thread of the day

http://www.globegazette.com/articles/2006/01/19/opinion/doc43cdd06f8d292364616512.txt#blogcomments

kudos to the golden globes

it was a gay ol' time in hollywood tuesday. and the christian (sp?) self-righteous extremist groups are in an uproar.

Christian groups led a furious campaign against Hollywood yesterday, accusing the Golden Globe Awards of promoting films with gay or “leftist” themes to serve a political agenda.

The criticism was made after Brokeback Mountain, a film about the forbidden love between gay Wyoming cowboys, won four awards. Other winners included Philip Seymour Hoffman, named Best Actor for his portrayal of the homosexual writer Truman Capote; and Felicity Huffman, the Desperate Housewives actress who played a transsexual with a gay prostitute son in Transamerica.

“Once again, the media elites are proving that their pet projects are more important than profit,” Janice Crouse, of Concerned Women for America, said. “None of the three movies — Capote, Transamerica or Brokeback Mountain — is a box office hit. Brokeback Mountain has barely topped $25 million (£14.2 million) in ticket sales. If America isn’t watching these films, why are they winning the awards?”

--source

Paragraph Of The Day

The NYT stuffs a "high-level assessment" by the State Department in 2002 concluding it was "unlikely" Niger could covertly sell uranium to Iraq. The memo, which the Times says was "distributed at senior levels by the office of Secretary of State Colin Powell," was sent around a year before President Bush asserted that Iraq had tried to buy uranium from Africa. "A Bush administration official," declined to say whether the president saw the memo. "The White House is not an intelligence-gathering operation," said the official.

from today's papers
so, this says he lied to the American people.

Letter Of The Day

In a Jan. 7 letter, David C. Hammel declares that the combat-vest recall was insignificant. He asks us to believe there have "been no failures in the field" and that the issue is not a safety matter but merely a public relations one.

How ironic that the same morning Hammel's letter appeared, the Department of Defense released a previously secret study stating that 80 percent of the American troops who died of upper body wounds in Iraq would have survived if adequate body armor had been available.

-John C. Howes, DeWitt.

attribution

two different issues

lets see which one gets the play:

Former Vice President Al Gore and the White House traded accusations over national security Tuesday in a dispute that also pulled in President Bush's other presidential election rival, John Kerry.

At issue was Bush's secret domestic eavesdropping program, which Gore denounced in a speech Monday as illegal and a threat to the U.S. system of government.

Presidential spokesman Scott McClellan shot back at Gore in a style reminiscent of campaigns past, calling the Democrat who lost to Bush in 2000 a hypocrite and accusing him of grandstanding for media coverage.

"If Al Gore is going to be the voice of the Democrats on national security matters, we welcome it," McClellan said. He suggested Gore does not understand the threat facing America from terrorists overseas.

Gore charged that Bush broke the law by allowing the National Security Agency to monitor e-mails and phone calls to and from the United States without approval from a special federal court that authorizes requests to eavesdrop on Americans.

--AP

why we can't have the foxes in charge of the chickencoop

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales once again Monday defended the legality of a controversial surveillance program by the National Security Agency, calling it a "very targeted and limited" operation that has helped thwart terrorist attacks in the United States.

--source

a followup on the idea i had this morning

about posting the 1st paragraph of slate's today's papers as a means to test my knowledge of current events.

i'm going to elevate it "of the day" status, and open it up to whatever (and whereever) i find it. Paragraph Of The Day(tm) will be starting tomorrow.

paragraph of the day

The Post's off-lead tells the story of a GI in Iraq killed in 2004 by what might have been friendly fire from Polish troops, though his family was told otherwise for nearly a year. The WP has documents showing an inquiry into the shooting was stopped short because of, as one officer put it in a report, "the International sensitivity of this investigation." The Post also notes "those documents were not issued until after Bush was reelected—with the help of a slim margin in [the soldier's] home state of Ohio." The soldier's mother asserts the election had something to do with stonewalling. Does the Post? Really?

yes, from today's papers

Quote of the Day

This wasn't our program. It's not our mess, and we're not going to clean it up."
--anonymouse F.B.I. official

attribute

i think what i'm gonna do starting today, is put the first paraph of Slate's wonderful too, Today's Papers. i read them everyday and depend on them to give me a birdseye view of the top newspapers in the country. they do a bang up job, and the credit goes to all four (there may be more, but i can name 4) authors. anyway, today's entry: (snak doesn't do what my great lil' windows app, etco, does: pastes with html included. like taking a copy of the source)

The New York Times leads with FBI types complaining that while the National Security Agency's warrantless snooping resulted in a "flood" of tips, "virtually all of them, current and former officials say, led to dead ends or innocent Americans." The Washington Post leads with, and Los Angeles Times fronts, Russia and China saying it'd sure be grand if Iran dropped its nuclear program; the countries did not formally sign on to the U.S. and European efforts to refer the matter to the Security Council for possible sanctions, but it seems they won't object either. The LAT leads with the largest sewage spill in the Santa Monica Bay in at least a decade. USA Today leads with public pension benefits getting ever plumper. The average benefits for retired state and local workers grew 37 percent from 2000 to 2004. (Presumably that's not adjusted for inflation.)

Letter of the WeeQ

I will sleep better at night knowing that our Homeland Security has designated Krispy Kreme in Clive worthy of protection from a terrorist strike ("Iowa Cuts List of Vulnerable Sites," Jan. 6). And, my dreams would be more pleasurable if I knew the Bush administration was eavesdropping on cell-phone users who are getting their coffee and doughnut fix at Krispy Kreme to ensure none of them is calling al-Qaida.

-Kevin J. Pokorny, Des Moines.

attribution

Letter Of The Day

I am appalled by the statement “Joe Six-Pack can count on House Republicans to take care of him” that House Speaker Christopher Rants made in reference to Gov. Vilsack’s budget proposals.

I thought that Republicans supported family values? How does supporting Joe Six-Pack support family values when those six packs are tearing families apart? How many wives have to be beat? How many kids have to have suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome? How many families have to be torn apart by drunken drivers before you start supporting families over Joe Six-Pack?

Who’s supporting the teachers and the children if Republicans are making sure that Joe Six-Pack is taken care of? As a teacher, I have seen the devastating affects of fetal alcohol syndrome on young children. These children have to suffer the rest of their life because Joe Six-Pack was never held accountable for his actions. We are so concerned about making sure Joe Six-Pack isn’t upset at the government that we completely lose site of the children who will suffer and will be supported by the government the rest of their life.

You may chose to support Joe Six-Pac and deny the penny increase a can, but I chose to support Suzy Preschool with or without the “family value” Republicans.

By STACY SIMPSON, Alexander

attribution

the 2nd in 3 days

with odds like that, no WONDER we're not winning the war.

A U.S. helicopter came down near Baghdad on Monday in what appeared to be the second shooting down of an aircraft in three days, with rebel violence expected to escalate as Iraq's election results are confirmed.
--

source

UPDATE:

THE 3RD IN TEN DAYS

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iraq_helicopter_down;_ylt=AmevApLGCKdoKMsibkCNd5ys0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--

the pulse of the people

When people were asked in an open-ended question to name the nation's top problem, 25 percent named war, close to the level in October, but up from 19 percent in July. The number of people who named political leaders as the most important problem has almost tripled, from 5 percent in July to 14 percent as the new year starts.

Public concern about the economy, while still relatively high, has been declining. About one in five, 21 percent, named economic issues as the top problem, down from 28 percent in July, according to the poll of 1,001 adults taken Jan. 3-5. The margin of sampling error is plus or inus 3 percentage points.

--source

Letter Of The Day

I first must state that I am a lifelong "conservative" Republican. Having said that, our country is in dire straits.

The latest Abramoff scandal illustrates who controls this country - the lobbyists. Both sides of the aisle are concerned only with getting re-elected. The only solution I can see is term limits.

Prior to the 1994 Republican takeover of both houses, all we heard from them was term limits. Since then, it isn't mentioned. The only things they have accomplished since gaining control are to spend more money and to enhance their wages, retirement and medical plans, all on the back of the taxpayer.

President Bush is doing an excellent job for the most part, but our problem is with the Congress. Vote all the bums out, regardless of their party.

-Rick M. Nord, Norwalk.

attribution

how about that?

a gay cowboy movie is tops (no pun intended) at the golden globes this year.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - "Brokeback Mountain" could be the big winner at tonight's Golden Globes. It has the most nominations: seven.

yahoo

my prediction has come true

the new mediciare drug plan has been a trainwreck waiting to happen, and it looks like it's still happening.

read this

the democrats have a plan

so where is the plan by the republicans? ooops, they don't have one.

WASHINGTON -- Democrats intend to unveil a sweeping plan this week to tighten Congress' code of conduct, officials said Saturday night, including a ban on lobbyists' gifts to lawmakers and a crackdown on special interest provisions slipped into legislation in the final moments before passage.

atribution

Letter of the WeeQ

It was reported Jan. 9 that Dick Cheney was hospitalized for complications from a foot ailment. It was later discovered that, after removing his foot from his mouth, his doctors discharged him to resume his duties as vice president.

—Tim Conlan, Des Moines.

attribution

Letter Of The Day

In the Jan. 1 Opinion section, Senate Republicans Stewart Iverson and Jeff Lamberti respond to the question, "What would you like for the new year?" by listing "pay raises for math and science teachers" and "measurement of the school day in hours to assure taxpayers and students that they aren't cheated."

Where do I begin?

Why are only math and science teachers deemed worthy of a pay raise? What about that "world-class education" that we all claim we want? English, music, art and modern languages are all vital subjects in the total education of every student. What if I proposed a pay raise for Iowa House representatives only?

And why such an adversarial stance? To demand hour-by-hour accountability for school days, to fear that schools/educators are trying to cheat students out of instructional time displays an astounding paranoia. Professional work days are used by educators to - among many other issues - get briefed and trained on the ever-increasing and nonsensical requirements from laws like No Child Left Behind and those of the state. They add mountains of paperwork and data collection to an educator's day without compensatory pay raises or additional hours in which to finish them.

I invite Lamberti, Iverson or any other like-minded legislator to spend one day at work with me, a public-school educator. Would they appreciate the education, training and skill it requires to teach 10 classes at two schools in one day? Would they begin to fathom the effort and expertise required to teach 260 students a day with enthusiasm and caring?

Public school educators are hard-working, dedicated and skilled professionals who receive low pay and few accolades for a difficult yet personally rewarding job. Too bad the Republican leaders don't understand this, and probably never will.

—Kendra Leisinger, Ankeny.

attribution

today's MUST READ article

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060115/OPINION01/601150320/1035/OPINION

regarding open records laws in iowa:

Perhaps the most citizen-friendly agency for records requests was the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, which maintains a records center in the Wallace State Office Building in the Capitol complex. There, employees quickly produced all information requests made in 2004 and 2005, including worker e-mails that were stored within the DNR's easily accessible files.

Within days of the Register's request for open-records information, the Iowa Department of Human Services - the state's largest agency, with 5,300 workers- managed to produce for free hundreds of formal and informal requests for information from human-service organizations, legislators and reporters.

well, DUH. DHS is full of democrats.

Conversely, the Department of Transportation, responded to the Register's request with a seven-page letter, outlining the considerable time and expense associated with finding and retrieving requests for public information within the huge agency, which has offices around the state.

Narrowing the scope of the search was of little help: Spokeswoman Dena Gray-Fisher estimated it would take 73 hours just to find written requests for information within her relatively small office, which employs 26 people, including the director. The estimated price tag to view those records: $1,460.

not surprising there. DOT is repuke land.

get my drift?

why is it always the democrats getting smeared?

ya never hear of republicans who have "earned' purple hearts getting smeared. doesn't that say something?

Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), the former Marine who is an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, has become the latest Democrat to have his Vietnam War decorations questioned.

n a tactic reminiscent of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth assault on Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) during the 2004 presidential campaign, a conservative Web site yesterday quoted Murtha opponents as questioning the circumstances surrounding the awarding of his two Purple Hearts.

David Thibault, editor in chief of the Cybercast News Service, said the issue of Murtha's medals from 1967 is relevant now "because the congressman has really put himself in the forefront of the antiwar movement." Thibault said: "He has been placed by the Democratic Party and antiwar activists as a spokesman against the war above reproach."

--source

Letter Of The Day

Recipients of gifts from lobbyist Jack Abramoff scrambled to give back the money. If these guys had even a shred of moral fiber or conscience, they would have never taken the money in the first place. Time to clean House (and Senate). Both sides of the aisle.

—Ross Cornelison, St. Charles

attribution

FARPOINT.FACTOID

Every month’s full moon has a special name, and sometimes several, according to the Farmers’ Almanac.

February: Snow Moon, Hunger Moon.

March: Worm Moon, Crow Moon, Crust Moon, Sap Moon, Lenten Moon.

April: Pink Moon, Sprouting Grass Moon, Egg Moon, Fish Moon.

May: Flower Moon, Corn Planting Moon, Milk Moon.

June: Strawberry Moon, Rose Moon.

July: Buck Moon, Thunder Moon, Hay Moon.

August: Sturgeon Moon, Red Moon.

September: Harvest Moon.

October: Hunter’s Moon.

November: Beaver Moon, Frosty Moon.

December: Cold Moon, Long Nights Moon, Moon before Yule.

SOURCE

apple's itunes is spyware

The big problem, however, is that the new Mini Store feature installs spyware on your PC or Mac. In order to offer up targeted advertising, the Mini Store examines the music you're currently playing and transmits that information to Apple, which then provides relevant ads. iTunes never mentions that it's doing this, nor that it's also secretly transmitting the user's unique iTunes account information along with the song data. The revelation about Apple's secret transmissions has even the staunchest Apple supporters questioning their allegiance, as this isn't exactly the kind of behavior they'd expect from Apple. RealNetworks yes. Microsoft, maybe. But not Apple.

--from paul thurrot
(in email)

Quote of the Day

comes today from Matthew Yglesias, a columnist over at TPM:

"One would do well to note an ideological point here. Abuse of the government contracting process is bad, and perpetrators of wrongdoing should in no way get off the hook. Nevertheless, the entire concept of farming government out work to private firms is a more-or-less open invitation to corruption. There are instances when contracting is the only reasonable solution. But for some years now -- predating Bush, predating the DeLay era -- all the pressure has always been to privatize more and more government functions. The theory is that the private sector is more efficient than the public sector, so contracting functions out to private firms should save money. The reality has had a lot more to do with union-busting, machine-building, and "honest graft" than money saved or improved efficiency."

--Matthew Yglesias

just so nobody tries to sell you a lemon

that 'clinton did it too' is a lie.

Former President Clinton said Thursday that he never ordered wiretaps of American citizens without obtaining a court order, as President Bush has acknowledged he has done.
Clinton, in an interview broadcast Thursday on the ABC News program ''Nightline,'' said his administration either received court approval before authorizing a wiretap or went to court within three days after to get permission, as required by law.

--source

still lying after all these years

"The fact is we know that Saddam Hussein and Iraq were heavily involved with terror,". "They were carried as a terror-sponsoring state by our State Department for many, many years." He cited two terror organizations in particular -- Abu Nidal and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad - that operated out of Saddam's Iraq. He also noted that Saddam was making payments to families of suicide bombers. "All of this is very well established," Cheney said.

--source

fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me

Driven by the cost of hurricane relief, the federal budget deficit is expected to balloon back above $400 billion for the fiscal year that ends in September, reversing the improvements of 2005, a White House official told reporters yesterday.
...
"This administration has a history of overestimating the deficit early in the year, lowering expectations, then taking credit when it comes in below forecast," said Stanley E. Collender, a federal budget expert at Financial Dynamics Business Communications. "It's not just a history. It's almost an obsession."

--WaPo

Letter Of The Day

Clair Snyder's letter of Jan. 1 is a bit puzzling.

How can he or she characterize the Register as a "liberal rag" when the paper features a regular column by David Yepsen and frequent contributions from the likes of Cal Thomas?

Radical conservatives just cannot handle any criticism of our mean-spirited, intellectually challenged president, who has been responsible for thousands of deaths in an unjustified, unnecessary Iraq war, who has demonstrated amazing incompetence in dealing with domestic crises and who has exhibited unflinching loyalty to the rich and powerful at the expense of the poor and vulnerable.

-Dean R. Prestemon, Ames.

attribution

FARPOINT.FACTOID

another one in the same day is a rarity.

Fetuses do not count as passengers when it comes to determining who may drive in the carpool lane, a judge ruled.
--source

FARPOINT.FACTOID

Lobbyists for BNSF Railway and United Parcel Service held a luncheon for Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.) at the Associated General Contractors townhouse ($1,000 per PAC, $500 a person), according to the Web site for the National Republican Congressional Committee. A few blocks away, according to the NRCC, lobbyists for MasterCard, Time Warner and DuPont honored Rep. J. Gresham Barrett (R-S.C.) at Tortilla Coast ($1,000). That evening, Promia Inc.'s Adrian Plesha hosted a reception for Rep. John E. Sweeney (R-N.Y.) at his East Capitol Street home—$5,000 for "sponsors," $1,000 for PACs and $500 for individuals
--SOURCE

i learned something new today

"There are no Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff," Dean answered. "Not one. Not one single Democrat. ...There is no evidence that Jack Abramoff ever gave any Democrat any money, and we've looked through all those reports to make sure that's true."

He's right, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, which keeps track of such things. The center's analysis of FEC records shows that Democrats received about a third of the $4.2 million donated between 1998 and 2005 by Indian tribes that had hired Abramoff to represent them in Washington.

The problem with such analyses is that they tell you how much money someone gave to a political candidate without telling you why the money was given. By all indications, donations from the Indian tribes were no less legitimate than the political donations any individual, organization or industry with an interest in legislation frequently gives to candidates. If anything, the tribes are the true victims in the Abramoff saga. Federal investigators claim Abramoff used racist slurs when he referred to his Indian clients in his e-mails and represented rival tribes competing for the same casino turf, the mother of all conflicts of interest.

Nevertheless, the stink of scandal is so fierce in Washington these days that numerous Democratic as well as Republican senators and representatives have been giving money to charity equal to the amount they received from tribes linked to Abramoff in order to avoid even the appearance of wrongdoing.

As a result, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), for example, gave up a measly $2,000 donation she received from a tribe and the Bush-Cheney campaign gave up a $6,000 donation. But as Democrats are quick to point out, the Bush campaign kept the $100,000 that Abramoff directly raised, which earned Abramoff the coveted "Pioneer" status among Bush campaign donors.
.

--chicago tribune

he's a liar

President George W. Bush defended his decision to authorize secret government eavesdropping on communications between the U.S. and other countries as fulfilling his oath to protect U.S. citizens from attack.
--bloomberg

oh really? attack us with what? words?

The National Security Agency has been spying on a Baltimore anti-war group, according to documents released during litigation, going so far as to document the inflating of protesters' balloons, and intended to deploy units trained to detect weapons of mass destruction, RAW STORY has learned.
--source

my rant on the local newspaper board

oh poor dennis, always the victim of the liberal establishment. always whining about others not having an answer, yet never providing one himself. this is called hypocrisy. the liberals aren't the ones who created these problems (i'd sure like to see someone blame iraq on liberals), so why should they be the ones to clean it up? it's just sad that the republican party had to get hijacked by the neocons - for they would have been the perfect ones for the job of cleaning up washington's corruption. but they've all sipped on the coolaid (well, not all of 'em, but the majority has and there aren't enough that haven't to bail the party out. there's just going to have to be a major turnover in republican leadership for the elephant to get back on her feet. and when you have leaders thinking the same way people like dennis think, you can understand why this country is in such deep doodoo. want proof? turn on fox.

the thread

give that guy a cigar

for he wins the 'HEAD ON YOUR SHOULDERS award.

The only way to win the global war on terrorism and end the fighting in Iraq is to stop groups of disaffected men from being willing to die to strike a blow against the United States, the commanding general of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command said Tuesday.

--source

DELAY WATCH

http://www.dccc.org/hos_get_involved/abramoff_talking_points

DELAY WATCH

Tom DeLay threatens to sue any station that runs a new ad connecting him to the Abramoff scandal.

from josh marshall

the start of the end?

Israel is updating plans for a pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities which could be launched as soon as the end of March, according to military and intelligence sources.

from the herald

the liberal media and the conman president

After TP raised the issue last week, a WP editorial offers a red flag on the "signing statement" that Bush offered to the McCain anti-torture amendment suggesting the administration does not consider itself bound by the law.

[The White House] is explicitly reserving the right to abuse prisoners, while denying them any opportunity to seek redress in court. Having publicly accepted the ban on cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Mr. Bush is planning to ignore it whenever he chooses.

Number of news stories the Post, NYT, USAT, LAT, and WSJ devoted to the signing statement: one—and that's being generous.

wanna know what started the insurgency?

how about this (from the Washington Post):

In an article published this week in the Army magazine Military Review, British Brig. Nigel Aylwin-Foster, who was deputy commander of a program to train the Iraqi military, said American officers in Iraq displayed such "cultural insensitivity" that it "arguably amounted to institutional racism" and may have spurred the growth of the insurgency.

something to remember this election cycle

A front-page Post piece notices that the two candidates vying to become House majority leader have both been plenty tight with lobbyists. Rep. Roy Blunt, R.-Mo., current substitute House Majority Leader, once tried to sneak into a bill a provision that would have benefited Phillip Morris, which his then girlfriend was a lobbyist for. The other guy, Rep. John A. Boehner, R.-Ohio, once gave legislators checks from the tobacco industry while on the House floor.

alito is a bore

The Post's Dana Milbank quantifies the combined effect of the senators speechifying and Alito's lengthy legal evasions: "By midafternoon, only 28 of the 130 seats in the press section were occupied, and not all of those seated had their eyes open."

Quote of the Day

from josh marshall:

But that's not the problem in Washington. The problem is a network of criminal activity stretching from the House of Representatives (and, to a lesser degree, the Senate) to K Street and then into the Executive Branch -- a network of bribery, money-laundering and fraud all aimed at selling public policy and official actions not in exchange for political contributions but money rewards to members of Congress, administration officials and their families.

Letter Of The Day

Time magazine has named Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono as "people of the year" for their work trying to end world poverty and disease. In my opinion, Bill, Melinda and Bono exemplify Christian behavior, unlike those who call themselves Christians and spend their time trying to deny rights of those of whom they do not approve.

-John Ousterhout, Windsor Heights.

attribution

how NOT to win a war

when you're trying to win the hearts and minds of people, you don't go into mosques and tear up the place, spray painting crosses on cupboards. you just don't do that and expect any kind of respect in return.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. troops, some in helicopters, launched a pre-dawn raid on Sunday on the headquarters of the influential Sunni Arab Muslim Clerics' Association and detained six people in what they said was an anti-terrorist operation.
---
In one room, cupboards used to store the shoes of those attending prayers had what appeared to be Christian crosses scrawled on them. Other footage showed papers strewn on office floors and windows smashed.

--source

Letter Of The Day

If there is one thing the modern secular mind claims to be certain of about morality, it is that no one can really be certain about morality. If there is one thing about religious believers that is utterly incomprehensible to most of the media, public education and journalism today, it is the fact that believers claim they can know what is really, truly good and evil.

Typically, modern people say that morality is a complex issue. G.K. Chesterton explained why: "Morality is always terribly complicated — to a man who has lost all his principles."

—Roger Smith, Waterloo.

attribution

spoken like a true patriot

and i can't remember a time when i agreed with this guy, but today, he's making sense.

James Dobson: "If the nation’s politicians don’t fix this national disaster, then the oceans of gambling money with which Jack Abramoff tried to buy influence on Capitol Hill will only be the beginning of the corruption we’ll see. Some religious leaders want new ethics rules for Congress, but that’s only a band-aid fix. Politicians need to root out this infection. Gambling – all types of gambling – is driven by greed and subsists on greed. That makes it morally bankrupt from its very foundation. Gambling creates addicts, breeds crime and destroys families. We need courageous office holders who will begin the process of shutting down lotteries, casinos and other gambling outlets."

--source

from the well, WAT DIDJA EXPECT file

WASHINGTON - Since the Bush administration took office in 2001, it has been more lenient toward mining companies facing serious safety violations, issuing fewer and smaller major fines and collecting less than half of the money that violators owed, a Knight Ridder Newspapers investigation has found.

At one point last year, the Mine Safety and Health Administration fined a coal company a scant $440 for a "significant and substantial" violation that ended in the death of a Kentucky man. The firm, International Coal Group Inc., is the same company that owns the Sago mine in West Virginia, where 12 workers died earlier this week.

The $440 fine remains unpaid.

--source

DELAY WATCH

did someone ever go with that moniker? i should have, but i jus dont have the time like i used to. from MSNBC:

WASHINGTON - Rep. Tom DeLay, under indictment on criminal charges in Texas, announced Saturday that he will not try to reclaim his job as majority leader of the House of Representatives.

In a letter to rank-and-file Republicans, DeLay says he has “always acted in an ethical manner.’

At the same time, “I cannot allow our adversaries to divide and distract our attention,” the Texas Republican wrote.

oh, forgot the link to a lively thread HERE