fema = it aint your father's fema

Jefferson Parish Emergency Preparedness Director Walter Maestri said Friday night that the Federal Emergency Management Agency reneged on a promise to begin relieving county emergency preparedness staffers 48 hours after Hurricane Katrina hit the New Orleans metropolitan area.

Maestri’s staff has been working almost around the clock since Katrina approached the Louisiana coastline on Sunday. Today, the staff is
expected to finally switch to a 12 hours on/12 hours off schedule, he said,
adding that they’re both tired and demoralized by the lack of assistance from federal officials.

“We had been told we would be on our own for 48 hours,” Maestri said.
“Prepare to survive and in 48 hours the cavalry would arrive.

“Well, where are they?” he said. Maestri said the agreement was signed by officials with the Southeastern Louisiana Emergency Preparedness Officials Association, the state and the Federal Emergency Management Agency as part of this year’s Hurricane Pam tabletop exercise. That exercise began the process of writing a series of manuals explaining how to respond to a catastrophic disaster. Financed by FEMA, it included a variety of federal, state and local officials.

A FEMA spokesman late Friday said they couldn’t confirm or deny that
the agency signed the agreement Maestri referred to.

=--source

i HIGHLY recommend the above source for news about new orleans.

is that a joke?

The Navy has hired Houston-based Halliburton Co. to restore electric power, repair roofs and remove debris at three naval facilities in Mississippi damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

--source

wanna bet the wheels weren't greased before they even thought about callin up the national guard?

Quote of the WeeQ

"Here is a superpower that can crush at will a tinpot dictatorship but then becomes so bogged down in the grisly aftermath of war that it finds itself unable to respond to anything like adequately to the plight of tens of thousands of its own citizens engulfed by a natural calamity," said Britain's Daily Mail newspaper.

"President Bush, his ratings already in free-fall, could pay a high price indeed for his military folly," it said.

--attribution

Quote of the Day

"People are getting the help they need," Brown asserted on NBC's "Today" show. "This is an ongoing disaster. This disaster didn't just end when Katrina left."

--attribution

under the headline:

FEMA Head: Lawlessness Not Anticipated

excuse me mr fema head, just exactly what did you think would happen when people have no food and no water in sweltering heat? throw flowers?

have you ever seen a more ugly time?

when government turns on its own people?

(CNN) -- The director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Thursday those New Orleans residents who chose not to heed warnings to evacuate before Hurricane Katrina bear some responsibility for their fates.

Michael Brown also agreed with other public officials that the death toll in the city could reach into the thousands.

"Unfortunately, that's going to be attributable a lot to people who did not heed the advance warnings," Brown told CNN.

"I don't make judgments about why people chose not to leave but, you know, there was a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans," he said.

--cnn

mr brown, you're the sorriest excuse for a human being next to your boss.

how do you know when a bush is lying?

their lips move.

Yesterday, President Bush said, "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees." The NYT backs him up, "GOVERNMENT SAW FLOOD RISKS, BUT NOT LEVEE FAILURE." TP isn't so sure that. Here, for example, is a story last year from the AP, nabbed from Nexis: "Officials have warned that if a major hurricane hits New Orleans, thousands of people could be killed and the city could be flooded for weeks as flood waters breach the levees ringing the city."

i have given up hoping that the nytimes would return to the professional lady she once was. but it looks like she has just become another tabloid.

we WILL prevail

The California Senate on Thursday became the first elected state body in the country to pass legislation to allow same-sex couples to marry.
--source

not doing anything this weekend?

try my ex's party in new york. here's what it says in HX, the weekly gay rag of The City:

Well it's back. After you've brushed off the make-up and glitter, peeled off your wig and lashes, You can get out the knee pads, and grovel like a little piggy at the 8th annual Pigstock after Wigstock, "Filth-a-thon" from those dirty boys at Sperm. Why not celebrate the start of the fall season down on all fours ? Oink ! Go-Go boys, Performances and Freaks abound. DJ Man Parrish and DJ Craig Spencer spins. 10PM - 4AM $10 Door

and the following weekend with this:

Still afraid of the dark? Well, it's the most popular of all the Sperm "theme" parties. All lights out at the Boys Room Bar, as the place is lit with only green glow sticks and lasers. Of course you can bring your night vision goggles and glow in the dark lipstick, but if you suffer from hysterical blindness from what you see in the dark, we're not liable. DJ Man Parrish and DJ Craig Spencer spins. 10PM - 4AM $10 Door

so now you have no excuse. i'll be heading there the weekend after. so cum celebrate!

Joke Of The Day

US President George Bush said the federal government has launched the most massive relief effort in history to help people devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

--source

people are dying out there, and this president (sic) is worried more about theft????

katrina's reporting is void of one important issue:

the fact that most of our national guard troops, the ones we count on when natural disasters hit, are in iraq, has not yet been headlined in any of the coverage i've seen.

imagine all the lives that could be saved had we not sent all our troops overseas.

from the NO SURPRISE THERE department

The Bush administration has drafted regulations that would ease pollution controls on older, dirtier power plants and could allow those that modernize to emit more pollution, rather than less.

The language could undercut dozens of pending state and federal lawsuits aimed at forcing coal-fired plants to cut back emissions of harmful pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, said lawyers who worked on the cases.

--WaPo

Letter Of The WeeQ

I know this is the land of the free, but something has to give. Teddy Roosevelt broke the backs of the monopolies in his day, and it's time for it again. Too few companies control the price of oil. It goes beyond gasoline; a multitude of products use oil by-products. However, with an administration that has so many ties to the oil people, I fear nothing will be done. I own a business that sells gasohol and diesel, and I hate to have to charge the prices I do. The problem is beyond me, and even beyond my supplier. It starts at the top, and it starts with greed.

-J. E. Yungbluth, Rossie.

--source

Letters Of The Day

notice that all 3 deal with a woman's issue, and all 3 were written by men.

U.S. Rep. Steve King believes forcing pharmacists and doctors to perform acts that are "contrary to their beliefs is immoral" (Aug. 24 letter).

Following his logic, tax preparers should be allowed to not deduct clients' charitable contributions to charities that perform services contrary to their beliefs. Taxpayers should be allowed to not pay the portion of their taxes supporting government operations that are contrary to their beliefs. Lawyers opposed to ending life support can refuse to write living wills, and doctors will not be required to follow such medical directives of their patients.

The list is endless.

-Charles R. Card, Urbandale.

and

Dispensing birth control is not the same thing as forcing a doctor to perform an abortion. The so-called morning-after pill is a 72-hour contraceptive device meant to prevent pregnancy, not to "end a life that began the night before."

Pharmacists should not be able to discriminate. If anyone arrives at the pharmacy with a legally obtained prescription, whether it is for contraception, depression or erectile dysfunction, it should be filled without the pharmacist's personal morality butting in. Any other way sets a dangerous precedent.

In U.S. Rep. Steve King's world, I guess "freedom of choice" means that emergency medical personnel don't have to provide treatment to members of certain races, because of their faith. A restaurant should be protected from having to serve Jews. A policeman should not be forced to protect someone who he thinks looks gay. The shopkeeper can refuse to sell you those potato chips because his conscience tells him you are too fat.

-Mike Burgher, Urbandale.

and

According to his Web site, U.S. Rep. Steve King has an impressive background in agribusiness. He boasts about "28 years of business know-how," but I have been unable to find any reference to his medical credentials.

King, and apparently some pharmacists, feel more qualified than a doctor to make private health-care decisions that should be left to a woman and her physician. A medical decision made between a doctor and a patient should not be second-guessed by King or any pharmacist.

King compares a doctor refusing to perform an abortion to a pharmacist refusing to fill a prescription. The two are hardly comparable. We would not ask a podiatrist to perform abortions, just as we would not ask that same doctor for soil-conservation advice. Both are equally out of the foot doctor's area of expertise. But the basic tenet of a pharmacist's job is to dispense medications that have been legally prescribed by a knowledgeable physician, not make moral judgments about what the patient should be doing.

-Dennis R. Carney, Des Moines.

--source

my first feedback on ebay

Delivered as promised. Excellent Seller.Thanks for prompt shipment. A+++++++++++

now i see why ebay can be soooo addictive.

another reuters employee killed by terrorst

listen to this report in the nytimes about the reuters cameraman being killed by American forces:

Reuters colleagues who arrived shortly after the attack said that the wounded cameraman, Haider Kadhem, said, "I heard shooting, looked up and saw an American sniper on the roof of the shopping center."

...

The United States military statement said: "Task Force Baghdad units responded to a terrorist attack on an Iraqi Police convoy around 11:20 a.m. Aug. 28 in central Baghdad, which killed and wounded several Iraqi police. One civilian was killed and another was wounded by small-arms fire during the attack.

--source

doesn't the just about prove that WE are the terrorists?

the breakdown of the iraqi constitution

can be found here. i guess only the WSJ (subscription required) had the complete text translated.

Letter Of The Day

I am a veteran who strongly supports our military and their families. It must be nearly impossible to call something a mistake when they are giving so much to its cause. However, how can we deny that attacking and occupying Iraq has been a horrible mistake?

I want to thank the Register for printing the Aug. 20 commentary addressing President Bush's lies. Our current president's lies have been obvious since the day he was elected. How could any observant person not see that he intended to take us into this war from the beginning? Weapons of mass destruction and the unrelated Sept. 11 attack became the false justifications he needed.

Every U.S. service person and Iraqi who has been injured or killed as a result of this unnecessary, illegal and futile war must be laid at Bush's feet. However, I find the inaction of our U.S. Congress, as well as that of the media, to be as outrageous as the lies themselves.

When can we expect to see this issue seriously and forcefully addressed by either?

-Keith Bridson, Clive.

--source

Letter Of The WeeQ

our winner this week has nothing to do with politics. it's winning attributes include the ability to make the reader feel good. try it:

Today I dropped my daughter off at college.

Her mom, younger brother Jacob and I drove her up to Ames in our pickup, piled high with all of the things she felt were necessary for freshman year. Emily was convinced that the contents of the pickup screamed "Going to college," and that thought was confirmed when, stopped in traffic, she saw another motorist look at us and mouth those very words.

We had one last run together this morning. I chose our route around town rather than the one that takes us out into the countryside. Our route took us past the softball fields where I reminded her of that night game 11 years ago when, standing in left field and daydreaming, a bird swooped down at her, coming from the general direction of home plate, and she instinctively put up her glove in an attempt to catch it.

We ran past the high school track, swung in and made a final lap on the oval where she has made so many, the morning walkers unaware of the emotions playing out in our hearts.

A couple of blocks down the street her middle school teacher and coach, Mr. Shy, was up on his roof tearing off old shingles. "Hi, coach" Emily yelled. "Hey, when's the big day?" he hollered back. "I go up today." "Well, good luck!"

We never did talk much on our runs, and this morning we spoke even less, our thoughts on other things.

In my job as a forester I mark the passing of the years by watching the trees that I have planted and cared for grow up. It, too, is a labor of love, but I never have to say goodbye to the trees. They are always in the same place I planted them, and, with the exception of a few bugs and the normal onslaught from deer, I don't worry about their safety.

You have your children, if you are fortunate, for 18 years. In that incredibly short time span, you do the best you can to be a good parent, instill in them the values you hope are never compromised, and send them on their way. You get one chance at it; one chance to make it to their band concerts and track meets, to teach them to include everyone and to convince them that despite all your lessons, they should question everything.

When it was time for us to leave, Emily walked us down to the truck. We hugged, Jacob gave her the note that he had written and I slipped her $20, just like my dad used to do to me.

Tomorrow I will spend the day in the woods, working alone. It won't be the most productive day I have ever had, as I will be stopping frequently to rest on a fallen log or along a creek as I ponder this life. I know that Emily will make wonderful friends, enjoy beautiful experiences and discover many things about herself and this world as she receives her education. But right now I really miss her.

-Bob Petrzelka, Mount Pleasant.

--source

Letters Of The Day

there's a slew of letter winners today. enjoy!

U.S. Rep. Steve King would build a 2,000-mile, $680 million, 10-foot high chain-link and razor-wire fence at the Mexican border (Aug. 23 Register). But it would be much less costly to build that fence around Congressman King, Rep. U.S. Tom Tancredo and televangelist Pat Robertson. Vive la fence!

-Paul Jensen, Ogden.

--source

and

In U.S. Rep. Steve King's latest fantasy ("King: Fence Off Mexican Border," Aug. 23), installing a $680 million chain-link fence will magically resolve many of our economic and immigration issues.

Show me that young father from small town Iowa struggling to support his family but denied work at the regional packing plant because of a Mexican immigrant. Show me those Iowa women who can't get work at the local manufacturing company because the line positions are all taken by newly arrived Guatemalans. Show me the high school and college grads scrambling in vain to work for companies contracted to landscape our suburban lawns and business parks, or work in the kitchens of our restaurants, only to have those positions given to El Salvadorans.

These Iowans simply don't exist.

King thinks he can hide behind his razor wire in the name of economic and national security, but I find the blatant racism shown by King, his fellow elected officials and his Iowa constituents to be appalling.

-Brian Joens, Manning.

and

Most Americans realize there is a problem with immigration policy in the United States. Fortunately, Rep. Steve King has a solution. With a loud voice he has proclaimed a solution from the Zhou Dynasty and the 9th century B.C.: "Let's build a wall." The people of Iowa and the United States need congressmen with more up-to-date ideas than the failed policy of forgotten Chinese dynasties.

-John Cahill, Marshalltown.

and

Congressman Steve King has proposed fencing off the Mexican border with the United States. Maybe for starters we could fence off Iowa's 5th District so King could live happily ever after in sheltered bliss.

-Dave Swenson, Ames.

--source

i think i know why bush is so adamant for 'staying the course'

cuz as long as we 'stay the course' all his buddies stand to reap billions on this war in iraq.

makes me proud to be an iowan

lots of comments regarding pat robertson's murderous tirade on national television in the des moines register's letters today.

weeeEEEEeeee!

I'm a Christian. I believe in a higher power, and Pat Robertson does not speak for me. We ask moderate Muslims to stand up and denounce inflammatory rhetoric against the Unites States by radical (Muslim) religious leaders. So it's time we walk the walk and stand up and denounce our own religious leaders when they suggest violent acts to solve world problems.

-Matt Culp, Des Moines.

Why is it acceptable for Pat Robertson to advocate for murder on national TV? Can we all do that? Or would we be arrested?

-Fran Fuller, Des Moines.

You say it is bizarre for a Christian minister to endorse assassination. However, it is no more bizarre than Christian ministers and American Christians in general supporting the war in Iraq. What's the difference?

-Mark Lindahl, Des Moines.

Pat Robertson's plea for assassination gives credence to what I have believed for a long time: Very often the religious right is not right, and the moral majority is not necessarily moral.

-Priscilla Brown, Cedar Falls.

As a Christian minister, I am appalled that the Rev. Pat Robertson suggested the assassination of the president of Venezuela. Not only is this an act that has been outlawed by decree of President Ford, it is totally opposite of the calling of Christians to love their neighbor.

This suggestion to act illegally made over the public airwaves by a supporter of President Bush needs to be thoroughly investigated by the FCC. It is every bit as obscene as the halftime shenanigans of Janet Jackson.

-The Rev. Jim Nelson, Des Moines.

The right Reverend Pat Robertson denounces a woman's right to choose as murder. He denounces stem-cell research using embryonic cells as murder. But he advocates the assassination of a world leader. How ironic.

-Jane E. Brown, Granger.

When I was growing up, I attended a fundamentalist, evangelical Christian church. I was taught that it is a sin to kill anyone for any reason.

The problem with many Christians today is that they pick and choose from the Bible what they want to believe. I guess they think killing is OK now. To justify killing someone because he is from a different country, has radical views, has a different religion or is a suspected terrorist doesn't make it right. Sin is sin.

-Jeffrey Smith, Clive.

from the GOOD NEWS DEPARTMENT:

PRINCETON, NJ -- A new Gallup Poll reflects further erosion in President George W. Bush's job approval rating, continuing the slow but steady decline evident throughout the year so far. The poll -- conducted Aug. 22-25 -- puts Bush's job approval rating at 40% and his disapproval rating at 56%. Both are the most negative ratings of the Bush administration. Bush's previous low point in approval was 44% (July 25-28, 2005) and his previous high point in disapproval was 53% (June 24-26, 2005).

--GALLUP

*giggle*

Letter Of The Day

A fact is an event we can observe. A scientific theory or law is a testable explanation of facts. By testable we mean we can predict from it and see if our predictions are right.

Theory is not fact. Its truth requires only that the predictions be confirmed so that we can say things work "as if" they are governed by the theory.

We can say that a tsunami is an immediate act of God or we can use geological theory that acts "as if" the tsunami is a wave resulting from underwater movement of tectonic plates. It moves across the ocean, and we can predict its striking land by obtaining sensor measurements from appropriate devices located around the world.

The theory of evolution is that the species are shaped by environment. The mechanism is the environmental selection of individuals who will have offspring. The corollary is that the individual is shaped by environment.

Intelligent design is a labor saver. If drug-resistant diseases are a product of intelligent design rather than of environmental impact, then we have no need for much drug research nor for exercising care in completing prescribed drug dosages. If individual characteristics are products of intelligent design rather than of environmental impact, then we have no need to discipline or otherwise regulate the environments of children.
-Gordon M. Harrington,
Waterloo.

--source

the whole page of opinion letters today deals with intelligent design and evolution theory. a good read if you want to hear both sides.

gas prices and politics

seems that the intersection has finally come within sight.

WASHINGTON — As consumers feel pain at the pump, record high gas prices are registering as a political problem with congressional Republicans.

--yahoo

2 oil men in the whitehouse + oil companies having record profits = high prices at the pump

Letter Of The WeeQ

Methamphetamine poses a much greater danger to Iowa and the rest of the Midwest than terrorism ever will, yet White House officials have focused more attention on marijuana than on meth ("GOP Lawmakers Criticize Bush's Meth Proposal," Aug. 19). Focusing on marijuana instead of meth is like swatting only the flies in your house when wasps are buzzing around. The Bush administration doesn't seem to have a clue as to what the real dangers are to the citizens of this country.
-David Leonard,
Adel.

--source

what IS it with these stupid people

they claim that 'freedom is not free' and that it costs us blood to be free.

WHEN did animals donate their blood?

Letter Of The Day

There have been several articles in the paper recently about how to bring about giving our children a better education. I can clearly see that for several years now, something is lacking in the way subjects are taught.

I only had an eighth-grade education until later on in years when I decided to further my education. But even with my eighth-grade schooling, I knew the difference between: loose and lose, their and they’re, stripped and striped, flower and flour, clothes and cloths and other commonly used words.

These misspelled words are in the Globe Gazette, on billboards and even in published books.

I have never heard of a stripped cat, Globe Gazette, but I do own a beautiful striped cat.

--Dianne Ott, Mason City

--source

do you like IM?

then you'll luv this lil' gem from google:

http://www.google.com/talk/

caught this tidbid on Slate's Today's Papers

from one of the places i go every morning:

According to a Page One Post piece, a group of scientists from the U.S. government and abroad have confirmed that traces of weapons-grade uranium found in Iran's nuclear equipment parts were indeed a result of contamination by Pakistan, which sold Iran the second-hand equipment. "The biggest smoking gun that everyone was waving is now eliminated with these conclusions," said a "senior official." As the WP notes, last year now-Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton accused the Iranians of lying about the contamination.

boy, doesn't this just make you cringe?

the draft of the iraqi constitution

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Iraq-Constitution-Text.html

from the Really Great News Department(TM)

George W. Bush's overall job approval ratings have dropped from a month ago even as Americans who approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president are turning more optimistic about their personal financial situations according to the latest survey from the American Research Group. Among all Americans, 36% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 58% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 33% approve and 62% disapprove.

Among Americans registered to vote, 38% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 56% disapprove, and 36% approve of the way Bush is handling the economy and 60% disapprove.

--source

the 36% must be those haves and have-mores, or maybe we have that many macho shitheads, the deluded, the selfish, the cluess, the stupid fundamentalist bigots.

and as someone else online pondered: these are the same 30-somethings who were rabidly after clinton. these twits succeeded in convincing MSM that THEY were the majority... you know, the ones when MSM tries the

"some people are saying..."
"an anonymous source said..."
"people have reported ..."
"everyone knows that ..."

there's that core bushite crowd.

my problems with IE are legendary

and to show how well i take the issues when they come up (and they come up often), take a look at how someone else was able to condense the frustration into less than 1k.

http://monster-island.org/tinashumor/humor/ielinux.html

oh oh

remember afghanistan? i mean, the afghanistan of the 1980's.... well, may i present iraq.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. concessions to Islamists on the role of religion in Iraqi law marked a turn in talks on a constitution, negotiators said on Saturday as they raced to meet a 48-hour deadline under intense U.S. pressure to clinch a deal

i wonder how much the * administration is going to rob the honor of the real writers of their constitution. we'll know monday when scotty gets to break the news.

'sides, didn't anybody teach that punk george that forcing democracy down people's throats, just doesn't work?

they're finally beginning to talk

and that could be very dangerous, since we know that the klan they fight are ferocious, vindictive, and otherwise, predictable.

(CNN) -- A former top aide to Colin Powell says his involvement in the former secretary of state's presentation to the United Nations on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction was "the lowest point" in his life.

"I wish I had not been involved in it," says Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, a longtime Powell adviser who served as his chief of staff from 2002 through 2005. "I look back on it, and I still say it was the lowest point in my life."

--source

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

word!

this is a test post, done in … get this, word.

yeup, you can find this lil’ nifty tool over here.

so i'm not alone

seems the problems i'm experiencing with rendering html in IE, are problems experienced by others as well. and one had the decency to document it.

http://www.stopdesign.com/log/2004/01/26/ie_factor.html

an ebay virgin no longer

http://cm.ebay.com/cm/ck/1065-29296-2357-0?uid=200097696&site=0&ver=LCA080805&item=6795116553&lk=URL

and from the good news department:

Wednesday August 17, 2005--President Bush's Approval Rating has tumbled five points over the past week to the lowest level ever recorded by Rasmussen Reports.

Just 43% of American adults now approve of the way George W. Bush is performing his role as President. Fifty-five percent (55%) disapprove.

The President's Approval Rating has fallen to 47% among those who are married. Just 38% of unmarried respondents give the President their approval. Forty-six percent (46%) of Investors Approve along with 41% of non-Investors.

--rasmussen

high gas prices and school buses

this school year will be the test on whether or not our economy is on the right track, or the wrong track, in which case, like trains, you can expect a wreck.

just listened to john roberts on cbs

reporting the top story being the gaza pullout.

why does the MSM refuse to disclose that IT'S PALESTINIAN LAND to begin with?

Letter Of The Day

The Register missed an important point in the Aug. 1 article about police cars doing away with light bars. I am sure we have all spotted a police car when we are driving, checked our speed and occasionally slowed down. I have. If we cannot spot the car because it has no light bar, that preventive aspect of policing is gone. I would rather the cars have light bars and slow down thousands of speeders a day instead of ticketing 10 or 20.

-Bruce Fleming, Des Moines.

--source

they're going to crawford texas to support cindy sheehan. and from their website:

“We disdain both political Parties. We believe that both the cowardly Democrats and the rapacious Republicans have become so systemically corrupt, that, as Senator Warren Rudman said when he resigned from the Senate, ‘This place has become so corrupt it cannot function anymore.’ It is no longer capable of representing the people, but only the special interests, the wealthy, and the corporations, especially the multi-national corporations.

“We intend for our new film and this website to be a strong intelligent voice that brings consciousness, new ideas and real power back to the people.”

you GO!!!

watch for billy jack to hit the news soon

they're going to crawford texas to support cindy sheehan. and from their website:

“We disdain both political Parties. We believe that both the cowardly Democrats and the rapacious Republicans have become so systemically corrupt, that, as Senator Warren Rudman said when he resigned from the Senate, ‘This place has become so corrupt it cannot function anymore.’ It is no longer capable of representing the people, but only the special interests, the wealthy, and the corporations, especially the multi-national corporations.

“We intend for our new film and this website to be a strong intelligent voice that brings consciousness, new ideas and real power back to the people.”

you GO!!!

watch for billy jack to hit the news soon

they're going to crawford texas to support cindy sheehan. and from their website:

“We disdain both political Parties. We believe that both the cowardly Democrats and the rapacious Republicans have become so systemically corrupt, that, as Senator Warren Rudman said when he resigned from the Senate, ‘This place has become so corrupt it cannot function anymore.’ It is no longer capable of representing the people, but only the special interests, the wealthy, and the corporations, especially the multi-national corporations.

“We intend for our new film and this website to be a strong intelligent voice that brings consciousness, new ideas and real power back to the people.”

you GO!!!

a sad, ssd story of a soldier

http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/1870805.shtml

Letter Of The Day

Bush's gift to America. Price of oil on Jan. 20, 2001: $22 a barrel. Price of oil on Aug: 8, 2005: $64 a barrel. Increase: 190 percent.

-Keith Nichols, Perry.

and

In his Aug. 8 column, George Will suggests that Ford, GM and Chrysler increase their profitability by "trimming some of the benefits the United Auto Workers won when the Big Three were the world's largest automobile companies."

Well, George, how about this solution: that the United States join the rest of the industrialized world and implement a national health-care system for all its citizens. This would allow Ford, GM and Chrysler to cut $1,500 off the cost of every vehicle!

They would then be more competitive in the marketplace, and they wouldn't have to cut benefits for the men and women, past and present, who do the kind of work in the automobile factories that George Will and his friends couldn't handle for one day.

-Gary Sanders, Iowa City.

--source

the epitomy of incompetence

that's donald rumsfeld, summed up in about 4 words. why?

The ensuing scramble to produce more plates was marred by a series of missteps in which the Pentagon gave one contract to a former Army researcher who had never mass-produced anything. He was allowed to struggle with production for a year before he gave up. An outdated delivery plan slowed the arrival of plates that were made. In all, the war was 10 months old before every soldier in Iraq had plates in late January 2004.

--source

a sure sign that the bushites have run their course

The Bush administration is significantly lowering expectations of what can be achieved in Iraq, recognizing that the United States will have to settle for far less progress than originally envisioned during the transition due to end in four months, according to U.S. officials in Washington and Baghdad.

The United States no longer expects to see a model new democracy, a self-supporting oil industry or a society in which the majority of people are free from serious security or economic challenges, U.S. officials say.

--source

Letter of the WeeQ

I enjoyed reading "Iowa's Concrete Lifeline - Life Along Interstate 80" in the Aug. 7 Register.

I spent the summer of 1964, following my junior year of college, working on the road-building crew that paved the sections between Grinnell and Malcom (miles 182 to 191) and Kinzi Manufacturing and Williamsburg (miles 216 to 220). I drove a water truck that piped water to the traveling on-site concrete mixers and was paid $2 per hour.

Along with overtime pay, I earned enough in 12 weeks to pay 100 percent of my expenses for my senior year at Iowa State University. My, how times have changed!

-Robert C. Wemer, Montezuma.

--source