The weather continues to confound definitions of whether the rainy season has ended in Arenal or not. A month later than last year's intense rainy season ended rather abruptly, this rainy season just seems to hang on. For several nights running, the low has been in the upper 60's - it was 69 yesterday morning, and only 67 today. And the afternoon high made it only to 76 today, with a couple of hours of sun, followed by several hours of rain, and rain most of the night. What is scary is that the satellite photos look like there is a strong cold front headed down through the Caribbean, which means even colder weather for us. Thank goodness that I now have access to all the cold weather clothes that I had in storage. I'd just like to know when I can put them away.
I had to get up early and set out the trash, as this morning was trash day. So I got up early and pulled on some shorts and a T-shirt and my flip-flops, and took the trash out and set it out on the edge of the street. On the way back in, my wet flip-flops on the polished concrete porch went out from under me and down I went, landing good and hard. My left leg splayed out at a mighty strange angle as I was going down, and I was scared to death I was going to break my left hip. But through some miracle, that didn't happen, just a bit of a strain in my hip that was barely noticeable through the day, and a stubbed toe. But it sure was a wake-up call to remind me that I am definitely not getting any younger.
Yesterday, we had a brief power failure during the night, and when I got up in the morning, the computer was shut down. The UPS was not running. Well, I disconnected the load and restarted it, and everything was fine when it came back up and I didn't think anything of it. Figured that a power glitch had shut it down in a protection mode of some sort.
Well, this afternoon, I was napping on the couch, and when I woke up, the stereo components were shut off. Another power failure during my nap, I figured. I turned them back on, and they came on, no problem. But when I went into the office, I discovered that the computer UPS was off, too. But this time, disconnecting the load and restarting it, would not bring it back on line. So I took it out of the system and opened it up to check the gel-cell. It didn't take long to note that while the battery voltage was fine, the battery simply had no storage capacity. That is why the UPS wouldn't start. Well, I knew it was totally hopeless to try to find a gel-cell of the right size here in Arenal, so noting that the gel-cell was a 12-volt battery, I figured I could replace it with a car battery and get back on line. So I headed over to the big, fancy new hardware store, and asked if they sell batteries. Turns out they do carry some basic car parts, including batteries, so I checked over the stock and found one that would replace the one in my car if I needed to use it for that. I followed the clerk out back to make sure it was properly filled, and being a Panasonic battery, it should hold up OK. Well, after some effort, the clerk produced a jug of electrolyte, and the battery was filled properly. It is in a translucent case, so it is easy to see what the electrolyte level is, and it has a built-in handle, making it easy to carry. Two obvious improvements that should have been put in batteries long ago. I got some wire and connectors to go with it, and came home.
After hooking up the battery (the acid from which left a minor stain on my polished concrete floor), I tried out the UPS, and it came back on, just fine. So I modified the case to accomodate the wires to the battery, put it all back together, and reinstalled the UPS in the system. I am writing this on UPS power - the UPS is back on line now and doing a terrific job. One of those little projects that is satisfying because it all went well, and the outcome was precisely as desired. And now, there is enough battery capacity that I don't have to worry about running over to the computer to get everything shut down in a hurry - I should be good for a half-hour or more of computing time. And if I were going to stay in this house, I'd be looking for some white light-emitting diodes for a 12-volt lighting system to have lights during the fairly frequent night-time power failures.
More Reasons Why I Am Glad I Am Out Of The States: The Dubai firm that won Bush administration backing to run six U.S. ports has at least two ties to the White House. One is Treasury Secretary John Snow, whose agency heads the federal panel that signed off on the $6.8 billion sale of an English company to government-owned Dubai Ports World - giving it control of Manhattan's cruise ship terminal and Newark's container port. Snow was chairman of the CSX rail firm that sold its own international port operations to DP World for $1.15 billion in 2004, the year after Snow left for President Bush's cabinet. The other connection is David Sanborn, who runs DP World's European and Latin American operations and was tapped by Bush last month to head the U.S. Maritime Administration. The ties raised more concerns about the decision to give port control to a company owned by a nation linked to the 9/11 hijackers.
A 12 year-old boy from Aurora, Illinois was charged with a felony for possessing a look-alike drug. The boy brought powdered sugar into school and asked his teacher if he could conduct an experiment using sugar, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. While the boy was in the bathroom, he joked to two of his classmates that it was cocaine, but then said, "just kidding." A janitor reported the boy to school officials after overhearing the boy's comments. East Aurora School District officials called police shortly after and the sixth grader was arrested by Aurora police. He was detained at the police station and then released to the custody of his parents that same afternoon. School district officials defended their actions saying the school handbook states that students can be suspended or expelled for carrying a look-alike drug. In a written statement, school district officals said, "The dangers of illegal drugs and controlled substances are clear. Look-alike drugs and substances can cause that same level of danger because staff and students are not equipped to differentiate between the two."
Why I Am Embarrassed To Present My Passport: A decision two weeks ago by a U.S. consulate in India to refuse a visa to a prominent Indian scientist has triggered heated protests in that country and set off a major diplomatic flap on the eve of President Bush's first visit to India. The incident has also caused embarrassment at the highest reaches of the American scientific establishment, which has worked to get the State Department to issue a visa to Goverdhan Mehta, who said the U.S. consulate in the south Indian city of Chennai told him that his expertise in chemistry was deemed a threat. In the face of outrage in India, the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi issued a highly unusual statement of regret, and yesterday the State Department said officials are reaching out to the scientist to resolve his case.
Colombian civil right advocate Piedad Cordoba urged US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to leave Latin American nations in peace because they are not willing to return to the colonial period. "We are not willing to become an Iraq, much less to return to the period of the colony," Cordoba said about Rice´s request for supporting a strike against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. She assured that Latin America was ready to strengthen a great bloc for regional development and against the US-proposed alternative of poverty and plunder. "They (the U.S.) are so shameless. They have done nothing but exploiting us and causing poverty; now they want us to join them against the only serious proposal of unity for progress," the civil right activist pointed out.
President George W. Bush, who five years ago acted on his first full day in office to deny U.S. aid to overseas groups that help women obtain abortions, is for the first time proposing sharp cuts in financing for international family planning programs that the White House had described as one of the best ways to prevent abortion. Since 2001, the administration had adhered to Bush's commitment to maintain the financing of such programs at $425 million, the same level as in the last year of the Clinton administration. But in the president's new budget proposal, financing would fall 18 percent, from $436 million this year to $357 million.
Habeas Corpus Death Watch: The Pentagon said it would release, in compliance with a federal court ruling, the identities of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where hundreds of prisoners in the war on terror are being held. "The Department of Defense will comply with the judge's ruling in this matter," Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Commander Joe Carpenter told AFP Saturday. The departments of defense and justice "are coordinating to release unredacted versions of the Combatant Status Review Tribunals, which contain the names of detainees, by March 3," Carpenter said. The US District Court said Wednesday that the Pentagon had advised the court it would not appeal a January 25 order to release uncensored transcripts and related documents about the US military base in Cuba.
Republican Policies Build Respect For America Abroad: Tens of thousands of Mexicans filled an ancient square in this capital Sunday to hear leftist presidential front-runner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador pledge to distance himself from U.S. policies. While not naming the United States or the Bush administration, Lopez Obrador, a fiery former mayor of Mexico City, made it clear that he would return Mexico to its traditional foreign policy of non-intervention in the affairs of its neighbors. Conservative President Vicente Fox broke that tradition after taking office in 2000 when he joined the United States in condemning the lack of fundamental liberties in Cuba and elsewhere. Mexico's foreign policy under Fox sought to promote human rights and civil liberties abroad. That'll change, Lopez Obrador signaled to a crowd estimated between 70,000 and 120,000. Having led public opinion polls for two years, Lopez Obrador is on track to become Mexico's first president elected from a left-wing party, the Party of the Democratic Revolution.
About 5,000 personnel including snipers, commandos and U.S. marines using helicopters, bomb detectors and electronic jammers will protect President George W. Bush during his visit to India this week, officials said on Monday. The personnel would be part of a three-ring security cordon around the U.S. president and First Lady Laura Bush who are due to arrive in New Delhi for their maiden visit to the subcontinent on Wednesday, they said. "He is a much-threatened VVIP. We are fully geared," Manish Agarwal, a top Delhi police officer involved in security operations, told Reuters. His comments came as Delhi police arrested two suspected militants belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant group fighting Indian rule in disputed Kashmir, the Press Trust of India news agency said. A 'praja court' (public court) in Hyderabad Sunday held US President George W. Bush guilty of "perpetrating terrorism in the name of fighting terrorism and killing people including women and children". Bush, who is scheduled to visit the Andhra Pradesh capital March 3, the last day of his three-day visit to India, faced charges ranging from war mongering and mass killings to violation of all international charters and aggression against sovereign countries.
Venezuela could easily sell oil to markets other than the United States and is prepared to end exports to its No. 1 buyer if needed, the oil minister said in comments published Sunday. President Hugo Chavez's government has recently stepped up threats to cut off oil exports to the United States and sell Venezuelan-owned refineries there amid rising tensions with President George W. Bush's administration. "If our country, our process, our constitution are attacked by the Bush administration, we are not going to send any more oil," Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez told the Ultimas Noticias daily in an interview. "We'll see then which of the two governments is able to manage this type of a situation better."
Republicans Believe In A Level Playing Field: Sen. Rick "Sanctimonious" Santorum and his wife received a $500,000, five-year mortgage for their Leesburg, Va., home from a small, private Philadelphia bank run by a major campaign donor - even though its stated policy is to make loans only to its "affluent" investors, which the senator is not. Good-government experts said the mortgage from The Philadelphia Trust Co. raises serious questions about Santorum's conduct at a time when he is the Senate GOP's point man on ethics reform. They said it would be a violation of the Senate's ethics rules if Santorum received something a regular citizen could not get.
Republicans Believe In Fair, Honest and Transparent Elections: A long-standing public records request for the release of Election 2004 database files created by Diebold's voting system had been long delayed after several odd twists and turns, including the revelation of a contract with the state claiming the information to be a "company secret." But while it finally appeared as though the state had agreed to release the information (after reserving the right to "manipulate the data" in consultation with Diebold before releasing it), the state's top Security Official has now - at the last minute - stepped in to deny the request. The grounds for the denial: the release of the information poses a "security risk" to the state of Alaska. The state Democratic party has been attempting since December of last year to review the Diebold GEMS tabulator data files from the 2004 election in order to audit some of the strange results discovered in the state, including a reported voter turnout of more than 200% in some areas. "At this point," Democratic Party spokesperson Kay Brown told the Anchorage Daily News in January, "it's impossible to say whether the correct candidates were declared the winner in all Alaska races from 2004."
The Maryland State Board of Elections allowed Diebold Election Systems to operate its touch-screen voting machines during the state's 2002 gubernatorial election and the 2004 presidential primaries before the state agency actually certified the controversial machines, according to recently disclosed documents. That is a violation of state law, according to Linda Schade, executive director of TrueVoteMD.org, an election integrity group. Schade discovered the document among thousands of others she recently acquired through a lawsuit filed against the Maryland State Board of Elections in 2004. After almost two years of public records requests and attorney wrangling, she received four boxes filled with e-mail conversations, faxes and contracts between the elections office and Diebold. "So far, we've only gone through one box and have just started the second box," she said Wednesday. "We expect to find much more."
Republicans Believe In Upholding The Bill Of Rights: For Americans troubled by the prospect of federal agents eavesdropping on their phone conversations or combing through their Internet records, there is good news: A little-known board exists in the White House whose purpose is to ensure that privacy and civil liberties are protected in the fight against terrorism. Someday, it might actually meet. Initially proposed by the bipartisan commission that investigated the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board was created by the intelligence overhaul that President Bush signed into law in December 2004. More than a year later, it exists only on paper. Foot-dragging, debate over its budget and powers, and concern over the qualifications of some of its members - one was treasurer of Bush's first campaign for Texas governor - has kept the board from doing a single day of work.
Republicans Believe In Accountability And The Rule Of Law: In an odd twist to the state hiring scandal, Gov. Ernie Fletcher appointed two special State Supreme Court justices on Friday to help decide whether a grand jury can continue issuing indictments against members of his administration. The appointees will fill in temporarily for two justices who recused themselves in December. Kentucky's Constitution says it is up to the governor to fill any vacancies on the seven-member court when two or more justices have declined to sit for a particular case. The grand jury, impaneled by Attorney General Greg D. Stumbo, a Democrat, has been investigating whether administration officials broke state law by basing personnel decisions on political considerations instead of candidates' qualifications. "It is unprecedented for the governor's office to choose the judges in its own case," Mr. Stumbo said in a statement. "All parties should disclose any prior contacts with the special justices."
The Army has decided to reimburse a Halliburton subsidiary for nearly all of its disputed costs on a $2.41 billion no-bid contract to deliver fuel and repair oil equipment in Iraq, even though the Pentagon's own auditors had identified more than $250 million in charges as potentially excessive or unjustified. The Army said in response to questions on Friday that questionable business practices by the subsidiary, Kellogg Brown & Root, had in some cases driven up the company's costs. But in the haste and peril of war, it had largely done as well as could be expected, the Army said, and aside from a few penalties, the government was compelled to reimburse the company for its costs.
Republican Policies Build A Strong America: John Snow, the US Treasury Secretary, denied yesterday that China had America in an economic stranglehold as an announcement by Beijing that it will seek to diversify its vast currency reserves fuelled worries that the dollar will come under heavy pressure this year. The decision by China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Safe) that it will explore a wider range of ways to invest the country’s $769 billion (£437 billion) of currency reserves - the bulk of which are in dollars - could add to a series of factors exerting downward pressure on the US currency, economists said. The dollar confounded widespread forecasts last year that it would succumb to a broad-based decline. But with the prospect of an early peak in US interest rates and a slowdown in the American economy already tipped by many to weigh on the currency, analysts said China’s move could only add to risks of a significant sell-off at some point this year.
Republicans Believe In Conserving America's National Resources: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency won't oppose the U.S. Department of Defense and DuPont Co.'s plan to dump a wastewater byproduct of a deadly nerve agent into the Delaware River. The agency said it's assured of a safe treatment for up to 4 million gallons of caustic wastewater created in the treatment for VX, a chemical weapon with a pinhead-size potency to kill a human. DuPont is treating VX for disposal at its Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana. The agent, once neutralized, would be shipped to DuPont's Chambers Works plant in Deepwater, N.J., for discharge into the river.
Republicans Believe In Helping Those Who Can't Help Themselves: President Bush wants to eliminate the Commodity Supplemental Food Program program, which provides nutritious box lunches for the elderly. It is one of 141 federal initiatives that Smirkey's proposed new budget would scrap or cut dramatically. He is proposing to shift people in the program over to food stamps. Defenders of the nutrition-in-a-box program say many elderly people are reluctant to sign up for food stamps, and, in any event, the commodity program often provides a more generous package. "It really does come under the category, in the most extreme way, of balancing the budget on the backs of those who are most needy. And in this case we're not even balancing the budget," said Wisconsin Sen. Herb Kohl, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations agriculture subcommittee. "I call it misplaced priorities. How do you justify doing something like this, while at the same time giving people like Herb Kohl huge tax cuts?" said Kohl, himself a multimillionaire.
Republicans Believe In Free Speech: Red State, Meet Police State - A federal employee has been hassled by Homeland Security for antiwar stickers on his car. Is it a mistake, a new rule, or the part of a trend of the First Amendment being bullied out of existence? Dwight Scarbrough's idea of political dissent is one that rubs some people the wrong way. His ride is still hard to ignore. On the back, he tapes weekly updates of the number of U.S. soldiers killed and wounded in Iraq. Beneath that, on a large, white (and also taped-on) placard: "Support our returning troops and their families when they need help: Give them this number: GI RIGHTS HOTLINE: 1-800-394-9544." On both doors, in bold capital letters: "DEATH IN IRAQ IS NOT A CAREER OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUNG AMERICANS." Taking up nearly half of the back window: "Veterans for Peace Chapter 117, Idaho." On the driver's side wheel well, also in all caps: "PERHAPS GOD BLESSES EVERY NATION, NOT JUST THE USA." And interspersed between them all, he places a variety of purchased bumper stickers and magnetic ribbons reading, among other sentiments, "Support our Troops: Bring them Home Now," "Support Diversity" and "Honor Vets, Wage Peace." Scarbrough was told that he was in violation of the Code of Federal Regulations, the set of rules that govern all executive departments and agencies, and that he was in danger of being cited unless he came out to the parking lot or let the officer come up to his office. Scarbrough chose the first option, and took along a co-worker - also a veteran - and, being an experienced peace activist, a tape recorder. Downstairs, they found two armed officers with "Homeland Security" insignia patches on their shoulders, waiting for them in large white SUVs. Scarbrough informed the officers that he would record their conversation, and the link includes the transcript of that recording.
Liberal-Biased Media Watch: From Americablog: Earlier tonight, the Washington Post had a pretty blistering article on Bush's foreign policy speech today to the American Legion. There was no question from reading that piece that Bush really thinks things are going well with his foreign policy. And, it left no doubt that Bush's optimism is not widely shared. I started to write a post because I was struck by this passage: "Outlining what he called a 'forward strategy for freedom,' Bush painted a generally optimistic picture of events overseas that have led critics to charge that his foreign policy is built largely on geopolitical fantasy." I cut and pasted the paragraph above and started to write the post. But, when I went back to the Post to get the link, the article was gone. The link is now to another story that incorporates Bush's foreign policy speech today in to the Iraq debacle. So, where's the "geopolitical fantasy" article that was critical of Bush? It was there at 8:30 p.m. But now, it's nowhere to be found. Can't find that term using the Post's search engine...and it doesn't show up on Google. I'm not making this up. I cut and pasted that paragraph from the Post..and now, it's gone.
The New York Times declared on its website early Friday in a headline that the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, had warned to U.S. was on the "precipice of full-scale civil war." Their headline? "U.S. Envoy in Baghdad Says Iraq Is on Brink of Civil War." Within an hour and without explanation, the Times yanked the headline in favor of "U.S. Envoy Says Sectarian Violence Threatens Iraq's Future." Originally, their lead paragraph had read: "The American ambassador to Iraq said Friday that the country was on the precipice of full-scale civil war, and that Iraqi leaders would have to come together and compromise if they wanted to save their homeland." An hour later, it read: "The American ambassador to Iraq said Friday that sectarian violence this week had endangered the future of Iraq, and that Iraqi leaders would have to come together and compromise if they wanted to save their homeland." Catherine Mathis, the New York Times Company's Vice President for Corporate Communications, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Rats Deserting The U.S.S. Bush: Fox News' Bill O'Reilly has suggested that the United States "hand over everything to the Iraqis as fast as humanly possible" because "[t]here are so many nuts in the country - so many crazies - that we can't control them." As Media Matters for America has documented, during a November 30, 2005, appearance on NBC's Today, O'Reilly called those advocating immediate withdrawal from Iraq "pinheads" and compared them to Hitler appeasers.
Trickle-Down Economics Trickling On You: Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods fell by the largest amount in 5.5 years in January as demand for commercial aircraft suffered the biggest setback in seven years, the government reported today. The Commerce Department said that orders for durable goods, everything from computers to cars, fell by 10.2 percent last month, a much bigger decline than had been expected. The weakness was led by a 68.2 percent drop in orders for commercial aircraft reflecting a falloff in sales at Boeing Corp. after two very strong months. Analysts said the overall decline overstated the weakness in manufacturing because it was so heavily influenced by the volatile aircraft sector.
Last week the Bureau of Labor Statistics re-benchmarked the payroll jobs data back to 2000. Thanks to Charles McMillion of MBG Information Services, I have the adjusted data from January 2001 through January 2006. If you are worried about terrorists, you don't know what worry is. Job growth over the last five years is the weakest on record. The US economy came up more than 7 million jobs short of keeping up with population growth. That’s one good reason for controlling immigration. An economy that cannot keep up with population growth should not be boosting population with heavy rates of legal and illegal immigration. Over the past five years the US economy experienced a net job loss in goods producing activities. The entire job growth was in service-providing activities - primarily credit intermediation, health care and social assistance, waiters, waitresses and bartenders, and state and local government.
Well, I'll Be! Neoconservatism has failed the United States and needs to be replaced by a more realistic foreign policy agenda, according to one of its prime architects. Francis Fukuyama, who wrote the best-selling book The End of History and was a member of the neoconservative project, now says that, both as a political symbol and a body of thought, it has "evolved into something I can no longer support". He says it should be discarded on to history's pile of discredited ideologies. In an extract from his forthcoming book, America at the Crossroads, Mr Fukuyama declares that the doctrine "is now in shambles" and that its failure has demonstrated "the danger of good intentions carried to extremes".
If We Ignore Global Warming Long Enough, Maybe It Will Go Away: The world’s coral reefs could disappear within a few decades along with hundreds of species of plankton and shellfish, according to new studies into man’s impact on the oceans. Researchers have found that carbon dioxide, the gas already blamed for causing global warming, is also raising the acid levels in the sea. The shells of coral and other marine life dissolve in acid. The process is happening so fast that many such species, including coral, crabs, oysters and mussels, may become unable to build and repair their shells and will die out, say the researchers. "Increased carbon dioxide emissions are making the world’s oceans more acidic and could cause a mass extinction of marine life similar to the one that occurred on land when the dinosaurs disappeared," said Professor Ken Caldeira of the Carnegie Institution’s global ecology department. When CO2 produced by burning fossil fuels dissolves in the ocean, it forms carbonic acid. A little of this can benefit marine life by providing carbonate ions - a vital constituent in the biochemical process by which sea creatures such as corals and molluscs build their shells.
Greenland's vast glaciers are dumping ice into the ocean three times faster than they did 10 years ago because of increasing temperatures, suggesting that sea level could rise even more quickly than current projections. The study, published today in the journal Science, found that the glaciers contributed 53 cubic miles of water to the Atlantic Ocean in 2005, resulting in about a 0.02-inch rise in sea level. "The models we had were not terribly alarming about Greenland," said Richard Alley, a glaciologist at Penn State University who was not involved in the research. "This paper is a real wake-up call."
News from Smirkey's Wars: Between October and December 1995, the U.S. Army's Depleted Uranium (DU) Project completed a series of training videos and manuals about depleted uranium munitions. This training regimen was developed as the result of recommendations made in the January 1993 General Accounting Office (GAO) report, "Army Not Adequately Prepared to Deal with Depleted Uranium Contamination." The training materials were intended to instruct servicemen and women about the use and hazards of depleted uranium munitions. In addition, the training regimen included instructions for soldiers who repair and recover vehicles contaminated by depleted uranium. Throughout 1996, these videos sat on a shelf, while U.S. soldiers continued to use and work with depleted uranium munitions. In June 1997, Bernard Rostker, The Department of Defense (DoD) principle spokesperson for their investigation of Gulf War hazardous exposures, stated that the depleted uranium safety training program would begin to be shared by a limited number of servicemen and women in July 1997. Still today the vast majority of servicemen and women in the U.S. military, and likely in the armed forces of other countries which are developing or have obtained depleted uranium munitions, are unaware of the use and dangers of depleted uranium munitions, or of the protective clothing and procedures which can minimize or prevent serious short-term exposures.
The disastrous social conditions that exist for the Iraqi people after decades of war and nearly three years of US occupation are being dramatically worsened as a result of International Monetary Fund (IMF)-dictated economic restructuring. In order to gain a $685 million IMF loan and the cancellation of some of Iraq’s $120 billion debt, the government of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari secretly agreed in December to begin eliminating the subsidies that previously delivered the Iraqi people some of the lowest fuel costs in the world. On December 19 - just four days after the elections in which Jaafari’s United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) won more than 45 percent of the vote - the first cut in the fuel subsidy was implemented. The immediate impact was to increase the price of petrol, diesel, cooking gas and kerosene by an average of 500 percent. Petrol rose from just 3 US cents a litre to between 12 and 17 cents.
The winter meeting of the National Governors Association opened here Saturday with state executives determined to challenge the Bush administration over proposed Pentagon cuts in funding for the National Guard. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will meet privately with the governors Monday amid escalating concerns among the governors that the states have been shortchanged by long Guard deployments in Iraq and by what they see as disproportionate cuts in Guard funding.
Scandals Du Jour: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales brushed aside requests on Thursday that he remove himself from the investigation of Jack Abramoff and the lobbyist's ties to Bush administration officials and members of Congress. Gonzales, who was White House counsel for four years before taking over at the Justice Department, said the inquiry is being run by career prosecutors who are not influenced by politics. If you believe that, I have a bridge I'd like to talk to you about.
More Reasons Why I Am Glad I Am Out Of The States: Secret Service agents guarding Vice President Dick Cheney when he shot Texas lawyer Harry Whittington on a hunting outing two weeks ago say Cheney was "clearly inebriated" at the time of the shooting. Agents observed several members of the hunting party, including the Vice President, consuming alcohol before and during the hunting expedition, the report notes, and Cheney exhibited "visible signs" of impairment,
including slurred speech and erratic actions. According to those who have talked with the agents and others present at the outing, Cheney was drunk when he gunned down his friend and the
day-and-a-half delay in allowing Texas law enforcement officials on the ranch where the shooting occurred gave all members of the hunting party time to sober up. Capital Hill Blue talked with a number of administration officials who are privy to inside information on the Vice President's shooting "accident" and all admit Secret Service agents and others say they saw Cheney consume far
more than the "one beer' he claimed he drank at lunch earlier that day. "This was a South Texas hunt," says one White House aide. "Of course there was drinking. There's always drinking. Lots of it." Secret Service officials also took possession of all tests on Whittington's blood at the hospitals where he was treated for his wounds. When asked if a blood alcohol test had been performed on Whittington, the doctors who treated him at Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial in Corpus Christi or the hospital in Kingsville refused to answer. One admits privately he was ordered by the Secret Service to "never discuss the case with the press." If Cheney was legally drunk at the time of the shooting, he could be guilty of a felony under Texas law and the shooting, ruled an accident by a compliant Kenedy County Sheriff, would be a prosecutable offense.
If the United States launches an attack on Iran, the Islamic republic will retaliate with a military strike on Israel's main nuclear facility. Dr. Abasi, an advisor to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, said Tehran would respond to an American attack with strikes on the Dimona nuclear reactor and other strategic Israeli sites such as the port city of Haifa and the Zakhariya area. Haifa is also home to a large concentration of chemical factories and oil refineries. Zakhariya, located in the Jerusalem hills is - according to foreign reports - home to Israel's Jericho missile base. Both Israeli and international media have published commercial satellite images of the Zakhariya and Dimona sites.
Under a secretive agreement with the Bush administration, The U.S. government chose not to impose routine restrictions on the sale of port facilities to Dubai Ports World. In approving the $6.8 billion purchase, the administration chose not to require state-owned Dubai Ports World to keep copies of its business records on U.S. soil, where they would be subject to orders by American courts. It also did not require the company to designate an American citizen to accommodate requests by the government. Outside legal experts said such obligations are routinely attached to U.S. approvals of foreign sales in other industries. Dubai Ports agreed to give up records on demand about "foreign operational direction" of its business at the U.S. ports, according to the documents. Those records broadly include details about the design, maintenance or operation of ports and equipment.
Just 17% of Americans believe Dubai Ports World should be allowed to purchase operating rights to several U.S. ports. A Rasmussen Reports survey found that 64% disagree and believe the sale should not be allowed. Just 39% of Americans know that the operating rights are currently owned by a foreign firm. Fifteen percent (15%) believe the operating rights are U.S. owned while 46% are not sure. From a political perspective, President Bush's national security credentials have clearly been tarnished due to the outcry over this issue. For the first time ever, Americans have a slight preference for Democrats in Congress over the President on national security issues. Forty-three percent (43%) say they trust the Democrats more on this issue today while 41% prefer the President.
D.P. World is poised to take over port terminal operations in 21 American ports, far more than the six widely reported. The Bush administration has approved the takeover of British-owned Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. to DP World, a deal set to go forward March 2 unless Congress intervenes.
Why did this deal happen? A sheik from the United Arab Emirates contributed at least $1 million to the Bush Library Foundation, which established the George Bush Presidential Library at Texas A&M University in College Station. The UAE owns Dubai Ports World, which is taking operations from London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., which operates six U.S. ports. A political uproar has ensued over the deal, which the White House approved without congressional oversight. Dubai Ports World offered Thursday night to delay part of the takeover to give the Bush administration more time to convince lawmakers the deal poses no security risks. The donations were made in the early 1990s for the library, which houses the papers of former President George Bush, the current president's father. The list of donors names Sheik Zayed Bin Sultan al Nahyan and the people of the United Arab Emirates as one donor in the $1 million or more category.
Most U.S. workers say they feel rushed on the job, but they are getting less accomplished than a decade ago, according to newly released research. Workers completed two-thirds of their work in an average day last year, down from about three-quarters in a 1994 study, according to research conducted for Day-Timers Inc., an East Texas, Pennsylvania-based maker of organizational products. The biggest culprit is the technology that was supposed to make work quicker and easier, experts say. "Technology has sped everything up and, by speeding everything up, it's slowed everything down, paradoxically," said John Challenger, chief executive of Chicago-based outplacement consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. "We never concentrate on one task anymore. You take a little chip out of it, and then you're on to the next thing," Challenger said on Wednesday. "It's harder to feel like you're accomplishing something." Unlike a decade ago, U.S. workers are bombarded with e-mail, computer messages, cell phone calls, voice mails and the like, research showed. The average time spent on a computer at work was almost 16 hours a week last year, compared with 9.5 hours a decade ago, according to the Day-Timer research released this week.
A federal judge Friday refused to postpone the April 22 mayoral election in New Orleans, turning back arguments that too many black residents scattered by Hurricane Katrina will be unable to take part. The decision was issued by U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle, who had earlier pressured state officials to make sure the election was held by the end of April. "We're extremely disappointed," said Tracie Washington, one of the lawyers working with hurricane victim advocates who wanted to either delay the election or force the state to set up "satellite" voting operations out of state. Mayor Ray Nagin, who has been criticized in some quarters for his response to the hurricane, is running for re-election in New Orleans, which was a mostly black city of nearly half a million people before Katrina reduced it to well under 200,000 inhabitants. The city has not had a white mayor since 1978.
IRS exams found nearly three out of four churches, charities and other civic groups suspected of having violated restraints on political activity in the 2004 election actually did so, the agency said Friday. Most of the examinations that have concluded found only a single, isolated incidence of prohibited campaign activity. In three cases, however, the IRS uncovered violations egregious enough to recommend revoking the groups' tax-exempt status. The vast majority of charities and churches followed the law, but the examinations found a "disturbing" amount of political intervention in the 2004 elections, IRS Commissioner Mark Everson said.
Is It A Crime To Sell Oil On The Cheap To The Poor? Apparently the Republicans think so: Republican Congressman Joe Barton of Texas has launched an investigation into one of the world’s major oil companies. But he is not investigating whether any of the oil giants are engaging in price gouging at a time when gasoline and heating oil casts are skyrocketing to record levels. Instead Barton has set his sights on the only oil company that actually dared to lower its prices last year - at least for the poorest Americans. Last week Barton demanded the Venezuelan-owned company Citgo produce all records, minutes, logs, e-mails and even desk calendars related to the company’s novel program of supplying discounted heating oil to low-income communities in the United States. Joe Barton has received more money from oil companies than any other member of Congress, with the exception of Tom DeLay.
Bill Of Rights Death Watch: Singer Morrissey was quizzed by the FBI and British intelligence after speaking out against the American and British governments. The Brit is a famous critic of the US-led war in Iraq and has dubbed Smirkey a "terrorist" - but he was baffled to be hauled in by authorities. Morrissey explains, "The FBI and the Special Branch have investigated me and I've been interviewed and taped and so forth. "They were trying to determine if I was a threat to the government, and similarly in England. But it didn't take them very long to realise that I'm not. "I don't belong to any political groups, I don't really say anything unless I'm asked directly and I don't even demonstrate in public. I always assume that so-called authoritarian figures just assume that pop/rock music is slightly insane and an untouchable platform for the working classes to stand up and say something noticeable. "My view is that neither England or America are democratic societies. You can't really speak your mind and if you do you're investigated."
News From The Talibaptist Jihad: An appeal from the Catholic Church for New Zealanders to boycott an episode of South Park has resulted in a record audience there for the controversial cartoon. The "Bloody Mary" episode of South Park drew more than six times the normal audience, New Zealand broadcaster TV Works announced Thursday. The episode, which aired Wednesday night, was seen by 210,000 viewers, according to Rick Friesen, the broadcaster's chief operating officer. "I expected a bit of a rise, but not that much," he told the Associated Press. In the past month, he said, an average South Park episode typically draws about 32,500 viewers to the network's C4 youth channel. During Wednesday night's broadcast, however, more than 350 people protested outside the TV Works headquarters in Auckland. The protest centred on a statue of the Virgin Mary, with participants - clutching Bibles and religious icons - singing hymns, reciting the rosary and offering other prayers.
Scandals Du Jour: Lawyers for an aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, who faces perjury charges, asked a judge on Thursday to throw out the case on the grounds that the prosecutor was appointed improperly. Since both Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and former Attorney General John Ashcroft removed themselves from the investigation because of their close ties to the White House, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald reports to David Margolis, a career Justice Department lawyer. Lawyers for Lewis "Scooter" Libby argued that because Fitzgerald does not report to the attorney general, he should not have been appointed by a deputy at the Justice Department.The weather has continued to be bright and sunny, with cool and pleasant temperatures. Overnight, the low was 69 and the high this afternoon was a severely sunny 79. Occasional sprinkles from passing clouds, but hey, this is Arenal, and that is normal here. Last night, we got a much needed downpour that freshened things up nicely, and it conveniently came late at night.
Well, I haven't made it out of the house at all today, other than to shoo away some birds that were starting to build a nest in the light fixture over the porch. Discouraging them was simple enough - just turn on the light. The heat and light from the incandescent bulb were enough to send them off to find a more suitable location. I did wander out into the garden long enough to notice that my avocado tree is coming along with a new growth flush. Looks like it has entered its dry-season growth phase. And a banana plant that blew down in the wind was was replanted by the gardener has taken off and is regrowing.
The Costa Rican election controversy just drags on and on. Late yesterday, the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones announced that they had completed the manual full recount of the million-plus votes cast in the elections on Sunday the fifth. They announced the result - Oscar Arias leads his challenger, Otton Solis, by 18,000 votes - a margin of 1.1 percent - 39.8% for Solis, 40.9 percent for Arias, just enough to avoid a runoff. By law, the candidates must be given the opportunity to challenge spoiled and blank ballots before the election results are made official, and Solis has done so. But I don't think it is going to help - there are simply not enough that even if all the questionable ballots were to be included in his tally, that he would win. Otton, give it up and accept your fate. Arias is the country's next president.
More Reasons Why I Am Glad I Am Out Of The States: Is the Pentagon building U.S.-based prison camps for Muslim immigrants? To detain dissidents and political opponents? Evidence points to the possibility. Not that George W. Bush needs much encouragement, but Sen. Lindsey Graham suggested to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales a new target for the administration's domestic operations - Fifth Columnists, supposedly disloyal Americans who sympathize and collaborate with the enemy. "The administration has not only the right, but the duty, in my opinion, to pursue Fifth Column movements," Graham, R-S.C., told Gonzales during Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Feb. 6. "I stand by this president's ability, inherent to being commander in chief, to find out about Fifth Column movements, and I don't think you need a warrant to do that," Graham added, volunteering to work with the administration to draft guidelines for how best to neutralize this alleged threat. "Senator," a smiling Gonzales responded, "the president already said we'd be happy to listen to your ideas." In less paranoid times, Graham's comments might be viewed by many Americans as a Republican trying to have it both ways - ingratiating himself to an administration of his own party while seeking some credit from Washington centrists for suggesting Congress should have at least a tiny say in how Bush runs the War on Terror. But recent developments suggest that the Bush administration may already be contemplating what to do with Americans who are deemed insufficiently loyal or who disseminate information that may be considered helpful to the enemy. Top U.S. officials have cited the need to challenge news that undercuts Bush's actions as a key front in defeating the terrorists, who are aided by "news informers," in the words of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Only a few independent journalists, such as Peter Dale Scott and Maureen Farrell, have pursued what the Bush administration might actually be thinking. Scott speculated that the "detention centers could be used to detain American citizens if the Bush administration were to declare martial law." He recalled that during the Reagan administration, National Security Council aide Oliver North organized Rex-84 "readiness exercise," which contemplated the Federal Emergency Management Agency rounding up and detaining 400,000 "refugees," in the event of "uncontrolled population movements" over the Mexican border into the United States.
Bush on Tuesday brushed aside objections by leaders in the Senate and House that the $6.8 billion sale of several east-coast ports could raise risks of terrorism. In a forceful defense of his administration's earlier approval of the deal, he pledged to veto any bill Congress might approve to block the agreement involving the sale to the Arab firm. Bush faces a rebellion from leaders of his own party, as well as from Democrats, about the deal that would put Dubai Ports in charge of major shipping operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. The White House was taken by surprise when Mr. Frist and Mr. Hastert joined Democratic leaders in Congress and other prominent Republicans, including Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Gov. George E. Pataki of New York, in calling for the government to stop the deal from closing next week as scheduled.
Dubai is one of the region's most open banking centers and is the commercial capital of the United Arab Emirates, one of three countries that maintained diplomatic relations with the Taliban until shortly after Sept. 11. Sitting at a strategic crossroad of the Persian Gulf, South Asia and Africa, Dubai has long been a financial hub for Islamic militant groups. Much of the $500,000 used to fund the Sept. 11 attacks came through Dubai, investigators believe. "All roads lead to Dubai when it comes to money. Everyone did business there," said Patrick Jost, who until last year was a senior financial enforcement officer in the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
The Old West lives in Michigan: As some states consider expanding the right to use deadly force in self-defense, a group of gun-control advocates yesterday asked Michigan lawmakers to defeat a bill that would eliminate people’s legal "duty" to avoid a threat to oneself by walking away or seeking refuge. Instead, people would be allowed to use lethal force against anyone they can later demonstrate they believed was threatening their life. Yesterday’s hearings on state senate Judiciary Committee, which heard testimony on SB 1046, came less than a week after a stray bullet from a gun fight killed an 8-year-old boy in Detroit. According to information provided by the National Rifle Association, the proposed law in Michigan is similar to one already enacted in Florida last year. Lawmakers in Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Oklahoma and South Dakota are considering similar bills. Such laws are often referred to as "shoot first" or "shoot-to-kill" by gun-control groups, and as "stand-your-ground" or "castle doctrine" by proponents.
Now we know the truth: For months in 2002, when George W. Bush and his top lieutenants were publicly insisting on their adherence to the Geneva Conventions, they were privately torpedoing efforts by Alberto Mora, the Navy's courageous general counsel, to prevent, and establish accountability for, brutal treatment of detainees. Two years before the publication of the Abu Ghraib photos, Mora confronted the highest-level Pentagon officials over abuse of prisoners at Guantánamo and warned the Administration that its interrogation policies invited torture and cruelty. The New Yorker's Jane Mayer revealed Mora's lonely campaign just as Kofi Annan and a team of United Nations investigators declared Guantánamo a torture camp that should be closed and its prisoners either tried or released.
Sometimes it's the small abuses scurrying below radar that reveal how profoundly the Bush administration has changed America in the name of national security. Buried within the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 is a regulation that bars most public access to birth and death certificates for 70 to 100 years. In much of the country, these records have long been invaluable tools for activists, lawyers and reporters to uncover patterns of illness and pollution that officials miss or ignore. 'In These Times' has obtained a draft of the proposed regulations now causing widespread concern among state officials. It reveals plans to create a vast database of vital records to be centralized in Washington and details measures that states must implement -- and pay millions for -- before next year's scheduled implementation. The draft lays out how some 60,000 already strapped town and county offices must keep the birth and death records under lock and key and report all document requests to Washington. Individuals who show up in person will still be able to obtain their own birth certificates and, in some cases, the birth and death records of an immediate relative, and "legitimate" research institutions may be able to access files. But reporters and activists won't be allowed to fish through records, many family members looking for genetic clues will be out of luck, and people wanting to trace adoptions will dead-end. If you are homeless and need your own birth certificate, forget it: no address, no service.
Don't let 'em back and don't let 'em vote: Despite emergency orders and new legislation, elections turmoil in New Orleans is far from over. Two weeks ago, grassroots organizations and community leaders filed a federal lawsuit seeking broad ballot access for people displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Elections for mayor, city council and other positions are currently scheduled for April 22 and May 20. According to the lawsuit, state elections plans would essentially disenfranchise displaced city residents, the majority of them black. The suit was filed on February 9 by the Association for Community Reform Now (ACORN), the Advancement Project and two leaders of New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward Neighborhood Council. Official estimates put the city's current population at 156,000, about a third of pre-Katrina numbers. Before last summer's storms, the city was nearly 70 percent black. There are no reliable statistics concerning New Orleans' ethnic makeup since the New Orleanians scattered before and after Katrina struck. Nearly six months since Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters rampaged through the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans, the neighborhood's profile is still shocking. Some homes are flattened into splinters, as if stepped on by a giant. Others are semi-intact, but transported by the water far from their foundations. "My house is destroyed, and on the lot are two other houses - one from three blocks down and one mystery house," said resident Diane Smith. "The houses are unrecognizable; you literally have to search for your house." It is hard to imagine this area being inhabited again, but many Lower Ninth Ward residents are determined, despite obstacles imposed not only by nature's wrath, but by the government of the city they call home. For many, this was the only home they have known, and they cannot imagine themselves anywhere else. Lower Ninth resident Kerwin LaFrance said he was "taken care of and welcomed everywhere" after the hurricane. But, he said, "there ain't no place like home. I won't be satisfied until I come back here."
The Florida Board of Education unanimously approved Tuesday a plan that will grant bonuses to the state's top teachers, an assessment that will primarily be based on how their students perform on standardized tests and other measurements. The plan requires districts to award bonuses of 5 percent or more to at least the top 10 percent of their teachers - that's at least $2,000 for a teacher making $40,000 annually. Teachers who are in the top 10 percent one year and remain in the top 25 percent statewide the next would again receive a bonus. The rankings will be based on how students perform on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, which covers subjects such as reading, writing, math and science, or special exams or measurements for classes and grades not covered by FCAT. Alternative assessment methods will be also devised for special education teachers, counselors and others whose performance would be difficult or impossible to grade through a test. Bonuses would be denied teachers if they have been disciplined.
Why I Am Embarrassed To Present My Passport: Its regional influence fortuitously boosted by the US invasion of Iraq and the advent of a Shia-dominated government in Baghdad, Iran's leadership is contemplating another unintended gift from Washington: the chance to become a power in Palestine. Last month's election victory by Hamas, which the US, EU and Israel deem a terrorist organisation, threw the Bush administration into confusion. Its response, backed by western partners, was to threaten diplomatic isolation and a funding freeze for the Palestinian Authority unless Hamas recognised Israel and renounced violence. Speaking in Tehran this week after meeting a senior Hamas representative, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, plunged into the fray, urging the movement not to bow to Israeli and western demands. "The only way to succeed is to continue resistance against the occupier regime," he said. Pledging Iranian help in making good any shortfall in foreign assistance, he urged all Muslims to chip in. "Such voluntary aid will create a psychological connection between Muslims and the Palestinian issue and will have a great effect on the world."
Islamic charities meeting in Doha, Qatar, yesterday accused the United States and other Gulf governments of meddling in their activities and preventing them from delivering aid to disaster-hit areas. Participants in the 'Second GCC Forum For Charitable Works' said restrictions imposed on Islamic charitable associations will not help root out those involved in funding terror activities and prompt more illegal activities. "Many Islamic charities are suspected of funding terrorism and denied funds without any evidence," said Ali Al Suwaidi, general manager of the Qatar-based Shaikh Eid Bin Mohammad Al Thani Charitable Association and the event organizer.
Yahoo! is banning the use of "allah" in email names - even if the letters are included within another name. This was uncovered by Register reader Ed Callahan whose mother Linda Callahan was trying to sign up for a Verizon email address. She could not get it to accept her surname. Enquiries to Verizon revealed that a partnership with Yahoo! was to blame. Yahoo! will not accept any identies which include the letters "allah". Nor will Yahoo! accept yahoo, osama or binladen. But it will accept god, messiah, jesus, jehova, buddah, satan and both priest and pedophile. Ed Callahan told us: "On one level this is just silliness. But we have a war on terrorism and it's migrating to be a war on Muslims - this just shows the confusion there is between the two and how pervasive this is." The Callahans are still waiting to hear back from Yahoo!
"Extraordinary Rendition" Watch: Newly declassified memos show the number of Canadian landings by planes tied to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency far exceeds previously known figures. Internal government briefing notes obtained Wednesday also reveal senior intelligence officials from six federal agencies, including Canada's spy service, met in late November to discuss the flights. The memos underscore the level of concern in government circles about public fears the CIA has been ferrying terrorist suspects through Canada to foreign prisons. One note, stamped secret, says 20 planes with alleged CIA ties have made 74 flights to Canada since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
British MPs will today chastise ministers over their stance on the US practice of "extraordinary rendition" amid the first official admission that 200 suspect CIA flights had used British airspace. In a report highly critical of the government's attitude towards human rights abuses, the Commons foreign affairs committee accuses ministers of failing in their duty to find out whether Britain has been complicit in the US policy of secretly transferring detainees to places where they risked being tortured. The British National Air Traffic Services (NATS) confirmed yesterday that two aircraft believed to have been chartered by the CIA made "around 200 journeys" through British airspace within the past five years.
The United States Of America, A Third-World Nation: Four men suspected of looting bones and body parts from more than 1,000 corpses in the New York area are to face criminal charges. Alleged ringleader Michael Mastromarino turned himself in on Wednesday but denied any guilt, his lawyer said. Prosecutors have been investigating the disappearance of body parts, including the bones of late BBC broadcaster Alistair Cooke, since 2004. Formal charges are expected to be announced later on Thursday.
Habeas Corpus Death Watch: The military commander responsible for the American detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, confirmed Tuesday that officials there last month turned to more aggressive methods to deter prisoners who were carrying out long-term hunger strikes to protest their incarceration. The commander, Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, head of the United States Southern Command, said soldiers at Guantánamo began strapping some of the detainees into "restraint chairs" to force-feed them and isolate them from one another after finding that some were deliberately vomiting or siphoning out the liquid they had been fed. "It was causing problems because some of these hard-core guys were getting worse," General Craddock said at a breakfast meeting with reporters. Explaining the use of the restraint chairs, he added, "The way around that is you have to make sure that purging doesn't happen."
Republicans Believe The War On Drugs Is Effective: A record number of marijuana plants were seized last year in Washington state, making it the state's eighth biggest agricultural commodity, edging out cherries in value. The 135,323 plants were estimated to be worth $270m. "We're struck by the amount of work they put into it," said Rich Wiley, who heads the Washington state patrol narcotics program. "It's very labour intensive. They often run individual drip lines to each plant, and are out there fertilising them." It was the seventh year in a row that record numbers of marijuana plants had been seized and destroyed, the state patrol said.
Republicans Believe In Honest And Transparent Elections: The latest Diebold scandal: There are infrared data ports on the Diebold Diebold AccuVote TSx touch-screen voting machines, and no one is saying what they are used for. Since the software is (illegally) secret and proprietary, there is no way to find out, either. A few election watchdog groups, including some members of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) who works with the federal authorities on these matters, have issued warnings about the IrDA port and protocols on voting machines. However, little - if anything - seems to have been done to mitigate the rather obvious security threat posed, as far as we can tell.
Trickle-Down Economics Trickling On You: US consumer prices rose by 0.7% in January, fuelled by a sharp rise in energy costs. However, Department of Labor figures showed that when food and energy costs were excluded prices rose by just 0.2%. Over the past 12 months consumer prices rose 4.0%, the largest yearly increase since October 2005 and up on December's figure of 3.4%. Analysts said the higher-than-expected rise in prices during January would lead to pressure for more rate rises. "Clearly the rise of 0.7% is higher than most economists expected, so it's a disappointment," said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer at Johnson Illington Advisors in New York. "The biggest reason for the increase was a 5% rise in energy prices. It's very clear that higher energy prices are now being passed along to consumers."
Average real family incomes before tax slipped 2.3 percent between 2001 and 2004 to $70,700, the Federal Reserve said on Thursday in a survey of family finances it releases every three years. Median household incomes, in contrast, rose 1.6 percent to $43,200, the central bank said. Households saw their median net worth climb 1.5 percent over the three-year period to $93,100 -- a much smaller gain than the 10.3 percent increase logged in the 1998-2001 period. The survey also showed consumers racked up more debt, bought fewer stocks and saw their home prices gain in value.
Over 25 million served: More than 25 million Americans turned to the nation's largest network of food banks, soup kitchens and shelters for meals last year, up 9 percent from 2001. Those seeking food included 9 million children and nearly 3 million senior citizens, says a report from America's Second Harvest. "The face of hunger doesn't have a particular color, and it doesn't come from a particular neighborhood," said Ertharin Cousin, executive vice president of the group. "They are your neighbors, they are working Americans, they are senior citizens who have worked their entire lives, and they are children." The organization said it interviewed 52,000 people at food banks, soup kitchens and shelters across the country last year. The network represents about 39,000 hunger-relief organizations, or about 80 percent of those in the United States. The vast majority are run locally by churches and private nonprofit groups. The surveys were done before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast in 2005. After the hurricanes, demand for emergency food assistance tripled in Gulf Coast states, according to a separate report by the group.
Within a decade, an aging America will be spending one of every five dollars on health care, according to government analysts who see no end to increases in the cost of going to the doctor and taking medicine. The nation's total health care bill by 2015: more than $4 trillion. Consumers will foot about half the bill, the government the rest. The report, written by analysts with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, attributes rising costs to the aging of the baby-boom population and the changing nature of health insurance.
This year, the government may have another surprise in store for the growing underclass in the U.S. Tucked into the Bush administration’s 2007 budget plan is a proposal to eliminate the program that helps him and about half a million other Americans get enough to eat. Deemed redundant by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Department of Agriculture’s food program may be scrapped because it supposedly overlaps with larger, parallel programs like food stamps. But supporters of the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) argue that countless low-income participants rely on it for crucial aid they cannot obtain anywhere else.
"India's middle class is buying air-conditioners, kitchen appliances and washing machines, and a lot of them from American companies like GE and Whirlpool and Westinghouse. And that means their job base is growing here in the United States. Younger Indians are acquiring a taste for pizzas from Domino's, Pizza Hut," Smirkey said to laughs from the audience at a Washington hotel. "Today, India's consumers associate American brands with quality and value, and this trade is creating opportunity at home." But Henry Rowen, a senior fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution in Palo Alto, said economic growth doesn't exactly balance the drawbacks of outsourcing. "Certainly there's some positives and some negatives. The net is a little tricky," said Rowen, who co-edited an upcoming book titled "Making IT: The Rise of Asia in Information Technologies." "The consumer benefits from all of this, but there's an impact." Outsourcing is a delicate issue for the Bush administration. Its top economic adviser came under fire in 2004 for calling it "just a new way to do international trade," comments that Democrats often cited during the presidential campaign as evidence Bush didn't care about workers.
Recent statistics show that the fastest-growing jobs in the US also happen to be those with the lowest compensation. At the same time, the minimum wage is, in real dollar terms, the lowest it has been since its enactment in 1947. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) last month reported that the official unemployment rate had fallen to 4.7 percent (though most economists put the true figure at between 7 and 8.5 percent). Buried in the rosy economic scenario portrayed by recent BLS reports is the fact that few jobs in the fastest-growing categories pay well. According to the BLS January jobs report, food-service and service-provider jobs grew a combined 69,000 in January. The report was followed this month by the BLS annual Occupational Outlook Handbook, which projects continued rapid growth in demand for home-healthcare workers, medical assistants and personal-care aides, all service-related jobs that generally pay little more than the minimum wage. Though service-related employment categories do include managerial and non-supervisory positions that are better compensated, the majority of such jobs pay little more -- and in some cases, such as restaurant workers, less -- than the minimum wage, which is now less than a third of the average hourly wage, according to an analysis released by the Economic Policy Institute Friday. Of the 30 fastest-growing occupations, six do not require higher education and another eight demand just an associate’s degree.
News From The Talibaptist Jihad: A new group in the United States, Christians United for Israel, will serve as an umbrella organization for Christian congregations that support Israel, and will lobby for Israel. Some 400 Christian community leaders met in San Antonio, Texas, two weeks ago to establish the group, which Christians United officials said represents about 30 million Americans. The organization's main goal is to create a rapid-response network "targeted to reach every senator and congressman" in the United States. It is led by evangelical leaders Dr. John C. Hagee and George Morrison; fundamentalist Baptist minister Jerry Falwell; and Gary Bauer, president of the American Values organization aimed at protecting marriage, family and faith.
South Dakota became the first U.S. state to pass a law banning abortion in virtually all cases, with the intention of forcing the Supreme Court to reconsider its 1973 decision legalizing the procedure. The law, which would punish doctors who perform the operation with a five-year prison term and a $5,000 fine, awaits the signature of Republican Gov. Michael Rounds and people on both sides of the issue say he is unlikely to veto it. "My understanding is we are the first state to truly defy Roe v. Wade," the 1973 high court ruling that granted a constitutional right to abortion, said Kate Looby of Planned Parenthood's South Dakota chapter.
The Federal Communications Commission will stick by its decision to slap CBS with a $550,000 fine for the Janet Jackson flash at the 2004 Super Bowl. They also plan new sanctions against Fox, NBC and CBS TV stations or affiliates for violating decency standards, according to people familiar with the matter. The two sources, who declined to be identified ahead of a public announcement, said one of the decisions involves an appearance by Nicole Richie on the 2003 Billboard Music Awards on Fox. During the broadcast, she uttered the "F" word and the expletive for excrement.
News From Smirkey's Wars: Afghanistan has huge problems and NATO forces will be there for "years and years", the commander of Canada's expeditionary forces, which have taken a lead role in the hostile south of the country, warned yesterday. More than 3,000 British troops will join the Canadians in southern Afghanistan over the coming months. It is the latest move in NATO's commitment to deploy troops throughout Afghanistan in what is widely regarded as a hugely risky test for the alliance. The build-up of NATO forces in the south of the country is the alliance's "biggest operational, and perhaps strategic, challenge in years, if not decades", Major General Michel Gauthier said in a telephone interview with the Guardian.
Nearly 100 prisoners have died in US custody in Iraq and Afghanistan since August 2002, the Human Rights First organization has said on BBC television. At least 98 deaths occurred, with at least 34 of them suspected or confirmed homicides -- deliberate or reckless killing - according to the group of US lawyers who will publish the report. Their dossier claims that 11 more deaths are deemed suspicious and that between eight and 12 prisoners were tortured to death. The number of deaths in custody discounts those due to fighting, mortar attacks or violence between detainees. They were directly attributable to their detention or interrogation in American custody, the BBC's Newsnight program said. The report alleged that one person was made to jump off a bridge into the Tigris river in Iraq and another was forced inside a sleeping bag and suffocated. The report's editor Deborah Pearlstein told Newsnight: "We're extremely comfortable with the veracity and the reliability of the facts here."
Scandals Du Jour: The federal investigation into the lobbying activities of Jack Abramoff has broadened to examine his dealings with the Russian government and a pair of high-profile Russian energy company executives, according to documents made available to the Globe. A subpoena in the case, issued this month to an Abramoff associate, says the US government is seeking information on Abramoff-related activities with "any department, ministry, or office holder or agent of the Russian government." The subpoena, which has not been made public, was given to the Globe by a person who is involved in the case. Abramoff's work on behalf of Indian tribes has been widely scrutinized, but his work for Russian interests has received far less public notice.
An extensive investigation of embattled Fannie Mae points to its former finance chief and controller as mainly responsible for the accounting failures at the mortgage giant now struggling to emerge from an $11 billion scandal, said a report released Thursday. The report by a team of investigators led by former Sen. Warren Rudman of New Hampshire also found that former chairman and CEO Franklin Raines, while not sharing direct responsibility, contributed to a culture of arrogance at the government-sponsored company. The report comes about 17 months after the revelation that federal regulators had discovered violations of accounting rules and earnings manipulation by the company to meet Wall Street targets. The board of Fannie Mae, a congressionally chartered corporation which finances one of every five home-mortgage loans in the United States, hired Rudman as independent counsel to launch an investigation at the time of the stunning disclosures in September 2004.
The weather has been a delight the last couple of days, and it looks like, with any luck, we're finally settling into the dry season. Nice, warm, sunny days, clear nights and warm, but not hot temperatures. Quite a bit of wind, though, to spoil the weather that would be perfect otherwise. It was 81 today, and with a low overnight of 68. The weather has definitely been improving. The cold fronts headed this way seem to be falling apart before they get here, and that would indicate that the dry season really has begun.
My bookkeeper came by on Monday, and got me squared away with this year's taxes on my two corporations. Any corporation that owns assets in Costa Rica has to pay a "culture and education" tax, which doesn't amount to all that much. The sum of what I owed came to a grand total of 12,000 colones, about $24. Not a big deal, except that I couldn't just go to the bank and pay them. The bank whose branch is here in town is not accepting tax payments, so I had to drive to Tilaran to pay them at a bank there.
The drive over to Tilaran started out badly. I got behind an enormous tourist bus, which was not just slowing down for the potholes, it was outright stopping, and I was creeping along in low gear between them. Getting nowhere fast, I finally passed cars ahead of me until I was right behind it, and waited till it stopped for a pothole, and with no oncoming traffic, finally made it around the behemoth. I had no sooner gotten around the bus, than I found myself at a construction zone, where CONAVI, the road agency, was out, actually filling potholes. After a short wait, I was finally on my way - only to encounter another construction crew a couple of miles on. But at least the potholes are getting filled. For now. There will be a whole new crop at the end of the next rainy season, that's for sure, but at least we'll have a few months of smooth driving.
Business over in Tilaran, I stopped at the big grocery store in Tilaran for a few things I can't get in Arenal, and then headed home. I was amazed at the number of huge tourist buses I encountered on the way back - I counted fifteen of them in that 34km. stretch of road. I cannot recall ever seeing so many in one day - I rarely see more than one or two on that trip. The package tour business must really be flourishing. But this is the peak of the season for the tourists from the United States, and package tours seems to be what the Americans go for.
More Reasons Why I Am Glad I Am Out Of The States: One of DP World's senior executives, Dave Sanborn, has been nominated by US President George W. Bush to serve as Maritime Administrator a key transportation appointment reporting directly to Norman Mineta the Secretary of Transportation and Cabinet Member. The White House has issued a statement from Washington DC announcing the nomination. The confirmation process will begin in February. Mr Sanborn currently holds the position of Director of Operations for Europe and Latin America for the Dubai-based company. DP World said: "While we are sorry to lose such an experienced and capable executive, it is exactly those qualities that will make Dave an effective administrator for MarAd. We are proud of Dave’s selection and pleased that the Bush Administration found such a capable executive. We wish him all the best in his new role."
A company at the Port of Miami has sued to block the takeover of shipping operations there by a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates. It is the first American courtroom effort to capsize a $6.8 billion sale already embroiled in a national debate over security risks at six major U.S. ports affected by the deal. The Miami company, a subsidiary of Eller and Company Inc., presently is a business partner with London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., which Dubai Ports World purchased last week. In a lawsuit in Florida circuit court, the Miami subsidiary said that under the sale it will become an "involuntary partner" with Dubai's government and it may seek more than $10 million in damages.
In a seven-year-old secret program at the National Archives, intelligence agencies have been removing from public access thousands of historical documents that were available for years, including some already published by the State Department and others photocopied years ago by private historians. The restoration of classified status to more than 55,000 previously declassified pages began in 1999, when the Central Intelligence Agency and five other agencies objected to what they saw as a hasty release of sensitive information after a 1995 declassification order signed by President Bill Clinton. It accelerated after the Bush administration took office and especially after the 2001 terrorist attacks, according to archives records. But because the reclassification program is itself shrouded in secrecy - governed by a still-classified memorandum that prohibits the National Archives even from saying which agencies are involved - it continued virtually without outside notice until December. That was when an intelligence historian, Matthew M. Aid, noticed that dozens of documents he had copied years ago had been withdrawn from the archives' open shelves.
Samuel Alito will make his Supreme Court debut with a splash this week when the justices hear two cases that could determine the future of the Clean Water Act. The cases, both from Michigan and scheduled for hearing on Tuesday, could have an enormous impact. For property-rights advocates, an unfavorable ruling could spread the shadow of federal regulation over every tiny stream and rivulet in America, stifling development. Federal authority would extend to "virtually every body of water in the nation -- every brook and pond, every dry wash -- that has any connection with navigable waters, no matter how remote," warned a coalition of water suppliers, farmers and the states of Alaska and Utah in one of more than 50 briefs filed with the court. For environmentalists, a loss would strike at the heart of the nation's water resources. Federal agencies would be powerless to prevent "the discharge of sewage, toxic pollutants and fill into ... the large majority of our nation's rivers, streams and other waters," said clean-water agencies from two-thirds of the states, including California.
The Supreme Court opened the next chapter in its long-running confrontation with abortion today by agreeing to decide whether the first federal ban on a method of abortion is constitutional. The court accepted, for argument next fall, the Bush administration's appeal of a decision invalidating the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. The law makes it a crime for a doctor to perform an abortion during which a portion of the fetus, either the "entire fetal head" or "any part of the fetal trunk past the navel," is outside the woman's uterus at the time the fetus is killed.
Caught lying again: Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday that the Pentagon is reviewing its practice of paying to plant stories in the Iraqi news media, withdrawing his earlier claim that it had been stopped. Rumsfeld told reporters he was mistaken in the earlier assertion. "I don't have knowledge as to whether it's been stopped. I do have knowledge it was put under review. I was correctly informed. And I just misstated the facts," Rumsfeld said at a Pentagon news briefing. Rumsfeld had said in a speech in New York last Friday and in a television interview the same day that the controversial practice had been stopped.
Picture two steaks on a grocer's shelf, each hermetically sealed in clear plastic wrap. One is bright pink, rimmed with a crescent of pearly white fat. The other is brown, its fat the color of a smoker's teeth. Which do you reach for? The meat industry knows the answer, which is why it has quietly begun to spike meat packages with carbon monoxide. The gas, harmless to health at the levels being used, gives meat a bright pink color that lasts weeks. The hope is that it will save the industry much of the $1 billion it says it loses annually from having to discount or discard meat that is reasonably fresh and perfectly safe but no longer pretty. But the growing use of carbon monoxide as a "pigment fixative" is alarming consumer advocates and others who say it deceives shoppers who depend on color to help them avoid spoiled meat. Those critics are challenging the Food and Drug Administration and the nation's powerful meat industry, saying the agency violated its own rules by allowing the practice without a formal evaluation of its impact on consumer safety. "This meat stays red and stays red and stays red," said Don Berdahl, vice president and laboratory director at Kalsec Foods in Kalamazoo, Mich., a maker of natural food extracts that has petitioned the FDA to ban the practice. If nothing else, Berdahl and others say, carbon-monoxide-treated meat should be labeled so consumers will know not to trust their eyes. The legal offensive has the meat industry seeing red. Officials deny their foes' claim that carbon monoxide is a "colorant" - a category that would require a full FDA review -- saying it helps meat retain its naturally red color.
Britain could lose its ability to impose environmental taxes, restrictions and safeguards on airlines under a draft treaty between the EU and US which curtails the power of national governments. The draft treaty, meant to liberalise aviation, includes a little noticed clause requiring EU states to reach agreement with each other and with the US before taking measures to tackle noise or pollution from airlines. The text of the draft "open skies" treaty, obtained by the Guardian, is likely to alarm environmental activists who argue that the seemingly unstoppable growth in air travel is among the main contributory factors to global warming. Aviation emissions rose by 12% last year and now account for about 11% of Britain's total greenhouse gas emissions - the fastest growing sector. The government's chief scientific adviser, Sir David King, has described global warming as a bigger threat to the world than global terrorism.
Why I Am Embarrassed To Present My Passport: Radiation detectors in Britain recorded a fourfold increase in uranium levels in the atmosphere after the "shock and awe" bombing campaign against Iraq, according to a recent report. Environmental scientists who uncovered the figures through freedom of information laws say it is evidence that depleted uranium from the shells was carried by wind currents to Britain. Government officials, however, say the sharp rise in uranium detected by radiation monitors in Berkshire was a coincidence and probably came from local sources. The results from testing stations at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) in Aldermaston and four other stations within a 10-mile radius were obtained by Chris Busby, of Liverpool University’s department of human anatomy and cell biology. Each detector recorded a significant rise in uranium levels during the Gulf war bombing campaign in March 2003. The reading from a park in Reading was high enough for the Environment Agency to be alerted.
"Extraordinary Rendition" Watch: CIA jets suspected of flying terrorist suspects to secret prisons for torture have landed at commercial British airports and received help from UK air traffic control, the authorities have admitted for the first time. National Air Traffic Services (NATS) confirmed that three planes with CIA tail numbers have travelled through Britain "on a number of occasions".
The Belgian government is investigating claims a secret CIA flight carrying a detainee made a stopover at the Deurne Airport in Antwerp. Federal Transport Minister Renaat Landuyt announced the investigation following a report published in Dutch newspaper 'NRC Handelsblad'. The newspaper said a US flight landed at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam on 20 July 2002. Two months later, the same plane was used to transport terror detainee Maher Arar to a Syrian jail for questioning. Flemish Transport Minister Kris Peeters later confirmed the private jet also made a stopover at Antwerp on 20 July 2002.
Bill Of Rights Death Watch: A report issued by the UN's Human Rights Commission on Thursday called for the closing of the U.S. military detention center at Guantanamo Bay. When asked about the report, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that while he does not agree with everything in it, he supports its main conclusions. Mr. Annan said sooner or later there will be a need to close Guantanamo and it will be up to the U.S. government to do it "as soon as possible." U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld indicated on Friday that the facility will not be closed, and he criticized the report for relying on false claims by terrorists. On a recent visit to the Guantanamo detention center, VOA Pentagon Correspondent Al Pessin found indications that the military has long-term plans for the facility. Most of Guantanamo's detainees are in open-air cells made of chain link fence with a metal roof, or simple barracks where up to 10 cooperative men are allowed to live together. But some are in a new, modern facility that cost more than $30 million to build, and looks like it is there for the long term. As in any maximum security facility, the outer steel door must be closed and locked before the inner steel door can be opened. Camp Five is a two-story building surrounded by high fences and barbed wire, with fenced exercise yards nearby. It can house up to 100 detainees. And perhaps more important, there is another similar building under construction right next to it that will be known as Camp Six. The large cranes, hard-hatted construction workers and piles of building material do not look like part of any facility that is going to be abandoned anytime soon.
Rats Deserting The U.S.S. Bush: U.S. President George W. Bush's domestic spying program should be overseen by a special court, the Senate Intelligence Committee's chairman said in an interview published on Saturday that revealed a split with the White House. Committee Chairman Pat Roberts told The New York Times he had concerns that the court, established under the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, could not issue warrants quickly enough for the eavesdropping program. But he said he would like to see that obstacle worked out. "I think it should come before the FISA court, but I don't know how it works," Roberts, a Kansas Republican who has backed the administration on most intelligence issues, was quoted as saying. He said speed and agility were essential for the program.
News From Smirkey's Wars: The Navy's former general counsel warned Pentagon officials two years before the Abu Ghraib prison scandal that circumventing international agreements on torture and detainees' treatment would invite abuse, according to a published report. Legal theories granting the president the right to authorize abuse in spite of the Geneva Conventions were unlawful, dangerous and erroneous, Alberto J. Mora advised officials in a secret memo. The 22-page document was obtained by The New Yorker for a story in its Feb. 27 issue. A Pentagon spokeswoman said Sunday she had not read the magazine story. The memo from July 7, 2004, recounted Mora's 2 1/2-year effort to halt a policy that he feared would authorize cruelty toward suspected terrorists. It also indicates that some lawyers in the Justice and Defense departments objected to the legal course the administration undertook, according to the report.
Alberto J. Mora was informed of detainee abuse at Guantanamo back in December of 2002 by the head of the Naval Criminal Investigation Service, David Brant, who said that nobody else seemed to care, because after 9/11, the "gloves had to come off" and the United States "had to get tougher."
A New Zealand expert on physical and mental health has stood by findings that US detention camp Guantanamo Bay, in Cuba, should be shut down. Professor Paul Hunt, of both the University of Waikato and the University of Essex, was part of a five-member team appointed by the UN Human Rights Commission to investigate conditions at the "war on terror" detention camp. The group also included Leila Zerrougui, an expert on arbitrary detention; Leandro Despouy, expert on judicial independence; Manfred Nowak, an expert on torture; and Asma Jahangir, an expert on freedom of religion.
If We Ignore Global Warming Long Enough, Maybe It Will Go Away: Greenhouse gases are being released into the atmosphere 30 times faster than the time when the Earth experienced a previous episode of global warming. A study comparing the rate at which carbon dioxide and methane are being emitted now, compared to 55 million years ago when global warming also occurred, has found dramatic differences in the speed of release.
Scandals Du Jour: The Abramoff scandal just grows and grows. Now it is the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Monday that disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff was paid $1.2 million to organize his 2002 meeting with President Bush, but denied the money came from the Malaysian government. Mahathir told reporters he was aware a payment was made to Abramoff, but he didn't know who made it. He said he had been persuaded by the U.S. think tank Heritage Foundation to meet with Bush at the time. "It is true that somebody paid but it was not the (Malaysian) government," Mahathir said. "I understood some people paid a sum of money to lobbyists in America but I do not know who these people were and it was not the Malaysian government." Mahathir said the Heritage Foundation believed he could help "influence (Bush) in some way regarding U.S. policies."
The weather is continuing its on-again, off-again pattern of an hour or two of cold, rainy, windy weather, interrupted by brief periods of bright sunshine and warm temperatures. I am hoping that this signals an end to the Arenal rains, which ended long ago in the rest of the country. The temperatures have been a bit on the chilly side, dropping to 68 last night, and rising to 76 today, but they have certainly been a lot worse than that. At least now they're tolerable, even though I did have to block a draft last night in the old windowframe in the living room, near the couch. It got downright chilly when the wind would blow that cold, damp air in on me as I was relaxing on the couch.
I was relaxing on the couch reading a book from my newly retrieved library. The book, "Rogue State," by Bill Blum is one I recommend highly. It's the book to which Osama Bin Laden recently made reference to in one of his infamous Al Jazeera videos. I had the book in my things, and have been wanting to read it since I been down here. But not having had access to my library, I have felt kinda out of the loop - until now. All the great books that had been sitting in storage boxes in a warehouse in San Jose are now on shelves in my office, and I am loving it - really loving it. I had forgotten how much I missed having ready access to some of my favorites. Just since Wednesday, when I got back with my things, I have already read one book, and have gotten half way through "Rogue State" as well.
And I can sit at my desk, in a comfortable office chair (instead of a kitchen chair) for a change, doing my work with a cup of good ol' Stash's Chai-spice tea at hand, in one of the big 16-ounce coffee mugs I had in my things. Oh, how I had forgotten how much I enjoy that tea! Best stuff in the world on a chilly morning - makes life worth living! I'm sure glad that I bought a bunch of it and put it in my things before I left the States. I wish I had bought more, and I am going to have to see if I can find a source for it down here for when I run out in a few months.
More Reasons Why I Am Glad I Am Out Of The States: A "beer or two" and a gun: Vice President Dick Cheney, who was forced to leave Yale University because his penchant for late-night beer drinking exceeded his devotion to his studies, and who is one of the small number of Americans who can count two drunk driving busts on his record, was doing more than hunting quail on the day that he shot a Texas lawyer in the face. The vice president has admitted that he was drinking on the afternoon of the incident. He claims it was only a beer, according to the transcript of an interview with Fox New Wednesday. But the whole discussion about how much drinking took place on the day of the fateful hunt has been evolving rapidly since Katherine Armstrong, the wealthy Republican lobbyist who is a member of the politically connected family that owns the ranch where Cheney blasted his hunting partner, initially claimed that no one was imbibing before the incident. Armstrong later acknowledged to a reporter from the NBC investigative unit that alcohol may have been served at a picnic Saturday afternoon on the dude ranch where Cheney shot Harry Whittington. According to the report, which appeared briefly Tuesday on MSNBC, Armstrong peddled the line that she did not believe that alcohol played a part in the shooting accident. But, she admitted, "There may be a beer or two in there, but remember not everyone in the party was shooting." The MSNBC story, which appeared only briefly before the website was scrubbed for reasons not yet explained, has been kept alive by the able web investigators at TheRawStory and other progressive blogs. And so it should be, as the prospect that alcohol may have been a factor in the shooting incident takes the story in a whole new direction, as does the revelation that the Secret Service kept the county sheriff from investigating until the next morning - when, of course, Cheney's blood alcohol count would have been back to zero. Cheney's admission that he was drinking, along with Armstrong's clumsy attempts to downplay the alcohol issue raises more questions than it answers about an incident involving a Vice President who, like Smirkey, was a heavy drinker in his youth, but who, unlike Bush, never swore off the bottle.
Google Inc. on Friday formally rejected the U.S. Justice Department's subpoena of data from the Web search leader, arguing the demand violated the privacy of users' Web searches and its own trade secrets. Responding to a motion by U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Google also said in a filing in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California the government demand to disclose Web search data was impractical. The Bush administration is seeking to compel Google to hand over Web search data as part of a bid by the Justice Department to appeal a 2004 Supreme Court injunction of a law to penalize Web site operators who allow children to view pornography. Google is going it alone in opposing the U.S. government request. Rivals Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. are among the companies that have complied with the Justice Department demand for data to be used to make its case. Google's lawyers said the company shares the government's concern with materials harmful to minors but argued that the request for its data was irrelevant. They offered a series of technical arguments why this data was not useful.
Few adults in the United States are satisfied with the performance of the House of Representatives and the Senate, according to a poll by Harris Interactive. Only 25 per cent of respondents have a positive opinion of the current Congress, unchanged since January.
Waste and fraud marked the federal government's assistance programs for Hurricane Katrina victims, with 10,000 mobile homes going unused and scattered cases of evacuees spending emergency funds on nude dancing in Houston, tattoos, casino gambling and a diamond engagement ring, according to an audit released Monday. About 5,000 of the 11,000 people who got $2,000 debit cards from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, at Reliant Center and the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston and two other shelters in Texas, incorrectly got additional $2,000 credits after applying by telephone or the internet, according to government findings. But losses from misspent debit funds - the list of purchases also included alcoholic beverages, so-called adult erotica, condoms and a $1,300 pistol - were peanuts compared to the amount of money FEMA wasted on contracts and housing payments, according to a report by the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general, Richard Skinner.
Under pressure from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, the Justice Department on February 10 conceded in federal court that it could begin releasing as early as March 3 the internal legal memos relied on by the Bush administration in setting up the controversial National Security Agency warrantless wiretapping program.
More bad news for Smirkey: the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows that Americans put more confidence in the United Nations to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons than they do the Bush administration. "How confident are you in the Bush administration’s ability to handle the situation in Iran?" - Very or Somewhat Likely: 45%, - Not Too Confident or Not At All Confident: 55%. "How confident are you in the United Nations’ ability to handle the situation in Iran?" - Very or Somewhat Likely: 47%, - Not Too Confident or Not At All Confident: 51%.
Why I Am Embarrassed To Present My Passport: The United States has asked the Palestinian Authority to return $50 million in U.S. aid because Washington does not want a Hamas-led government to have the funds, the State Department said on Friday. The money was demanded as part of a full review of all U.S. aid for the Palestinians that began soon after the militant group Hamas' surprise victory in elections last month. A Hamas-led parliament was set to be sworn in on Saturday but it could take several weeks for a Cabinet to be formed. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the caretaker government of President Mahmoud Abbas agreed to return the money, given last year for infrastructure projects after Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the West Bank. "In the interests of seeing that these funds not potentially make their way into the coffers of a future Palestinian government (made up of Hamas) ... we have asked for it to be returned and the Palestinian Authority has agreed," McCormack told reporters. A Palestinian official confirmed Washington had asked for $50 million in aid to be returned. "The Palestinian Authority promised to comply," the official said.
The United States and Israel are discussing ways to destabilize the Palestinian government so that newly elected Hamas officials will fail and elections will be called again, according to Israeli officials and Western diplomats. The intention is to starve the Palestinian Authority of money and international connections to the point where, some months from now, its president, Mahmoud Abbas, is compelled to call a new election. The hope is that Palestinians will be so unhappy with life under Hamas that they will return to office a reformed and chastened Fatah movement. The officials also argue that a close look at the election results shows that Hamas won a smaller mandate than previously understood. The officials and diplomats, who said this approach was being discussed at the highest levels of the State Department and the Israeli government, spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly on the issue.
Extraordinary Rendition Watch: The American military have been operating flights across Europe using a call sign assigned to a civilian airline that they have no legal right to use. Not only is the call sign bogus - according to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) - so, it appears, are some of the aircraft details the Americans have filed with the air traffic control authorities. In at least one case, a plane identified with the CIA practice of "extraordinary rendition" - transporting terrorist suspects - left a US air base just after the arrival of an aircraft using the bogus call sign. The call sign Juliet Golf Oscar (JGO) followed by a flight number belongs, says the ICAO, to a now bankrupt Canadian low-cost airline called Jetsgo of Montreal. But for several years and as recently as last December it has been used selectively by both the American air force and army to cover the flights of aircraft to and from the Balkans. These range from Learjet 35 executive jets to C-130 transport planes and MC-130P Combat Shadows, which are specially adapted for clandestine missions in politically sensitive or hostile territory.
Republicans Support The Troops: Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) led a 10-Senator effort to increase the pay for service-members. Smirkey's budget specifies a 2.2% increase - the smallest pay raise for the military since 1994. "Our troops are sacrificing so much, in every corner of the world. Shortchanging them and the families who love them is a lousy way to say thanks," said Kerry, who authored the letter. "Our military deserves leadership that matches their service and patriotism. Getting our troops the pay raise they deserve is the very least we can do to show how much we value everything they do for us. I'm going to fight for a fair military pay raise until it becomes a reality, and I thank my colleagues who have joined me in doing so," added Kerry.
Republicans Believe In Free, Fair and Honest Elections: California Secretary of State McPherson seems to have a thing for making major announcements late on Fridays just before holidays. Following in what seems to be a pattern of his, he announced late this afternoon that he was certifying Diebold Optical Scan and AccuVote TSx (touch-screens), known to be easily hackable, for use in elections in the state. The re-certification (they had been originally decertified in California in 2004 when it was revealed Diebold had installed illegal software updates on the machines) is conditional on some items but not on the one thing point he had announced last December when he sent the system back to federal authorities for further testing. At that time he said he was sending the machine's memory cards to the federal Independent Testing Authority (ITA) Lab for reinspection in light of the news out of Leon County, Florida that the cards used "interpreted code" which is specifically banned by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). A "hack test" in that county revealed that an entire election could have its results flipped by a hacker exploiting that "interpreted code" - without a trace being left behind. McPherson made his announcement today without waiting to hear back from the ITA lab.
Republicans Maintain High Ethical Standards: The North Carolina Republican Party asked its members this week to send their church directories to the party, drawing furious protests from local and national religious leaders. "Such a request is completely beyond the pale of what is acceptable," said the Rev. Richard Land, head of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. During the 2004 presidential race, the Bush-Cheney campaign sent a similar request to Republican activists across the country. It asked churchgoers not only to furnish church directories to the campaign, but also to use their churches as a base for political organizing. The tactic was roundly condemned by religious leaders across the political spectrum, including conservative evangelical Christians. Ten professors of ethics at major seminaries and universities wrote a letter to President Bush in August 2004 asking him to "repudiate the actions of your re-election campaign," and calling on both parties to "respect the integrity of all houses of worship." Officials of the Republican National Committee maintained that the tactic did not violate federal tax laws that prohibit churches from endorsing or opposing candidates for office, and they never formally renounced it.
Republican Policies Are Good For America: The financial costs to the U.S. military for discharging and replacing gay service members under the nation's "don't ask, don't tell" policy are nearly twice what the government estimated last year, with taxpayers covering at least $364 million in associated funds over the policy's first decade, according to a University of California report scheduled for release today. Members of a UC-Santa Barbara group examining the cost of the policy found that a Government Accountability Office study last year underestimated the costs of firing approximately 9,500 service members between 1994 and 2003 for homosexuality. The GAO, which acknowledged difficulties in coming up with its number, estimated a cost of at least $190.5 million for the same time period. The new estimate is 91 percent higher. Although it did not take a stance on the effectiveness of the policy, the California "blue ribbon commission" - which included former defense secretary William J. Perry and 11 professors and defense experts - found that the military has put millions of dollars into recruiting and training new soldiers and officers to replace those who were removed from their jobs in the services because they were openly gay. The report also cites the costs of losing service members to premature discharge, because of the loss of training "investment."
Three senators want the Justice Department to investigate claims that the FBI retaliated against an Arab-American agent by passing him over for top counterterrorism jobs despite his expertise. Sens. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, urged the Justice Department's inspector general to determine whether the FBI denied a promotion to agent Bassem Youssef after Youssef complained about FBI management to another member of Congress, Rep. Frank Wolf (news, bio, voting record), R-Va. Specter is the Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Leahy is the panel's senior Democrat. In a joint letter this week to Inspector General Glenn Fine, the senators warned that "retaliation for such disclosures sends a chilling message to all employees and thus prevents both the (FBI) director and Congress from receiving valuable information necessary to run and oversee the bureau effectively." Fine's office said it was reviewing the senators' request.
Bill Of Rights Death Watch: Scott Tooley, a Republican, and former Congressional aide and law school graduate, educated at renowned Christian universities, has filed suit against the President, Vice President and relevant federal agencies for their illegal surveillance programs. According to the complaint, the Bush-Cheney Administration initiated numerous illegal and perpetual surveillance methods on Mr. Tooley and his family after he was incorrectly placed on the TSA's "selectee" or watch list. Mr. Tooley's case is unique because the suit alleges the Bush Administration has used additional illegal surveillance methods on him in addition to the illegal wiretapping. Mr. Tooley is also the first Republican to file suit with regard to the Bush Administration's surveillance programs. The suit alleges that RFID tags "that monitor their vehicle movements" were placed on his wife's car. Prior to filing suit, Mr. Tooley says he asked federal agencies for the removal of his name from the TSA's watch list and any documents relating to the matter. He says he was stonewalled and told that the agencies could neither confirm nor deny that his name was placed on multiple watch lists. The complaint was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday, February 17, 2006.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says those who call for the closure the detention center at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are "just flat wrong." Mr. Rumsfeld says the Guantanamo Bay detention Center is being run as well as possible and any allegations of torture or abuse of prisoners are being handled through appropriate military procedures.
News From Smirkey's Wars: Iraq has lost over $6 billion throughout 2005 due to sabotage operations against its oil sector facilities, a senior official told KUNA on Saturday. Issam Jihad, Spokesman for the Iraqi Oil Ministry said the ministry experts have estimated the loss at $6.25 billion, while 138 security and technical personnel lost their lives in a series of 186 sabotage operations carried in 2005. Operations to set oil fields ablaze cost the ministry about $400 million, while above $2.7 billion were lost in operations against crude oil pipelines. Destroying petrochemicals pipelines also cost over $3 billion, he concluded.
An Iranian group that claims its members are dedicated to becoming suicide bombers warned the United States and Britain on Saturday that they will strike coalition military bases in Iraq if Tehran's nuclear facilities are attacked. Mohammad Ali Samadi, spokesman for Esteshadion, or Martyrdom Seekers, boasted of having hundreds of potential bombers in his talk at a seminar on suicide-bombings tactics at Tehran's Khajeh Nasir University. "With more than 1,000 trained martyrdom-seekers, we are ready to attack the American and British sensitive points if they attack Iran's nuclear facilities," Samadi said. "If they strike, we have a lot of volunteers. Their (U.S. and British) sensitive places are quite close to Iranian borders," Samadi said.
News From The Talibaptist Jihad: The state board that oversees pharmacies in Massachusetts voted Tuesday to require Wal-Mart to stock emergency contraception pills at its Massachusetts pharmacies, a spokeswoman at the Department of Public Health said. The unanimous decision by the Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy comes two weeks after three women sued Wal-Mart in state court for failing to carry the so called "morning after" pill in its Wa