you mean, he LIED?

on the iraqi mismanagement of construction funds ...  also from the LAT:

The shifting of money also will help cover an estimated $5-billion shortfall in the Iraqi national budget. Insurgent attacks and the failure of reconstruction efforts in the oil sector have resulted in lower than anticipated oil revenues, making it impossible for Iraq to maintain and operate U.S.-funded reconstruction efforts.

The need for such funds explicitly contradicts a prediction then-Defense Deputy Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz made before Congress in 2003.

incompetence defined

a continuing series of blunders by this administration in the handling of the reconstruction money congress allocated for iraq gives us another insight into why the bushite people have mismanaged billions of dollars, and God only knows how many lives would have been saved, IF ONLY....  from the LAT:

Bill Taylor, who heads the civilian reconstruction management office in Iraq, which wrote the report, said remaining funds would increasingly be focused on "systems" rather than individual projects. Iraqis have been frustrated, for instance, that new water treatment plants have been built without new water lines, resulting in millions of gallons of clean water that has no way to reach homes.

the 2nd anniversary of the removal of saddam

i wonder if these protests are going to wake anybody up.  i doubt it.  the people who need to be woken up have had hundreds of chances and opportunities to do so, but still remain ignorant to what is going on.

"Tomorrow will be the second black anniversary of the Iraq occupation," (sadr) said during the sermon. "We have seen nothing but bloodshed, destruction, pillage and thievery before the very eyes of the Iraqi people, who are looking on as their sons are butchered, detained, and the state funds looted and taken outside the country by the thieves who have taken over."

 

hypocrisy so thick, you can cut it with a dull knife

and it comes as no surprise that it is george w. bush who again drops all pretense of being fair and balanced by making sure this quote gets into every news article written by those who were lucky enough to advance to the front of the plane.  proper checks and balances?  how can that be when we have one party rule?

"I believe in an independent judiciary," he said. "I believe in proper checks and balances. And we'll continue to put judges on the bench who strictly and faithfully interpret the Constitution."

attribution

 

the irony of the day? goes to slate, who caught the seating arrangement at the pope's funeral:

The LAT says the leaders were arrayed according to a complex formula that took into account the number of years a country has had diplomatic ties with the Vatican. The result: President Bush sat not far from Iranian President Mohammed Khatami, whom he ignored, along with Syria's Bashar Assad. Israeli President Moshe Katsav, however, shook the hands of both, and talked with Khatami about the city in Iran where they both were born. "Maybe today will make us hope of a future of peace, not of conflict and hatred," Khatami was quoted as saying in an Italian newspaper, according to the LAT and NYT.

i wish the hell i could have watched the funeral now, just to look at the face of bush when israeli president showed some class and shook the hands of 'soon-to-be'? enemies? it had to be about as priceless as the art inside the chapel.

ugly companies

wonder how companies can be ugly?

 

because the leave their telephone number off their receipts.

Democrat or Republican

take the test.  do you think the letter writer is a democrat, or a republican/con?

Dave Eyman's April 7 letter regarding parents teaching children how to drive got the facts turned around. The comment regarding children taught to drive by parents "killing people" was made by another legislator. I voted in favor of the bill, and I resent the implication that only teachers can teach our children anything worthwhile.
-State Rep. Ralph Watts,
Adel.

we have two letter winners today

The Register's March 31 article on building cars to run on fuel cells cites the fact that DaimlerChrysler AG is testing 100 fuel-cell vehicles around the world ("Automakers Announce Fuel Cell Ventures").

General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. also have models running. The article concludes with a comment that Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman says we may be approaching commercialization within 15 years.

We went to the moon in nine years. NASA had nothing like the Saturn V rocket, and many of the materials needed for the rocket-propulsion system weren't known in 1961.

A president sets his priorities. President Kennedy wanted to get to the moon in a decade. The Presidents Bush have now spent something like a trillion dollars trying to secure oil in the Middle East - showing their priorities.

For fuel-cell cars, the 2005 U.S. budget will spend about 1 percent of the cost of our oil war in Iraq.
-Mike Montross,
Winterset.

attribution

The Letter of the Day

After we build the new Polk County jail, with drug abusers all tucked in, then what? Is the plan to lock them up, and this will be the form of treatment? I would like to see the plan of action

The March 30 Register reported that "Nine of 10 who complete treatment stay out of trouble." This statement alone shows that some of the people involved have no clue as to the power of drugs.

Treatment is the first step, but if a drug addict is to go back on the streets, they also need help to "begin" again. Hopelessness as to how you are going to live is one of the major causes of relapse. After the stigma of a misdemeanor or felony, landing a $6-an-hour job with a paycheck that won't come for a month while living in a shelter isn't much to hold on to.

A new jail. A treatment program we know nothing about, and we're on our way to a drug-free society.

I wish it were that simple.
-Kimberly Shursen,
Clive.

attribution

Quote for the Day

 "We all want to see terrorists brought to justice. But it's not good enough to punish just anyone, even if it's the wrong person. Totalitarian regimes declare people enemies of the state and execute them at will. In democracies with constitutions, labeling people "evil-doers" and "enemy combatants" isn't proof enough."

--Rekha Basu
attribution

when i was snoopin around and thinkn about getting a mac, i calld my best friend, and only syster, manny parrish, otherwise known as taffy. and in some circles, manessa.

the subject of macs quickly turned into a story that ends with my shivering and quaking in my shoes. literally.

wanna know more?

go HERE.

there's bushite people all over the world

including mexico.  from the LAT:

 The proceedings this week against Lopez Obrador are not about the rule of law. They're about kicking a popular left-wing front-runner out of the presidential race. As a result of shrewd patronage politics and savvy political positioning, Lopez Obrador is the most popular politician in the country. That makes him dangerous to an array of vested interests and explains why he has so many powerful enemies obsessed with bringing him down, including President Vicente Fox.

As a result of a political crusade disguised as a legal issue, Lopez Obrador is caught in a battle for his political life. The attorney general's office has accused him of ignoring a restraining order issued by the courts and moving forward with construction of a road to a hospital on land whose ownership has been contested. Now that the Chamber of Deputies has stripped him of his immunity from prosecution, he faces a potential prison sentence and could be deemed ineligible to run for the presidency while his case goes through the system.

 

 

wow, i cant reach blogger in IE but i can in firefox.

what the fuck is going on dammit, i'm getting tired of this shit not knowing why there's such so many issues.

a soldier's story

speaks volumes of how these crooks mismanaged their own friggin war.  they don't care about whether these kids live or die.  it's sickening.

 

 

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Kentucky Army National Guard soldiers in Iraq are being put at risk because their trucks are unreliable, poorly armored and lack protective glass, according to a guardsman stationed in Iraq.

Staff Sgt. Brad Rogers said in e-mails yesterday that Kentucky National Guardsman Sgt. James A. Sherrill might have survived a bomb attack Sunday if his truck had protective glass, known as ballistic windows.

"We have great people and great leadership. I just want answers on why we can't get better equipment with full armor including ballistic windows," Rogers said in an e-mail to The Courier-Journal.

"They need to stop these missions until we get these things."

atribution

 

DELAYWATCHY

DELAY WATCH DELAY WATCH

 

GOD DAMMIT, I'M REGSTERING THE FUCKER

 

it just keeps piling on and on and on and on......  from abcnews:

April 6, 2005 — A Washington lobbyist under federal investigation for his lobbying activities arranged a lavish overseas trip to the island of Saipan for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, over the New Year's holiday in 1997.

DeLay, his wife and daughter, and several aides, stayed for free at a beachfront resort.

.

calling for an investigation is like pissin in the wind

more on how the republicons rule...  from teh rocky mountain news:

U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar has asked for a federal and a state investigation into whether a Republican Party staffer should be charged with impersonating a Secret Service agent at a Denver town hall meeting on Social Security held by President Bush last month.

 

"I supported laws as (state) Attorney General, to keep people from impersonating law enforcement officers," said Salazar, D-Colorado, on Wednesday.

 

"We don't know the facts here, and I think in order to determine whether a prosecution is warranted, an investigation should occur first. The investigation may lead to the conclusion that nothing happened here, but the investigation may result in a conclusion that laws have been violated and somebody has to be punished."

 

On Tuesday, Salazar sent a letter asking for an investigation to Dennis Schindel, with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of the Treasury, and to Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrisey.

 

The request for an investigation comes one day after U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., joined U.S. Rep. Raul M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., in asking the House Government Reform Committee to investigate several recent incidents in which citizens were removed from presidential events in Colorado, Arizona and North Dakota because of their political beliefs.

 

 

fukn blogger and its wsywyg editor. cut & paste jus aint right .... but i'm in a hurry.

A piece inside the Journal points out that right after World War
II, U.S. war-crimes tribunals prosecuted Japanese guards not only for torture
but also for merely humiliating American prisoners. One guard
who mainly forced POWs to salute non-stop for 30 minutes was sentenced to 12
years. "Extreme brutality or serious injury to the victim is not a necessary
element" for conviction, wrote one judge. Defense lawyers for Gitmo
detainees—and human-rights lawyers—are gleefully pointing to the convictions.
But the military argues there's no parallel, since the detainees now are
"unlawful combatants." (The WSJ adds some background in Web-only sidebars.)

ya smell that?

do you ever get the feeling that when you're reading a story, and there's something you're not being told?  i got that when i read about the 16 victims in afghanistan.

 

here, see for yourself:

The Chinook went down around 2:30 p.m. about 100 miles southwest of Kabul in a desert plain near the city of Ghazni, she said. Eighteen crew members and passengers were listed on the flight manifest, 16 of whom have been confirmed dead, according to officials. The two others remained unaccounted for when recovery operations were called off for the night.

The names of the dead are being withheld pending notification of their families, officials said. According to Moore, military investigators had not determined the nationalities or the military branches of those killed.

The Associated Press quoted the police chief of Ghazni, Abdul Rahman Sarjang, as saying that all of the dead were wearing U.S. military uniforms.

Moore said there was "no indication" the crash was caused by enemy fire. The second helicopter arrived at Bagram without incident.

they were all uniformed, and the quoted no indication of enemy fire, yet the 2nd helo didn't try to help?  and why is this story coming by the AP with quotes from a POLICE OFFICER???

can ya smell the bushite stench?

the Quote of the Day

wow, i'm picking up more Quotes today than i have in a long long time.

 

this time, it's the post who picks up one from an army staff sgt:

 "It's all about perception, to convince the American public that everything is going as planned and we're right on schedule to be out of here," said one adviser, Army Staff Sgt. Craig E. Patrick, 40, a reservist from Rock Island, Ill. "I mean, they can [mislead] the American people, but they can't [mislead] us. These guys are not ready."

and i'm bolding that on purpose.

and we have a WINNER!

of the Daily No-Poop Letter Award:

 

 

It's comforting to know our beloved local grocer is helping us all understand what everyone else is thinking and talking about. Dahl's ban on non-English conversation by employees will at least calm the fretting from self-centered customers who think they deserve to eavesdrop on any conversation around them. How appropriate a policy given that the world will probably lose half its spoken languages over the next century. If everyone would just speak English we wouldn't be bothered with all those quirky languages us Americans don't understand.

It reminds me of a fitting joke. What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Trilingual. Two languages? Bilingual. And what do you call someone who speaks one language? American.

Dahl's' insensitive reaction to narrow-minded customers who are so paranoid to think that whenever someone is speaking another language in their presence that they are being made fun of, may just be the most American policy in the workplace.
- William Mikesell, Clive

attribution

this one takes the cake for the most eye-opening statement of the day. it's coming from the wsj, and since i refuse to give them my money, i'm relying on slate to provide the quote:

"A third of party members polled said Democrats should prevent Republicans from "going too far in pushing their agenda."

i swear, i'm gonna register delaywatch.

how many is that now, JUST TODAY??? from abcnews

April 6, 2005 — A Washington lobbyist under federal investigation for his lobbying activities arranged a lavish overseas trip to the island of Saipan for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, over the New Year's holiday in 1997.

DeLay, his wife and daughter, and several aides, stayed for free at a beachfront resort.

like i said previously, someone outta get a delaywatch goin. dammit. this is like wat? #3829? from rawstory (the left equiv to sludge)

A Texas energy company being investigated with regards to improper fundraising by those connected with House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) held a baby shower for DeLay's daughter Danielle Ferro in May 2002—and the event was attended by lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who paid for some of the congressman’s overseas travel, RAW STORY has found.

The shower, reported in the Washington, D.C. newspaper Roll Call Jun. 10, 2002 (article posted here), was held at the Washington offices of Reliant Energy Inc., a Texas-based power company that has given heavily to DeLay and his political action committees.

Donations collected from Reliant by a DeLay-linked political action committee are now the subject of a Texas state probe. DeLay’s daughter Danielle helped manage that committee, Texans for a Republican Majority, and her records have been subpoenaed by an Austin grand jury.

wanna beta that rove didnt insist on gloria borger being added to the cbsnews team over rather's incident?

and speaking of utter incompetence.... again from slate, we see that we have criminals not just in the politico apparatus, but the military as well.

The Journal mentions a British government report criticizing U.S. tactics in Iraq. "Excessive use by the U.S. forces of overwhelming firepower has also been counterproductive," says the report, "provoking antagonism toward the coalition among ordinary Iraqis."

A piece inside USAT says the Army is about a thousand short of its goal of 8,000 factory-armored Humvees in Afghanistan and Iraq. More interestingly, the Army just increased (for the umpteenth time) the number of such Humvees it wants to 10,000.

and finally, from slate. it demonstrates what utter incompetence beholds this adminstration:

A piece inside the LAT says that while politicians in Baghdad are finally getting their act together, things aren't going so well with local councils. "The councils are in a much bigger mess than the National Assembly," said one deputy minister. "And no one is paying attention."

delaywatch.org is taken but nothing's happening on it.

i wonder.

could they have been threatened with something? i so much wanna get this guy out of town and on a mule to mexico.

anyway, here's what i'd followup his moscow escursions with:

WASHINGTON, April 5 - The wife and daughter of Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, have been paid more than $500,000 since 2001 by Mr. DeLay's political action and campaign committees, according to a detailed review of disclosure statements filed with the Federal Election Commission and separate fund-raising records in Mr. DeLay's home state, Texas.

--new york times

i wonder if there's a delaywatch.com up yet?

there should be.

The WP fronts yet another fishy travel expedition by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. In 1997, DeLay jetted over to Moscow on a trip that seems to have been financed by lobbyists at the service of the Russian government. DeLay reported that the trip was funded by a D.C. nonprofit, but the Post says people "involved in planning DeLay's trip" confirmed it was actually covered by a "mysterious company registered in the Bahamas." House ethics rules make it a no-no for legislators to have their trips covered by lobbyists or foreign agents.

wanna bet they're not republicon?

this is disturbing.  from the des moines register:

It's one thing to oppose same-sex marriage, but some supposedly straight people are so obsessed with their hatred of gays that this week in California the High School Conservative Clubs of America and GayMarriageNo.org are holding a "Day of Truth" at which students will wear T-shirts that say, "No Gay" and "Homosexuality is a Sin," and distribute anti-gay literature.

des moines register

another winner of my Quote for the Day award. and right down the highway from me too.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay used the death of Terri Schiavo to hold a press conference during which he accused America's judiciary of being "arrogant, unaccountable, and out of control." Uh, Mr. DeLay, have you looked in the mirror lately?

-Dick Heimer,
Sheffield.

i shuld everyday, pick out a letter to the editor that says more than the words it contains.

today's winner is dick heimer, from right down the street in sheffield:

Mirror image

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay used the death of Terri Schiavo to hold a press conference during which he accused America's judiciary of being "arrogant, unaccountable, and out of control." Uh, Mr. DeLay, have you looked in the mirror lately?

something i need to remember to say to my reich-wing 'friends':

but it was YOUR man who allowed osama bin laden to attack our country
and it was YOUR man who lied to the American people and took this country into a war where over 1500 men and women their lives, and upwards of 20,000 men and women the ability to have a normal life, not to mention over 300 BILLION dollars already spent and untold billions more that'll need spending before all is said and done.
yup, and it was YOUR man who bankrupted this country by raiding the treasury for your friends and campaign contributors

ya, i sure have a lot of respect for you as supporter of this man.

from the des moines register, it appears that we have our very own bugman in washington. so hey texas, you aint got diddly on us baby.

If a bunch of street thugs try to intimidate judges, it's criminal conduct of the worst sort because it undermines the rule of law.

If a bunch of congressmen try to intimidate judges, well, that's just politics as practiced by Iowa's own Steve King and cohort Tom DeLay of Texas.

Iraq's mismanagement shines

from the local paper:

Sgt. Shaun Groom of Garner, who was deployed in February 2003 and returned in August 2004, said the hardest thing to adjust to in Iraq was the sand, the dust and the heat. He said the sand wasn't like sand on the beach. It was more like powder.

The unit also didn't have latrines for the first three months.

Groom, along with 13 other members of the 482nd, was transferred to the 459th Transportation Co. from Springfield, Mo. That's how he met the woman he is now married to, Mitzi, who was serving as a cook in the 459th.

Mitzi Groom, who transferred to the 482nd after marrying Shaun two weeks ago and moving to Iowa, became a truck driver after the unit got to Iraq.

"I couldn't stand the thought of being over there to do nothing," she said. She also had some of the training for the job already.

At first there were no private accommodations for female soldiers, she said.

On top of that, everyone in the unit initially had to go without showers for several days at a time and didn't have a clean place to sleep.

bush's friends in pakistan are terrorists

Pakistani scientists Abdul Qadeer Khan and Sultan Bashiruddin Mehmood had held meetings with Osama bin Laden and other Al-Qaeda leaders, exchanged letters with militant organisations like the Lashkar-e-Toiba and attended their gatherings and rallies, a media report said.

 

Sify News

Good citizens make bad criminals

ever notice how companies will try and convince you that they're good for the community and such, whenever they get caught doing something that seems (and still may be) unethical?

 

it's like the defendent in court telling the judge, well, so what if i stole, i gave this community countless hours in volunteer work.

 

they think that because they do the right thing it gives them license to do wrong things.

democrat or republican?

a new game.  you should be able to tell whether a sports fan is a democrat or a republican.  can you?

This Cardinals fan says, 'Yes!'

I was appalled while reading Sean Keeler's March 25 column about the Cardinals-Cubs airtime on Mediacom ("Cable Picks Cardinals in a Cubs-Crazy Town").

I am a lifetime fan (only 22 years old) of the Cardinals, and I am excited beyond words that I will be able to watch 68 percent of the games. I have written my letters to Mediacom and voiced my opinion, and I am very pleased.

Keeler's column was written in a very negative way. By suggesting Cub fans have alternatives such as boycotting Mediacom, he failed to try to unite everybody. He could have easily included a solution of carrying both teams, where everybody wins, instead of sounding like someone still whining over the 2003 playoffs.

-Jonathan Nielson,
Ames.