Univeral Healthcare

Interesting development:

As draconian as Miller's moves are, analysts say they provide a much-needed wake-up call. "Detroit was in denial," says Banc of America's Ron Tadross. "This is an intervention." And Miller contends his painfully lean new model needs to be supplemented by government help in health care and pensions. "I don't want this to completely come out of the hide of our people," he says. Last week he spoke to Hillary Clinton and says they agreed to work together to get Washington to reconsider health-care reform. (Clinton declined to comment.)

This article is about the Dephi bankruptcy.

So, is what is good for Delphi (GM supplier) good for America?

Certainly when it comes to health care, possibly.

DeLay Offered Deal Before Indictment

Travis County DA Ronnie Earle offered DeLay the opportunity to plead guilty to a misdemeanor rather than be indicted with a felony. According to DeLay's attorney, that is just wrong:

"Before the first indictment you tried to coerce a guilty plea from Tom DeLay for a misdemeanor, stating the alternative was indictment for a felony which would require his stepping down as majority leader of the United States House of Representatives," DeGuerin wrote.

So, let's make sure we get this right.

Ronnie Earle advised Tom DeLay, that his options were plead guilty to a misdemeanor, or face a felony indictment, which would require (per House rules) him to step down as House Majority Leader.

When DeLay turned down said offer, Earle filed his indictment.

That is then evidence of ...

what exactly?

That Ronnie Earle kept his word that he would do exactly what he did?

The Exploitation of the Blogger

BuzzMachine:

Businesses think they can exploit blogs. But I want to tell blogs to exploit businesses instead: Get what you want out of them. Get advertising money out of them, if you want. Or attention. Or peace and quiet. If a PR company calls you, tell them to have their ad buyers call instead. This is why I generallly won’t do panels at events for PR people. No offense. But there’s nothing in it for us. They want free publicity from us. They want to piggyback on our trust. Well, then, buy an ad.

I am not "one of us", yet. Maybe someday, but right now there is no one approaching me to ask if I would pitch their product.

However, if I were placed in that position, perhaps I would take the position of Buzzmachine commenter Mike G. His position, is the same as what businesses do with critics. Give me some of your product. If I find it news worthy, or something really good, I would then be pursuaded to offer up some words about it.

However, I do agree with Javis' premise though, that business right now, seems to be exploiting bloggers, and the blogging medium. However, over time that relationship will change. The "something for nothing" that PR people want from the blogging community will stop working, and then there will have to be an organized effort, from the businesses who want their product mentioned, that will compensate bloggers for what they do.

Texas and Gay Marriage

On 8 November, there will be an election. On the ballot is Proposition 2, which is Texas' Gay Marriage Ban. Odds are that the ban will pass, however, in the "Republic of Austin" 22 elected officials announced their opposition to the ban.

Among them Austin Mayor Will Winn:

Wynn, speaking at a news conference outside City Hall, said: "A fundamental cultural characteristic of Texas is that we mind our own business." He said Texans should avoid turning personal opinions into laws.

I have said a similar thing before here, and it really is a part of what makes Texas, Texas. Texans traditionally held a live and let live point of view. "I won't meddle in your life, if you don't meddle in mine".

However, that is such a pre-Dubya mentality. With Dubya came the Republican Party which makes it is business to tell you what you should do.

Hopefully the Texans who do believe in minding our own business will prevail over the Texans who believe that they should mind your business will prevail.

So, make sure you vote on 8 November.

Does Treason = Running a Stop Sign?

John at AMERICAblog has an interesting post from this weekend about the Plame affair.

There was a time, not too long ago, in which the betrayal of undercover CIA assets was considered a treasonous. There was a time in which treason committed during a time war was worthy of execution. George Bush constantly likes to remind us that we are at war.

With those three simple facts, why is it that the President is so reluctant to pursue someone who outed an undercover CIA agent, whose job it was to locate and track WMD's in the Middle East?

Or is it, as John put it, "The Republican party's gift to the American people"?

The normalization of treason.

Thought for the Day

"There are two types of people--those who come into a room and say, 'Well, here I am!' and those who come in and say, 'Ah, there you are.'"

--Frederick L Collins

Thought for the Day

"Hegel was right when he said that we learn from history that man can never learn anything from history."

--George Bernard Shaw

Thought for the Day

"A fact is a simple statement that everyone believes. It is innocent, unless found guilty. A hypothesis is a novel suggestion that no one wants to believe. It is guilty, until found effective."

--Edward Teller

Boortz: Ass

Neal Boortz: Rich white people are better than anyone else:

"The Homeland Security Department launched internal probes yesterday into whether its officials tipped off friends and relatives to a possible subway terror plot days before average New Yorkers were alerted." So the real gripe here is that it seems that some wealthy people got notified of the terror plot before the great unwashed, before the others. Now, the Daily News in New York has a headline: "Rich got terror tip." Rich got terror tip. OK, let's get logical about this, folks. Let's play logic with this. This is as it should be.

I have friends who listen to Boortz daily. I wonder if they feel that way too.


I will go and ask them today.

Strong Economy

or so they say:

U.S. consumer prices shot up an unexpectedly large 1.2 percent last month, the biggest gain in more than 25 years, as hurricanes Katrina and Rita led to the biggest energy-price surge on record, a government report showed on Friday.

Well, the good thing is that the large price increases are only in food and energy costs.

Afterall, that is all discretionary spending anyways.

This is Becoming a Farce

Oh, how sad.

The Pentagon is stating that the staged "question and answer" session with Bush Thursday, wasn't staged.

Yeah right.

Please, there is video of a Pentagon employee coaching the soldiers on what to say, who can say what, etc., etc. At this point it doesn't matter what the Bush administration or the Pentagon wants us to believe. Rummy can express as much outrage as he wants, nothing changes the fact that this event, pitched as a 'conversation' with soldiers, was no such thing.

If, in fact, Rummy wasn't aware of it, then we could have a little intra-administration civil war brewing.



Thanks to The Agonist for the heads up.

Thought for the Day

"I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult."

--Rita Rudner

Senate Judiciary Committee Comes out Swinging

In a total reversal of position from the Roberts confirmation hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a questionnaire to SCOTUS nominee Harriet Meirs asking if she made any promies on future rulings:

The U.S. Senate is asking Supreme Court nominee Harriet E. Miers to say whether she told anyone how she might rule if confirmed as an associate justice.

In a questionnaire for Miers, the Senate Judiciary Committee requested any communications between aides to President George W. Bush and interest groups related to ``how you would rule.'' There have been suggestions that the White House gave conservative activists explicit assurances on how she would vote on issues such as abortion.

"Did you make any representations to any individuals or interest groups as to how you might rule as a justice if confirmed?" Miers was asked in the questionnaire released by the committee.

It is nice to see that the committee is going to be doing its job with Meirs nomination. However, it would have been nice to see the same due diligence done with the Roberts hearings.

Putting Party Ahead of Country

For the Republican party of today, loyalty to President Bush, and the Republican party is more important to loyalty to the country. This loyalty requirement has extended to National Park Service managers:

The National Park Service has started using a political loyalty test for picking all its top civil service positions, according to an agency directive released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Under the new order, all mid-level managers and above must also be approved by a Bush administration political appointee.

The October 11, 2005 order issued by NPS Director Fran Mainella requires that the selection criteria for all civil service management slots (Government Service grades or GS-13, 14 and 15) include the "ability to lead employees in achieving the ...Secretary's 4Cs and the President's Management Agenda." In addition, candidates must be screened by Park Service headquarters and "the Assistant Secretary [of Interior] for Fish, and Wildlife, and Parks," the number three political appointee in the agency.

Much like Brownie, loyalty to Bush is more important than qualifications for the job.

Now that loyalty requirement is extending down into the civil service ranks. These are the career employees, whose job is to run the government, and all its agencies, regardless of who is President.

Nothing good can come of this.


Thanks to Shakespeare's Sister for the link.

The Smell of Desperation, Part Deux

Courtesy of The Smirking Chimp, we have the Swift Boating of Ronnie Earle:

Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle is likened to a vicious attack dog in T-V spots airing this week in response to his investigation of Congressman Tom DeLay.

The Washington-based Free Enterprise Fund began airing the spots in heavy rotation today on Austin television stations and on the Fox News Network. The ads target Earle's three-year probe into the alleged use of restricted corporate money to influence the 2002 Texas legislative races.

Blah, blah, blah.

If DeLay is clean, let it all come out in court, and Ronnie Earle will get is comeuppance. On the other hand, if Ronnie Earle is correct, than one of the biggest friends of big business will be headed for the pokey.

Methinks thou dost protest too much Mister DeLay.

Wow.

After reading this inane missisve by Richard Cohen, I see that Atrios and I shared a similar thought.

I don't know if Cohen is more upset not be included in the grand jury testimonies, investigations and subpoenas, of if he feels that the Beltway Pundit class is exempt from the law?

Thought for the Day

"The trouble with facts is that there are so many of them."

--Samuel McChord Crothers

Presidential Photo Op

I didn't see this photo op thingy with the blatantly scripted question and answer session that CNN was broadcasting this morning. But Mike Malloy, who was filling in for Jerry Springer this morning, was broadcasting some of it.

I suppose that all of this stuff going on with the Meirs nomination, Rove and Fitzgerald (and Cheney, and ...), as well as with DeLay here in Texas, seems to be taking its toll.

Not so much on the President, he is just doing what he does, but on the rest of the staff. From what I heard on the radio, Bush was totally unprepared to recite his scripted answers. He sounded like he was wishing he could be anywhere but there at that time. I suspect that the crew that is supposed to prep him for these types of events is too distracted to do their jobs, if their even bothering any more.

The point is, that the carefully groomed and maintained facade that Rove & Company have been keeping, of a strong, and resolute Bush is falling, and the unqualified and inept Bush is coming to the surface.

Couldn't Happen to a Nicer Guy

Frist, in trouble?

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) has been subpoenaed to turn over personal records and documents as federal authorities step up a probe of his July sales of HCA Inc. stock, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

The Securities and Exchange Commission issued the subpoena within the past two weeks, after initial reports that Frist, the Senate's top Republican official, was under scrutiny by the agency and the Justice Department for possible violations of insider trading laws.

I know it is wrong, but:

WooHoo!

Thought for the Day

"There are more pleasant things to do than beat up people."

--Muhammad Ali

The Smell of Desperation

In an attempt to save himself, DeLay had is Attorney subpeona Ronnie Earl to try and get information about the Grand Jury proceedings. I don't know if this is a normal tactic in these types of cases or not. To me, however, it smells of a desperate attempt by DeLay to get his indictments tossed, not on the merits, but on a possible technicality.

If Tom DeLay is innocent of the charges filed, then why is he trying so hard to not allow this to go to trial?

He has some sort of vendetta against Earle, that much is clear, however, in a trial, he could effectively end the career of Earle, by having everything come out. Instead it seems, to me anyway, that DeLay is trying to hide something.

The Onion: A National Treasure

Bush To Appoint Someone To Be In Charge Of Country:

In response to increasing criticism of his handling of the war in Iraq and the disaster in the Gulf Coast, as well as other issues, such as Social Security reform, the national deficit, and rising gas prices, President Bush is expected to appoint someone to run the U.S. as soon as Friday.
Enlarge ImageBush To Appoint Someone To Be In Charge Of Country

Bush presents his shortlist for the Secretary of the Nation post.

"During these tumultuous times, America is in need of a bold, resolute person who can get the job done," said Bush during a press conference Monday. "My fellow Americans, I assure you that I will appoint just such a person with all due haste."

The Cabinet-level position, to be known as Secretary of the Nation, was established by an executive order Sept. 2, but has remained unfilled in the intervening weeks.

"I've been talking to folks from all across this country, from Louisiana to Los Angeles, and people tell me the same thing: This nation needs a strong, compassionate leader," Bush said. "In response to these concerns, I'm making this a top priority. I will name a good, qualified person as soon as possible."

Among the new secretary's duties are preserving, protecting, and defending the Constitution of the United States, commanding the U.S. armed forces, appointing judges and ambassadors, and vetoing congressional legislation. The secretary will also be tasked with overseeing all foreign and domestic affairs, including those relating to the economy, natural disasters, national infrastructure, homeland security, poverty, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The secretary will report directly to the president.

Oh. My. Goodness.

The Raw Story:

There are signs that prosecutors now are looking into contacts between administration officials and journalists that took place much earlier than previously thought, the Wall Street Journal will report Wednesday, RAW STORY can reveal. Excerpts from the coming story:

Earlier conversations are potentially significant, because that suggests the special prosecutor leading the investigation is exploring whether there was an effort within the administration at an early stage to develop and disseminate confidential information to the press that could undercut former Ambassador Joseph Wilson and his wife, Central Intelligence Agency official Valerie Plame.

I need to stock up on some champagne and caviar.

Bingo!

As a validation, if you will, of my postulation from last night, Atrios finds an interview with Jacob Weisberg, editor of Slate from PR Week UK:

Weisberg: ... While an individual blog may be inaccurate, unfair, or dishonest, the collective intelligence of the web and thousands of people picking apart anything they see in print makes journalists more careful. When you make a mistake now, there's almost no chance of it going unnoticed. And when it is noticed, you'll be humiliated in public. Blogs have made entities like The New York Times more accurate and forthcoming about acknowledging errors that occur. ... It's a kind of fact checking that you'd never get from a [media] fact-checking department. Certainly the idea of publishing first and fact checking second makes a lot of people uncomfortable for good reason. It's certainly not the approach that Slate takes. We make every effort to ensure everything we publish is absolutely true, as much as any print publication. I would put our record for accuracy up against just about any publication. I would also put our forthrightness and transparency in acknowledging and correcting errors up against just about any publication. My point is that it's a hobby for a whole group of people to catch the mainstream media out. People love to find mistakes, and we're on the receiving end of that as well. We invite readers to find mistakes in Slate. And when I write something now, I am much more careful than I ever was in my years as a print journalist at double-checking everything and not assuming it's true. You just know now if you try to gloss something over, you'll get caught, and it's going to be embarrassing.

This kind of reinforces my point. The media outlets don't relish the idea of tens or hundreds or even thousands of individuals pointing out quickly, the factual errors, or obvious bias. It gets even more heart-burn inducing when it is a blogger with a very wide readership, or one that gets attention paid to it by influential readers.

Based on the reaction by Senator Lugar, he doesn't like the attention that now gets paid to the actions of our legislators, and the relationships between them, and members of the media.

In the long run, this new scrutiny will have a beneficial impact. Hopefully sooner, rather than later.

Accountability? Hah!

I don't know what else to add to this:

Trying to track who's getting what portion of the billions of dollars in federal Hurricane Katrina aid is enough to give any auditor a headache - and is a problem that critics say creates alarming gaps in public oversight.

The database of contracts is incomplete. Information released by federal agencies is spotty and sporadic. And disclosure of many no-bid contracts isn't required by law.

"On any given day, the government is spending millions of taxpayer dollars, but we simply have no visibility on these purchases," said Christopher Yukins, a contracting law professor at George Washington University. "They just buy from the same person year after year."

Under federal election law, a click of a mouse traces every campaign donation. Yet no comprehensive public database exists for federal contracts.

We have a system in place, being exploited by the Bush administration and Bush's cronies to rape the federal government of millions, or even billions of dollars, and our elected representatives have allowed it to happen.

Thought for the Day

"When a man tells you that he got rich through hard work, ask him: 'Whose?'"

--Don Marquis

Texans, Don't Forget to Vote November 8

Ben Sargent

Those Evil Bloggers

Richard Lugar (R-Silence the Rabble) obviously thinks that bloggers need to be silenced:

Bloggers likely will not be deemed legitimate journalists who will be able to receive the coveted protections of a federal shield law, a key senator said Monday.

Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., told a journalism conference that Web loggers may not qualify for that privilege, according to a report on Editor & Publisher's Web site. "As to who is a reporter, this will be a subject of debate as this bill goes farther along," Lugar said, according to the report. "Are bloggers journalists or some of the commercial businesses that you here would probably not consider real journalists? Probably not, but how do you determine who will be included in this bill?"

What does this mean?

There are a couple of forces at play here. Atrios thinks that the act of blogging can be described as a form of journalism. Maybe.

The real question is, what constitutes a "journalist"?

Is it employment by a "certified" media outlet? How is that defined?

Is it NBC, or CNN or Fox? Is Gawker Media, which employs bloggers such as Wonkette a "certified" media outlet, and would Wonkette by extension be a journalist, and thus eligible for protection?

How about the Sports Illustrated columnist, who in Alabama was ruled not a journalist, because SI is a Magazine and not a Newspaper?

What about a Newspaper journalist who blogs? Is that persons blog not covered by a shield, but their work as a journalist is? Where does the journalist end and the blogger begin?

The position of Luger, and I suspect much of the mainstream media, is that people like me are pests, and the world would be a better place if we weren't placing a spotlight on the piss poor work that passes for journalism today.

The real fact is that if journalists, and newspapers, and news networks did their jobs, and reported the true facts, then there wouldn't be a necessity for this type of examination.

Now the media is doing the navel gazing, and they don't like what they see. The real problem is that they are not interested in changing. They don't want to change. Rather than change themselves, they want to change the rules.

Some politicians are on the change the rules bandwagon, because with the uncomfortable eye blogging has turned on the media, that eye is also on the politicians.

'Clear Skies' and Hazy Views

Not so clear:

While out hiking last month, in foothills of the Wind River Mountains, where some say you can see 100 miles on a clear day, Judy Walker of Pinedale, Wy., became overwhelmed at what she saw.

"It was this kind of light brown haze a lot like what I see when I'm in Denver that fuzzed up the mountains," she says. "I just felt at that moment this tremendous sense of loss, like someone had bombed my church."

I suppose I don't have to spell out why there is this haze over previously pristine views.

The Bush administration and the Bureau of Land Management want to open thousands of acres of land to 3,100 new natural gas wells. These new wells will cause the air over the Popo Agie Wilderness Areas to be obscured up to seven times more than they are now.

I guess the Bush administration definition of 'Clear Skies' means clearly visible brown haze.

Was Noe Laundering Money for Republicans?

Lambert at CorrenteWire finds this article at the Toledo Blade which seems to indicate a money laundering operation as a part of the Coingate mess in Ohio.

Tom Noe often transferred tens of thousands of dollars from the Ohio rare-coin funds he managed to his personal business before bankrolling Republican candidates and causes with contributions and loans.

A Blade examination of the accounting records from Mr. Noe’s $50 million rare-coin venture shows a pattern of large sums of money moving from the coin funds to his personal business, Vintage Coins and Collectibles, in the days and weeks before the coin dealer and his wife, Bernadette, made contributions to Republican candidates ranging from President Bush to U.S. Sen. George Voinovich and Gov. Bob Taft down to Lucas County Auditor Larry Kaczala.

Mr. Noe, who was chairman of the President Bush’s re-election efforts in northwest Ohio, was labeled a Bush “Pioneer” for raising at least $100,000 for the campaign.

Between Noe, DeLay, and Abramoff we seem to have a serious problem within the Republican party today.

Supporting Americans, Republican Style

Courtesy of The Yellow Dog Blog we find out the true nature of Republicans when it comes to helping people in need:

But there were the Republicans last week, pulling their Simon-Legree act again – except this time, cruelly yanking the plug on a bill that would have fully funded the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Sponsored by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and co-sponsored by 28 senators, the amendment was defeated 50-49 last week by a point of order that blocked an up-or-down vote.

Three "Democrats" voted with Republicans on this:

Thomas Carper: Delaware
Daniel Inouye: Hawaii
Ben Nelson: Nebraska

The LIHEAP program helps low income, disabled, and seniors pay their utility bills. This is especially important with winter approaching.

...in a year that is expected to produce record prices for gas and oil. U.S. households can expect to pay sharply higher monthly heating bills this winter, with the increases ranging from 45 percent to 90 percent in much of the country, utility companies and weather forecasters warn.

How nice is that?

Thought for the Day

"The reason why so few good books are written is that so few people who can write know anything."

--Walter Bagehot

Fast and Loose with the Truth?

According to CNN, the Bush administration has been working on a plan to deal with the Avian flu since last year:

The Bush administration has spent the last year updating its plan for how to fight the next flu pandemic.

I wonder if they really have, or if CNN is, again, covering for an inept Bush administration?

Interview Formats

I am just watching CNN this morning, and they are doing a segment on the process of identifying the dead in New Orleans.

As if this situation is not bad enough for the person who is being interviewed, as he has been working in the office where the autopsy's and identifications take place, the babbling head on CNN kept interrupting him, at one point to ask why in New Orleans the process wasn't as far along as the process in Mississippi, where there were 80% less bodies to identify.

Essentially this person was trying to handle the delicacy of talking about the dead, and the process of trying to locate and identify the families. Instead, the babbling head was interested in pointing blame at someone for the amount of time it has been taking.

At what point will someone and CNN realize just how bad they have become? It is like the entire network is trying to become like Hannity or O'Reilly.


Update: The next segment was about riverboat gambling in New Orleans, and the Mayor's plan to bring it to the city.

Same procedure. Try to give information, interrupt.

Thought for the Day

"The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues."

--Elizabeth Taylor

Hook 'Em

Texas Wins!

45 - 12


Woo Hoo!

Thought for the Day

"I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end."

--Margaret Thatcher

Collateral Damage

It seems that the indictments of Jack Abramoff, are a bitfar reaching:

Timothy E. Flanigan on Friday withdrew his nomination to be deputy attorney general amid a delay in his confirmation because of his dealings with indicted Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Flanigan, a senior lawyer for Tyco International Ltd., wrote to President Bush that he was withdrawing because of "uncertainty concerning the timing of my confirmation."

It really is hard to feel anything remotely like sorry for these people.

MSM has Double Standards?

CBS says, we don't care what the other side has to say:

The October 9 broadcast of CBS' 60 Minutes will feature an interview with former FBI director Louis Freeh, whose upcoming book My FBI: Bringing Down the Mafia, Investigating Bill Clinton, and Fighting the War on Terror (St. Martin's Press) reportedly contains "scathing" criticism of President Clinton.

But, according to an October 7 New York Sun article (subscription required), CBS "refused to tape interviews with former Clinton administration officials who disagree with the former FBI director's allegations, according to people familiar with the situation." Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz reported that "[t]he Clinton camp says '60 Minutes' would not accept any surrogate to rebut Freeh on camera once the former president declined to be interviewed."

60 Minutes' refusal to accept a surrogate in place of Clinton is inconsistent with the way the show handled a similar story about a book critical of President Bush. On March 21, 2004, 60 Minutes ran a segment about former National Security Council counterterrorism coordinator Richard Clarke's then-upcoming book, Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror (Free Press, March 2004). The segment included not only an exclusive interview with Clarke but also an interview with Bush administration National Security Council official Stephen Hadley, who was given time to defend Bush from Clarke's criticism.

Of course this is the network that basically fired Dan Rather for anti-Bush reporting, so should be really be surprised?

Southwest Bows To Bush

In what can only be described as corporate worship, Southwest Airlines today decided to eject a passenger over a anti-Bush T-Shirt:

Southwest Airlines kicked a woman off one of its flights over a political message on her T-shirt, the airline confirmed Thursday, and published reports say the passenger will sue.

In 2004, we had people being prevented from seeing our President and Vice President because they didn't support them 100%. Today you are being prohibited from travelling for the same offense.

Can anyone see anything wrong with that?

Friday Dog Blogging, News Edition

Honda goes Doggy Style:

Honda Motor Co. has designed a car that's friendly for dogs - part of the Japanese automaker's ongoing effort to create vehicles that are easy to use and comfortable to ride in.

Well, this is just a concept vehicle, which will probably never see production, however, the Dog friendly features are built in dog crates, one in the front, for small dogs, and one in the back for larger dogs.

Apparently a fifth of Japanese households have dogs, and their is a growing demand for pet restraint systems that would protect the animal in the event of an accident. Hopefully this system will make it into production models, in some fashion. More importantly be sold outside of Japan as well.

As a PSA, if you allow your dog (or even cat) to ride in your car regularly, you should get one of the many animal restraint systems available, to protect your pet, and yourself, in the event of an accident.

Thought for the Day

"An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field."

--Niels Bohr

No-Bid Contracts Aren't Good for America?

Halliburton has to compete for contracts. Oh the Horror:

The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said today that millions of dollars worth of federal hurricane-relief contracts that were awarded with little or no competition would be rebid to minimize waste and abuse.

Finally someone with a little bit of sense.

We'll see how long it lasts.

Rove Squeals

Woah:

Federal prosecutors have accepted an offer from presidential adviser Karl Rove to give 11th hour testimony in the case of a CIA officer's leaked identity but have warned they cannot guarantee he won't be indicted, according to people directly familiar with the investigation.

I wonder just how far this is going to go?

22?

The rumor mill is in high gear. TPMCafe || 22 indictments in Plame leak case?

Wow.


Should we all hold our breath?

Wal-Mart is a Tattle-Tale

After reading this story you'd think we were a nation of five year-olds running to mommy to tell on little Johnny, who did something.

Selina Jarvis is the chair of the social studies department at Currituck County High School in North Carolina, and she is not used to having the Secret Service question her or one of her students.

But that’s what happened on September 20.

Jarvis had assigned her senior civics and economics class “to take photographs to illustrate their rights in the Bill of Rights,” she says. One student “had taken a photo of George Bush out of a magazine and tacked the picture to a wall with a red thumb tack through his head. Then he made a thumb’s down sign with his own hand next to the President’s picture, and he had a photo taken of that, and he pasted it on a poster.”

In the eyes of one of Wal-Mart's photo department employees, this image constituted a threat to President Bush.

This employee called the local police, who in turn, contacted the Secret Service.

I am sure that everyone sees the irony here.

Senate Reasserting Itself?

Over the treatment of detainees, no less:

Setting up a possible veto showdown with the White House, the Senate voted overwhelmingly for an amendment to a Pentagon spending bill that sets standards for the treatment of prisoners in U.S. military custody.

The measure, sponsored by Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, would require American troops to follow interrogation standards set in the Army Field Manual and bar "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment" of prisoners in U.S. custody.

On Wednesday night, senators voted 90-9 to include the provision to the $440 billion Defense Department spending bill now wending its way through Congress

Let Bush veto it.

Let him veto it because of the detainee provision. Right now, the administration's position on the treatment of detainees has been by proxy. Others have said what the administrations position on that subject is.

Let's hear it from the man himself. Let Bush himself tell the American public, by using the veto, for the first time in his presidency, on this subject.

Thought for the Day

"The last time somebody said, 'I find I can write much better with a word processor.', I replied, 'They used to say the same thing about drugs.'"

--Roy Blount Jr.

"A Hole In White House Security"

Gee. Ya Think!

The discovery that a former White House staff member allegedly used his top secret clearance to steal classified intelligence documents indicates there are serious gaps in high-level White House security, a former White House counterterrorism expert says.

"What it means is that there is a hole in White House security," Richard Clarke, a former White House adviser who is now an ABC News consultant. "There are two kinds of people at the White House: Those that have been very well-vetted and those that have been extremely well-vetted and have access to the top secret computer network. This man had access to the top secret computer network."

10,000

Wow.

Earlier this afternoon, I crossed the 10,000 visitor mark according to Sitemeter.

I started this blog on 26 February 2005, with this post. I don't get a large number of visitors on this blog, and don't know that if taking this amount of time to reach 10,000+ visitors is a long time or not, but I suppose there is a small satisfaction in reaching this number.

According to Sitemeter the person came from the Washington Post/Newsweek hosting service. Not too shabby for this little spot in Blogtopia (is that the one that Skippy coined?).

Thanks to all my visitors, and particularly any repeat visitors.

Here's to the next 10,000 visitors.

If I May, For a Moment ...

... indulge here, in one of my other interests.

Longhorn Football.


SI.com columnist, Richard Deitsch, writes in his latest column that UT head football coach Mack Brown is in a do or die situation with Texas-OU Weekend coming up on Saturday.

For the uninitiated, in the spirit of Great Football Rivalries, the UT-OU game ranks up there with the best of them, Mom and Apple Pie (particularly here in Texas).

Deitsch says that Brown's defining moment is whether in 2005, Texas can beat Oklahoma in the Red River Shootout. He says that if Texas loses, Mack Brown is finished.

Well, over at Bevo Beat one of the blogs that the Austin American-Statesman hosts, John Bridges sums up pretty much was many UT fans feel:

He’s wrong on two counts.

First, Mack wouldn’t be packing any U-Haul. When you make $2 mil a year, you can hire movers.

Second, Mack isn’t going anywhere — win or lose. True, Mack will be blasted at every water cooler in Austin should he fail to break the streak and he’ll avoid having things thrown at him if he wins, but his job isn’t on the line.

Mack Brown has brought 'Horns football back from mediocrity to its former glory.

Brown's job is safe. We are on the verge of a NCAA National Championship, and through the great job he has done recruiting top talent, the football team is at the top. Rightfully so.

It is true, that if UT loses this weekend, our hopes for that Championship are probably dashed, however, after the Ohio State game a few weeks back, the football team has a lot to be proud of. (Notice that in true College fashion, I have reverted to the "we" designation for UT ;) )

We have beaten the much reviled Texas A&M Aggies 5 years running. Oklahoma is a psychological issue. The past couple of losses, and particularly last year, we lost because the players allowed the pressure of beating OU get to them. Silly mistakes were made. Right now, the pressure to win against Oklahoma is such that if we lose, we fans will be despondent. (If USC ends up with a similar record UT still may have a chance, but that gets into BCS stuff, which is a discussion for another time). The main thing is that the players, and coaches have to stay aloof from the fans for a few days. Don't let the pressure get to them, relax, and play a damned good game of football.

But, we will get over it.

If we beat the Sooners on Saturday, Texas will be #1.


Hook 'em Horns!

Meirs and Detainee Treatment

With no real knowledge of what Bush's thought process was when selecting Meirs as his choice for the Supreme Court, we are left to much speculation. We have Ken Mehlman's comments that Meirs will rule favorably for the administration on GWOT issues that come before it. Which leads to this:

U.S. troops interrogating terrorism suspects don't know which techniques are permitted and Congress owes it to them to establish clear standards, Senate Republicans said Wednesday, opening a politically volatile debate over the treatment of detainees.

The White House opposes legislation that would impose restrictions on the Pentagon's detention, interrogation and prosecution of prisoners, arguing that it would tie the president's hands in wartime.

Could it be, that someone in the White House sees that there will be a Supreme Court challenge to the way Bush has conducted the war in Iraq, and maybe specifically detainee treatment, and he is trying to stack the court, not on the abortion issue, but GWOT issues?

I think it is plausible.

Thought for the Day

"Silent gratitude isn't very much use to anyone."

--Gertrude Stein

Bush's Guard Service Under Microsope, Again?

Courtesy of The Smirking Chimp we are ponited to this Austin American-Statesman article in which a former offical of the Texas Lottery Commission, who was involved in some contract issues when Harriet Miers was working there.

Lawrence Littwin was hired after Nora Linares was fired due to an improper relationship with GTECH (who was administering the Texas Lottery) was revealed. Littwin was subsequently fired, according to him, because of his aggressive scrutiny of GTECH during this time (1997). All of this ties to lobbyist, and former speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, Ben Barnes, who GTECH hired. Ben Barnes, it has been alledged, helped Bush get into TANG, jumping to the head of the line, to avoid the draft during Vietnam. Littwin says that he his willing to testify before the Senate Judicial committee about Miers role, and performance at the Texas Lottery Commission.

Whether Littwin is subpoenaed or not remains to be seen, and if he is, what revelations he brings to the table should be interesting, as the issue surrounding the Texas Lottery and GTECH was a big deal at the time.

Judy Miller: Drama Queen, Extraordinaire

Courtesy of Atrios, I can read the transcript to the utter pap that Judy Miller let flow from her mouth.

Let me just say, that she deserved everything she got, and a whole lot more.

Suspending Davis-Bacon

This article mainly focuses on US border policy with regards to Bush suspending the Davis-Bacon Act in the Hurricane affected areas (Davis-Bacon requires federal contractors to pay prevailing wages for federal contracts). However, there is a real economic concern that goes beyond illegal immigrants sneaking into the US seeking work, and in particular in the New Orleans area.

The problem is that the people who should be getting the work, are the people who live there, and want to return. These are the people who would benefit most. Historically there has been oppressive poverty, with New Orleans ranking near the top of cities with large poor populations. Here is one example of where the proverb "Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime" really comes into play.

I am sure that there are plenty of people in South Louisiana, and Mississippi who had construction skills and experience. However there are plenty who do not. With all of the work required, from construction to plumbing to electrical work, there is plenty of opportunity for people to gain new skills.

However, since Bush suspended the prevailing wage restriction, the work will go to the lowest bidder. In many cases the lowest bidder is hiring illegal immigrants to perform the work that an American worker would require a proper wage to perform. Additionally, with the cronyism that Bush seems to relish in, local companies are already being shutout for larger companies from out of state (and in some cases out of the region). These companies have not ties to the area, and are not inclined to keep the money made from the reconstructions projects in the region.

The people who would benefit most from the work, are being shutout of rebuilding their homes, towns and cities.

Ronnie Earle vs. The Media

Ellen Miller at TPMCafe touches on something that has been bothering me, since the DeLay investigation was started, let alone since the indictments. The media is basically allowing Tom DeLay to dictate the coverage. The story line, which is unchallenged by the media, is that Ronnie Earle is on a political vendetta. According to DeLay, and unchallenged by the media, Ronnie Earle is out to get all Republicans, while allowing Democrats to get away with anything. The Austin American-Statesman has an article from Sunday (2 October) which lists the public officials that Ronnie Earle has investigated.

The tally? 12 Democrats, 4 Republicans. Including himself, in which he paid a $200 fine for the untimely reporting of campaign funds in 1981, and 1982.

Gee, for someone who is a partisan hack, out on a political witch hunt, he seems to have a significant disdain for his own party.

Or could it be that he is a District Attorney who takes his job seriously?

Thought for the Day

"We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true."

--Robert Wilensky

This is Creepy

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram feels it is necessary to identify the members of the Grand Jury that indicted Tom DeLay, and their voting trends for the past few years.

Gee, I wonder why?


Though, there seems to be a bit of a Freudian slip here:

More than half of the members of the grand jury that first indicted former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay last week have voted in the past as Democrats, according to public records.

Reindicted and it Feels so Good

Apologies to Charles Kuffner for the title. He used it, and it is so appropriate.

Tom DeLay has had a second indictment handed down from Travis County Prosecutor Ronnie Earle. DeLay's attorney, Dick DeGeurin, is trying to portray the issuance of a second indictment, as proof that Earle's first indictment is flawed.

Execept that:

Two criminal defense and election law experts interviewed by the Chronicle said Earle's original indictment of DeLay is likely to be upheld by the courts.

University of Texas law Professor George Dix said he wasn't sure why a new indictment was necessary because the Penal Code in 2002 made it a crime to conspire to commit any felony.

Dix said it was a felony in 2002 to use corporate money to try to influence the outcome of an election.

He said the fact the law was changed in 2003 to specifically include the election code under conspiracy should be irrelevant. "I don't see the necessity for the 2003 law," he said.

Austin attorney Buck Wood, who represents losing Democratic candidates in a civil suit against corporations that contributed to TRMPAC, called the new charges a "belt and suspenders indictment. It means you don't take any chances."

Wood agreed with Dix that the conspiracy charge already was covered by the penal code in 2002 but also noted that all nine members of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which would review any convictions, are Republicans.

"With the Court of Criminal Appeals, it is probably not a bad idea to go ahead and have all your bases covered," Wood said.

As Charles put it, Ronnie Earle is trying to prevent activist judges from being able to legislate from the bench on this issue.

Sweet irony, that is.


Mark Kleiman thinks DeLay may get away with it under the technicality that he "didn't know" what TRMPAC was doing, or maybe that he didn't know it was illegal (though that one is pretty far fetched). So, I suppose there is a chance the DeLay could walk away without a conviction. However, I want to believe, and continue to hope that the courts, and a possible Jury will see through that smoke screen. I am pretty sure that Ronnie Earle is smart enough to clear that smoke enough for a judge and/or jury to see through it.

Thunderbird Update

1.0.7

If you use Thunderbird for email, then you should get the update. This version plugs some security holes, and adds stability fixes.

Edit, apparently my earlier link to the Thunderbird update was wrong.

Here is the correct one:

Thunderbird

Thought for the Day

"If at first you don't succeed, find out if the loser gets anything."

--Bill Lyon

Congratulations John Courage

In the midst of my familial obligations last week, I missed Blog for America's endorsement vote. John Courage, of San Anotonio, Texas, who is running against Lamar Smith in Texas CD21, came out on top.

Congratulations to him, and if you can, consider helping



Thanks to Charles Kuffner for the heads up.

Supporting the Veterans, Republican Style

The Bush administration has made it a policy priority to privatize every service the government provides, because enriching a few friends is more important then caring for our veterans:

The Senator's aide chuckled rather loudly and said, "What VA? By the time this administration is done there won't be a VA." Our conversation had begun with a discussion of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA's) healthcare budget, and quickly came down to a single, simple point. VA is being dismantled.

As a veteran (who fortunately does not need VA care), I find this sort of outright contempt that the Republicans have for those they supposedly care about, who put their lives on the line all over the world, absolutely inhuman.

I wonder how many of these Bush cronies have "Support out Troops" magnets on their cars, while they try to destroy their health care system?





Thanks to Melanie, and Susie for the link.

Supporting the Troops, Republican Style

From The Seattle Times we find that the Pentagon still is not reimbursing soldiers for purchasing their own equipment that they need to perform their duties in Iraq:

Nearly a year after Congress demanded action, the Pentagon still hasn't figured out a way to reimburse U.S. troops for body armor and equipment they purchased to better protect themselves while serving in Iraq.

For Marine Sgt. Todd Bowers that extra equipment — a high-tech rifle scope bought by his father for $600 and a $100 pair of goggles — turned out to be a life-or-death purchase. And he has never been reimbursed.

Bowers, who is from Arizona but going to school in Washington, D.C., was shot by a sniper during his second tour in Iraq, but the round lodged in his scope, and his goggles protected his eyes from the shrapnel that struck his face.

"We weren't provided those going to Iraq," he said yesterday. "But they literally saved my life."

What does the Pentagon say when questioned about their lack of response:

Under the law Congress passed in October, the Defense Department had until Feb. 25 to develop regulations for the reimbursement, which is limited to $1,100 per item. Pentagon officials called it "an unmanageable precedent that will saddle the DOD with an open-ended financial burden."

How's that for support the troops. They are a "financial burden"

Thanks to Jesse at the DNC for the link.

Methinks, Thou Dost Protest Too Much Mr. DeLay

DeLay not so clean?:

Grand jurors were presented a load of evidence, including testimony and phone records, that led them to believe Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, should be tried on a conspiracy charge, the leader of the Travis County grand jury that indicted the congressman said yesterday.

"It was not one of those sugar-coated deals that we handed to [District Attorney] Ronnie Earle," William Gibson said.

He added: "Mr. Earle has stacks and stacks of papers — evidence of telephone calls from Mr. DeLay and everybody."

DeLay has said Earle has no evidence to prove that he tried to subvert state election laws. His lawyers did not return calls seeking comments on Gibson's description of the grand-jury proceedings.

Party Over Country

President Bush reveals his pick for Sandra Day O'Connor's spot as a Supreme Court Justice, and chooses to reward a political ally, rather than choose a qualified candidate:

U.S. President George W. Bush today nominated White House counsel Harriet Miers to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the U.S. Supreme Court, reaching into his loyal inner circle for a pick that could reshape the top U.S. judiciary for years to come.

[...]

Miers, who has never been a judge, was the first woman to serve as president of the Texas State Bar and the Dallas Bar Association.

I am sure that Ms. Miers is a very nice person, and as evidenced by Bush's pick to be a Supreme Court Justice, very loyal to the Bush's as well.

However, with this pick, it is readily apparent that, even in a position as important and as lasting as a Supreme Court Justice, party and loyalty take precedence over Country with Bush and the Republican Party.

It is Hard

It is hard when a close relative dies so close to your birthday (1 October). In the events leading up to the funeral, even you forget what day it is. Last week, I was planning with my wife and kids about what presents I would like to receive from them. Today, I am lost in memories.

I do believe that we should celebrate the life that was shared and be thankful for that persons presence in our life, rather than mourning the passing of a loved one. I spent the past few days, and certainly at the memorial service, collecting my thoughts of happy times together. Funny stories, vacations, etc.

But at some point, and it probably is more an artifact of Western beliefs, the realization that this person will no longer be a part of your life going forward, hits you. No matter how much joy that person brought you, and how happy the thoughts and memories of the person who passed are, there is now a gap in your life.

Thought for the Day

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction."

--Blaise Pascal

The Worm Turns

The Washington Post writes what is a scathing editorial about the waste of congressional Republicans during the two Bush terms.

However, most of the blame is laid at the feet of Tom DeLay, and his allies in Congress. The only time the finger is pointed to Bush, is in that he is the first President since John Quincy Adams to have vetoed ZERO bills in a Presidential term. With the way his second term is going, Bush could be the first President to never veto a bill in TWO Presidential terms.

The party of reduced spending, and small government, have proven themselves to be the opposite of that, when given the reigns of government. In fact the only Conservative principles that the Bush administration have adhered to, are increased military spending, and tax cuts. The worst part is that the increased military spending have not been to strengthen the military. Arguably the military is substantially weaker under President Bush, then it was under President Clinton, who is accused of all sorts of crimes against the Military. With the social Conservatives gaining influence in the Republican Party leadership, it is increasingly looking like nothing will change before the 2006 elections. What will happen after, is a matter for the electorate.

Will the Democrats put forth compelling messages, and candidates who will show the country that it is Democrats who are the party that will keep the country moving forward, as it did for 50 years when they controlled congress?

Personal Noted

Due to a death in my family, I will be gone for a few days.

I should return Saturday.


Senseki:

At last I am leaving:
in rainless skies, a cool moon...
pure is my heart

No ...

We Wanted You to do Your Damned Job

"I guess you want me to be the superhero that is going to step in there and suddenly take everybody out of New Orleans."

Said "your doing a heckuva job" Browie, while aggressively pointing the blame elsewhere.

I thought we weren't playing the blame game anymore?

Congratulations Fernando Alonso

Formula One World Driving Champion

Thought for the Day

"We confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large ones."

--Francois de La Rochefoucauld

When in Doubt, Say: Not Me!

In continuing to demonstrate, not only a lack of compassion, but continued incompetence, Brownie blames others for his screw ups:

Former FEMA director Michael Brown blamed others for most government failures in responding to Hurricane Katrina on Tuesday, especially Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. He aggressively defended his own role.

[...]

And he blamed the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for not acquiring better equipment ahead of the storm.

The hearing was about FEMA's failings, and everyone but the actual head of FEMA is responsible.

Some members of congress didn't fall for his blame the other guy ploy:

"I'm happy you left," said Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn. "That kind of look in the lights like a deer tells me you weren't capable of doing that job."

Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., told Brown: "The disconnect was, people thought there was some federal expertise out there. There wasn't. Not from you."

The rest of the article contiues to point out the total disconnect from reality that Mike Brown has. Everyone is at fault for FEMA's performance, except for the person directing FEMA.

Conservatives Reaching Breaking Point?

The current iteration of the Republican Party doesn't seem to be as conservative as its traditional supporters would like. In response, the Congressional Republican leadership is going on a PR offensive to placate their supporters. However, if you put lipstick on the pig, it is still a pig:

Squeezed between a conservative clamor for spending cuts and the rising cost of hurricane relief, Republican congressional leaders will respond this week with a public relations offensive to win over angry conservatives -- but no substantive changes in budget policy.

Republican lawmakers and leadership aides conceded that the wholesale budget cuts envisioned by House conservatives are not being contemplated; the Senate is moving toward approving a temporary expansion of Medicaid for hurricane survivors, estimated to cost $9 billion. Nor are GOP leaders considering tax increases.

Increased spending in Iraq, spending to recover from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the largest expansion in the federal government with the Department of Homeland Security, the dream of a smaller government that Conservatives want, is not happening.

The tax cuts implemented by Republicans, are only serving to increase the deficit while not cutting spending to match. Now, the "cost cutting" measures being proposed by Republicans to try and offset the costs of the Hurricane recovery, are being proposed not against pork. We still are going to build a bridge to nowhere in Alaska. The cuts are in programs, that may not be popular with Conservatives, but under the circumstances, Conservatives are unwilling to see cuts in those programs while leaving the excessive pork in the Highway Bill.

Who will win out in the end?

Will it be the borrow and spend Republicans, leading to higher deficits, and out of control spending?

Or will it be the true Fiscal Republicans who believe in smaller government, and paying for what government they need?

Time will tell.

Senator Vitter (Heartless Bastard-La)

Because only the worthy deserve help.

Senator "Heartless Bastard" Vitter, from Louisiana has decided that if the Credit Card companies don't get paid, then the terrorists hurricanes have won.

Senator Vitter's proposed bill gives some limited relief to "victims of a natural disaster" but it defines the victims as only those whose financial condition is "materially, adversely affected due to damage sustained to the principal residence, where such residence is in a natural disaster zone, as a result of a natural disaster," or an inability to remain in such principal residence, or an inability to work at the debtor's place of employment located in a natural disaster zone. Wow. Welcome to the new game of Prove That You Deserve a Chance.

If you lose everything, yet your house is still standing (condition not withstanding), and your employer was ready for you to come back to work on 29 August, you are not worthy of relief from bankruptcy protection.

The worst part?

Senator Vitter is from Louisiana. These are his constituents that he would like to see financially ruined.

You Have GOT to be Kidding

Brownie?

Once a Bush crony, always a Bush crony.

It doesn't really matter how many people you kill, or lives you ruin. You are set for life.

R.I.P. Agent 86

Don Adams died:

Don Adams, the wry-voiced comedian who starred as the fumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart in the 1960s television spoof of James Bond movies, "Get Smart," has died. He was 82.

Adams died of a lung infection late Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, his friend and former agent Bruce Tufeld said Monday, adding the actor broke his hip a year ago and had been in ill health since.

Thought for the Day

"Two paradoxes are better than one; they may even suggest a solution."

--Edward Teller

Senator Frist: Confirmed Liar?

How does Senator Frist's statement about his ownership of HCA stock:

Asked in a television interview in January 2003 whether he should sell his HCA stock, responded, "Well, I think really for our viewers it should be understood that I put this into a blind trust. So as far as I know, I own no HCA stock"

Jive with the truth?

Blind trusts are designed to keep an arm's-length distance between federal officials and their investments, to avoid conflicts of interest. But documents show that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist knew quite a bit about his accounts from nearly two dozen letters from the trust administrators.

Gee, there seems to be a glaring inconsistency in Senator Frist's statements.

Is he lying, or ignorant?

I report, you decide.

One Here One There ...

... pretty soon you have a couple of hundred.

Supposedly there were a few thousand Iraq War supporters in Washington on Sunday. Except that there weren't:

About 400 people gathered near a stage on an eastern segment of the mall, a large patchwork American flag serving as a backdrop. Amid banners and signs proclaiming support for U.S. troops, several speakers hailed the effort to bring democracy to Iraq and Afghanistan and denounced those who protest it.

But what happened to the 20,000 the pro-Iraq War planners expected?

Couldn't be due to this, could it?

In an AP-Ipsos poll this month, only 37 percent approved or leaned toward approval of how Bush has handled the situation in Iraq; strong disapproval outweighed strong approval by 2-1, 46 percent to 22 percent.

Nah.

Yet Another Republican Compares Democrats to Nazi's

Arkansas Republican Governor Mike Huckabee believes that people should stand up to Democrats, like people should have stood up to Nazi's.

Afterall, Democrats have exterminated 6 million Republicans in concentration camps.

As usual the media doesn't talk about it. Maybe they believe it to be so?

Track 23:5

There is this rather interesting meme going around right now. I don't know where it started, but I found out about it from Agitprop

Rules:
1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.

Well, I did it:

23rd Post: Formula One: Stoddart gets signatures but blocked by FIA stewards


5th sentence:'We would then go to the FIA Court of Appeal at a later date.'

This post was about controlling costs in Formula One. With teams needing to spend in excess of US$500 million to be competitive, costs are a bit out of control.

Reporting from an Imaginary World

A an addendum, if you will, to this, today we have an article from The Seattle Times, in which the "reports" of murder and mayhem in New Orleans immediately after Hurricane Katrina hit were "overstated" (there's an understatement):

Following days of internationally reported murders, rapes and gang violence inside the stadium, the doctor from FEMA — Beron doesn't remember his name — came prepared for a grisly scene: He brought a refrigerated 18-wheeler and three doctors to process bodies.

"I've got a report of 200 bodies in the Dome," Beron recalled the doctor saying.

The real total?

Six, Beron said.

How is it that reality so differed from perception?

Where did the people get such ideas?

[...]

"Don't get me wrong — bad things happened. But I didn't see any killing and raping and cutting of throats or anything ... 99 percent of the people in the Dome were very well-behaved."

[...]

"I had the impression that at least 40 or 50 murders had occurred at the two sites," he said. "It's unfortunate we saw these kinds of stories saying crime had taken place on a massive scale when that wasn't the case. And they [national media outlets] have done nothing to follow up on any of these cases; they just accepted what people [on the street] told them. ... It's not consistent with the highest standards of journalism."

[...]

Compass conceded that rumor had overtaken, and often crippled, authorities' response to reported lawlessness, sending badly needed resources to situations that turned out not to exist.

I remember a game we used to play.

It was called Telephone.
Remember it?

Thought for the Day

"What's the use of a good quotation if you can't change it?"

--Doctor Who

-

Bush Runs and Hides

I suppose the prospect of 100,000+ protestors outside your house is a bit scary to some:

Speakers from the stage attacked President Bush's policies head on, but he was not at the White House to hear it. He spent the day in Colorado and Texas, monitoring hurricane recovery.

I suppose since he had to spend all of his time travelling around Texas looking for weather conditions that would be conducive to a good photo op, he didn't have much time to spend at home.

Then, after spending all day driving around, because the weather was too good where he wanted to go, he flew to Colorado. After all, Colorado received the brunt of Hurricane Rita's force.

Argh! Not the Weather!

There are good photo ops, and there are bad photo ops. Each has very fluid definitions. I suppose the line can be very fine between a good photo op, and a bad one. However, I don't think any expected just how fine that line is to be spelled out by the White House:

Another White House official involved in preparing Mr. Bush's way noted that with the sun shining so brightly in San Antonio, the images of Mr. Bush from here might not have made it clear to viewers that he was dealing with an approaching storm.

Just how sad is it that the appropriateness of a photo op is defined by how sunny it is.

Sad, just sad.

Thought for the Day

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

--Albert Einstein

That's Just A Special Interest Group

In George Bush's world, we know that one person with enough money, from the "correct" background can buy Bush's loyalty, but 100,000 Americans don't matter:

Organizers of Saturday's anti-war protest predict about 100,000 people will crowd the Ellipse near the White House for a rally and march.

But not everyone going to the protest today in Washington is there for anti-War causes:

"There are families who lose children in accidents, in tragic illnesses. Young people die and it seems without a purpose," said Ibbotson, whose son was 21. "My son gave his life for a cause that he believed in. He fought and died for God and country."

What more noble cause then to have your son die to bring an Islamic Theocratic Governemnt to a formerly Secular Government.

As a parent myself, I know I don't want my children to die for no reason. However, this kind of moral equivalency, I find really disturbing. Especially with the reasons for this war of choice having all been debunked thoroughly.

I realize that a parent needs to try to rationalize having to bury their child, but at some point, the realization has to set in that the War in Iraq is not, nor was it ever, a noble cause.

McClellan: Setting the Record Straight

Now that the White House has had some time to figure out how to address this:



They are on the offensive:
McClellan Explains Bush 'Guitar' Photo:

Q But it sounds like a bit of a photo op, one that he'd prefer over playing the guitar at the airport photo op.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, first of all, let's correct the record on that. There was a reporter from your news organization that was backstage during that event. That was an event to go and thank our troops and talk about the war on terrorism. And it was not an event, as you may have portrayed to some people that are watching this out there by this simple statement. It was --

Q He didn't pick up the guitar while the hurricane was rolling into Louisiana?

MR. McCLELLAN: -- much more than that. The person that was entertaining our troops there presented a gift to the President. So I think you need to make that clear to everybody who's watching this or to your viewers. And it was one of your colleagues at ABC News who was backstage taking a picture of that.

Q It was a very good picture and I'm proud of her, but the question I have --

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, but that picture was taken by someone -- hang on, hang on, Terry -- that picture was taken by some people way out of context. And it was portrayed that the President was simply doing that, and that's not the case, as you and I know.

Q The point was that he was over there and not --

MR. McCLELLAN: As you and I know, I had announced shortly before that, that we were returning the next morning. As you and I know, we had announced the President -- the day before -- all the briefings he was participating in. The President spoke the day before. He spoke that day about the hurricane. So let's just set the record straight.

It wasn't really a photo op, in that the photographer wasn't really supposed to be there to take that picture.

The fact that he was standing backstage strumming his gift guitar, while the effects of Hurricane Katrina were being wrought isn't the issue.

The issue is that the picture was taken.

I feel so much better now.

Thought for the Day

"It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power."

--David Brin

Bianca?

Presidential Press Conference 22 September, 2005:

THE PRESIDENT: ... Bianca. Nobody named Bianca? Well, sorry Bianca's not here. I'll be glad to answer her question.

Q I'll follow up.

THE PRESIDENT: No, that's fine. (Laughter.) Thank you though, appreciate it. Just trying to spread around the joy of asking a question.

Q ...

Q Mr. President, could we talk more about --

THE PRESIDENT: Are you Bianca?

Q No, I'm not. Anita -- Fox News.

THE PRESIDENT: Okay.

Q Just a quick question --

THE PRESIDENT: Okay. I was looking for Bianca. I'm sorry.

Who is Bianca, and why was the President so insistent on getting her question?



Thanks to Billmon for the pointer.

1.0.7

There is a new Firefox version.

It has some stability fixes, and security fixes.

Go get it

Out There: Man-Made Hurricanes?

I don't know what to think about this:

Global warming? Act of God? Nope, says one Idaho weatherman — Hurricane Katrina was part of a man-made plot against America.

Scott Stevens, a meteorologist who for nine years has been forecasting the weather on KPVI-TV (search) in Pocatello, says the Yakuza — the Japanese mafia — is using a Russian-made electromagnetic generator to launch terrific storms against the U.S. mainland.

Now for the money shot:

"Nor is it a coincidence that both Katrina and Ivan — the huge hurricane that hit Florida a year ago — are Russian names, Stevens says."

Oy.

Delurking Day

According to Agi T. Prop yesterday was Delurking Day. How did I miss such an auspicious occasion?

In honor of yesterdays celebration, I am offering up my late-Delurking Day post.

From Running Creek North:

Who are these readers? What are their lives like? Do they like my writing, or do they show up regularly to see what new horrors I've unleashed on the world? Do they think I'm a bad person because of my kitchen? Are they here for the politics, the poetry, or the pictures of Zeke? If you're one of those as-yet-unanounced regular readers, of course, you don't have to answer these questions. I'm just glad you're there.

Well, I don't have any cat posts, I haven't really put up more than a couple of pics of my dogs. I do have my regular "Thought for the Day" posts.

So, in my bad attempt to be a blogger, let me know what you think?
Announce your presence.

Shh. Don't Tell Rick Santorum

I have been watching the National Hurricane Center / Tropical Prediction Center reports for Hurricane Rita.

Fortunately for us in Austin, as of this moment, it looks like Rita will be tracking east. This does not bode well for New Orleans, as it put all of south Louisiana in the danger zone for wind and water.

Galveston, and Houston are still going to be hit hard, hopefully people get out, and stay safe.

Hurricanes and Disaster Recovery

Today, in light of the path of Hurricane Rita and my proximity to the projected path after it makes landfall, we have been making preparations at work.

My position is supporting mission critical applications for the company I work for. Though Austin is fairly far inland, there is a potential for hurricane force winds, rain, and the potential for tornadoes in our area which could cause significant damage.

In light of my responsibilities, we have been detailing our disaster response plans, were the unthinkable to happen, and my site gets severely damaged, or destroyed from a tornado.

The point is not so much to point out my preparations, but to highlight the value of preparations. If you know some potential disaster is coming, especially with 2 to 4 days warning, why didn't FEMA prepare properly for Katrina?

We know the answer, but it doesn't explain the real why.

Responding to the Response

I guess it is important that the Bush administration is learning from their mistakes, but the mistake that created the learning experience was a catastrophic one.

Except that Bush doesn't really admit mistakes. So what can we infer?

The lack of response was planned, and in response to the lack of response, and the response from the public, responding to the lack of response, the administration has responded to Hurricane Rita in a timely manner?

Yeah. That's it.

Thought for the Day

"The covers of this book are too far apart."

--Ambrose Bierce





Lack of posts due to busy morning, preparing for the potential of Hurricane Rita to hit Austin.

Oh, Cry Me a River

Boo Hoo. I thought Americans were resourceful:

Ford Motor Co. could be offering more hybrid vehicles if it weren't for the shortage of specialized components, partly due to the "predatory" approach taken by some Japanese automakers, Ford Chief Operating Officer Jim Padilla said Tuesday.

"It is a supply issue, and it's supply of several technologies," Padilla said at the Reuters Summit in Detroit. "The Japanese have shown a little bit of a predatory approach."

John Kerry Lays a Smackdown

John Kerry:

Using the nickname Bush used for Brown, Kerry said, "Brownie is to Katrina what Paul Bremer is to peace in Iraq, what George Tenet is to slam-dunk intelligence, what Paul Wolfowitz is to parades paved with flowers in Baghdad, what Dick Cheney is to visionary energy policy, what Donald Rumsfeld is to basic war planning, what Tom DeLay is to ethics and what George Bush is to 'Mission Accomplished' and 'Wanted Dead or Alive.' "

If only he had used this language last year.

I Guess the War on Terror is Won

Other priorities are now taking over:

The FBI is joining the Bush administration's War on Porn. And it's looking for a few good agents.

Early last month, the bureau's Washington Field Office began recruiting for a new anti-obscenity squad. Attached to the job posting was a July 29 Electronic Communication from FBI headquarters to all 56 field offices, describing the initiative as "one of the top priorities" of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and, by extension, of "the Director." That would be FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III.

[...]

"I guess this means we've won the war on terror," said one exasperated FBI agent, speaking on the condition of anonymity because poking fun at headquarters is not regarded as career-enhancing. "We must not need any more resources for espionage."

Among friends and trusted colleagues, an experienced national security analyst said, "it's a running joke for us."

A few of the printable samples:

"Things I Don't Want On My Résumé, Volume Four."

"I already gave at home."

"Honestly, most of the guys would have to recuse themselves."

Maybe a boobies on television task force is next, along with a division of Fashion Police.


WoooWoo!



Thanks to TChris at Talk Left for the link.

Thought for the Day

"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern."

--Lord Acton

Exaggerations? Can't Be!

Jeanne at Body and Soul found this nugget from the Business section of the NY Times yesterday:

DISASTER has a way of bringing out the best and the worst instincts in the news media. It is a grand thing that during the most terrible days of Hurricane Katrina, many reporters found their gag reflex and stopped swallowing pat excuses from public officials. But the media's willingness to report thinly attributed rumors may also have contributed to a kind of cultural wreckage that will not clean up easily.

The entire gist of the article is that the rapes and murders that people like Joe Scarborough, Rush Limbaugh, and other media sources (even The Washington Post, and Oprah) reported, weren't really happening.

No doubt there were some, that is highly probable, but it wasn't to the degree that our media were breathlessly pronouncing. So now, through the hype, and probably prejudice, the people of New Orleans are tainted. Tainted by the belief that everyone in the city, and particularly the black residents, are some sort of primitive violent group. These people who have lost everything, also have now been labeled as criminals.

Nice.

Brownie: You're Doing a Heckuva Job

More evidence of the incompetence at the top of FEMA, and our federal Governemnt. The Forgotten Towns:

PEARLINGTON, Miss. (AP) -- For more than a week, Pearlington survived largely on its own. Then, 10 days after Hurricane Katrina annihilated this tiny hamlet on the Louisiana state line, Jeff McVay and five other members of a state emergency response team from Walton County, Fla., arrived at the request of Hancock County.

McVay, who's been through many hurricanes, was stunned by what he found - a town that had nothing but a place to get water, ice and military-issued meals. There was no Red Cross. There was no shelter. He called home and asked for six more men.

This is just one small town throughout Mississippi and Louisiana that FEMA has forgotten. I wonder how many more there are?

John Courage for Congress

I had an opportunity to attend a conference call this evening, arranged by Charles Kuffner of Off the Kuff, for John Courage.

Courage is running for Texas Congressional District 21. CD-21 is currently held by Lamar Smith. Yes, this Lamar Smith.

There are four congressional districts that affect me, and Austin as a whole. Three in Austin directly, and one to the north, which is where the biggest suburbs of Austin are.

CD-31: Mary Beth Harrell
CD-25: Lloyd Doggett
CD-21: John Courage
CD-10: Ted Ankrum hasn't officially announced, but will on 1 October 2005.

In addition there is the Senate race, and what is shaping up to be a real battle, the Governor's race.

An opportunity is before us. The public is becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the government, from the President on down. Congressional approval ratings are at historic lows. With a swing of just 14 seats, Democrats can have a majority in the house. Above are just four candidates that can put Democrats that many seats closer.

From the conversation this evening, John seems like a very credible candidate. I will be putting out more information about these races, and more as it comes out.

Right now, however, Democracy for America is holding a vote to determine who they are going to provide their first endorsement to. If I am not mistaken Courage is in second place. Tomorrow DFA is going to open up voting for the final round. Go there and cast a vote. Preferably for John.

Hey! Look Over There!

Murray Waas:

Republicans on three separate congressional committees this week derailed three formal "resolutions of inquiry" by Democrats that would have required the Bush administration to turn over sensitive information and records relating to the outing of CIA officer Valerie Plame.

Had the resolutions of inquiry been adopted, they would have led to the first independent congressional inquiries of the Plame affair, and perhaps even the public testimony of senior Bush administration aides such as Karl Rove, the White House deputy chief of staff, and I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, the chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, about their personal roles.

Most of us in the blog reading world have known about this, and other actions by the Republican party to shutdown the investigation into the Plame Affair, and other investigations of the Bush administration.

However, it is nice to see things like this reaching out beyond our insulated environs.

Hopefully stories like this will continue to be revealed, and in venues other than the Village Voice

Sacrifice: It's Hard Work

Courtesy of Billmon, this CNN/Gallup poll:

45 percent said Americans should make "major sacrifices" to pay for the [Katrina reconstruction] effort. But only 20 percent said they would be willing to make those sacrifices themselves.

This is along the same lines as the Republican mantra for war:

Let's you and him fight

Texans: Can't Live With 'em, Can't Live Without 'em

Just when you think that it can't get any worse. A Texas legislator goes and acts like an idiot:

An immigration memo intended for embattled White House advisor Karl Rove arrived instead on the fax machine of a Democratic congressman, RAW STORY can reveal.

Who would have written this memo?

None other than Lamar Smith (R-Tx21).

What a fool.

The memo in question, hypes up all of the xenophobia that is running rampant through the Republican Party, and how to capitalize on it, presumably leading up to the 2006 elections.

Of course there is a lot of concern about illegal immigration, on both sides, and both sides have differing solutions on how to handle it.

Congressman Smith thinks the solution, is to paint Democrats as being anti-enforcement, thus playing on the fears of white Americans, that there is a "Mexican Threat" to America (or ultimately the horror of their white daughter marrying a hispanic).

I mentioned earlier that there were hints that the Republican party was going to revive the southern strategy. Now we see that illegal immigration is how the Southern Strategy is going to start.

Surpised? No.

Incompetence at FEMA:

As Hurricane Katrina bore down on the Gulf Coast three weeks ago, veteran workers at the Federal Emergency Management Agency braced for an epic disaster.

But their bosses, political appointees with almost no emergency management experience, didn't seem to share the sense of urgency, a FEMA veteran said.

[...]

Chertoff worked from home the day Bosner first warned of the hurricane's catastrophic potential for New Orleans, CNN's Tom Foreman reported. Chertoff also has been criticized for writing a memo the day after Katrina struck, delegating authority to Brown and deferring to the White House rather than taking charge.

All in all this is not a bad article summarizing what is obvious about the leadership at FEMA and DHS, but as usual, CNN declines to include the White House in any of the blame.

Thought for the Day

"I had a monumental idea this morning, but I didn't like it."

--Samuel Goldwyn

Texans Turning Against Bush

Insofar as the War in Iraq is equal to Bush:

Support for the war in Iraq is slipping in President Bush's home state, with only 28 percent of Texans saying the conflict is going well, poll results released Sunday show.

The Scripps Howard Texas Poll, which surveyed 1,000 randomly selected residents from Aug. 22 through Sept. 3, also shows that Texans are increasingly uneasy over the wider war on terrorism, with three out of four respondents saying another attack on the United Stated is at least somewhat likely during the next year.

[...]

Texans are nearly equally divided on how they think Bush is handling the war: Fifty percent said they approve while 46 percent said they disapprove. By contrast, in spring 2003, when Allied forces toppled Saddam Hussein's government, 78 percent of respondents said Bush was doing a "good" or "excellent" job with the war.

[...]

"Especially during the first 10 days or two weeks of her vigil, Cindy Sheehan was seen as a distraught mother who had lost a son in Iraq, so it made people come to grips with their own feelings on the war," Jillson said.

"There is very little enthusiasm for the war, even among those who support it and want to see it through," he said. "It's more of a resignation that we can't just walk away from it at this point."

Of course it wouldn't be right, if there wasn't a bit of idiocy in Texans opinions.

54% say we shouldn't withdraw from Iraq, and 60% say they are confident in victory (whatever that is defined as).

Whatever you think of Texas, and Texans, recognize that we are waking up the reality (albeit a bit late).

Rebuilding Plans

Ben Sargent:

Thought for the Day

"Every society honors its live conformists and its dead troublemakers."

--Mignon McLaughlin