinion, it is actually designed to cause reaction with Iran, including the apprehension of Iranian diplomats in Kurdistan.
Additionally, the Mehdi Army has been protecting the Grand Ayatollah al Sistani, a Shi'ite Holy Man. They have also been protecting the Shi'ites from attacks by the Sunnis.
So, if the USA is going to 'raid' the Shi'ites of their protections without providing equally proficient protection in that capacity then it is 'Open Season' on Shi'ites.
Does Bush care?
No.
Because it adds to the reason why Iran would come over it's borders to war with Bush while the Democratic House and Senate are seeking ways to end this war.
See, even as Commander and Chief, Bush is not authorized to invade Iran or Syria or any other nation. If by chance the Iranians become involved in the obvious slaughter of the Shi'ites in Iraq then Bush will be allowed to escalate the war with Iran. I don't know how he would sustain it as his military is grossly diminished in it's capacity to 'make war' so much as simply defend their own positions. But, it wouldn't stop him, at all. Bush is an idiot lead now by Baker who simply sees nation building at any cost including the deaths of Shia as the goal to saving face for Republicans.
The remainder of the program is simply poking at the Democratic Peace Machine in the USA where diplomacy and policy PRE-EMPT war !
enough
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Peddling Bush's Propaganda
1000
Talking about pedophilia gets him an audience so Andy can do the president's dirty work.
Another string of bombings in Baghdad. Sadly, nothing new there. This, however, might be. Iraq's Prime Minister al-Maliki, claiming that government forces have now arrested some 400 members of the Mehdi army, Muqtada al-Sadr's Shia militia. A sign, if it's true, that al- Maliki may finally be willing to rein some of his Shia allies in. Or it could be a sign that he's just paying lip service to what Washington wants.
President Bush is putting a lot of faith in his Iraqi counterpart, and Mr. Maliki seems to be acting the part.
400 Mehdi Army gunmen detained, says Al Maliki
AP
Baghdad: The prime minister said 400 fighters from the Mehdi Army had been arrested over the past several weeks.
Nouri Al Maliki was apparently seeking to calm fears that he will not go after militia gunmen loyal to one of his key political backers.
In Baghdad yesterday, bombers and gunmen killed at least 19 more people in a series of attacks in the pre-noon hours as the capital faces a surge in violence ahead of a planned US-Iraqi security crackdown.
A roadside bomb also struck a police patrol near a market in the northern city of Mosul, killing a bystander and wounding five people, including four policemen, police said.
In the deadliest attack yesterday, three car bombs detonated within minutes of each other in front of a wholesale vegetable market near a Shiite enclave on the edge of the predominantly Sunni neighbourhood of Dora in southern Baghdad, killing at least 10 people and wounding 30, police said.
http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Iraq/10097833.html
The Mehdi Army has been protecting Shi'ites from the attacks of Sunnis and al Qaeda sanctioned by the Sunnis. If the Mehdi Army is placed behind bars they can no longer do that. The Mehdi Army is being characterized 'as the problem' and as elements of 'ethnic cleansing' due to the incompetency of the USA forces in Iraq. The Shia have been forced to take up arms to protect themselves because the USA has never been able to protect them from assault of the Sunni rebellion against the Shia majority.
The arrest of 400 members of the Mehdi army is to quell concerns of the Sunni Arab leaders who see a 'rise' in the Shi'ites of Islam as a challenge to their authority and a potential for nuclear war. No different than when Saddam was PLACED in leadership of Iraq by Rumsfeld; Bush is doing the bidding for men such as the Saudi King. This measure is endangering the Shi'ites more and there needs to be a regional diplomatic effort to stop this incideous motivation toward conflict rather than peace.
Were the Shia ever the problem? No, only the victims.
Insurgents in Iraq admit to killing U.S. civilian
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A Sunni insurgent group linked to al-Qaida claimed responsibility Thursday for killing an Ohio woman working in Baghdad during an attack on her convoy, according to a posting on a Web site used by some Sunni groups.
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20070119/1063117.asp
Those are Sunnis backed by al Qaeda that are the issue and not the Shia. But why the idiocy by the Oval Office? I mean do I have to say it?
Defense Secretary Gates Confers with Saudi LeadersSecond Cabinet Official Visit in Days Marks Urgency of Regional Security Issues
http://www.saudi-us-relations.org/articles/2007/ioi/070118-gates-abdullah.html
...Gates stop in Saudi Arabia, on a day that began for him in Afghanistan and ended in Bahrain, was the first visit by a US Defense Secretary since Donald Rumsfeld was in the Kingdom in April 2003. Among the officials present when Gates met with King Abdullah were Saudi Defense Minister Crown Prince Sultan and Saudi Intelligence Chief Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz. The talks were said to focus particular attention to checking Iranian regional ambitions with Gates noting that the United States "can always use Saudi cooperation on these issues" in response to a question about support from the Kingdom....
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200701191967.htm
New Delhi, Jan. 19 (PTI): Saudi Arabia today invited foreign investment to the tune of 50 billion dollars in sectors like infrastructure, oil and gas.
"The Government of Saudi Arabia would shortly float tenders to invite foreign capital to put up variety of projects in infrastructure and oil and gas sector with private and government investments to the extent of 50 billion USD," Indo-Saudi Joint Business Council Chairman Abdul Rahman A-Al-Rabiah said.
The war in Iraq is not about speading democracy in the Middle East. It is not about the security of the USA, it is not about peace, it is about MONEY. Bush will do the bidding for Saudi Arabia in whichever why they want it with the USA military and Saudi Arabia will give Bush the world out of personal friendship and the simple idea that the USA can protect them from the horrors of Iranian nuclear weapons. All this to inflame that reality.
IT IS A FEEDBACK LOOP WITHOUT END because the Shia are chronically under attack due to the desire of Sunnis to eliminate the religious lineage of the Shi'ites. Iraq is simply a convenient place to do that.
Saudi Arabia plans to boost output capacity 40% by 2009 - Al Naimi
AP
http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Oil_and_Gas/10097785.html
New Delhi: Saudi Arabia plans to increase its crude oil production capacity nearly 40 per cent by 2009 and double its refining size over the next five years to keep pace with growing global demand, the country's oil minister said.
Ali Al Naimi said the plans are part of a $80-billion commitment that Saudi Arabia - the world's biggest oil exporter - has made to increase oil supplies in the global market.
Al Naimi blamed the sharp rise in global crude prices over the past two years mostly on "insufficient investment and rising energy demand," especially from the booming economies of Asia.
WHEN DOES THIS INSANITY END ?????
ENOUGH
Talking about pedophilia gets him an audience so Andy can do the president's dirty work.
Another string of bombings in Baghdad. Sadly, nothing new there. This, however, might be. Iraq's Prime Minister al-Maliki, claiming that government forces have now arrested some 400 members of the Mehdi army, Muqtada al-Sadr's Shia militia. A sign, if it's true, that al- Maliki may finally be willing to rein some of his Shia allies in. Or it could be a sign that he's just paying lip service to what Washington wants.
President Bush is putting a lot of faith in his Iraqi counterpart, and Mr. Maliki seems to be acting the part.
WHY IS IT THE SHIA ARE always the enemy when it is the Sunnis that are doing all the killing and causing all the infrastructure damage with the assistance of al Qaeda. When Bush f0rces Maliki to arrest Shia and victimizes Holy Men such as al Sadr it is to passify the Sunni Arab Leaders.
TELL ME THIS MAKES SENSE:
From the Gulf News:400 Mehdi Army gunmen detained, says Al Maliki
AP
Baghdad: The prime minister said 400 fighters from the Mehdi Army had been arrested over the past several weeks.
Nouri Al Maliki was apparently seeking to calm fears that he will not go after militia gunmen loyal to one of his key political backers.
In Baghdad yesterday, bombers and gunmen killed at least 19 more people in a series of attacks in the pre-noon hours as the capital faces a surge in violence ahead of a planned US-Iraqi security crackdown.
A roadside bomb also struck a police patrol near a market in the northern city of Mosul, killing a bystander and wounding five people, including four policemen, police said.
In the deadliest attack yesterday, three car bombs detonated within minutes of each other in front of a wholesale vegetable market near a Shiite enclave on the edge of the predominantly Sunni neighbourhood of Dora in southern Baghdad, killing at least 10 people and wounding 30, police said.
http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Iraq/10097833.html
The Mehdi Army has been protecting Shi'ites from the attacks of Sunnis and al Qaeda sanctioned by the Sunnis. If the Mehdi Army is placed behind bars they can no longer do that. The Mehdi Army is being characterized 'as the problem' and as elements of 'ethnic cleansing' due to the incompetency of the USA forces in Iraq. The Shia have been forced to take up arms to protect themselves because the USA has never been able to protect them from assault of the Sunni rebellion against the Shia majority.
The arrest of 400 members of the Mehdi army is to quell concerns of the Sunni Arab leaders who see a 'rise' in the Shi'ites of Islam as a challenge to their authority and a potential for nuclear war. No different than when Saddam was PLACED in leadership of Iraq by Rumsfeld; Bush is doing the bidding for men such as the Saudi King. This measure is endangering the Shi'ites more and there needs to be a regional diplomatic effort to stop this incideous motivation toward conflict rather than peace.
Were the Shia ever the problem? No, only the victims.
Insurgents in Iraq admit to killing U.S. civilian
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A Sunni insurgent group linked to al-Qaida claimed responsibility Thursday for killing an Ohio woman working in Baghdad during an attack on her convoy, according to a posting on a Web site used by some Sunni groups.
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20070119/1063117.asp
Those are Sunnis backed by al Qaeda that are the issue and not the Shia. But why the idiocy by the Oval Office? I mean do I have to say it?
Defense Secretary Gates Confers with Saudi LeadersSecond Cabinet Official Visit in Days Marks Urgency of Regional Security Issues
http://www.saudi-us-relations.org/articles/2007/ioi/070118-gates-abdullah.html
...Gates stop in Saudi Arabia, on a day that began for him in Afghanistan and ended in Bahrain, was the first visit by a US Defense Secretary since Donald Rumsfeld was in the Kingdom in April 2003. Among the officials present when Gates met with King Abdullah were Saudi Defense Minister Crown Prince Sultan and Saudi Intelligence Chief Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz. The talks were said to focus particular attention to checking Iranian regional ambitions with Gates noting that the United States "can always use Saudi cooperation on these issues" in response to a question about support from the Kingdom....
AND
Saudi Arabia seeks US$50 bn foreign capital investmentshttp://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200701191967.htm
New Delhi, Jan. 19 (PTI): Saudi Arabia today invited foreign investment to the tune of 50 billion dollars in sectors like infrastructure, oil and gas.
"The Government of Saudi Arabia would shortly float tenders to invite foreign capital to put up variety of projects in infrastructure and oil and gas sector with private and government investments to the extent of 50 billion USD," Indo-Saudi Joint Business Council Chairman Abdul Rahman A-Al-Rabiah said.
The war in Iraq is not about speading democracy in the Middle East. It is not about the security of the USA, it is not about peace, it is about MONEY. Bush will do the bidding for Saudi Arabia in whichever why they want it with the USA military and Saudi Arabia will give Bush the world out of personal friendship and the simple idea that the USA can protect them from the horrors of Iranian nuclear weapons. All this to inflame that reality.
IT IS A FEEDBACK LOOP WITHOUT END because the Shia are chronically under attack due to the desire of Sunnis to eliminate the religious lineage of the Shi'ites. Iraq is simply a convenient place to do that.
Saudi Arabia plans to boost output capacity 40% by 2009 - Al Naimi
AP
http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Oil_and_Gas/10097785.html
New Delhi: Saudi Arabia plans to increase its crude oil production capacity nearly 40 per cent by 2009 and double its refining size over the next five years to keep pace with growing global demand, the country's oil minister said.
Ali Al Naimi said the plans are part of a $80-billion commitment that Saudi Arabia - the world's biggest oil exporter - has made to increase oil supplies in the global market.
Al Naimi blamed the sharp rise in global crude prices over the past two years mostly on "insufficient investment and rising energy demand," especially from the booming economies of Asia.
WHEN DOES THIS INSANITY END ?????
Oh. Cooper and this news team always have the same MO. They dance around the propriety of being morally compelled by sensational social issues of the USA but intervene with Bush Propagands to support war and not peace. In this case they showcased Maliki in order to faciliate an escalation in war by providing more arms. In placing a highlight on the government of Maliki and it's complaint about the USA it give comfort to the Sunnis that Bush is doing his part for their worries.
I recently heard from an officer in Iraq. He stated, "Sure I can say I fought the war on terror for President Bush. But, I don't think I made a bit of difference because for every one that I killed there were at least that many to take their place."ENOUGH
Friday, January 12, 2007
When Democrats Lost Congress In '95, Networks Cast Voters As Uninformed Ingrates
http://newsbusters.org/node/9989
This week, the Democrats certainly got their fair share of good press as they took control of the Congress. Looking back at the evening newscasts from the first week of January 1995, it’s interesting that the Republicans got fairly positive coverage on January 4, the day they ended 40 years of Democratic control of Congress. “This was the country at its best, making a peaceful political transition while elsewhere in the world men are killing one another in the name of freedom and unity,” ABC’s Peter Jennings optimistically intoned that night.
But the GOP honeymoon was not long-lasting. The very next night, ABC’s World News Tonight featured an interview with President Bill Clinton where Jennings suggested that the Clinton’s problem was that voters were unaware of the fantastic accomplishments of the Democratic administration. And then-ABC reporter Aaron Brown offered a lengthy report designed to rebut the very premise of the Republican platform, arguing that conservative voters don’t appreciate all the wonderful services they receive for their federal tax dollars.
Brown visited Knox County, Tennessee, home to the federal government’s Oak Ridge national laboratories. After several sound bites from voters upset about higher taxes, Brown suggested they were all wrong, as he recited a list of what the county receives for its money. He concluded: “When people in Knox County talk of smaller government and less spending, they may mean it; they probably do. But do they want to lose this bus? Or this highway? Or this tunnel? Do they want to lose this lab? This cop? This teacher? Do they really want to make that choice at all?”
I very much doubt that networks such as ABC will devote their next several newscasts to steadily debunking the grievances of liberal voters and suggesting that the voter unhappiness of the last election was because President Bush’s accomplishments were being disregarded by citizens.
The January 5, 1995 World News Tonight is an excellent example of how the networks worked to prop up the President and undermine the GOP Congress from nearly the very outset. Here are a couple of Jennings’ questions to Clinton:
"I'd like to start, if I may, with what I think you may think is a puzzlement. You've reduced the deficit. You've created jobs. Haiti hasn't been an enormous problem. You've got a crime bill with your assault weapon ban in it. You got NAFTA, you got GATT, and 50 percent of the people don't want you to run again. Where's the disconnect there?"
"In our poll today, the absolute critical items for Congress to address. Number one, cutting the deficit. Number two, health care reform. The two issues which were absolute priorities for two years, and you don't get any credit for them?"
After that, the broadcast moved on to other news (including the O.J. Simpson trial), then back to politics for Brown’s piece, which is perhaps unparalleled in its snobby elitism:
Peter Jennings: “As we mentioned, we have a new ABC News/Washington Post poll tonight. And it also looks at what priorities Americans have for those lawmakers across the street. Fifty-five percent of those we asked say that cutting the federal deficit should be Congress’s most critical concern, with health care reform and a balanced federal budget close behind. But support for a balanced budget drops dramatically when you start adding conditions — namely, cutting popular programs.
“One of the most persistent criticisms of government during the last election campaign — which proved very effective for those politicians who argued it — was that government had become much too expensive. Besides which, there was too much government in our lives. We thought it might be educational to see what that really meant to people on a daily basis. ABC’s Aaron Brown could have gone almost anywhere in the country to test these notions. He went to Knoxville, Tennessee.”
Aaron Brown: “Knox County, Tennessee, population 335,000. In November, it voted Republican, two to one. Then and now, it likes the message of smaller government.”
Older white male: “Less bureaucracy, less control, of every asset of life.”
Younger white male: “We're sending a message: You've forgotten that it's our money that you're spending.”
Brown: “And it's a lot of money. The residents of Knox County paid almost $1.5 billion in federal taxes in 1993 — personal and corporate income taxes, Social Security, estate, gift and excise taxes included.”
Second younger white male: “People are tired of paying taxes and not getting anything in return.”
Brown: “That's a pretty common complaint around here; a pretty common view. It is also dead wrong. In fact, Knox County gets back much more from the federal government than its residents pay in — nearly twice as much. They pay in a billion and a half dollars and the federal government sends Knox County back almost $3 billion. That $3 billion comes back in hundreds of places, in hundreds of ways, most of which people never think about.”
Elderly white female: “Welfare should be cut out. Put them people to work.”
Brown: “They know that welfare and food stamps and medical care for the poor takes a chunk— about $204 million. Nearly 58,000 people get some piece of that. But that is nothing compared to the $655 million for social security and Medicare. Nearly half of what Knox County pays in taxes is paid out to 60,000 residents, most of whom are older than 65, regardless of their income. And that is seen as untouchable.
Older black male: “Because that's ours. We worked for it, put it in, you know. I think we should have it.”
Brown: “And that's just the biggest piece of the pie. Here is a smaller piece — a tunnel.”
Mayor Victor Ashe (at a press conference): “It will make traffic flow better and more smoothly for those people who work day in and day out in our downtown area.”
Brown: “True, but it costs $9 million federal tax dollars to build, part of the $40 million Knox County got for transportation. Money that doesn't just buy cement, it pays wages, which buys food at Ingles Grocery, clothes at Proffitt's department store and mortgages at the bank, in some cases, federally guaranteed mortgages. Outsiders may see the tunnel as pork. Here, it has a better name.”
Professor Bill Lyons, Political Scientist: “People see pork as the other guy's pork and as their valuable projects and their jobs.”
Brown: “Here's another piece of the pie. Knoxville is home to the University of Tennessee and home to 49 million federal dollars last year. One example — graduate students are working to design a robot to do work humans can't, clean up nuclear waste dumps. Cost: $100,000 a year. No $100,000, no robot.”
Professor William Hamel, Mechanical Engineering Department: “We really can't do the research. So it basically would shut us down.”
Brown: “$100,000 becomes $49 million quickly — $5,000 to promote the opera and musical theater, $64,000 for animal disease research, $852,000 in space program research grants, $2 million for the math department, and more. The university is dependent on federal money.”
Professor Lyons: “You would have a massive impact on the budget. You would have lots of offices, lots of programs, lots of institutes that would be either shut down or have to scale back drastically.”
Brown: “And on it goes — $13 million for Knox County's public schools. Handicapped children get teachers, hungry children get breakfast.”
Phil Clear, Food Service Coordinator: “Across the county, in Knox County, we feed close to 9,500 and 10,000 for breakfast.”
Brown: “Knoxville and Knox County government get another $12 million, which among other things will put eight to 10 police officers on Knoxville streets.”
Knoxville Police Chief Phil Keith: “They will be used in our high crime areas; areas that we're trying to re-establish control of the neighborhoods.
Brown: “Add up all the entitlements, throw in those teachers and police officers, tack on university research and those highways, and you get roughly $1.3 billion. Then add $1.7 billion to pay for this — the Oak Ridge National Lab — a huge federal complex that provides more than 7,000 people here with steady work. But even without Oak Ridge, Knox County would break just about even with the federal government, the same amount going out as coming in. So in effect, Knox County gets Oak Ridge for free. It also gets the Army, National Parks, federal prisons for free.
“When people in Knox County talk of smaller government and less spending, they may mean it; they probably do. But do they want to lose this bus? Or this highway? Or this tunnel? Do they want to lose this lab? This cop? This teacher? Do they really want to make that choice at all? Aaron Brown, ABC News, Knoxville, Tennessee.”
Jennings: “It's complicated. Back in a moment.”
http://newsbusters.org/node/9989
This week, the Democrats certainly got their fair share of good press as they took control of the Congress. Looking back at the evening newscasts from the first week of January 1995, it’s interesting that the Republicans got fairly positive coverage on January 4, the day they ended 40 years of Democratic control of Congress. “This was the country at its best, making a peaceful political transition while elsewhere in the world men are killing one another in the name of freedom and unity,” ABC’s Peter Jennings optimistically intoned that night.
But the GOP honeymoon was not long-lasting. The very next night, ABC’s World News Tonight featured an interview with President Bill Clinton where Jennings suggested that the Clinton’s problem was that voters were unaware of the fantastic accomplishments of the Democratic administration. And then-ABC reporter Aaron Brown offered a lengthy report designed to rebut the very premise of the Republican platform, arguing that conservative voters don’t appreciate all the wonderful services they receive for their federal tax dollars.
Brown visited Knox County, Tennessee, home to the federal government’s Oak Ridge national laboratories. After several sound bites from voters upset about higher taxes, Brown suggested they were all wrong, as he recited a list of what the county receives for its money. He concluded: “When people in Knox County talk of smaller government and less spending, they may mean it; they probably do. But do they want to lose this bus? Or this highway? Or this tunnel? Do they want to lose this lab? This cop? This teacher? Do they really want to make that choice at all?”
I very much doubt that networks such as ABC will devote their next several newscasts to steadily debunking the grievances of liberal voters and suggesting that the voter unhappiness of the last election was because President Bush’s accomplishments were being disregarded by citizens.
The January 5, 1995 World News Tonight is an excellent example of how the networks worked to prop up the President and undermine the GOP Congress from nearly the very outset. Here are a couple of Jennings’ questions to Clinton:
"I'd like to start, if I may, with what I think you may think is a puzzlement. You've reduced the deficit. You've created jobs. Haiti hasn't been an enormous problem. You've got a crime bill with your assault weapon ban in it. You got NAFTA, you got GATT, and 50 percent of the people don't want you to run again. Where's the disconnect there?"
"In our poll today, the absolute critical items for Congress to address. Number one, cutting the deficit. Number two, health care reform. The two issues which were absolute priorities for two years, and you don't get any credit for them?"
After that, the broadcast moved on to other news (including the O.J. Simpson trial), then back to politics for Brown’s piece, which is perhaps unparalleled in its snobby elitism:
Peter Jennings: “As we mentioned, we have a new ABC News/Washington Post poll tonight. And it also looks at what priorities Americans have for those lawmakers across the street. Fifty-five percent of those we asked say that cutting the federal deficit should be Congress’s most critical concern, with health care reform and a balanced federal budget close behind. But support for a balanced budget drops dramatically when you start adding conditions — namely, cutting popular programs.
“One of the most persistent criticisms of government during the last election campaign — which proved very effective for those politicians who argued it — was that government had become much too expensive. Besides which, there was too much government in our lives. We thought it might be educational to see what that really meant to people on a daily basis. ABC’s Aaron Brown could have gone almost anywhere in the country to test these notions. He went to Knoxville, Tennessee.”
Aaron Brown: “Knox County, Tennessee, population 335,000. In November, it voted Republican, two to one. Then and now, it likes the message of smaller government.”
Older white male: “Less bureaucracy, less control, of every asset of life.”
Younger white male: “We're sending a message: You've forgotten that it's our money that you're spending.”
Brown: “And it's a lot of money. The residents of Knox County paid almost $1.5 billion in federal taxes in 1993 — personal and corporate income taxes, Social Security, estate, gift and excise taxes included.”
Second younger white male: “People are tired of paying taxes and not getting anything in return.”
Brown: “That's a pretty common complaint around here; a pretty common view. It is also dead wrong. In fact, Knox County gets back much more from the federal government than its residents pay in — nearly twice as much. They pay in a billion and a half dollars and the federal government sends Knox County back almost $3 billion. That $3 billion comes back in hundreds of places, in hundreds of ways, most of which people never think about.”
Elderly white female: “Welfare should be cut out. Put them people to work.”
Brown: “They know that welfare and food stamps and medical care for the poor takes a chunk— about $204 million. Nearly 58,000 people get some piece of that. But that is nothing compared to the $655 million for social security and Medicare. Nearly half of what Knox County pays in taxes is paid out to 60,000 residents, most of whom are older than 65, regardless of their income. And that is seen as untouchable.
Older black male: “Because that's ours. We worked for it, put it in, you know. I think we should have it.”
Brown: “And that's just the biggest piece of the pie. Here is a smaller piece — a tunnel.”
Mayor Victor Ashe (at a press conference): “It will make traffic flow better and more smoothly for those people who work day in and day out in our downtown area.”
Brown: “True, but it costs $9 million federal tax dollars to build, part of the $40 million Knox County got for transportation. Money that doesn't just buy cement, it pays wages, which buys food at Ingles Grocery, clothes at Proffitt's department store and mortgages at the bank, in some cases, federally guaranteed mortgages. Outsiders may see the tunnel as pork. Here, it has a better name.”
Professor Bill Lyons, Political Scientist: “People see pork as the other guy's pork and as their valuable projects and their jobs.”
Brown: “Here's another piece of the pie. Knoxville is home to the University of Tennessee and home to 49 million federal dollars last year. One example — graduate students are working to design a robot to do work humans can't, clean up nuclear waste dumps. Cost: $100,000 a year. No $100,000, no robot.”
Professor William Hamel, Mechanical Engineering Department: “We really can't do the research. So it basically would shut us down.”
Brown: “$100,000 becomes $49 million quickly — $5,000 to promote the opera and musical theater, $64,000 for animal disease research, $852,000 in space program research grants, $2 million for the math department, and more. The university is dependent on federal money.”
Professor Lyons: “You would have a massive impact on the budget. You would have lots of offices, lots of programs, lots of institutes that would be either shut down or have to scale back drastically.”
Brown: “And on it goes — $13 million for Knox County's public schools. Handicapped children get teachers, hungry children get breakfast.”
Phil Clear, Food Service Coordinator: “Across the county, in Knox County, we feed close to 9,500 and 10,000 for breakfast.”
Brown: “Knoxville and Knox County government get another $12 million, which among other things will put eight to 10 police officers on Knoxville streets.”
Knoxville Police Chief Phil Keith: “They will be used in our high crime areas; areas that we're trying to re-establish control of the neighborhoods.
Brown: “Add up all the entitlements, throw in those teachers and police officers, tack on university research and those highways, and you get roughly $1.3 billion. Then add $1.7 billion to pay for this — the Oak Ridge National Lab — a huge federal complex that provides more than 7,000 people here with steady work. But even without Oak Ridge, Knox County would break just about even with the federal government, the same amount going out as coming in. So in effect, Knox County gets Oak Ridge for free. It also gets the Army, National Parks, federal prisons for free.
“When people in Knox County talk of smaller government and less spending, they may mean it; they probably do. But do they want to lose this bus? Or this highway? Or this tunnel? Do they want to lose this lab? This cop? This teacher? Do they really want to make that choice at all? Aaron Brown, ABC News, Knoxville, Tennessee.”
Jennings: “It's complicated. Back in a moment.”
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Andy, I thought you were discussing Stem Cell Research
1105
Charles Rangel voted for Stem Cell Research, why didn't you ask him about that rather than enhancing the 'potential for global war' with draft legislation?
H R 810
2/3 YEA-AND-NAY
19-Jul-2006
6:51 PM
QUESTION: Passage, Objections of the President Not Withstanding
BILL TITLE: Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll388.xml
Just can't get over making war instead of peace, huh?
You know what is hideous about the interview to promote war with Charles Rangel? The fact it isn't based in reality, but, a dreamscape of a perfect world without war. Not only that but just like Bush, Rangel has no plan for any kind of 'mandatory' service, just that is should be done.
It's pure stupidity. Just like Anderson Coopers interview.
Bush vetoes embryonic stem-cell bill
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/07/19/stemcells.veto/
Kissing babies is easy. What isn't easy is SAVING LIVES and promoting peace in a way that secure the nation. Neither are an easy task but definately realistic.
1120
Rick Sanchez on 'living in New Orleans.' Sort of sounds like Baghdad and it's irregularity of utilities, why didn't you make that analogy, Andy? Ask Rick about comparing the availability of the utilities in New Orleans and Baghdad. I betcha it's close to the same. And without insurgents. I'll be darn.
You know with all the gentrification that is going on in New Orleans, somehow it doesn't track that the crime rate would be prevalent, except, rich folks can hire their own security.
Crowd of 3,000 shows City Hall its outrage over violent crime
By Laura Maggi and Gwen Filosa Staff writers
In an unprecedented display of civic outrage over violent crime, as many as 3,000 people marched on City Hall Thursday, demanding that city leaders stem the tide of violence, as well as calling on ordinary citizens to help make New Orleans safer.
Organized in the wake of a string of almost daily murders in the new year, the protest channeled the city’s rising anger and fear.
“We have come to declare that a city that could not be drowned in waters of a storm will not be drowned in the blood of its citizens,” said the Rev. John Raphael Jr., one of the opening speakers, hunched over the podium and preaching in a booming voice.
Other speakers echoed his pledge, offering a mixture of criticism directed at Mayor Ray Nagin, District Attorney Eddie Jordan and Police Superintendent Warren Riley, as well as requests that people living in neighborhoods scarred by violence stand up as witnesses and refuse to tolerate crime. Nagin and Riley, along with City Council members, attended the rally but were not allowed to speak. Jordan didn’t show up.
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tpupdates/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tpupdates/archives/2007_01_11.html#224418
BUT
Then the crime rate is nationwide. How about that reality, Andy?
Rise in New York's murder rate reflects new US appetite for guns
By David Usborne
Published: 29 December 2006
The steady decline in murder rates in America's biggest cities that began in the early 1990s and earned political points for urban leaders like New York's former mayor Rudolph Giuliani appears to be bottoming out, with signs of a sharp rise in urban violence this year.
With a few exceptions, notably in Los Angeles and San Francisco, police departments across the country are recording new increases in homicide rates for 2006. Officials blame gang turf wars, the ubiquity of guns, and a willingness among young people to shoot if they feel they have been shown disrespect.
The trend prompted the Mayor of Philadelphia, John Street, to make a televised address last summer appealing to young people to cease fire. "Lay down your weapons," he pleaded. "Do it now. Choose education over violence." The number of murders in his city will exceed 400 this year for the first time in a decade.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2110299.ece
Conviction rate ain't the reason, Anderson. Stop picking on the Black President of the city council. The fact of the matter is this is a federal problem because the gun laws have weapons running to the hands of people without restriction. Bush's permissive laws are the cause for increase CRIME and VIOLENCE issues in the USA. This president and NOT the Black President of the city council has the problem. Now. What is yours, Anderson?
Concern as homicide rates show increase in major cities
Published: Saturday, 30 December, 2006, 10:56 AM Doha Time
By David Usborne
NEW YORK: The steady decline in murder rates in America’s biggest cities that began in the early 1990s and earned political points for urban leaders like New York’s former mayor Rudolph Giuliani appears to be bottoming out with signs of a sharp rise in urban violence this year.
With a few exceptions, notably in Los Angeles and San Francisco, police departments across the country are recording new increases in homicide rates for 2006. Officials blame gang turf-wars, the ubiquity of guns and a willingness of young people to shoot if they feel they have been shown disrespect.
The trend that prompted the Mayor of Philadelphia, John Street, to make a televised address last summer appealing to young people to ceasefire.
"Lay down your weapons," he pleaded. "Do it now. Choose education over violence."
The number of murders in his city will exceed 400 this year for the first time in a decade.
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=125226&version=1&template_id=43&parent_id=19
Natural gas inside an energy policy set for Friday.
Democrats Unveil Energy Package
By H. JOSEF HEBERTThe Associated PressThursday, January 11, 2007; 8:38 PM
WASHINGTON -- House Democrats next week will push to impose a conservation fee on oil and natural gas taken from the Gulf of Mexico if prices remain at current high levels.
Also, under a package of energy measures to be unveiled Friday, oil and gas companies would be barred from future Gulf lease sales unless they agree to renegotiate flawed 1998-99 leases that allowed them to avoid federal royalty payments.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011101719.html
I guess Human Induced Global Warming has it's upside to New Orleans. At least folks don't have to worry about freezing to death, just the potential of drowing again.
2006 Was Record Warmest Year Across USA
ASHEVILLE, North Carolina, January 10, 2007 (ENS) - The 2006 average annual temperature for the Lower 48 United States was the warmest on record and nearly identical to the record set in 1998, according to government scientists at the NOAA National Climatic Data Center in Asheville.
Meteorologists said the past nine years have all been among the 25 warmest years on record for the contiguous United States, a streak which is unprecedented in the historical record.
Seven months in 2006 were much warmer than average, including December, which ended as the fourth warmest December since records began in 1895, the agency said Tuesday.
Based on preliminary data, the 2006 annual average temperature was 55 degrees Fahrenheit. That is 2.2 degrees F (1.2 degrees C) above the 20th century mean and 0.07 degrees F (0.04 degrees C) warmer than 1998.
These values were calculated using a network of more than 1,200 U.S. Historical Climatology Network stations. These data, primarily from rural stations, have been adjusted to remove artificial effects resulting from factors such as urbanization and station and instrument changes, which occurred during the period of record.
An improved data set being developed at the National Climatic Data Center and scheduled for release in 2007 incorporates recent scientific advances that better address uncertainties in the instrumental record.
Although undergoing final testing and development, this new data set also shows 2006 and 1998 to be the two warmest years on record for the contiguous United States, but with 2006 slightly cooler than 1998.
Five states had their warmest December on record - Minnesota, New York, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire - and no state was colder than average in December.
The unusually warm start to this winter reflected the rarity of Arctic outbreaks across the country as an El Niño episode continued in the equatorial Pacific. It is known that El Niño is playing a major role in this winter's short-term warm period.
U.S. and global annual temperatures are now approximately 1.0 degrees F warmer than at the start of the 20th century, and the rate of warming has accelerated over the past 30 years, increasing globally since the mid-1970s at a rate approximately three times faster than the century-scale trend.
1148
Just an interesting article from "NOLA."
1st black female judge in U.S. dies
1/11/2007, 10:01 p.m. CT
By SAMANTHA GROSS The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Jane Bolin, the nation's first black female judge and the first black woman to graduate from Yale Law School, has died. She was 98.
Bolin's family contacted the New York City Bar Association on Thursday for help arranging a memorial, spokesman Matthew Kovary said.
Bolin, who died Monday in New York, was sworn in by Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia in 1939, according to the city's law department. She was assigned to the Domestic Relations Court, later named Family Court, and fought racial discrimination from the bench.
She worked to end segregation in child placement facilities and the assignment of probation officers based on race. She also helped create a racially integrated treatment center for delinquent boys.
Bolin reflected on her status as a barrier-breaker in a 1993 interview with The New York Times.
"Everyone else makes a fuss about it, but I didn't think about it, and I still don't," she said. "I wasn't concerned about first, second or last. My work was my primary concern."
The city's mayors renewed her appointment three times, until the law required her to retire at age 70.
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/topstories/index.ssf?/base/national-78/116856865676170.xml&storylist=topstories
There is that decision too about State Farm lacking the morality to pay their insured.
Judge: State Farm liable for damage in Katrina case
1/11/2007, 12:26 p.m. CT
By GARRY MITCHELL The Associated Press
GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) — A federal judge ruled against an insurance company Thursday in a Hurricane Katrina damage case that may have implications for hundreds of other homeowner lawsuits against insurers who refused to cover billions of dollars in damage from the storm's surge.
U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. ruled that State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. is liable for $223,292 in damage caused by Hurricane Katrina to a Biloxi couple's home, but said a jury must decide whether to award millions of dollars more in punitive damages.
The jury was expected to start weighing punitive damages on Thursday afternoon.
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-29/1168537177199970.xml&storylist=louisiana
1152
If there is an explosion, I doubt if there is local involvement. This is the only really volitile issue and it looks to be recently resolved.
Port standoff ends
The Piraeus Port Authority will discuss the business future of the portwith workers over the next four months, but 53 days of labour action have costPiraeus and Thessaloniki revenue and credibility
http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.prnt_article?e=C&f=13216&t=01&m=A07&aa=1
I guess some folks don't like Bush's assault within Iraq. That time of day there aren't that many people around to even be injured. Maybe it was a GAS LEAK, huh?
Blast rips through U.S. embassy compound in Athens
ATHENS (Reuters) - An explosion ripped through the U.S. embassy compound in central Athens on Friday, a police source said.
It was not clear what caused the blast and there was no immediate word on whether there were any casualties.
Police cordoned off all roads around the embassy.
Police officials at the scene said that whatever caused the explosion damaged the official embassy sign outside the mission, but there was little other indication of the extent of damage inside.
enough
Charles Rangel voted for Stem Cell Research, why didn't you ask him about that rather than enhancing the 'potential for global war' with draft legislation?
H R 810
2/3 YEA-AND-NAY
19-Jul-2006
6:51 PM
QUESTION: Passage, Objections of the President Not Withstanding
BILL TITLE: Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll388.xml
Just can't get over making war instead of peace, huh?
You know what is hideous about the interview to promote war with Charles Rangel? The fact it isn't based in reality, but, a dreamscape of a perfect world without war. Not only that but just like Bush, Rangel has no plan for any kind of 'mandatory' service, just that is should be done.
It's pure stupidity. Just like Anderson Coopers interview.
Bush vetoes embryonic stem-cell bill
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/07/19/stemcells.veto/
Kissing babies is easy. What isn't easy is SAVING LIVES and promoting peace in a way that secure the nation. Neither are an easy task but definately realistic.
1120
Rick Sanchez on 'living in New Orleans.' Sort of sounds like Baghdad and it's irregularity of utilities, why didn't you make that analogy, Andy? Ask Rick about comparing the availability of the utilities in New Orleans and Baghdad. I betcha it's close to the same. And without insurgents. I'll be darn.
You know with all the gentrification that is going on in New Orleans, somehow it doesn't track that the crime rate would be prevalent, except, rich folks can hire their own security.
Crowd of 3,000 shows City Hall its outrage over violent crime
By Laura Maggi and Gwen Filosa Staff writers
In an unprecedented display of civic outrage over violent crime, as many as 3,000 people marched on City Hall Thursday, demanding that city leaders stem the tide of violence, as well as calling on ordinary citizens to help make New Orleans safer.
Organized in the wake of a string of almost daily murders in the new year, the protest channeled the city’s rising anger and fear.
“We have come to declare that a city that could not be drowned in waters of a storm will not be drowned in the blood of its citizens,” said the Rev. John Raphael Jr., one of the opening speakers, hunched over the podium and preaching in a booming voice.
Other speakers echoed his pledge, offering a mixture of criticism directed at Mayor Ray Nagin, District Attorney Eddie Jordan and Police Superintendent Warren Riley, as well as requests that people living in neighborhoods scarred by violence stand up as witnesses and refuse to tolerate crime. Nagin and Riley, along with City Council members, attended the rally but were not allowed to speak. Jordan didn’t show up.
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tpupdates/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tpupdates/archives/2007_01_11.html#224418
BUT
Then the crime rate is nationwide. How about that reality, Andy?
Rise in New York's murder rate reflects new US appetite for guns
By David Usborne
Published: 29 December 2006
The steady decline in murder rates in America's biggest cities that began in the early 1990s and earned political points for urban leaders like New York's former mayor Rudolph Giuliani appears to be bottoming out, with signs of a sharp rise in urban violence this year.
With a few exceptions, notably in Los Angeles and San Francisco, police departments across the country are recording new increases in homicide rates for 2006. Officials blame gang turf wars, the ubiquity of guns, and a willingness among young people to shoot if they feel they have been shown disrespect.
The trend prompted the Mayor of Philadelphia, John Street, to make a televised address last summer appealing to young people to cease fire. "Lay down your weapons," he pleaded. "Do it now. Choose education over violence." The number of murders in his city will exceed 400 this year for the first time in a decade.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2110299.ece
Conviction rate ain't the reason, Anderson. Stop picking on the Black President of the city council. The fact of the matter is this is a federal problem because the gun laws have weapons running to the hands of people without restriction. Bush's permissive laws are the cause for increase CRIME and VIOLENCE issues in the USA. This president and NOT the Black President of the city council has the problem. Now. What is yours, Anderson?
Concern as homicide rates show increase in major cities
Published: Saturday, 30 December, 2006, 10:56 AM Doha Time
By David Usborne
NEW YORK: The steady decline in murder rates in America’s biggest cities that began in the early 1990s and earned political points for urban leaders like New York’s former mayor Rudolph Giuliani appears to be bottoming out with signs of a sharp rise in urban violence this year.
With a few exceptions, notably in Los Angeles and San Francisco, police departments across the country are recording new increases in homicide rates for 2006. Officials blame gang turf-wars, the ubiquity of guns and a willingness of young people to shoot if they feel they have been shown disrespect.
The trend that prompted the Mayor of Philadelphia, John Street, to make a televised address last summer appealing to young people to ceasefire.
"Lay down your weapons," he pleaded. "Do it now. Choose education over violence."
The number of murders in his city will exceed 400 this year for the first time in a decade.
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=125226&version=1&template_id=43&parent_id=19
Natural gas inside an energy policy set for Friday.
Democrats Unveil Energy Package
By H. JOSEF HEBERTThe Associated PressThursday, January 11, 2007; 8:38 PM
WASHINGTON -- House Democrats next week will push to impose a conservation fee on oil and natural gas taken from the Gulf of Mexico if prices remain at current high levels.
Also, under a package of energy measures to be unveiled Friday, oil and gas companies would be barred from future Gulf lease sales unless they agree to renegotiate flawed 1998-99 leases that allowed them to avoid federal royalty payments.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011101719.html
I guess Human Induced Global Warming has it's upside to New Orleans. At least folks don't have to worry about freezing to death, just the potential of drowing again.
2006 Was Record Warmest Year Across USA
ASHEVILLE, North Carolina, January 10, 2007 (ENS) - The 2006 average annual temperature for the Lower 48 United States was the warmest on record and nearly identical to the record set in 1998, according to government scientists at the NOAA National Climatic Data Center in Asheville.
Meteorologists said the past nine years have all been among the 25 warmest years on record for the contiguous United States, a streak which is unprecedented in the historical record.
Seven months in 2006 were much warmer than average, including December, which ended as the fourth warmest December since records began in 1895, the agency said Tuesday.
Based on preliminary data, the 2006 annual average temperature was 55 degrees Fahrenheit. That is 2.2 degrees F (1.2 degrees C) above the 20th century mean and 0.07 degrees F (0.04 degrees C) warmer than 1998.
These values were calculated using a network of more than 1,200 U.S. Historical Climatology Network stations. These data, primarily from rural stations, have been adjusted to remove artificial effects resulting from factors such as urbanization and station and instrument changes, which occurred during the period of record.
An improved data set being developed at the National Climatic Data Center and scheduled for release in 2007 incorporates recent scientific advances that better address uncertainties in the instrumental record.
Although undergoing final testing and development, this new data set also shows 2006 and 1998 to be the two warmest years on record for the contiguous United States, but with 2006 slightly cooler than 1998.
Five states had their warmest December on record - Minnesota, New York, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire - and no state was colder than average in December.
The unusually warm start to this winter reflected the rarity of Arctic outbreaks across the country as an El Niño episode continued in the equatorial Pacific. It is known that El Niño is playing a major role in this winter's short-term warm period.
U.S. and global annual temperatures are now approximately 1.0 degrees F warmer than at the start of the 20th century, and the rate of warming has accelerated over the past 30 years, increasing globally since the mid-1970s at a rate approximately three times faster than the century-scale trend.
1148
Just an interesting article from "NOLA."
1st black female judge in U.S. dies
1/11/2007, 10:01 p.m. CT
By SAMANTHA GROSS The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Jane Bolin, the nation's first black female judge and the first black woman to graduate from Yale Law School, has died. She was 98.
Bolin's family contacted the New York City Bar Association on Thursday for help arranging a memorial, spokesman Matthew Kovary said.
Bolin, who died Monday in New York, was sworn in by Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia in 1939, according to the city's law department. She was assigned to the Domestic Relations Court, later named Family Court, and fought racial discrimination from the bench.
She worked to end segregation in child placement facilities and the assignment of probation officers based on race. She also helped create a racially integrated treatment center for delinquent boys.
Bolin reflected on her status as a barrier-breaker in a 1993 interview with The New York Times.
"Everyone else makes a fuss about it, but I didn't think about it, and I still don't," she said. "I wasn't concerned about first, second or last. My work was my primary concern."
The city's mayors renewed her appointment three times, until the law required her to retire at age 70.
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/topstories/index.ssf?/base/national-78/116856865676170.xml&storylist=topstories
There is that decision too about State Farm lacking the morality to pay their insured.
Judge: State Farm liable for damage in Katrina case
1/11/2007, 12:26 p.m. CT
By GARRY MITCHELL The Associated Press
GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) — A federal judge ruled against an insurance company Thursday in a Hurricane Katrina damage case that may have implications for hundreds of other homeowner lawsuits against insurers who refused to cover billions of dollars in damage from the storm's surge.
U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. ruled that State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. is liable for $223,292 in damage caused by Hurricane Katrina to a Biloxi couple's home, but said a jury must decide whether to award millions of dollars more in punitive damages.
The jury was expected to start weighing punitive damages on Thursday afternoon.
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-29/1168537177199970.xml&storylist=louisiana
1152
If there is an explosion, I doubt if there is local involvement. This is the only really volitile issue and it looks to be recently resolved.
Port standoff ends
The Piraeus Port Authority will discuss the business future of the portwith workers over the next four months, but 53 days of labour action have costPiraeus and Thessaloniki revenue and credibility
http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.prnt_article?e=C&f=13216&t=01&m=A07&aa=1
I guess some folks don't like Bush's assault within Iraq. That time of day there aren't that many people around to even be injured. Maybe it was a GAS LEAK, huh?
Blast rips through U.S. embassy compound in Athens
ATHENS (Reuters) - An explosion ripped through the U.S. embassy compound in central Athens on Friday, a police source said.
It was not clear what caused the blast and there was no immediate word on whether there were any casualties.
Police cordoned off all roads around the embassy.
Police officials at the scene said that whatever caused the explosion damaged the official embassy sign outside the mission, but there was little other indication of the extent of damage inside.
enough
Where did Aaron go?
Q: What has happened to Aaron Brown since he left the CNN program at night? (click on) He was wonderful and I miss his calm, concise, and interesting way of presenting the news.
A: Beginning Tuesday, Brown will spend a semester as the John J. Rhodes Chair at Arizona State University's Barrett Honors College. According to ASU, Brown ``will teach a course on news media issues, deliver a major speech on the Tempe campus and be part of the faculty at both ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Barrett Honors College.''
Do you have a question or comment for the mailbag? Write to rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com or to the Akron Beacon Journal, 44 E. Exchange St., Akron, OH 44309. Please put ``mailbag'' on the envelope or in the e-mail header.
Letters may be edited. Individual replies cannot be guaranteed. Please do not phone in questions.
A: Beginning Tuesday, Brown will spend a semester as the John J. Rhodes Chair at Arizona State University's Barrett Honors College. According to ASU, Brown ``will teach a course on news media issues, deliver a major speech on the Tempe campus and be part of the faculty at both ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Barrett Honors College.''
Do you have a question or comment for the mailbag? Write to rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com or to the Akron Beacon Journal, 44 E. Exchange St., Akron, OH 44309. Please put ``mailbag'' on the envelope or in the e-mail header.
Letters may be edited. Individual replies cannot be guaranteed. Please do not phone in questions.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Bush said, out of Iraq by November, but mind you this is not an open ended TIMELINE !
Iraqi soldiers check motorists on a bridge blocked off by the army after a heavy firefight erupted between the army and Sunni insurgents in nearby Haifa street, in central Baghdad, 9 January 2007 (AFP)
Clear. Hold. Build.
The Holy Al-Mahdi Army does it very well. The Baghdad Initiative does not belong to the USA and never has. The confidence of the Iraqi people is with their militias. The USA is in the way. The Unity Government is being protected by 'the ONLY army that can.'
It ain't us.
Bush lost control a long time ago and the Repuglicans have been giving it 'lip service' for nearly a year or more. THEY ARE LYING about the USA responsibility in Iraq and Baghdad. The Holy Al-Mahdi Army is in control in Baghdad. They are sanctioned by the Unity Government and THAT is why the USA will be assigned to OUTSIDE of Baghdad to carry on the Bush Political War.
Iraqi Judge: Elements of Al-Mahdi Army Have Settled in Green Zone
http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=7611
10/01/2007By Ma'ad Fayad
London, Asharq Al-Awsat- A judge in the Higher Criminal Court trying the former regime's key officials has confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that many elements from Al-Mahdi Army militia which is led by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, have infiltrated and settled inside the Green Zone where senior Iraqi officials live. The area also includes the residences of Western diplomats and embassies, foremost of them the United States and Britain.
The judge, who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity for security purposes, said in a telephone interview from his residence in the Green Zone that "elements of the Al-Mahdi Army have settled in the Green Zone as part of the force guarding former Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari. They therefore constitute part of the force protecting some officials in the Unified Iraqi Coalition which is led by Abdulaziz al-Hakim."
The Bush Legacy is a LIE !!! Iraq is a war for profit and nothing else !
The Shi'ites have the country. They did it well. It's time the Sunnis, Kurds and Shia have their own provinces.
There is no more war in Iraq for the USA. We are occupiers. We need to leave Iraq without regrets. The country is already secured.
The reason Bush wants a 'surge' is because the Saudis are demanding it. He is calling it reputation. It's got nothing to do with it. America's credibility was destroyed in March of 2003.
The President of the USA does not carry the best interest of the USA in his policies. He is turning the "Sadr" Shi'ites into demons to satisfy Saudi Arabia. The sectarianism goes far beyond the borders of Iraq and it ain't al Qaeda. At least not under the leadership of Osama bin Laden.
"New Blaze" - it's a war monger rag. The name gives it away.
...It was just a few weeks ago, Vice-President Dick Cheney visited Riyadh and was told to send more troops into Iraq or else the House of Saud will support the Sunni militia groups. Riyadh and Tehran have been working in tandem since both governments want to see the West defeated and less influential in the region after the Jihad runs its course this year. So occasionally the House of Saud will put on it's frighten of Iran act, but in reality they support the Jihad just as much as Tehran and acknowledge Tehran's leadership.
Neither Tehran-Riyadh want to see American-British forces fighting effectively on other strategic fronts like the Balkans-Caucasus-India.
http://newsblaze.com/story/20070110162051payn.nb/newsblaze/OPINIONS/Opinions.html
Mystery swirls as Saudi ambassador to US exits
Theories for Prince Turki’s resignation range from being promoted to being back-stabbed in Riyad.
By Stephen Collinson - WASHINGTON
A Washington diplomatic mystery swirled around the sudden resignation of Saudi Arabia's ambassador here, baffling foreign policy experts and injecting new intrigue into US-Saudi relations.
Prince Turki al-Faisal, one of the most influential foreign envoys here and steward of the key and sometimes uneasy alliance between the world's sole superpower and the Gulf oil state, abruptly quit on Monday, Saudi sources said.
The shock resignation -- after only 15 months on the job -- and the Prince's immediate departure from the United States, came after he told staff Monday he wanted to spend more time with his family, an embassy official said.
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=18745
Saudi Arabia asks US to review Iraq aims
By Syed Rashid Husain
RIYADH, Jan 6: Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz has said that the US should review its aims and objectives in Iraq, and the neighbouring countries should stop backing communities on the basis of religion."Coalition forces in Iraq must review the goals of their presence and the strategies of their remaining" there, said the Saudi crown prince in an interview carried by Asharq Al Awsat, a Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily on Sunday.The statement comes in the wake of a number of calls in recent weeks from leading clerics in Saudi Arabia for the protection of the Sunni community in Iraq.Expressing grief over recent developments in Iraq, he insisted that Saudi Arabia would not interfere in the internal affairs of Iraq.
http://www.dawn.com/2007/01/07/top8.htm
It ain't us.
Bush lost control a long time ago and the Repuglicans have been giving it 'lip service' for nearly a year or more. THEY ARE LYING about the USA responsibility in Iraq and Baghdad. The Holy Al-Mahdi Army is in control in Baghdad. They are sanctioned by the Unity Government and THAT is why the USA will be assigned to OUTSIDE of Baghdad to carry on the Bush Political War.
Iraqi Judge: Elements of Al-Mahdi Army Have Settled in Green Zone
http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=7611
10/01/2007By Ma'ad Fayad
London, Asharq Al-Awsat- A judge in the Higher Criminal Court trying the former regime's key officials has confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that many elements from Al-Mahdi Army militia which is led by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, have infiltrated and settled inside the Green Zone where senior Iraqi officials live. The area also includes the residences of Western diplomats and embassies, foremost of them the United States and Britain.
The judge, who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity for security purposes, said in a telephone interview from his residence in the Green Zone that "elements of the Al-Mahdi Army have settled in the Green Zone as part of the force guarding former Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari. They therefore constitute part of the force protecting some officials in the Unified Iraqi Coalition which is led by Abdulaziz al-Hakim."
The Bush Legacy is a LIE !!! Iraq is a war for profit and nothing else !
The Shi'ites have the country. They did it well. It's time the Sunnis, Kurds and Shia have their own provinces.
There is no more war in Iraq for the USA. We are occupiers. We need to leave Iraq without regrets. The country is already secured.
The reason Bush wants a 'surge' is because the Saudis are demanding it. He is calling it reputation. It's got nothing to do with it. America's credibility was destroyed in March of 2003.
The President of the USA does not carry the best interest of the USA in his policies. He is turning the "Sadr" Shi'ites into demons to satisfy Saudi Arabia. The sectarianism goes far beyond the borders of Iraq and it ain't al Qaeda. At least not under the leadership of Osama bin Laden.
"New Blaze" - it's a war monger rag. The name gives it away.
...It was just a few weeks ago, Vice-President Dick Cheney visited Riyadh and was told to send more troops into Iraq or else the House of Saud will support the Sunni militia groups. Riyadh and Tehran have been working in tandem since both governments want to see the West defeated and less influential in the region after the Jihad runs its course this year. So occasionally the House of Saud will put on it's frighten of Iran act, but in reality they support the Jihad just as much as Tehran and acknowledge Tehran's leadership.
Neither Tehran-Riyadh want to see American-British forces fighting effectively on other strategic fronts like the Balkans-Caucasus-India.
http://newsblaze.com/story/20070110162051payn.nb/newsblaze/OPINIONS/Opinions.html
Mystery swirls as Saudi ambassador to US exits
Theories for Prince Turki’s resignation range from being promoted to being back-stabbed in Riyad.
By Stephen Collinson - WASHINGTON
A Washington diplomatic mystery swirled around the sudden resignation of Saudi Arabia's ambassador here, baffling foreign policy experts and injecting new intrigue into US-Saudi relations.
Prince Turki al-Faisal, one of the most influential foreign envoys here and steward of the key and sometimes uneasy alliance between the world's sole superpower and the Gulf oil state, abruptly quit on Monday, Saudi sources said.
The shock resignation -- after only 15 months on the job -- and the Prince's immediate departure from the United States, came after he told staff Monday he wanted to spend more time with his family, an embassy official said.
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=18745
Saudi Arabia asks US to review Iraq aims
By Syed Rashid Husain
RIYADH, Jan 6: Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz has said that the US should review its aims and objectives in Iraq, and the neighbouring countries should stop backing communities on the basis of religion."Coalition forces in Iraq must review the goals of their presence and the strategies of their remaining" there, said the Saudi crown prince in an interview carried by Asharq Al Awsat, a Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily on Sunday.The statement comes in the wake of a number of calls in recent weeks from leading clerics in Saudi Arabia for the protection of the Sunni community in Iraq.Expressing grief over recent developments in Iraq, he insisted that Saudi Arabia would not interfere in the internal affairs of Iraq.
http://www.dawn.com/2007/01/07/top8.htm
Cheney and Prince Turki
December 13, 2006
Saudis Say They Might Back Sunnis if U.S. Leaves Iraq (click on)
By HELENE COOPERWASHINGTON, Dec. 12 — Saudi Arabia has told the Bush administration that it might provide financial backing to Iraqi Sunnis in any war against Iraq’s Shiites if the United States pulls its troops out of Iraq, according to American and Arab diplomats.
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia conveyed that message to Vice President Dick Cheney two weeks ago during Mr. Cheney’s whirlwind visit to Riyadh, the officials said. During the visit, King Abdullah also expressed strong opposition to diplomatic talks between the United States and Iran, and pushed for Washington to encourage the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, senior Bush administration officials said.
The Saudi warning reflects fears among America’s Sunni Arab allies about Iran’s rising influence in Iraq, coupled with Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. King Abdullah II of Jordan has also expressed concern about rising Shiite influence, and about the prospect that the Shiite-dominated government would use Iraqi troops against the Sunni population.
THE SAUDIS have told Bush to stop delineating on religous grounds. Of course, to do so would provide Bush with his 'scapegoat' - the Shias. The so called extremists are being assaulted PER the Saudi on the back of Bush's military. Bush is not fighting America's war, he is fighting the Saudi war.
Riyadh And Tehran, 2006: Honeymoon On The Rocks (click on)
...Some history is instructive. The Saudi-Wahhabi alliance of 1744 was by definition anti-Shiite, viewing many Shiite practices as polytheistic. Riyadh has a history of oppressing its own Shiites, which number approximately 10% of the population and are concentrated in the oil-rich Eastern Province. The 1979 Iranian Islamic revolution posed a strategic nightmare, as Iran now challenged the Saudis for regional hegemony and stirred unrest among its Shiite subjects. Until the mid-1990s, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca was the site of repeated clashes between Iranian pilgrims and Saudi forces....
enough
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
The "Nay" Sayers
1000
Senator Warner is completely laughable. He states he doesn't know how every container can possibly be inspected. That figures. He states it isn't economically feasible and the American economy will be affected. Oh? I thought the downturn of the stock market after September 11th was sincerely significant. I thought the possiblity of having a drastically serious episode of a breech of Homeland Security will only serve to cause a greater disruption to a Republically demised American economy. Senator Warner needs to retire. Poor man can't think clearly.
1017
Bush has a plan? He doesn't have a plan. He has a desire to make more of a war than should be made. He plans to confront Syria and Iran and make the entire mess even worse. Nowhere is he seeking active solutions for the Middle East diplomatically. The core issue is a peace between Palestine and Israel. Those peace talks aren't even on the table. What is on the Bush Table is war and more war regardless. There is an escalation of tensions everywhere in the Middle East and Bush's trigger finger is itchery than ever, ie: Somalia.
1031
You know Andy there is absolutely no mention of the reason Bush is so very, very oppositional to the Iraq Study Group and a new Democratic House and Senate. Seriously.
Libby.
Libby Denies Seeing Cheney's Notes on Newspaper Column
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/20/AR2006052000951.html
Lawyers for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the indicted former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney, said in a court filing late Friday that Libby did not see the notes Cheney inscribed on a key newspaper column criticizing the administration's rationale for invading Iraq until he was shown the annotations in the course of an FBI investigation.
The lawyers raised the issue to cast doubt on a claim by special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald in a court filing a week ago that the annotations "serve both to explain the context of and provide a motive for" Libby's statements and actions that brought about his indictment.
NO one ever talks about this. It's about the security of this nation and no one every talks about this AT ALL !!!!!!!!!!!!
Go get 'em Drew !
Speaking of modern day Vietnam
Another Mekong Delta province succumbs to bird flu plague
http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=24049
Kien Giang is the fourth Vietnamese province hit by bird flu with some 70 ducks perishing last weekend, all testing positive for H5N1, said the local animal health department Tuesday.
1040
The Rassmussen polls always gives Bush a break:
Forty-two percent (42%) of Americans approve of the way that George W. Bush is performing his role as President. Fifty-five percent (55%) disapprove of his performance. These numbers includes 17% who strongly approve and 38% percent who strongly disapprove.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/Bush_Job_Approval.htm
At least Rasmussen delineates between STRONLY approve and disapprove. If one looks at those 'die hard' Bush fans, it is ONLY 17%, that was seventeen percent that 'Strongly Approve.' Hello? That is impeachment territory.
1045
The only place where the parents lose their battle over ethical treatment of the disabled is the potential for genetic medicine.
Parents of disabled children ask for the `Ashley treatment'
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2007/01/09/2003344027
...Dan Gunther, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington who devised Ashley's treatment with the blessing of her parents, said four sets of parents had contacted him to ask that their children be considered.
Popular
US media organizations have also been approached by parents keen to find out whether their disabled children could have their growth stunted to prevent them attaining full adult size....
Currently, at UNC-Chapel Hill there is cutting edge medicine being given to patients that protect them from lung transplant rejection. The infusion was originally offered for cancer. It is a genetic medicine. The 'side effects' were that transplants seemed to be protected and now it is being administered on a Step Down Unit. One day when a protocol is developed by the pharmacy and MDs the infusion will probably be given on a regular medical unit without any telemetry or close monitoring of vitals signs, mentation and signs of allergic reactions. This is absolutely the most cutting edge of modern day medicine and it is being aggressively pursued to the point of administering just as soon as it is investigational without any protocol. Since there is no animal testing, the protocols are literally developed as the medications are administered. It is a genetic medicine product so there is no animal testing because it is developed for people. It is that aspect of the current state of medicine that has me wishing everyone was fighting their maladies to the death until they can't fight anymore because a cure might be right around the corner.
1059
War mongering in Africa followed by a reason to obess over killing more and more people, Opray's Mission. Over 30 minutes of carrying on about a conflict that if escalated would cause greater hardship than Iraq with it's 250,000 dead and rising.
It would seem Michael Scheuer could not be more correct. The West is confused about 'the enemy' and why they never ASSIGNED responsibility of the failure to stop Osama bin Laden.
Insights: International Peace and Security
Ex-CIA analyst says West misunderstands Al-Qaeda
22-year CIA vet says 9/11 commission failed America by not finding anyone responsible
RFE/RL: And the use of the phrase "after Iraq" refers to a time when the United States is no longer in that country?
...Scheuer: The book is written because I think we're defeated in Iraq. I think we're simply looking for a way to be graceful about the exit, but it's going to be very clear to our opponents in the Islamic world that they've defeated the second superpower.
They defeated the Soviet Union in Afghanistan; they've defeated us in Iraq; and it looks very likely that they'll defeat us in Afghanistan. And so Iraq, for all intents and purposes, as far as our enemies are concerned, is over....
RFE/RL: You decided to end your career at the CIA earlier than you originally planned to. Was it difficult to resign?
Scheuer: I resigned from the agency with much regret. I had intended to work there for 30 years and then retire, or longer if I could. And I had nothing to complain about regarding the agency. Indeed the agency asked me to stay when I decided to resign.
I resigned because I thought the 9/11 commission had thoroughly failed America by not finding anyone responsible for anything before 9/11. The amount of individual negligence and culpability at the highest levels of the American government was completely whitewashed by the 9/11 commission. And I resigned because I wanted to speak out on those issues.
My feeling since I have left has been that I have not had any influence at all on that particular debate. I think I've had a bit of influence through my books and writings on trying to convince people that the war we're fighting against Al-Qaedaism is a more serious problem than we have imagined to date. And that it has much more to do with religion than anyone in power is willing to talk about. I seem to have an equal number of detractors on the right and on the left, and perhaps that is suggests that I have at least said something that's getting some attention.
RFE/RL: Can I ask what your political affiliation is?
Scheuer: I've been a Republican all my life. I've never voted for a Democrat. I think my father would reach out from the grave if I did and throttle me. But that doesn't have anything to do with American security. I don't think the Bush administration has had a more pointed or eager critic than myself.
It is problematic to 'throw in' with former agents to establish issues for govenment policy as the agents would love a totalitarian government without any freedom of democray. THAT is the issue we always face with Bush's illegal initiatives including his covert intentions of spying on Americans. In this case, the issue that is intriguing is the fact that someone whom was respected at the higher levels of the CIA was actually disgusted with the 911 Commission for pandering to Bush rather than nailing him for negligence of his responsiblty to the American people. Additionally, he admits openly 'Al-Qaedaism' is a huge problem that Bush dropped as an American priority when he illegally invaded Iraq.
The issues in Somalia is not a matter of escalating war to fight 'Al Qaedaism' it is promoting economic solutions removing the incentive to turning to the tactics of al Qaeda in the first place.
I also find it interesting to realize all the detainees are completely worthless to interrogate as IF they were truly al Qaeda they are trained to give false information.
This programming is a 'do nothing' about terrorists and their networks except to promote war. War in any country is not an answer to extremism. War in the cause of Islamists/Jihadists only fuels more war and more death. It would be better to realize that BEFORE Somalia is more a victim to it than less.
enough
Senator Warner is completely laughable. He states he doesn't know how every container can possibly be inspected. That figures. He states it isn't economically feasible and the American economy will be affected. Oh? I thought the downturn of the stock market after September 11th was sincerely significant. I thought the possiblity of having a drastically serious episode of a breech of Homeland Security will only serve to cause a greater disruption to a Republically demised American economy. Senator Warner needs to retire. Poor man can't think clearly.
1017
Bush has a plan? He doesn't have a plan. He has a desire to make more of a war than should be made. He plans to confront Syria and Iran and make the entire mess even worse. Nowhere is he seeking active solutions for the Middle East diplomatically. The core issue is a peace between Palestine and Israel. Those peace talks aren't even on the table. What is on the Bush Table is war and more war regardless. There is an escalation of tensions everywhere in the Middle East and Bush's trigger finger is itchery than ever, ie: Somalia.
1031
You know Andy there is absolutely no mention of the reason Bush is so very, very oppositional to the Iraq Study Group and a new Democratic House and Senate. Seriously.
Libby.
Libby Denies Seeing Cheney's Notes on Newspaper Column
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/20/AR2006052000951.html
Lawyers for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the indicted former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney, said in a court filing late Friday that Libby did not see the notes Cheney inscribed on a key newspaper column criticizing the administration's rationale for invading Iraq until he was shown the annotations in the course of an FBI investigation.
The lawyers raised the issue to cast doubt on a claim by special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald in a court filing a week ago that the annotations "serve both to explain the context of and provide a motive for" Libby's statements and actions that brought about his indictment.
NO one ever talks about this. It's about the security of this nation and no one every talks about this AT ALL !!!!!!!!!!!!
Go get 'em Drew !
Speaking of modern day Vietnam
Another Mekong Delta province succumbs to bird flu plague
http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=24049
Kien Giang is the fourth Vietnamese province hit by bird flu with some 70 ducks perishing last weekend, all testing positive for H5N1, said the local animal health department Tuesday.
1040
The Rassmussen polls always gives Bush a break:
Forty-two percent (42%) of Americans approve of the way that George W. Bush is performing his role as President. Fifty-five percent (55%) disapprove of his performance. These numbers includes 17% who strongly approve and 38% percent who strongly disapprove.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/Bush_Job_Approval.htm
At least Rasmussen delineates between STRONLY approve and disapprove. If one looks at those 'die hard' Bush fans, it is ONLY 17%, that was seventeen percent that 'Strongly Approve.' Hello? That is impeachment territory.
1045
The only place where the parents lose their battle over ethical treatment of the disabled is the potential for genetic medicine.
Parents of disabled children ask for the `Ashley treatment'
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2007/01/09/2003344027
...Dan Gunther, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington who devised Ashley's treatment with the blessing of her parents, said four sets of parents had contacted him to ask that their children be considered.
Popular
US media organizations have also been approached by parents keen to find out whether their disabled children could have their growth stunted to prevent them attaining full adult size....
Currently, at UNC-Chapel Hill there is cutting edge medicine being given to patients that protect them from lung transplant rejection. The infusion was originally offered for cancer. It is a genetic medicine. The 'side effects' were that transplants seemed to be protected and now it is being administered on a Step Down Unit. One day when a protocol is developed by the pharmacy and MDs the infusion will probably be given on a regular medical unit without any telemetry or close monitoring of vitals signs, mentation and signs of allergic reactions. This is absolutely the most cutting edge of modern day medicine and it is being aggressively pursued to the point of administering just as soon as it is investigational without any protocol. Since there is no animal testing, the protocols are literally developed as the medications are administered. It is a genetic medicine product so there is no animal testing because it is developed for people. It is that aspect of the current state of medicine that has me wishing everyone was fighting their maladies to the death until they can't fight anymore because a cure might be right around the corner.
1059
War mongering in Africa followed by a reason to obess over killing more and more people, Opray's Mission. Over 30 minutes of carrying on about a conflict that if escalated would cause greater hardship than Iraq with it's 250,000 dead and rising.
It would seem Michael Scheuer could not be more correct. The West is confused about 'the enemy' and why they never ASSIGNED responsibility of the failure to stop Osama bin Laden.
Insights: International Peace and Security
Ex-CIA analyst says West misunderstands Al-Qaeda
22-year CIA vet says 9/11 commission failed America by not finding anyone responsible
RFE/RL: And the use of the phrase "after Iraq" refers to a time when the United States is no longer in that country?
...Scheuer: The book is written because I think we're defeated in Iraq. I think we're simply looking for a way to be graceful about the exit, but it's going to be very clear to our opponents in the Islamic world that they've defeated the second superpower.
They defeated the Soviet Union in Afghanistan; they've defeated us in Iraq; and it looks very likely that they'll defeat us in Afghanistan. And so Iraq, for all intents and purposes, as far as our enemies are concerned, is over....
RFE/RL: You decided to end your career at the CIA earlier than you originally planned to. Was it difficult to resign?
Scheuer: I resigned from the agency with much regret. I had intended to work there for 30 years and then retire, or longer if I could. And I had nothing to complain about regarding the agency. Indeed the agency asked me to stay when I decided to resign.
I resigned because I thought the 9/11 commission had thoroughly failed America by not finding anyone responsible for anything before 9/11. The amount of individual negligence and culpability at the highest levels of the American government was completely whitewashed by the 9/11 commission. And I resigned because I wanted to speak out on those issues.
My feeling since I have left has been that I have not had any influence at all on that particular debate. I think I've had a bit of influence through my books and writings on trying to convince people that the war we're fighting against Al-Qaedaism is a more serious problem than we have imagined to date. And that it has much more to do with religion than anyone in power is willing to talk about. I seem to have an equal number of detractors on the right and on the left, and perhaps that is suggests that I have at least said something that's getting some attention.
RFE/RL: Can I ask what your political affiliation is?
Scheuer: I've been a Republican all my life. I've never voted for a Democrat. I think my father would reach out from the grave if I did and throttle me. But that doesn't have anything to do with American security. I don't think the Bush administration has had a more pointed or eager critic than myself.
It is problematic to 'throw in' with former agents to establish issues for govenment policy as the agents would love a totalitarian government without any freedom of democray. THAT is the issue we always face with Bush's illegal initiatives including his covert intentions of spying on Americans. In this case, the issue that is intriguing is the fact that someone whom was respected at the higher levels of the CIA was actually disgusted with the 911 Commission for pandering to Bush rather than nailing him for negligence of his responsiblty to the American people. Additionally, he admits openly 'Al-Qaedaism' is a huge problem that Bush dropped as an American priority when he illegally invaded Iraq.
The issues in Somalia is not a matter of escalating war to fight 'Al Qaedaism' it is promoting economic solutions removing the incentive to turning to the tactics of al Qaeda in the first place.
I also find it interesting to realize all the detainees are completely worthless to interrogate as IF they were truly al Qaeda they are trained to give false information.
This programming is a 'do nothing' about terrorists and their networks except to promote war. War in any country is not an answer to extremism. War in the cause of Islamists/Jihadists only fuels more war and more death. It would be better to realize that BEFORE Somalia is more a victim to it than less.
enough
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