My Sweet Neo Con
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
EPA shuts down five public libraries full of environmental data
Now anybody who has ever done any research knows that the best information comes from the actual event or happening. So an actual diary, a real photograph, or an certified signature is what we want to see. This is true for the attorney, the historian, the collector, and anybody who doesn't want to be shortchanged. Yet the EPA is boxing documents that verify the truth. Even if everything is copied and digitalised, we have no access to these things that can prove or disprove what is going on with the environment. I believe that the environment on planet earth, for all life from the quartz crystal to the human bean, should be our foremost concern in these days. There are a whole lot folks trying to cut down trees that can't even see the forest, and a whole lot of folks spraying herbacide on their weeds, not knowing that they are killing an herb that is waiting to be discovered.
Brownout at the EPA
"This is a way to keep EPA from being an effective organization," says a former librarian with the agency. "Take away their research ability. Cripple them." Adds Dwight Welch, a union official who represents EPA employees, "The closures seem like part of a general trend of hostility towards science by this administration. They don't want to hear the facts on everything from global warming to raising drinking water standards."
-----------------------------------
Jeff Ruch, PEER's executive director, summarizes what EPA staffers have told him. "It's almost like the EPA is having a fire sale. They're not doing this with any kind of foresight and planning. They don't have any money for digitizing, and even if they did have the money they don't have the staff to catalog these materials. Literally hundreds of thousands of things are being boxed up without being cataloged. There's no deadline, no budget and no staff."
Moreover, even as the agency touts an increased online presence, it has canceled subscriptions to online data sources such as Greenwire, an environmental news service that received 125,000 hits from EPA staff last year. When asked to confirm the Greenwire cancellation, spokeswoman Ackerman initially said, "It would be almost hilarious for us not to have Greenwire ... There may be days when we'd rather not read what they say, but I can't imagine we'd cut that." She later confirmed the cancellation of the service.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Tea tor Texas...Ford for Tennessee
Fox News did a good interview with Harold Ford...The Democratic candidate for Senator. Looks like there is a good chance that he will replace Senator Bill Frist. The recent campaign ads by the Republications will probably do more harm to them than to Ford. The people of this besieged country are getting tired of dirty politics and the lies that are becoming more evident with every passing day, as the neocons are forced to spend most of their waking moments just covering their tracks.Fox News
RNC Video
Corker stays the course
Another Fox News video
STAY THE COURSE
R.I.P. “Stay the Course” 1885-2006
By: SilentPatriot on Saturday, October 28th, 2006 at 2:30 PM - PDT Like habeas corpus last week, Keith eulogized the death of "stay the course" last night by taking a look back at all the good times we've had together. From Reagan, Bush 41 and Dana Carvey to Bill Frist, Joe Lieberman and Bush 43, Keith takes us on a stroll down memory lane to pay tribute to the passing of one of our (least) favorite mainstay rhetorical strategies.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
George W Bush's palace in Baghdad nears completion
New U.S. Embassy in Iraq cloaked in mystery
With all of the weirdness that is going on these days, it is evident that no matter what we hear from the Neocorporate ideologues...They were and are planning to be in Iraq for a long long time...
Baghdad locale, slated to be completed in 2007, to be largest of its kind
by JIM HIGHTOWER Wednesday 16 August 2006
To those critics who keep yammering that the Bushites have spent billions of our tax dollars for the reconstruction of Iraq, yet built practically nothing—I say “ha!”
If you went to Iraq today, you’d see a marvelous new complex rising right in the heart of Baghdad. This 104-acre shining oasis will include more than 600 apartments, two major office buildings, its own electricity plant and water system, air-conditioning, a swimming pool, gym, movie theater, food court, beauty salon, car repair shop, and even a night club. And, while critics harp that practically no project in Iraq gets completed on time and on budget, this one will meet both standards.
Mr.Natural
For bmeisterx
TeX and LaTeX for PCs
Windows OS
Mac and Linux people can go here for advice
no, it's not a link to hell
Friday, October 27, 2006
Saxton breaks the record on fundraising
Gubernatorial candidate Ron Saxton has raised 6 million $, which is allmost double the record, against incumbent Ted Kolongoski's 3.2 million $. Kulongoski has raised money from the Democratic Governers Association, and places like the Oregon Education Association, and the SEIU.
Bush & Co. has been pouring $$$ into Saxton's campaign to try to install a Republican as governer of Oregon. He has also recieved sizable chunks from timber companies. Senator Gordon Smith who recieved record contributions from timber industries in 2002 is stumping for Saxton.
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The timber industry: donations and benefits
Big donations come from companies that stand to benefit from Bush administration’s pro-logging policies
Salem, OR -- The timber industry in Oregon has been contributing steadily to the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign and the Republican Party since 2000, and stands to profit from the Bush administration’s rollbacks of federal forest protections and the resulting increased logging on federal forests in the state, according to a report released today by Common Cause Oregon.
“Oregon’s timber industry has used substantial campaign contributions to influence public policy on federal forests in the state,” said Andi Miller, executive director of Common Cause Oregon. “Essentially, the Bush administration is being paid by the timber industry to deliver our national forests to the saw mills.”
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Sunday, November 06, 2005
Michael Milstein
OREGONIAN
A deal between the Bush administration and timber industry probably will restart chain saws across millions of acres of Western Oregon in the next few years, including reserves set aside for the northern spotted owl and other wildlife.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Maliki's press conference at odds with Bush's
Iraq’s Leader Jabs at U.S. on Timetables and Militias
By SABRINA TAVERNISE
Published: October 26, 2006
BAGHDAD, Oct. 25 — Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki put himself at odds on Wednesday with the American government that backs him, distancing himself from the American notion of a timetable for stabilizing Iraq and criticizing an American-backed raid on a Shiite militia enclave.
His comments stood in stark contrast to the message given Tuesday by the top two United States officials in Iraq, General George W. Casey Jr. and Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who said the timetable for political measures had been accepted by the Iraqi government.
“I want to stress that this is a government of the people’s will, and no one has the right to set a timetable for it,” Mr. Maliki said at a news conference broadcast on national television.
“This is an elected government, and only the people who elected the government have the right to make time limitations or amendments,” he said, stabbing the air with his hand.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Yes...The concern of the voters is...THE WAR IN IRAQ
The Bush administration held a press conference this morning to impress "We the people" that all is well in Iraq, but most will agree that there is not much that is right about it.
As a prelude to the questions and answers, Bush delivered a speech, which pretty much re-iterated the same policy that we have seen throughout the war.
PRESIDENT'S PRESS CONFERENCE
10/25/2006 10:31 A.M. EDT
Some exerpts from the interview
jessica
QUESTION: Prime Minister Maliki apparently gave his own news conferences this morning, where he seemed to be referring to Ambassador Khalilzad and General Casey yesterday, when he said nobody has the right to set any
timetables in Iraq, and also seemed to be upset about the raid in Sadr City, saying he wasn't consulted. And, I
believe the quote was, It will not be repeated.
BUSH: First, this is back to the question that David asked about benchmarks. You called it timetables. OK, we call it timetables. Excuse me. I think he's referring to the benchmarks that were developing that show a way forward to the Iraqi people -- and the American people, for that matter -- about how this unity government is going to solve problems and bring the people together.
And if his point is that those benchmarks, or the way
forward, can't be imposed upon Iraq by an outside force,
he's right. This is a sovereign government.
But we're working closely with the government to be able
to say, Here's what's going to happen then, Here's what we
expect to happen now, Here's what should be expected in
the future.
The second part of your question?
BUSH: Oh, on the sectarian -- on the militias -- I heard
that and I asked to see his complete transcript of this
press conference where he made it very clear that militias
harm the stability of his country; people who operate
outside the law will be dealt with.
That's what the prime minister said in his press
conference.
The idea that, you know, we need to coordinate with him
makes sense to me. And there's a lot of operations taking
place, which means that, sometimes, communications may not
be as good as they should be. And we'll continue to work
very closely with the government to make sure that the
communications are solid.
I do believe Prime Minister Maliki is the right man to
achieve the goal in Iraq. He's got a hard job. He's been
there for five months -- a little over five months. And
there's a lot of pressure on him -- pressure from inside
his country.
Look, he's got to deal with sectarian violence, he's got
to deal with criminals, he's got to deal with Al Qaida;
all of whom are lethal. These are people that will kill.
And he wants to achieve the same objective I want to
achieve. And he's making tough decisions.
I'm impressed, for example, by the way that he has got
religious leaders, both Sunni and Shia, to start working
together.
I appreciate the fact that he has made a very clear
statement on militias. And by the way, death squad members are being brought to
justice in this plan -- during these operations in Baghdad.
And I speak to him quite frequently. And I remind him
we're with him, so long as he continues to make tough
decisions. That's what we expect. We expect that the Iraqi
government will make the hard decisions necessary to unite
the country and listen to the will of the 12 million people.
------------------------------------
David
Q Mr. President, for several years you have been saying that America will stay the course in Iraq; you were committed to the policy. And now you say that, no, you're not saying, stay the course, that you're adapting to win, that you're showing flexibility. And as you mentioned, out of Baghdad we're now hearing about benchmarks and timetables from the Iraqi government, as relayed by American officials, to stop the sectarian violence.
In the past, Democrats and other critics of the war who talked about benchmarks and timetables were labeled as defeatists, defeat-o-crats, or people who wanted to cut and run. So why shouldn't the American people conclude that this is nothing from you other than semantic, rhetorical games and all politics two weeks before an election?
THE PRESIDENT: David, there is a significant difference between benchmarks for a government to achieve and a timetable for withdrawal. You're talking about -- when you're talking about the benchmarks, he's talking about the fact that we're working with the Iraqi government to have certain benchmarks to meet as a way to determine whether or not they're making the hard decisions necessary to achieve peace. I believe that's what you're referring to. And we're working with the Iraqi government to come up with benchmarks.
Listen, this is a sovereign government. It was elected by the people of Iraq. What we're asking them to do is to say, when do you think you're going to get this done, when can you get this done, so the people themselves in Iraq can see that the government is moving forward with a reconciliation plan and plans necessary to unify this government.
That is substantially different, David, from people saying, we want a time certain to get out of Iraq. As a matter of fact, the benchmarks will make it more likely we win. Withdrawing on an artificial timetable means we lose.
Now, I'm giving the speech -- you're asking me why I'm giving this speech today -- because there's -- I think I owe an explanation to the American people, and will continue to make explanations. The people need to know that we have a plan for victory. Like I said in my opening comments, I fully understand if the people think we don't have a plan for victory, they're not going to support the effort. And so I'll continue to speak out about our way forward.
Jessica.
**********************************
Elaine.
Q What if there is a civil war?
THE PRESIDENT: You're asking me hypotheticals. Our job is
to make sure there's not one, see. You been around here
five-and-a-half years, you know I won't answer
hypotheticals. Occasionally slip up, but --
Q Thank you, Mr. President. You talk about the U.S.
government and the Iraqi government working closely
together on benchmarks. I'm wondering, sir, why was Prime
Minister Maliki not at the news conference yesterday with
General Casey and Ambassador Khalilzad? Would that not
have sent a strong message about there being a very close
level of cooperation between the two governments?
THE PRESIDENT: Elaine, I have no idea why he wasn't there.
Q Was he invited, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: I have no idea. I'm not the scheduler of
news conferences. I do know they work very closely
together, and they've got a very close working
relationship, and that's important.
Q May I ask you, sir, following up, when you say that
you're not satisfied with the way things are going in
Iraq, why should that not be interpreted by some to mean
that you are dissatisfied with Prime Minister Maliki's
performance?
THE PRESIDENT: Because I know Prime Minister Maliki, I
know how hard his job is, and I understand that he is
working to make the decisions necessary to bring this
country together. And he's -- look, we'll push him, but
we're not going to push him to the point where he can't
achieve the objective. And we'll continue to work with
him. He represents a government formed by the people of
Iraq. It's a -- and he's got a tough job. I mean, think
about what his job is like. He's got to deal with
political factions. He's got to deal with the hatred that
is left over from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein.
Maliki angry about raids on Sadr City
Iraqi Leader Disavows Timetable ReportBAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S. and Iraqi forces on Wednesday raided Sadr City, the stronghold of the feared Shiite militia led by radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, but Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki disavowed the operation, saying he had not been consulted and insisting "that it will not be repeated."
The defiant al-Maliki also slammed the top U.S. military and diplomatic representatives in Iraq for saying Iraq needed to set a timetable to curb violence ravaging the country.
"I affirm that this government represents the will of the people and no one has the right to impose a timetable on it," al-Maliki said at a news conference.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said Tuesday that al-Maliki had agreed to the plan, announced at a rare joint appearance with Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, who said he would not hesitate to ask for more troops if he felt they were necessary.
2006 ambassador speechesTranscript Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and General George Casey during Joint Press Conference
Baghdad, Iraq
October 24, 2006
:AMB. KHALILZAD Hello, everyone. George Casey and I called this press conference today to explain our strategy and plans for success in Iraq, despite the challenging environment in which we operate. Our goal is to enable Iraqis to develop a multi-ethnic, multi-sectarian representative democracy after decades of tyranny.
---------------------------------------------------
Who is really calling the shots here. Khalilzad is holding general Casey's hand whenever there is anything to say about military decisions in Iraq. Is this really supposed to be the role of the ambassador?
"my emphasis"
Question from National Public Broadcasting
Q Mr. Ambassador and General Casey, Anne Garrels from NPR. Following on about about the militias, you talk about a timeline. To what degree at this point, though, do you hold Muqtada Sadr responsible for the actions of people saying he -- they are his militia men? We've seen in Amarah, we've seen in Diwaniyah, we've seen it in Baghdad. To what degree do you hold him responsible, even if those elements may be renegade?
And just last week, General Casey, one of your -- I mean, American units arrested -- along with Iraqis -- arrested a man based on very good intelligence, according to the U.S. was one of Sadr's aides, and Prime Minister Maliki had him immediately released. What is your response to that?
AMB. KHALILZAD: On the militias, we support the proposition that these militias have to come under control. There are death squads associated with the militias, including the Jaish al-Mahdi. Muqtada al-Sadr has said that they do not represent him, that those who carry weapons without government permission need to be dealt with and yet express support of for the government. Now, the government needs to move forward with a plan, enforce the unauthorized people not being allowed to carry weapons. The prime minister has an announcement on this issue. I think he has made it already, and the key issue is that security institutions that exist need to be capable and credible and non-authorized -- unauthorized security forces need to be brought down, whether it's the insurgents or that it's the militias, and there is a need for a program to move forward. And the government, as I said, the leaders have committed themselves to it, including Muqtada al-Sadr, from what the prime minister said, and we need to test whether that is true by moving forward on the plan.
GEN. CASEY: Going back to Sheikh Mazen for a minute, to your question, I did that at the request of the prime minister, and it had directly to do with the militia strategy that Zal was talking about and you're asking about. The prime minister was going down for his first meeting with Muqtada Sadr in some time to discuss precisely this issue.
We just happened to pick this guy up. After checking to make sure we had no information that he had anything to do with attacking coalition forces, I made the call in support of the prime minister, and my assessment was operational risk was far exceeded by potential strategic payoff
------------------------------------------------
Question from CBS News
Q Lara Logan, CBS News. Ambassador Khalilzad, if I can ask you, please, has Muqtada al-Sadr actually agreed to any of the plans that you've outlined here? Has there been any direct contact between him and U.S. representatives? Because him and all of his ministers who control key ministries, like the Ministry of Health, say that they refuse still to have any direct contact with the U.S. And if that is the case, then how are we expected to believe that they will support this plan in any way?
AMB. KHALILZAD: With regard to your question on Muqtada al-Sadr, I am relying on the prime minister for what I said, which is that he has agreed to getting rid of the militias; that those who are unauthorized to carry weapons need to be dealt with; that he supports the government and the political process. And we just need to test that with implementation.
You're right that our contacts with -- we don't have direct contacts with Muqtada al-Sadr. We do interact with some of his representatives in the Assembly and beyond, but we do not have direct contacts.
*********************
And to General Casey, can I ask you, please, can we have an honest assessment of the Iraqi security forces? Because when we're on the ground with your commanders, they tell us that when they try and order up an operation and ask for the Iraqi battalion or the Iraqi brigade, they're lucky if they get 40, 50 percent of the guys who are actually there. They have soldiers and policemen who are coming in collecting their pay checks and not showing up. The special inspector general of Iraq says there is no mechanism in place, and hasn't been for three years, to determine what forces show up, what don't, what the levels of attrition are, who is actually operationally capable. So the numbers really are a lie, and we want the truth, and your soldiers on the ground want the truth out there.
GEN. CASEY: Well, the numbers aren't a lie, and the numbers are prepared by the soldiers in the field and their Iraqi counterparts on a monthly basis. And, frankly, we have pretty good resolution between the numbers we have here and the numbers that I see when I go out to the divisions in the field. Now, what's the problem? The problem is, on one part, undermanning. And the second part is the leave policy of the Iraqi armed forces that puts about a quarter of the unit on leave at any one time. We've recognized this. The Minister of Defense has put in place, several months ago, a policy that will increase the manning in Iraqi units to 110 percent, so when they take the people off for leave, there's still a credible enough force to get on -- to put in the field.
But it's not a lie, and it's something that is recognized and been addressed by our leadership and by the Iraqi leadership.
STAFF: This will be the last question.
AMB. KHALILZAD: No, please.
GEN. CASEY: We have one Iraqi question.
AMB. KHALILZAD: Yes, we will get an Iraqi question after --
Q Thanks. Ellen Knickmeyer with The Washington Post. General Casey has repeatedly said resolving the militia issue will take a military and political approach. But Prime Minister Maliki has made clear that he doesn't want any kind of U.S. military action against the militias. He said that specifically, and he's blocked you from entering Sadr City. So when the question comes to it's up to the Iraqi government to show resolve against the militias, they've already made clear that they're not going to take a tough approach like the U.S. wants. And Muqtada al-Sadr has already said that his militia is not a militia per se, and that he is not going to disband it. So, absent any kind of military force against these militias and these death squads, who are the main component of violence right now, how are you going to solve the militias?
AMB. KHALILZAD: I don't agree with your characterization. I believe that the prime minister has said to me and to George (Casey) that he believes in an integrated approach -- political, yes, that's the best approach if you can convince those that control militias to cooperate with the decommissioning, demobilization and reintegration plan. But he has said that he does not rule out the use of force. And we will see what happens. But I believe right now we are in the phase of developing a plan for how to move forward with a demobilization, and decommissioning and reintegration plan. Our people, both from the military and civilian side, are working with a team that has been designated by the prime minister to develop such a program.
And I believe that the prime minister, in order for this country to succeed, will have to do whatever is necessary to, on the one hand, increase the credibility and capability of the Iraqi forces, which he's anxious to do, and for Iraq to assume increasing responsibility, which he's anxious to do, in the security domain, but also to deal with the unauthorized military formations problem.
GEN. CASEY: Yeah. Just -- first, I don't think anybody should leave here thinking that we're not doing anything against death squads.
AMB. KHALILZAD: Right.
GEN. CASEY: We and the Iraqi security forces are actively tracking, targeting, detaining people who are operating in death squads, and their leadership, who are breaking the law.
AMB. KHALILZAD: Yeah. Right.
GEN. CASEY: And that's different than the militia issue itself.
AMB. KHALILZAD: Right.
GEN. CASEY: Secondly, what has to happen here, as we and the Iraqi government address the militias, is that the Iraqi security forces emerge from this struggle as the dominant security forces in Iraq. And I believe that that can happen, and I think it will happen. And it may happen with some -- with our support. But we'll work that with the Iraqi government.
STAFF: This is the final question.
AMB. KHALILZAD: Hurra.
(Inaudible) -- an Iraqi question. Yeah.
Q (Through interpreter.) From Al Hurra. Excellency, you have talked about a new strategy and the next phase. Do you think that the defect is in the new forces that have come about, come on the political Iraqi scene? Is it the sectarian violence or the increase in the -- one question for General Casey. You have spoken about the desire to bring additional forces for Baghdad and the hot spots. Is that -- does that mean outside -- from outside of Iraq? Is that for security? And there are -- the security reports say that they want to bomb one of the Shi'a sacred places. How are you going to respond to that?
AMB. KHALILZAD: With regard to the first question on -- which was whether the violence that we see is a result of the failure of the political leaders or political groups, I believe that there -- as George described, there are several different kinds of violence, sources of violence: terrorists, Sunni insurgents, sectarian violence, and then you get the Shi'a-on-Shi'a violence of militias in the south and the criminals and the external elements; that a part of this is particularly subject to and can be influenced by the political leadership, and that is if they come to an understanding with each other on the big political issues that divide the Iraqis. And so therefore it's their responsibility to make that national compact that I -- that we have described.
And two, there are some militias and some forces that are involved in violence, and they are influenced and controlled by the political leaders. They need to bring that under control.
Now, because of the pressure from the Iraqi people and our engagement, their own determination to succeed, they have committed themselves to a timeline for making some of those decisions that I described and the benchmarks that they have committed themselves to. And we'll work with them as closely as possible that they do meet those benchmarks.
GEN. CASEY: I think the question, I understood, is if we required more forces from -- for Baghdad, where would they come from? Is that -- was that the question? Could come from a variety of places. Could come from additional Iraqi --
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Rumsfeld hands wartime control to South Korea
Associated Press
SKorea Defense Minister Offers to Resign
By JAE-SOON CHANG , 10.24.2006, 07:59 AM
South Korea's defense minister said Tuesday that he has offered to resign, just days after he sealed a deal with the United States for Seoul to regain full wartime control of South Korean forces.
Conservatives have assailed Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung for making the deal in light of the increased regional tension following North Korea's Oct. 9 nuclear test.
However it was not clear Yoon's decision was linked to the criticism.
Yoon said he told President Roh Moo-hyun on Monday of his intention to step down. The presidential office declined to say whether the president planned to accept his resignation.
"I told the president that I would like to take a rest," Yoon told reporters, according to his office.
Yoon met last week with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and agreed that Seoul will retake full wartime operational control of Korean forces from the United States sometime between 2009 and 2012.
Monday, October 23, 2006
A phone call from Senator Gordon Smith
The Saxton Ad CampaignI recieved a recorded message from Senator Gordon Smith the other night. He was stumping for Ron Saxton for senator in my district. One of my pet peeves is recorded phone messages, so needless to mention I hung up, dissapointed that I couldn't ask Ranger Gordon a few questions.
~LINK~
Gordon Smith & Jack Abramoff in the news
So, Jack Abramoff has admitted defrauding his clients and working his "magic" on members of Congress. He'll be singing to the feds on exactly which Republican leaders went beyond the rules.
Most of the illegal activity centered around his tribal casino clients. So, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee has been digging into the widening Abramoff scandal.
Of course, Oregon's own Senator Gordon Smith has a seat on the Indian Affairs Committee -- and he's been leading the charge for ethics and openness in government curiously silent during the hearings. Why?
-------------------------------------------------
Has Gordon Smith pulled a Tom DeLay?
The Hill News has reported that Oregon Senator Gordon Smith may have violated Senate ethics rules the same way House Majority Leader, Tom DeLay did by having a lobbying firm pay for an overseas trip:
In a potential violation of congressional ethics rules, five members of Congress traveled to Ireland in 2003 at the expense of a lobbying firm, disclosure records show.
Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), then-Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.) and Reps. Howard Coble (R-N.C.), Harold Rogers (R-Ky.) and Clay Shaw (R-Fla.) attended a four-day international trade seminar at Ashford Castle in County Mayo during the August recess.
Disclosure reports for the five lawmakers show that Washington lobbying firm, Kessler & Associates Business Services Inc., footed the $25,000 bill, even though congressional ethics guidelines bar lobbying firms from paying for lawmakers’ travel.
-------------------------------------------
The Oregonian Newspaper does damage control for Gordon Smith
~Senator Gordon Smith & golf trip to Scotland~
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Abramoff knew about Iraq invasion seven months before it happened
In the ongoing investigations of the Abramoff scandles, Henry Waxman has released emails that include this revealing one about what Jack knew about plans to invade Iraq, and that he knew it seven months in advance. There is an excellent artical on the Dailykos blog about this.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
~IN THE LINE OF FIRE~A Memoir by Pervez Musharraf
President Pervez Musharraf launched his autobiography, "In the Line of Fire", in New York on 25 September, to great fanfare abroad and anticipation at home.This book by is drawing controversy in the Bush administration, as Bush acts surprised by the claim that Armitage threatened an attack on Pakistan if it didn't cooperate in the war in terror. Musharraf claims that the Bush administration threatened to bomb Pakistan "to the Stone Age" if it failed to cooperate with the United States against al-Qaeda and the Taliban after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
In a joint press conference with , Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf Friday, Sept. 22, 2006, in the East Room at the White House president Bush admits that he was "taken aback" by the claim of the threat against Pakistan following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, while Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf dodges the question.
~VIDEO~ An interview with Pervez Musharraf by Charlie Rose.
*************************************************************
21 Mar, 2006A Babur Cruise Missile was launched as a gift to President Musharraf on his birthday. This was the second test for this type of missle.
In light of the circumstances leading up to Pakistan becoming an al-ly to with the US
before the invasion of Iraq, shouldn't our government be concerned about Pakistan being a nuclear power and having the missles to deliver them?
System: Babur (Muslim Emperor of Mogul India)
Series Name: Hatf (Prophet's Lance)
Alternative Name: - Hatf VII
Type: Cruise missile (Submarine, ship, aircraft, ground)
Range: 500 km (310 miles)
Payload: 500 lb warhead
Speed : 800km
Warhead: Conventional/Nuclear
Propellant Fuel: Jet
Stage(s): (?)
Height: 22 Feet
Diametre: (?)
Weight: 1.5 Tons
Developer: NESCOM (National Engineering Scientific Commission)
Test Dates: 11 Aug 2005, as a gift to President Musharraf on his birthday; 21 March 2006
Launch Location(s): Somiani
Status: Under production
--------------------------------------
Viewpoints from Macedonia
http://kuku.sawf.org/Articles/2111.aspx
Babur Cruise Missile
Posted by vkthakur on Saturday, August 13, 2005 (EST)
Pakistan's remarkable success in testing a long range cruise missile has brought out weaknesses in our strategic intelligence and weapon development.
Ballistic Missiles of the World
Salam to all my Turkish brothers. I hope you enjoy this thread ! I will be updating this thread regularly.
BABUR (500km. Cruise missile)
The Babur appears to share several basic similarities with the US BGM-109 Tomahawk land attack cruise missile, with the two being roughly the same size and shape and having a similar wing and engine intake design. A Pakistani source with knowledge of the programme said the project began around 1998 and was bolstered by lessons learned from Tomahawk missiles recovered in Pakistan. These US Tomahawks had failed to reach intended targets in an August 1998 strike against a terrorist camp in Afghanistan; Pakistani officials at the time acknowledged that they had recovered at least two missiles. "I'm sure they must have learned from that ... they are quite good in reverse engineering," the source noted.
Additional assistance may also have come from Chinese scientists, who have collaborated closely with Pakistan on other missile developments. Chinese assistance would be especially important in the key areas of miniaturised jet engines and guidance systems and any lessons learned from the Tomahawk are sure to make their way back to Beijing.
Friday, October 20, 2006
Wake Up And Smell Voter Scandel In Ohio
Recipe for a Cooked Electionby Greg Palast Oct. 19, 2006
A nasty little secret of American democracy is that, in every national election, ballots cast are simply thrown in the garbage. Most are called “spoiled,” supposedly unreadable, damaged, invalid. They just don’t get counted. This “spoilage” has occurred for decades, but it reached unprecedented heights in the last two presidential elections. In the 2004 election, for example, more than three million ballots were never counted.
thepeaceteam.net
Date: Oct 19, 2006 3:39 PM
Tell the DNC To WAKE UP And Immediately Seek An Injunction To Reverse The Purge Of Democratic Voters In Ohio
You had to know this was coming. The further they fall in the polls the more massive
the voter fraud and preemptive vote suppression the other side will attempt. The
key word here is "attempt". We're not supposed to let them get away
with it without a fight. That fight must start NOW!
Reports are breaking that the pathologically partisan Ohio secretary of state has
been secretly using the master database of voters to systematically purge hundreds
of thousands of likely Democratic voters from the registered rolls. Their latest
version of an old scam is to put a discriminatory burden on voters in heavily Democratic
precincts to meet a special hurdle of verification of their address, a guilty until
proven innocent routine. And they have been doing this without any public notice
that such a massive operation was underway, and timed in such a way that voters
would have no recourse to re-register.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
The Commander In Chief takes control of outer space
Bush Asserts U.S. Rights In SpaceNew Policy Says U.S. Has Right To Deny Adversaries Use Of Space For Hostile Purposes
WASHINGTON, Oct. 18, 2006
AP) President Bush has signed an order asserting the United States' right to deny adversaries access to space for hostile purposes.
Mr. Bush also said the United States would oppose the development of treaties or other restrictions that seek to prohibit or limit U.S. access to or use of space.
The provisions were contained in the first revision of U.S. space policy in nearly 10 years. Mr. Bush's order, signed more than a month ago, was not publicly announced, although unclassified details of his decision were posted on the Web site of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
The Military's Pandora's Boxby Dr. Nick Begich and Jeane Manning
This article was prepared to provide a summary of the contents of a book written in 1995 which describes an entirely new class of weapons. The weapons and their effects are described in the following pages. The United States Navy and Air Force have joined with the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, to build a prototype for a ground based "Star Wars" weapon system located in the remote bush country of Alaska.
The individuals who are demanding answers about HAARP are scattered around the planet. As well as bush dwellers in Alaska, they include: a physician in Finland; a scientist in Holland; an anti-nuclear protester in Australia; independent physicists in the United States; a grandmother in Canada, and countless others.
Unlike the protests of the 1960s the objections to HAARP have been registered using the tools of the 1990s. From the Internet, fax machines, syndicated talk radio and a number of alternative print mediums the word is getting out and people are waking up to this new intrusion by an over zealous United States government.
HIGH FREQUENCY ACTIVE AURORAL RESEARCH PROGRAM
Statement of
Dr. George W. Ullrich
Deputy Director
Defense Special Weapons Agency
INTRODUCTION
Mr. Chairman, I am Dr. George Ullrich, the Deputy Director at the Defense Special Weapons Agency in the Department of Defense. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss this important issue.
It is interesting to note that exactly 52 years ago to the day, the world's first nuclear device was exploded at Trinity site, located on an isolated stretch of New Mexico desert in what is now the White Sands Missile Range. Among the team who witnessed that momentous event was Enrico Fermi, nobel laureate and perhaps the most brilliant of the Manhattan Project physicists. It was said that he was probably the last man of the twentieth century who actually knew all of the physics of his day. I mention it because it was Enrico Fermi who, prior to the Trinity Event, first predicted that nuclear explosions were capable of generating strong electromagnetic fields. Since then we have learned a great deal more about nuclear-induced electromagnetic phenomena and, in particular, about the phenomenon of high altitude Electro-Magnetic Pulse, commonly called "EMP."
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Bush signs bill~Prisoners lose right to Habeas Corpus
Bush Signs Law on Terror Suspects
Tuesday October 17, 2006 3:01 PM
By NEDRA PICKLER
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush signed legislation into law Tuesday that authorizes tough interrogation of terror suspects and smooths the way for their trials before military commissions but also gives detainees some legal protections.
Bush's plan for treatment of the terror suspects became law just six weeks after he acknowledged that the CIA had been secretly interrogating suspected terrorists overseas and pressed Congress to quickly give authority to try them in military commissions.
``With the bill I'm about to sign, the men our intelligence officials believe orchestrated the murder of nearly 3,000 innocent people will face justice,'' Bush said.
The bill would protect detainees from blatant abuses during questioning - such as rape, torture and ``cruel and inhuman'' treatment - but does not require that any of them be granted legal counsel. Also, it specifically bars detainees from filing habeas corpus petitions challenging their detentions in federal courts.
White House press secretary Tony Snow said that after Bush signs the legislation Tuesday, the government will immediately begin moving toward the goal of prosecuting some of the high-value suspects being held at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He expected it would take a month or two to get ``things moving toward a trial phase.''
``In terms of having trials, for good and obvious reasons, you don't do that overnight,'' Snow told reporters. ``You do have to make sure that the defense is going to be able to do its job properly and the prosecution the same.''
The swift implementation of the law is a rare bit of good news for Bush as casualties mount in Iraq in daily violence. Lawmakers are increasingly calling for a change of strategy and political anxieties are jeopardizing Republican's chances of hanging onto control of Congres
Friday, October 13, 2006
Bush discusses the federal budget deficit
For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press Secretary
October 11, 2006
President Bush Discusses the Economy and Budget
2:10 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Please be seated. Good afternoon. Thanks for coming to the White House.
In 2004, I made a promise to the American people, we would cut the federal budget deficit in half over five years. Today I'm pleased to report that we have achieved this goal, and we've done it three years ahead of schedule. (Applause.)
This morning my administration released the budget numbers for fiscal 2006. These budget numbers are not just estimates; these are the actual results for the fiscal year that ended February the 30th.* [sic] These numbers show that the budget deficit has been reduced to $248 billion and is down to just 1.9 percent of the economy. As a percentage of the economy, the deficit is now lower than it has been for 18 out of the last 25 years. These budget numbers are proof that pro-growth economic policies work. By restraining spending in Washington, and allowing Americans to keep more of what they earn, we're creating jobs, reducing the deficit, and making this nation prosperous for all our citizens.
**********************************
"Budget Deficit" vs. "National Debt" ---
Suppose you want to spend more money this month than your income. This situation is called a "budget deficit". So you borrow. The amount you borrowed (and now owe) is called your debt. You have to pay interest on your debt. If next month you don't have enough money to cover your spending (another deficit), you must borrow some more, and you'll still have to pay the interest on the loan. If you have a deficit every month, you keep borrowing and your debt grows. Soon the interest payment on your loan is bigger than any other item in your budget. Eventually, all you can do is pay the interest payment, and you don't have any money left over for anything else. This situation is known as bankruptcy.
Each year since 1969, Congress has spent more money than its income. The Treasury Department has to borrow money to meet Congress's appropriations. The total borrowed is more than $8,000,000,000,000 and growing. Even when government officials claim to have a surplus, they still spend more than they get in. We pay interest on that huge debt.
The National Debt is $8.5 Trillion!
Updated 9 October 2006.
Check the debt yourself at the U. S. Treasury Department web site, it changes daily
Helen Thomas comments on James Baker
Finding a way to get Bush off the hook
By HELEN THOMAS
HEARST NEWSPAPERS
WASHINGTON -- Former Secretary of State James Baker is riding to the rescue of President Bush. So what else is new?
Baker has been there many times before for the Bush family -- to pull their chestnuts out of the fire.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
A message from Willie on upcoming elections
Wednesday, October 11th, 2006Vote the Bastards Out!
I was at a concert this weekend in California to raise money for the National Veterans Foundation. I'm an Air Force veteran, and I have great respect for the military. I like to support the soldiers whenever I can. But I don't support this war in Iraq.
I was against the war before it started. I always thought it was a terrible decision, badly thought out, badly planned, and then horribly executed.
I want to see our troops come home right away, and so do most Americans. Unfortunately, too many politicians in both parties refuse to listen.
So when will the troops come home? When we won't put up with it anymore--when we change our government. And how will we do that? By voting the bastards out! On November 7th, you should vote for anyone who's against the war and vote against anyone who's for the war. It's that simple.
When I wrote the song "Whatever Happened to Peace on Earth" (LYRICS) at Christmastime in 2003, a lot of people were for the war, a lot of people didn't know the facts or the truth. But people are waking up now. They're learning that they were lied to about the war. They're feeling lied to about this Mark Foley scandal in terms of who knew what and when. They're questioning the leadership in this country.
And that gives us new possibilities for November 7th. If we all go out and vote for peace candidates and get our friends to vote, and if our votes are really counted, it's no contest. There'll be a change in the Congress, and then we'll just have to keep building so we can get a president who won't send our soldiers to fight a war based on lies.
We should have thrown the bastards out years ago. Let's do it now! Give Peace A VOTE!
Willie Nelson
Tempting Faith @ Intelligent Design
Exclusive: Book says Bush just using Christians‘Tempting Faith’ author David Kuo worked for Bush from 2001 to 2003
• Exclusive: Playing Christians for fools
Oct. 11: "Countdown" has obtained a copy of new book that suggests the White House repeatedly uses evangelical Christians for their votes, while consistently given them nothing in return.
Countdown
More than five years after President Bush created the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, the former second-in-command of that office is going public with an insider’s tell-all account that portrays an office used almost exclusively to win political points with both evangelical Christians and traditionally Democratic minorities.
As a new concept of religion called "INTELLIGENT WORSHIP" the liberals have introduced the possibility of evolution being an important part of religion. This will even things out throughout the country, with religion in the schools, and science in the churches, much to the dismay of the neoconservative administration. George W Bush is calling for an investigation of the Grand Canyon to prove that it is relatively new, and is the result of intelligent design, while Pat Roberts, republican senator from Kansas,back-peddles from his statements about Hugo Chavez and Arial Sharon', as he attempts to rationalise the outing of Chavez using scientific logic, and come up with a scientific theory as to why Sharon' had a stroke.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Monday, October 09, 2006
A Conversation with Walter Cronkite
| On October 23, 2004, The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation honored eminent journalist Walter Cronkite with its 2004 Distinguished Peace Leadership Award at the Foundation's 21st Annual Evening for Peace gala and ceremony held in Santa Barbara, California. This program begins with testimonial video clips from Diane Sawyer, Tom Brokaw and Ted Koppel, then proceeds to the award ceremony. Finally, Sam Donaldson of ABC News, interviews Walter Cronkite about his career and his feelings about current affairs. The program ends with Walter Cronkite giving his famous "sign-off" statement. Series: "Voices" [Humanities] [Public Affairs] | |
China warned North Korea not to test a nuclear device.
New Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, meets with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Great Hall of the People Sunday in Beijing, China. Abe is meeting Chinese leaders in what will be the first bilateral meeting between leaders of the two Asian powers in years. The relationship between Japan, China, and Korea goes back to ancient history. The partition between North and South Korea was finalised in 1948.U.N. Will Consider Sanctions Against N. Korea
Sunday, October 08, 2006
PNAC and the NEOCONs: wanted a new Pearl Harbor
Documents the rise to power of the Neoconservative National Movement (NEOCONs) and their Project for an American Century (PNAC). Their plans for global domination and the required increase in military spending would require, in their own words, a catalyzing event along the lines of a new Pearl Harbor. The events of 9/11 were, to the NEOCONs, a dream come true.
~VIDEO~
During the administration of George H. W. Bush, Paul Wolfowitz, then-under secretary of defense for policy, supervised the drafting of a 1992 policy statement on America's mission in the post-Cold War era. Called the "Defense Planning Guidance," it is an internal set of military guidelines that typically is prepared every few years by the Defense Department. This policy guidance is distributed to military leaders and civilian Defense Department heads to provide them with a geopolitical framework for assessing their force level and bugetary needs.
The 46-page classified document circulated for several weeks at senior levels in the Pentagon. But controversy erupted after it was leaked to The New York Times and The Washington Post and the White House ordered then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney to rewrite it.
This document was later used in The Project For The New American Century, in a letter called Rebuilding Americas Defences.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
An unlikely hero
Tony Blankley, your presentation of the facts, about the Foley investigation on the McLaughlin Group last night, was impressive, and revealed that your concerns are for “truth, justice, and the American way”. All Americans, conservative’s and liberals, should applaud the Washington Times for truth in reporting, and realise that we must all work together to produce positive change in these terrible times.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Washington Times calls for Hastert's resignation
Tony Blankley of the Washington Times calls for Dennis Hastert's resignation.Tuesday, October 3, 2006
Should Hastert resign?
The switchboard at The Washington Times has been lit up all morning with reaction, positive and negative, to this editorial, excerpted below, from Editorial Page Editor Tony Blankley:
The facts of the disgrace of Mark Foley, who was a Republican member of the House from a Florida district until he resigned last week, constitute a disgrace for every Republican member of Congress. Red flags emerged in late 2005, perhaps even earlier, in suggestive and wholly inappropriate e-mail messages to underage congressional pages. His aberrant, predatory — and possibly criminal — behavior was an open secret among the pages who were his prey. The evidence was strong enough long enough ago that the speaker should have relieved Mr. Foley of his committee responsibilities contingent on a full investigation to learn what had taken place, whether any laws had been violated and what action, up to and including prosecution, were warranted by the facts. This never happened …
House Speaker Dennis Hastert must do the only right thing, and resign his speakership at once. Either he was grossly negligent for not taking the red flags fully into account and ordering a swift investigation, for not even remembering the order of events leading up to last week’s revelations — or he deliberately looked the other way in hopes that a brewing scandal would simply blow away. He gave phony answers Friday to the old and ever-relevant questions of what did he know and when did he know it? Mr. Hastert has forfeited the confidence of the public and his party, and he cannot preside over the necessary coming investigation, an investigation that must examine his own inept performance.
Your comment is awaiting moderation.I couldn't resist doing a post on Tony Blankley's web log. The Washington times is owned by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, and is a right wing publication with ties to the Bush administration. I'll be surprised if it is left on...
linus Says:
Looks to me like the Republican party needs another figurehead, what with so many of the neoconservatives unable to remember pertinenet facts and events.
Even Condaleeza Rice, who was once the provost of Stanford University uses this ploy. The old “one voice” routine, along with the “I don’t recall” unless It’s convenient trick, is repetitive and predictable. Remember….An elephant never forgets…
posted at 10:09 PM
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The Republicans, Moonies and the Washington Times
Posted by Damm yankee on October 31, 2004 at 01:54:06
If House Speaker Dennis Hastert were really concerned about drug profits being laundered into the U.S. political process, he would not be sliming billionaire financier George Soros with that suspicion. Hastert would be looking at a principal conservative funder: South Korean theocrat Sun Myung Moon.
While Hastert was unable to cite a shred of evidence that the liberal Soros is funneling illicit money, there is a substantial body of evidence that Moon has long commanded a criminal enterprise with close ties to Asian and South American drug lords. The evidence includes first-hand accounts of money laundering disclosed by Moon confidantes and even family members. Besides those more recent accounts, Moon was convicted of tax fraud based on evidence developed in the late 1970s about his money-laundering activities.
Since serving his tax-evasion sentence in the early 1980s, however, Moon appears to have bought himself protection by spreading hundreds of millions of dollars around conservative causes and through generous speaking fee payments to Republican leaders, including former President George H.W. Bush.
Moon himself has boasted that he spent $1 billion on the right-wing Washington Times in its first decade alone. The newspaper, which started in 1982, continues to lose Moon an estimated $50 million a year but remains a valuable propaganda organ for the Republican Party.
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