Dubya- King of the FUBAR Providence

Dearest Readers, Prissy has been down, but not out, with an illness typical of primary grade children!

It was a worse week for Bushies... And that former U.S. Attorney James Comey, thinking he needs to go around spreading the truth to anyone who will listen. He really knows how to make the prez mad.

Prissy sure did enjoy his testimony, the "hospital scenario" was straight out of a scene from the Sopranos.

Oh Prissy, what does FUBAR stand for, you may ask? It's an old military cliché for equipment or a situation which is seen as "F*$%ed-Up Beyond All Repair." Dubya may not be familiar with the term just yet...

Hot Links

IHT Iraq's hidden casualties: 13,000 working for contractors

Martin said she waited three weeks for her father's body to be returned home and expressed resentment that dead contractors were treated differently from soldiers who fall in battle.

"If anything happens to the military people, you hear about it right away," she said in a telephone interview. "Flags get lowered, they get their respect. You don't hear anything about the contractors."

Military officials in Washington and Baghdad said that no Pentagon office tracked contractor casualties and that they had no way to confirm or explain the sharp rise in deaths this year.

Major General William Caldwell 4th, the top spokesman for the U.S. military in Iraq, declined through an aide to address the matter. "Contractors are out of our lane, and we don't comment on them," said the aide, Lieutenant Matthew Breedlove.

While Prissy feels for any family suffering a loss, no one ordered contractors to Iraq. Unlike our soldiers, contractors are well compensated for their risk. So no, they can't really complain...if they don't want to keep getting popped off, they should just stop going. Contractors are resented by ALL other "sides" of this war, since they are directly profiting while the others stand by in misery. Notice the Lt.'s clipped phrase.

Army Times White House opposes 3.5 percent pay raise

Bush budget officials said the administration “strongly opposes” both the 3.5 percent raise for 2008 and the follow-on increases, calling extra pay increases “unnecessary.”

MSNBC Report: At least 2 abducted GIs believed alive Gen. Petraeus says U.S. knows who kidnapped three American soldiers

The top U.S. commander in Iraq thinks he knows who kidnapped three U.S. soldiers last weekend and believes that at least two of them are alive, the Army Times newspaper reported.

“We know who that guy is,” Gen. David Petraeus said in an interview posted Saturday on the Army Times Web site.

According to the newspaper, Petraeus said he did not know for certain whether the three 10th Mountain Division soldiers were alive.

“As of this morning, we thought there were at least two that were probably still alive,” he said. “At one point in time there was a sense that one of them might have died, but again we just don’t know.”

You can see how the General has come by his nickname.

Telegraph, more bad news for Dubya Bush gets ready for Iraq U-turn by Brown

Gordon Brown is prepared to risk the future of the "special relationship" with the United States by reversing Tony Blair's support for the Iraq war, President George W Bush has been warned.

He has been briefed by White House officials to expect an announcement on British troop withdrawals from Mr Brown during his first 100 days in power. It would be designed to boost the new prime minister's popularity in the opinion polls.

The President recently discussed with a senior White House adviser how to handle the fallout from the expected loss of Washington's main ally in Iraq, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.

Prissy hopes those neorepublicans clinging to hopes of a Bush rebound, soon allow those fantasies to be laid to rest right now. Wolfiewitz is gone, Generals continue to speak out against Bush-practically fresh from the field and Gonzo is hanging by a thread (or is it threat)...oh my. The house of cards is coming down.

Reuters 6 U.S. soldiers in Baghdad, Dead for Bush Lies

Six U.S. soldiers and an interpreter were killed by a roadside bomb in western Baghdad on Saturday, the U.S. military said in a statement on Sunday.

MSNBC, Prissy warned you about this weeks ago; the corporate media still playing catch up to the blogs. Tainted food exposes Chinese import woes What few contaminated products FDA discovers are often shipped again

Dried apples preserved with a cancer-causing chemical.

Frozen catfish laden with banned antibiotics.

Scallops and sardines coated with putrefying bacteria.

Doesn't look like they will be killing us with kindness anytime soon.

Democracy Now George Monbiot: "If We Don’t Deal with Climate Change We Condemn Hundreds of Millions of People to Death"

Every week seems to bring new warnings on the consequences of rising global temperatures caused by human activity. A new report from the British charity Christian Aid predicts global warming will create up to one billion refugees by the year 2050. The World Health Organization recently said it expects deaths and injuries from climate change to more than double in the next twenty-five years. The yearly death toll linked to weather patterns is forecast to top 300,000 by the year 2030.

The U.N.-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change declared earlier this year the warming of the earth's climate system is unequivocal and attributable to human activities. The panel has called for humans to make sweeping cuts in greenhouse gas emissions over the next 50 years to keep global warming in check.

The Bush administration's stance is well known. President Bush laid out his opposition to the Kyoto Accords in his first State of the Union address in 2001.

Dubya is convinced global warming is not real, but he does believe we are "winning hearts and minds" in Iraq.

UK Times Decline and fall of the neocons Paul Wolfowitz’s departure from the World Bank signals the end of an ideological era in Washington

Wolfowitz, the cerebral neocon, and Falwell, the braying theocon, had nothing in common personally. Indeed, Falwell blamed “the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians” for provoking the 9/11 attacks, an explanation uncomfortably close to the views of the Taliban. But the unlikely alliance between their two movements provided the brains and the brawn behind Bush. Now the neocons have been ousted, one by one, from their positions of influence and trust while the Republican party base is desperately thrashing around for a successor to Bush that it can back in 2008.

The cleavage between the two marks the end of an era in which Bible Belt conservatives became the surprise champions of radical nation-building in the Middle East in the hope of crushing terrorism and halting the march of militant Islam. After Bush, such reforming zeal is unlikely to be repeated.

The fall of Wolfowitz is already entering the annals as a morality fable for the Bush administration in which the arrogant, narcissistic former Pentagon official and a handful of his cronies were foisted on an unwilling international institution until it finally found a way to spit them out. By this reckoning, Wolfowitz’s appointment as president of the World Bank in 2005 was an “Up yours” similar to the way the Iraq war was imposed by Bush against the wishes of the international community – with predictably dire results.

According to Juan Cole, a professor of Middle Eastern history at the University of Michigan and a persistent critic of the Iraq war: “Wolfowitz has demonstrated a penchant for cronyism and for smearing and marginalising perceived rivals as tactics for getting his way. Indeed, these tactics are typical of what might be called the neoconservative style.”

The Hill Hoyer to Dems: We’ll stay put until Iraq bill passes

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told Democratic lawmakers on Friday that they would remain in session until they passed legislation to pay for the war in Iraq, according to an announcement that he sent to members.

Republicans have tried to capitalize politically on the absence of a supplemental war spending bill after President Bush vetoed the first version, and Democrats lack the votes to override the veto.

Stupid Steny, not smart enough to run out the clock on Dubya's war hole money...

UPI Japan seeks making patriotism compulsory

A bill was passed Friday by the Diet's Lower House to make teaching patriotism and "love of country" part of compulsory education. If passed, it will be the first time since World War II that Japan will make teaching patriotism part of the national curriculum for all elementary and junior high school students.

McClatchy News- Inside Iraq Just Do It

Yesterday and for the first time, I could spend some time watching TV in my room because I asked my brother to ask the power generator owner to double our share. I used to pay 60 thousands Iraqi Dinars a month (more than 47 $)for six hours of electricity a day.we receive 5 amperes through a cable that we linked to the generator. the 5 amperes are enough only to switch on the refrigerator and an air cooler. If we switch on another instrument, there would be a power failure and we have to call the owner of the generator to re connect us. The generator owner provides us with electricity for 6 hours a day only from 2 pm until 4 pm ( the hottest two hours in Iraq summer)then he switches off the generator until 8 pm when he switch it on for another 4 hours. We have to spend the rest of the day without electricity power because the Iraqi government and the Great US leaders spent the billion on painting the pavements and planting some flowers here and there and of course the big share of money went to the pockets of the security companies which the Iraqi officials and American officials in Iraq depend on. Anyway, Now I have to pay 120 thousands Iraqi Dinars (95 $) because now we buy 10 amperes. Now , I can switch on my room air cooler and the water pump. So yesterday. Myself and my wife and my son celebrated the great day by watching some movies in our room and enjoying the cool air from our cooler.

McClatchy Coast Guard program to upgrade its fleet is taking on water

Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., calls the failed 110-foot conversion program "the poster child" of what's wrong with Deepwater.

"They stopped after ruining eight boats," said Taylor, a former Coast Guard reservist who commanded patrol boats. "What angers me is we have eight ruined boats, $100 million spent and no one is held accountable. No one has been demoted."

The 13-foot section added to lengthen the ships ended up causing the hull to buckle under the stress of rough waters. In addition, whistleblowers alerted congressional investigators that small search-and-rescue boats that the 123-foot vessel carried had radios that were not waterproof - a finding an incredulous Taylor said was "bizarre."

However, the company vigorously defends its performance.

Of course they do-they have already been paid!

Lester Thurow, Professor of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and recent dean of the MIT Sloan School of Business. Harvard Square Library Speak Out Against the New Right-Analysis

President Johnson's refusal to raise taxes to pay for the Vietnam War is legitimately remembered as one of the key factors leading us into our current economic mess. He wanted both the Great Society and the war. But if he were to have both and not wreck the economy, his only option was to raise taxes sharply. He chose not to do so, and he wrecked the economy.

President Reagan wants both dramatic tax cuts to encourage investment and an even more extensive military build-up. But he cannot have both without wrecking the economy further unless he is willing to raise taxes dramatically on private consumption. He has chosen not to do so. If his current program is carried out, he too will wreck the economy.

Military spending is a form of consumption. It does not increase our ability to produce more goods and services in the future. While it may be necessary, it is consumption nonetheless. And as in any private budget, if you allocate more to one form of consumption, you must allocate less to some other form of consumption.

This means equivalent cuts must be made in other forms of consumption. The proposed military increase is so large that it cannot be fully paid for with cuts in civilian expenditures unless the president is willing to abolish major social programs such as Social Security. If he is not willing to do this, taxes must be raised to cut private consumption.

Still using the same play book from Vietnam, more evidence that 'conservatives' lack creativity.

More "uh-oh" for Dubya-The National Journal The Coming Appropriations War

On the other hand, not vetoing an appropriation after the Portman letter guaranteed it would happen will make the president's resolve look weak and raise questions about what he might do for the other bills. This will embolden congressional Democrats and Republicans alike to challenge the White House further on other issues.

The better strategy for the White House would have been not to issue the blanket challenge in the Portman letter so that it had some room to maneuver on a bill-by-bill basis. The administration could have simply complained about the overall level of spending in the budget resolution without taking any responsibility for it because that legislation isn't subject to a veto and it would have been solely Congress' decision. Then, the White House could have evaluated the support for each appropriation bill individually and vetoed only those it was certain of winning.

The Portman letter makes that strategy impossible. It also puts congressional Republicans in a very difficult position by forcing them to choose between supporting the White House and hurting themselves back home.

It's hard to see how those Republicans will side with the White House under these circumstances and, therefore, how the administration's latest budget strategy can succeed.

It's hard to see how Republicans will continue to hold a job-let alone a vote- with the administration's latest "strategy."

Cooperative Research Complete 911 Timeline Sibel Edmonds and Related Scandals

Late 1990s-Early 2001: FBI Investigation Discovers Turkish Nationals Attempting to Bribe Members of Congress

An FBI investigation finds that Turkish nationals are involved in efforts to bribe members of Congress, both Republican and Democrat. Targets of the FBI’s investigation include individuals at Chicago’s Turkish Consulate and the American-Turkish Consulate, as well as members of the American-Turkish Council and the Assembly of Turkish American Associations. Wiretaps obtained by investigators also contain what appears to be references to large scale drug shipments and other crimes. In 1999 some FBI investigators call for the appointment of a special prosecutor to continue the investigation. But after the Bush administration comes to office, higher-ups in the Department of State pressure the bureau to shift the attention of its investigation away from elected politicians and instead focus on appointed officials. [Anti-War (.com), 8/15/2005; Vanity Fair, 9/2005]

April 2001: FBI Translators Point to Explicit Warning from Afghanistan

FBI translators Sibel Edmonds and Behrooz Sarshar will later claim to know of an important warning given to the FBI at this time. In their accounts, a reliable informant on the FBI’s payroll for at least ten years tells two FBI agents that sources in Afghanistan have heard of an al-Qaeda plot to attack the US and Europe in a suicide mission involving airplanes. Al-Qaeda agents, already in place inside the US, are being trained as pilots. By some accounts, the names of prominent US cities are mentioned. A report on the matter is filed with squad supervisor Thomas Frields, but it’s unclear if this warning reaches FBI headquarters or beyond. The two translators will later privately testify to the 9/11 Commission. [WorldNetDaily, 3/24/2004; Salon, 3/26/2004; WorldNetDaily, 4/6/2004; Village Voice, 4/14/2004] Sarshar’s notes of the interview indicate that the informant claimed his information came from Iran, Afghanistan, and Hamburg, Germany (the location of the primary 9/11 al-Qaeda cell). However, anonymous FBI officials will claim the warning was very vague and doubtful. [Chicago Tribune, 7/21/2004] In reference to this warning and apparently others, Edmonds will say, “President Bush said they had no specific information about September 11, and that’s accurate. However, there was specific information about use of airplanes, that an attack was on the way two or three months beforehand, and that several people were already in the country by May of 2001. They should’ve alerted the people to the threat we were facing.” [Salon, 3/26/2004] She will add, “There was general information about the time-frame, about methods to be used but not specifically about how they would be used and about people being in place and who was ordering these sorts of terror attacks. There were other cities that were mentioned. Major cities with skyscrapers.” [Independent, 4/2/2004]

NBC 4 3,000 Campers Flee S. Calif. Wildfire

GORMAN, Calif. (AP) -- A fast-moving wildfire had burned more than 2,500 acres Sunday and chased thousands of people from campsites near Los Padres National Forest, authorities said.

No injuries were reported. The fire was 50 percent surrounded by early Sunday morning, said Los Angeles County fire Capt. Mike Brown.

More than 3,000 people were evacuated from four campsites in the area, Brown said.

The fire was reported at about 2 p.m. Saturday near the Golden State Freeway about 70 miles north of Los Angeles. By early Sunday it had scorched nearly 4 square miles.

The 250 firefighters on the lines were helped by lower nighttime temperatures.

Another reason to keep the National Guard reserves at home.

Asia Times, about that "surge" plan Iraq 'surge' strategy shows weaknesses

WASHINGTON - More than three months into the implementation of President George W Bush's "surge" strategy, skepticism over the likelihood of its success is still running high in Washington.

Except among neo-conservatives, who have been the strategy's most enthusiastic champions, most analysts believe it is doomed to failure in the absence of major moves - of which there have so far been virtually none - by the Shi'ite-led government of Iraqi

And while killings in Baghdad itself may be down compared with late last year, they have been steadily creeping upward over the last two months, according to published reports. Even the super-protected "Green Zone" - the nerve center of US operations and the Iraqi government - has become increasingly insecure.

"In any other embassy, we would have been evacuated," one State Department staffer told McClatchy Newspapers this week. "They are going to wait until 20 people die, then the people back in Washington will say we have a problem."

Calgary Sun Battered Radler winds up testimony at Black tria

CHICAGO -- The Conrad Black trial saw the last of David Radler yesterday as a prosecution witness, with lawyers shaking their heads and saying they'd never before seen such self-immolation of a star witness -- helped, one might add, by defence lawyers who supplied the matches.

Ron Safer got Radler to acknowledge his plea bargain deal of 29 months would normally have been 51 to 71 months, had he not stuck to a 37-page script written by the government for his grand jury appearance which led to the sweetheart deal -- which will be reduced to six months and served in Canada.

Lead prosecutor Eric Sussman in his rebuttal examination tried to undo the damage. He got Radler to reiterate that he was telling the truth and that "I pleaded guilty because I was guilty, and I am guilty." But guilty of one fraud charge, instead of 10.

Personally, I doubt there's anyone following this trial who thinks Radler is capable of not lying. Or even knowing when he lies. He knows all deals are off and he'll go to jail for a long time if he's caught lying in this case. So he resorts to not recall testimony given yesterday, which seems his version of the Fifth Amendment.

The Facts Theories abound for cause of gas costs

“There is a disconnect today,” he said. “All the price of oil does is establish a floor of what the price is going to be in the country. What’s going to tell you the maximum price is going to be the supply of refined product. Supply of the finished product is short, and the price is going up accordingly, and it’s all profit for the refineries.”

Lundberg Survey Inc. cites reductions in refining capacity during the past two weeks as a cause for the tightening of the gasoline market. Refineries have been recuperating from normal turnarounds, repairs from 2005 hurricane damage and foreign merchant events inhibiting export volumes, it says.

Regina Slaydon, public relations director for ConocoPhillips’ Sweeny refinery, could not comment directly about Lundberg’s assessment, but said, “prices are set in the market place by market conditions” and refineries have no say over the price at the pump.

Thank you to the government teacher in Ohio who sent the picture. If only all children were blessed with a government teacher who actually knows what is going on in their government!

Quotes of the Day

One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain't nothin' can beat teamwork.-- Edward Abbey

The United States government must not undertake to run the Churches. When an individual, in the Church or out of it, becomes dangerous to the public interest he must be checked.--Abraham Lincoln

The most perfidious way of harming a cause consists of defending it deliberately with faulty arguments.-- Friedrich Nietzsche

Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other religions, may establish with the same ease any particular sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other sects?--James Madison

Ultimately, America's answer to the intolerant man is diversity, the very diversity which our heritage of religious freedom has inspired.--Robert F. Kennedy

Far Too Late For Any Debate

Move along Dubya, you should try sitting in on the Scooter Libby trial for a while.

My, my the sights one would see up on the big screen marked as government exhibits.

Handwritten notes between all the big boys, with the bottom line being not only did they know Valerie Plame worked for non-proliferation bureau of the CIA-they even knew she was working on WMD. What else can one say about these vultures except oh dear God?

Prissy knows because she sat in on the trial for a couple of days...and if I was Libby's team defense-he wouldn't be allowed to get anywhere near the witness stand.

He's done more than enough damage to himself with the "evidence" of testimony he's already given.

Why it was so obvious he was lying, Scooter couldn't fool a four-year-old...he should sue for bad legal advice-any half way intelligent person would have said to plea in the beginning. Scooter will do at least 2-5 years; it will be a gift if he isn't convicted on all counts.

With a jury that comes back from courtroom breaks with questions of their own for witnesses, Prissy didn't get the impression they were feeling very generous!

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and his team of talented lawyers have another plus on their side-the truth. The truth is something Scooters three hired law firms cannot change, only confuse. But Prissy did not see anyone in the courtroom (except Scooter, maybe) who will be easily confused.

Some of the "defense" put on, was so incredulous that observers would look at each other with mirth upon hearing it...

Once people of all political persuasions see the handwritten collusion (the defense does not dispute their authenticity) of a campaign designed to out a covert CIA spy working on non-proliferation of WMD's, they will be screaming for Bush/Cheney/Rove/Hadley's clearances,etc...though we have all long suspected treason, to see it their own writing is truly breathtaking.

The message from the top was clear. Disagree with our policy and methods? Bush and company will go after you and yours, until someone gets caught-maybe even killed.

Hot Links

ZMAG Talk at Ehren Watada rally

What about a bloodbath if the U.S. withdraws? It is already happening. The U.S. military occupation makes it worse daily. Let Iraqi groups who are concerned about Iraq negotiate with each other for a peaceful Iraq. The U.S. withdrawal will isolate those involved in sectarian killing. Moreover, a major cause of violence —the attacks on the U.S., and U.S. aggression and returning massive firepower to these attacks will end. There are no easy answers but the U.S. continued presence makes the situation for Iraqis more dangerous and deadly daily. We cannot be part of the solution,

The war is wrong; winning should not be the goal. For the most part, the Democrats, the Iraqi study group disagree with the Bush administration only on tactics, how to maintain some control—e.g., of oil, they ask the wrong questions. Our principled position must be like Ehren Watada—the war is wrong and immoral. Our demand is for total U.S. withdrawal, before May Day, and support for military resisters. So the war is more than just bad policy.

Support the U.S. troops-must mean also calling for U.S. withdrawal and ending the War—otherwise our only concern is U.S. lives and we are not valuing Iraqi lives as equal to U.S. lives, 700,000 plus Iraqis dead by now. Let us mourn each one of these Iraqis and also mourn the more than 3000 U.S. soldiers and the hundreds of their allies killed and many times that number on both sides wounded for life.

Lt. Watada is taking a principled stand, it certainly is not the easy way out! The judge is an area of concern, as he is refusing to allow evidence into trial that will assist in Lt. Watada's defense-thus, that the war in Iraq is illegal and an order to participate would be the same.

War under "Dubya's law of pre-emption" tells us this is OK:

Let's say Prissy's neighbor tells another neighbor, "that Prissy and her political ideas really angers me-I should do something about that someday." The neighbor hearing this relays this to Prissy. Prissy, now hearing from someone else leaving an anonymous note, said the neighbor making the vague threat is known for slashing tires. Then Prissy gets a signed note from the neigbor stating he wants to "work to resolve our differences."

Yet under Dubya's law, Prissy just knows this neighbor will eventually "do something" (since he most likely owns a knife) and runs over there with her letter opener and slashes his tires first.

When the police officer driving by catches her because slashing tires takes longer than she thought-she uses Dubya's pre-emptive force law as her defense.

However, the police officer and the judge are not buying this as a defense - saying "Prissy what did he actually say or do to you?", and now Prissy is the one who is seen as the threat...

Yahoo Waxman raps Ex-Iraq chief over aid funds

The hearing presented two divergent views of what financial controls were possible in an Iraqi capital with no functioning national government.

Waxman and a hearing witness, special inspector general for Iraq Stuart Bowen Jr., criticized Bremer for failing to install accounting systems that would have forced Iraqi ministries to account for up to $12 billion in Iraq's funds. The money came from a United Nations oil-for-food program and seized Iraqi assets, but fell under Bremer's control.

"Without strong standards, we have no way of knowing whether the cash could end up in enemy hands," said Waxman.

Bremer countered, "I arrived in Baghdad at a time when much of the city was burning. Looting was still widespread. My responsibilities were to kickstart the economy."

The Guardian Bush slashes aid to poor to boost Iraq war chest

Mr Bush's $2.9 trillion (£1.5 trillion) budget, sent to Congress yesterday, includes $100bn extra for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars for this year, on top of $70bn already allocated by Congress and $141.7bn next year. He is planning an 11.3% increase for the Pentagon. Spending on the Iraq war is destined to top the total cost of the 13-year war in Vietnam.

The huge rise in military spending is paid for by a squeeze on domestic programmes, including $66bn in cuts over five years to Medicare, the healthcare scheme for the elderly, and $12bn from the Medicaid healthcare scheme for the poor.

Mr Bush said: "Today we submit a budget to the United States Congress that shows we can balance the budget in five years without raising taxes ... Our priority is to protect the American people. And our priority is to make sure our troops have what it takes to do their jobs."

Although Democrats control Congress and have promised careful scrutiny of the budget over the next few months, Mr Bush has left in them in a bind, unwilling to withhold funds for US troops on the frontline. Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, said the days when Mr Bush could expect a blank cheque for the wars were over but she also insisted the Democrats would not deny troops the money they needed. Democrats could block Mr Bush's proposed cuts to 141 domestic programmes.

Electronic Iraq Bombs over Baghdad: The Pentagon's Secret Air War in Iraq

But the number of cannon rounds and rockets fired by U.S. aircraft is not an insignificant matter, according to Les Roberts, formerly an epidemiologist for the World Health Organization in Rwanda during that country's civil war and an expert on the human costs of the war in Iraq. According to Roberts, who was last in Iraq in 2004 (where, he says, he personally witnessed "the shredding of entire blocks" in Baghdad's Sadr City by aerial cannon fire), "rocket and cannon fire could account for most coalition-attributed civilian deaths." He adds, "I find it disturbing that they will not release this [figure], but even more disturbing that they have not released such information to Congressmen who have requested it."

Non-CENTAF military officials were equally tight-lipped about such munitions -- at least with me. A Public Affairs officer from U.S. Central Command told me that the Command didn't track such information. When I questioned a coalition spokesman in Baghdad about the number of rockets and cannon rounds fired by Army and Marine Corps helicopters in Iraq in 2006, I was told, "We cannot comment on your inquiry due to operational security."

I then pointed out that just last month, in National Defense Magazine, Col. Robert A. Fitzgerald, the Marine Corps' head of aviation plans and policy, was quoted as saying that, in 2006, "Marine rotary-wing aircraft flew more than 60,000 combat flight hours, and fixed-wing platforms completed 31,000. They dropped 80 tons of bombs and fired 80 missiles, 3,532 rockets and more than 2 million rounds of smaller ammunition."

When asked if this admission had endangered operational security, the spokesman responded, "I cannot comment on the policies or release authority of a Marine colonel."

Note to military: Now is not the time in history to lie...

The Hill Legislation to require White House disclosure of military contracting

She said Congress lacks evidence that contractors report to the appropriate military commanders in such regions.

“This legislation will shed light on the war business, so that Congress and the American people can determine when and where the outsourcing of our security to private firms is warranted,” Schakowsky said.

The Iraq and Afghanistan Contractor Sunshine Act would require the departments of Defense, State, and the Interior and the U.S. Agency for International Development to provide Congress with descriptions of both contractual work performed in Iraq and Afghanistan and task orders in excess of $5 million.

The agencies also would have to report the number of contractors and subcontractors employed in Iraq and Afghanistan and the total costs of contracts there. The agencies would have to inform Congress about the number of wounded and killed contractors as well as disciplinary actions taken by the U.S. government against contractors who break the law.

Palestine News Network Israeli government destroys Moroccan Gate and parts of Al Aqsa Mosque area amid outcry

Israeli forces demolished the entrance to the Al Aqsa Mosque after destroying the Moroccan Gate bridge leading to the Muslim holy site. Chief Palestinian Justice Sheikh Taysir Tamimi said that the timing of the destruction in the Old City of East Jerusalem was purposeful as all eyes are on the meeting in Mecca and political leaders are enroute.

The Sheikh told a press conference in Ramallah this afternoon that the Israeli government is continuing with its plan to demolish the historic road at the Moroccan Gate with a major threat to the western side of the Mosque.

Israeli forces expelled all Arab workers and journalists Monday, increased the military presence in the face of nonviolent protests over the past two days, and closed all roads on Tuesday.

The British are attempting to garner a peace settlement between Israel and Palestine. Of course our own administration is too busy trying to defend itself to take care of diplomatic matters abroad...

Hidustan Times France calls for US troops to leave Iraq in 2008

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said, "setting a timetable for complete withdrawal, and handing "full sovereignty" to Iraqis, was a prerequisite for any political solution. Only after a timetable was set could the Iraqis move forward with national reconciliation and regional dialogue.".

"The US have failed in Iraq," Villepin told the Financial Times in an interview posted on its website late on Tuesday.

"If you do not say that in one year there will be no more American or British troops in Iraq, nothing will happen in Iraq except more deaths and crises," he added.

And the French know- because they failed first in that region.

Quotes of the Day

No wise man ever thought that a traitor should be trusted. [Lat., Nemo unquam sapiens proditori credendum putavit.]--Cicero (Marcus Tullius Cicero)

Treason and murder ever kept together, As two yoke-devils sworn to either's purpose, Working so grossly in a natural cause That admiration did not whoop at them; But thou, 'gainst all proportion, didst bring in Wonder to wait on treason and on murder; And whatsoever cunning fiend it was That wrought upon thee so preposterously Hath got the voice in hell for excellence.--William Shakespeare

We are a rebellious nation. Our whole history is treason; our blood was attained before we were born; our creeds were infidelity to the mother church; our constitution treason to our fatherland.--Theodore Parker

Fitzgerald's Libby strategy? Rebellion must be managed with many swords; treason to his prince's person may be with one knife.--Thomas Fuller

Prissy's strategy...Write on my gravestone: "Infidel, Traitor." --infidel to every church that compromises with wrong; traitor to every government that oppresses the people.-- Wendell Phillips

Having a Ball With Governor Strickland

click any photo to enlarge

Governor Strickland rocked the Ohio State fairgrounds last night with his first Inaugural Ball...at least 7,000 people showed up to celebrate Ohioans moving forward with Ted. Ball organizers opened up another building, complete with heated walkway to get from one building to the next. Prissy votes this young belle "best outfit" for the 25 and younger crowd. Beautiful, isn't she?

The bands were playing, the wine was flowing, plenty of good food and dance floor was full. Even the Ohio State Highway patrol officers were in a good mood. There was more glitz and glitter than Hollywood and it was fun!

Prissy heard there were some republicans there, too, as Ted doesn't discriminate. Fred Phelps, however, did not show up...

How appropriate for the building named for a former Ohio republican governor-perhaps you remember him. It was Governor Rhodes who called out the Ohio National Guard to Kent State to put down "disturbances" during Vietnam...

Long time Inaugural Ball attenders said it was the largest party they had ever witnessed and the most energized group of people they had seen in years.

Hot Links

The Australian NGOs to sue US over WMD claims

The lawsuit by the collective will be filed at either French or Belgian courts, Kadi added.

In January 2003, US President George W. Bush accused Saddam of having bought uranium from Niger to make weapons of mass destruction.

The Niger collective said in a statement that investigations by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), world media and US officials, all concluded that it was a "false accusation" against Niger.

That false information was used by Bush "to invade Iraq," said the collective's statement, which also called for support from Niger's President Mamadou Tandja, who back in 2003 said the US allegations were "harming Niger's image".

Neocons gone wild on CNN White House: We will send more troops in Iraq

• President Bush: "I've made my decision. And we're going forward" • Vice President Cheney says congressional critics won't influence troop plans • Cheney says Democratic critics don't have coherent alternative to Bush strategy • Cheney says giving up fight in Iraq would send wrong message to enemies

And we've made our decision...impeachment for the both of you.

Jpost US Senator Clinton meets with President Musharraf

The two discussed a range of issues, including the situation in Afghanistan and the Middle East, he said, quoting Musharraf as telling Clinton that Pakistan was in favor of a "stable, strong and prosperous Afghanistan" and that Islamabad was extending full support to the world community in the fight against terrorism.

Musharraf also informed Clinton about the steps his government had taken to curb militancy and secure the Pakistani border with Afghanistan to check militants' activities, the official said.

Chicago Tribune Obama, McCain square off on war

Obama, reluctant to commit himself to any vote blocking spending for the war, is joining Democratic leaders in calling for the start of a phased withdrawal starting over the next four to six month and calls Bush's new plan "stay-the-course-plus.'' McCain, warning that a withdrawal of U.S. forces will lead to "catastrophe'' in Iraq, also acknowledges that he cannot "guarantee success'' with the president's plan.

The president, whom CBS News will feature this evening in an interview aired on 60 Minutes, vows to carry out the deployment regardless of congressional criticism for it. "I fully understand they could try to stop me from doing it,'' Bush tells 60 Minutes. "But I've made my decision and we're going forward.''

"I think the case still needs to be made,'' McCain said this morning, calling the debate so far "superficial." "This is about a new strategy, of which an increase in troop strength is an integral part.''

The deployment of 21,500 additional troops is part of a new plan to secure Baghdad and other parts of Iraq, McCain said. "We will go in and we will clear and hold and build,'' he said. "As most people know, we have gone in and cleared and left and the insurgents have returned… Do I believe it can succeed? Yes, I do.''

McCain, still thinking Vietnam too, is "doable"...

Oh Dick may waddle in with confidence...but he is sure to waddle out in a huff.

Will there be a surprise witness? The complete Plamegate Timeline KOSpedia Plame Leak timeline

January 24* CIA official Robert Walpole sends Stephen Hadley and other White House officials a memorandum in favor of the idea that Iraq had sought to obtain the uranium. The memo cites the language in the Oct. 1 intelligence estimate. (SSCI, NYT)

before January 28 * The National Intelligence Council sends and the White House receives an unequivocal memo, drafted by Robert G. Houdek, the national intelligence officer for Africa, that the Niger story is baseless and should be laid to rest. (WaPo, DailyKos)

January 28 * The 16 words are spoken by the President in the State of the Union address (transcript). "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

January 29 * Joseph Wilson meets with a friend who works at the State Department and asks why the president had cited the British intelligence report about Iraq's attempt to buy uranium, when he had debunked the allegation a year earlier. (NYT)

Reuters Cover-up is focus of CIA leak trial or is it?

A raft of books appear to back up Wilson's claim that the Bush administration manipulated intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war. Public opinion has firmly turned against the war and Democrats promise investigations of their own.

In the end, the Libby trial may seem less the culmination of a high-profile investigation than an afterthought.

"We're left with a rather modest case against a rather hapless personality," said George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley.

That is, until Fitz pulls the rabbit out of his hat, making the court audience gasp...Fitz, don't forget to say "Ta-da!"

New Scientist How to leak a secret and not get caught

According to the group's website www.wikileaks.org, its primary targets include China, Russia, and oppressive regimes in Eurasia, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. It is not limited to these countries, however, and people anywhere will be able to use the site to reveal unethical behaviour by governments and corporations.

CBC and why Prissy is still mad at Dell, yes her model is included after Dell has denied this many times. Dell Inspirons inspire litigation

The claim, disclosed Friday by Rochon Genova LLP, alleges that Dell "was negligent in the design of the notebooks," so the computers are susceptible to overheating and premature failure of the motherboard.

The failures "often occur just outside of the standard one-year warranty period," the lawyers said in a release.

The Inspiron models named in the action are the 1100, 1150, 5100, 5150 and 5160.

Chicago Tribune Democrats eye alternative to U.S. troop surge plan

"Why not come back to the Congress?" Kennedy said. "Why not come back and permit us to have a vote on this surge? Let the American people speak through their elected representatives."

Bush invited top Republican leaders from the House and the Senate to Camp David for at least part of the holiday weekend.

After hearing Levin repeat the refrain that Bush's plan to increase troop levels would be a grave mistake during Friday's hearing, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) weighed in with his own critique of those who believe the president should be talking about drawing down instead of ramping up.

"Do they truly believe we can walk away from Iraq?" McCain said. "I believe these individuals ... have a responsibility to tell us what they believe are the consequences of withdrawal in Iraq. If we walk away from Iraq, we'll be back, possibly in the context of a wider war in the world's most volatile region."

Earth to John; are you still in Vietnam?

Times of India India may be birthplace of tuberculosis, says study

India may be the birthplace of one of the world's deadliest killers tuberculosis.

In a first of its kind study called "Predominance of Ancestral Lineages of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis in India", that examined the diversity of the presence of TB strains, a joint team of Indian and French scientists found that the ancestral strains of the TB bacterium was widespread in India, an indication that it might be the ancient reservoir for TB, from which more recent strains evolved and spread to other countries.

Although India has the highest prevalence of TB worldwide, the genetic diversity of the virus in India was largely unknown.

Sign on SandiegoVice president calls former aide, heading to trial in CIA leak case, 'one of the more honest men I know'

The special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, spent three years investigating that claim but filed no charges based on the leak itself. He says his work is done except for trying Libby, who resigned after being indicted in October 2005.

Given that Libby probably will be the only official charged in the leak investigation, Cheney said, “I have strong views on the subject. I am likely to be a witness in this trial. It would be inappropriate for me, at this point, shortly before the trial begins, to enter into a public dialogue ... about my views on this issue.”

The vice president replied, “That's correct,” when asked if nothing he had heard or read would shake his confidence in Libby's integrity.

Cheney was interviewed on “Fox News Sunday.”

Bold by Prissy. Fitz using some Orwellian speak himself, saying his "work is done".

Personalize M&M's for your Sweetheart for Valentine's DayPersonalized M&M's

International Herald Tribune Cellphones on planes are almost a reality

After years of debate over the use of mobile phones aboard airplanes in flight, the moment of truth has — very nearly — arrived.

Emirates, the Dubai-based airline, installed satellite-based technology enabling voice calls and text messaging on one of its Boeing 777 jets late last year and expects to begin offering the service to passengers on a yet-to-be announced international route early next month. The service has already obtained approval from air safety and telecommunications regulators in 25 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, covering about 30 different routes that Emirates flies. The carrier expects to outfit its entire fleet with the technology within a couple of years.

A half-dozen other airlines, including Air France-KLM, Ryanair and Qantas, are due to offer similar services in Europe and Australia later this year. Travelers in North America, meanwhile, will have to await the conclusion of ongoing reviews of the technology by both the Federal Communication Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration.

The public was told cell phones were used by airline passengers on 9/11...

Reuters Cheney: U.S. must show "stomach" to win in Iraq

How about you show yours, old boy?

Time Guilty Plea In HP Spy Probe

Wagner admitted using the personal information to set up online accounts in the targets' names between April 2005 and September 2006 to access their call logs and billing records.

Wagner's defense lawyer, Stephen Naratil, said his client would testify for the prosecution as it pursues other figures tied to the scandal. He declined to say whom Wagner would testify against or what he had already told prosecutors. His sentencing was set for June 20 in San Jose federal court. There was no sentencing agreement included in the plea deal.

Wagner faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of two years on the identity theft charge, and a maximum of five years for conspiracy, but prosecutors can ask the court for a more lenient sentence if they're satisfied with his level of cooperation.

Naratil has described his client as the "little guy" who was tricked by other people higher up in the HP investigation's chain of command into thinking the investigative methods were legal. Wagner never had any contact with anyone inside HP, Naratil said. "He was your classic dupe," Naratil said outside the courthouse. "It sounds preposterous now, looking back at it all, for him to think that it was legal ... But he was assured it was legal. He feels that he was used."

Gee Scooter, know the feeling? Daniel Ellsberg said that even when he was facing potential jail time, his only regret was not releasing the Pentagon Papers earlier.

Quotes of the Day

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye." --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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

If two men agree on everything, you may be sure that one of them is doing the thinking.--Lyndon B. Johnson (1908 - 1973)

To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive.--Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894)

Nothing’s better than the wind to your back, the sun in front of you, and your friends beside you.--Aaron Douglas Trimble

Who Knows CPR for the Constitution and Bill of Rights?

Will the dems and republicans put aside party differences for the good of the country? Do the republicans know what "for the good of the country" means?

Governor Strickland's Inaugural Ball is this weekend and should be a good time. Fred Phelps, who also picketed soldiers funerals, will be picketing the ball also. He found out our new governor is not a bigot and wants to point this out to the public.

You see, Fred doesn't like the military policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and prefers to hold signs saying "God hates fags." Gee, Prissy must wonder how Fred has come by this knowledge. Fair warning to fluffy Fred, Prissy's escort will be in uniform...

Hot Links

Press release from Central Ohio Military families:

President Bush tells us that in the end, more bloodshed will justify that which has already come about.

Most military families agree that this president proceeded with reckless indifference to the consequences of the troops, their families, and the people of Iraq. Mr. Bush is unwilling to accept advice that does not adhere to his insulated vision of Iraq. Our loved ones were there and we understand what kind of damage war does to a country.

This latest re-marketing of the war is more of the same rhetoric without substance, which he has continued to use in his attempts to rally Americans to his failed policies. This president disregarded the advice of General [Eric] Shinseki when in 2002 he advised a multi-national force along with nearly half a million troops. He advised that anything else would be a strategic disaster. His replacement was named early for his candor; others offering such candor have received a similar fate.

Military advisors and other security experts, as well as the American people repeatedly acknowledge Iraq’s problems can only be solved by political means. We call on our representatives to reflect this thinking.

Our military have been placed in the midst of a civil war, which experts and the military well predicted would occur. Our troops continue to be misused by a president who cannot see the consequences of his actions and is incapable of charting a new course for our troops or the occupation of Iraq.

The only course of action supported by members of Military Families Speak Out is to bring the troops home now and take care of them upon their return.

More neorepublican family values come home to roost as well as "taking care of the troops" Iraq Vet Fatally Shoots Wife, Kills Self

The family of Patricia Gwinn said she was working full-time, doing well in college and had recently left her husband Michael in an attempt to get a divorce.

The family said that Michael Gwinn was in the National Guard and had returned from Iraq earlier in the year, Bowersock reported. According to police, officers had responded to the apartment on domestic calls before.

“We do have a history of police coming out here on domestic situations and I haven’t confirmed this yet, but I believe there was a protection order,” Pilya said.

Patricia Gwinn’s family said she did obtain a protection order against her husband two weeks ago, Bowersock reported. Her other sister Soraya Benjamin said she was excited about getting out of the relationship.

Two thirds of women killed have ended the abusive relationship-that's why abusers kill; he's not letting his property (i.e. family) get away...this man was in deployed in Iraq with the same unit as Prissy's young relative. He did not know Michael Gwinn.

Police: Ex-candidate chased 3 after they crashed fence but the very misleading headline in Cinci? "Hackett part of gun incident"

Indian Hill lawyer and former congressional candidate Paul Hackett - armed with a loaded assault rifle - chased down three men in a car after it crashed into a fence at his home in the early morning hours of Nov. 19.

The driver was charged with failure to maintain reasonable control, driving under suspension and carrying a concealed weapon - a pair of brass knuckles found in his pocket - according to the Indian Hill police.

Indian Hill Rangers consider the matter closed, but a Hamilton County grand jury two weeks ago took testimony from the three men in the car and the ranger who investigated the incident, according to an Indian Hill police report.

Crash Prissy's gate at 4:30AM and you may get a similar response...Hey Hackett, is there anyone left who can say you are a democrat who is soft on defense? hehe

Time The Psychology of a Surge

"What we're driven by in these cases is what's called sunk costs," says Eric Stone, a cognitive psychologist at Wake Forest University who studies human judgment and decision-making. "Basically, a sunk cost is any resource that's already been spent and can't be reclaimed, but that affects your actions all the same."

There's a gravitational suck to sunk-cost behavior, one that makes it almost impossible to resist throwing fresh capital into the hole in the hope that lost capital will somehow come back out. Couples in a bad marriage who might be better advised to cut their losses will instead multiply them, buying a new house or having a new baby in the hope that that will bring them together again. Producers of a sinking movie will roll out a new ad campaign in the hope that that will get people to the box office. And, similarly, tacticians behind a floundering war will send living soldiers in to replace lost ones, even though stone cold reason tells them that troops killed on the battlefield today will not make the ones killed yesterday any less dead. "Rationally, you know you should deal with the situation as it is at the moment," says Stone, "but that's hard to do when your sunk cost is lost life."

Ever heard of cutting ones losses and moving on?

NYT A 2-Month Debate on Iraq, Capped by ‘the Big Push’

In the end, the official said, Mr. Hadley’s teams concluded that an American withdrawal from Baghdad would “crater the government.”

Another option discussed was to try to steer the Iraqi government toward a political realignment that would essentially depose Mr. Maliki, and put a stronger figure in place. By elimination, those discussions led Mr. Bush’s top advisers back to the idea of a troop increase. According to an account by one senior official, General Pace traveled to Crawford, Tex., to meet with Mr. Bush after Christmas and took with him a recommendation calling for two more American brigades in Baghdad, with three more American brigades on call, along with two additional American battalions for Anbar.

According to a senior administration official, Vice President Dick Cheney was among those who wanted a bigger force. Ultimately, Mr. Bush concluded that General Pace’s initial request was too small and should be augmented by three more American brigades for Baghdad. General Pace said that General Abizaid, who is retiring this year, had opposed the idea of a troop increase. But General Abizaid came around, General Pace said, when he saw that the additional American combat forces would be accompanied by a “political and economic surge.”

Yes, just like the last election was going to bring in a new surge of democracy. Dubya has no intention of stopping this war on his watch, it will only be Congress, We the People and military who can stop him from more blunders. The best description of Dubya lately: "he is a raging, blind giant"

ABC Iraq Troop Surge Will Change Rules for Guard Units

Pentagon policy is to give Guardsmen five years off after a deployment. But Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said he may not stick to that policy. "Today's global demands will require a number of selected Guard and reserve units to be remobilized sooner," Gates told a White House news conference.

A Pentagon spokesman went further. "The goal (five years between deployments) will not be met. … It's a temporary situation," said Bryan Whitman. To soften the blow of being sent to war more often, the Pentagon announced two other changes. First, rather than being called up to duty for as long as two years, Guardsmen and reservists will be activated for only one year. And if they are called up before their five years between deployments, they will get extra pay.

Gail Sheehy THE ACCIDENTAL CANDIDATE

Even if he loses, his friends say, he doesn't lose. He'll just change the score, or change the rules, or make his opponent play until he can beat him. "If you were playing basketball and you were playing to 11 and he was down, you went to 15," says Hannah, now a Dallas insurance executive. "If he wasn't winning, he would quit. He would just walk off.... It's what we called Bush Effort: If I don't like the game, I take my ball and go home. Very few people can get away with that." So why could George get away with it? "He was just too easygoing and too pleasant."

Another fast friend, Roland Betts, acknowledges that it is the same in tennis. In November 1992, Bush and Betts were in Santa Fe to host a dinner party, but they had just enough time for one set of doubles. The former Yale classmates were on opposite sides of the net. "There was only one problem—my side won the first set," recalls Betts. "O.K., then we're going two out of three," Bush decreed. Bush's side takes the next set. But Betts's side is winning the third set when it starts to snow. Hard, fat flakes. The catering truck pulls up. But Bush won't let anybody quit. "He's pissed. George runs his mouth constantly," says Betts indulgently. "He's making fun of your last shot, mocking you, needling you, goading you—he never shuts up!" They continued to play tennis through a driving snowstorm.

It is something of an in-joke with Bush's friends and family. "In reality we all know who won, but George wants to go further to see what happens," says an old family friend, venture capitalist and former MGM chairman Louis "Bo" Polk Jr. "George would say, ‘Play that one over,' or ‘I wasn't quite ready.' The overtimes are what's fun, so you make your own. When you go that extra mile or that extra point ... you go to a whole new level."

WaPo to At Fort Benning, a Quiet Response to a Presidential Visit

Soldiers being soldiers, those who met the commander in chief Thursday saluted smartly and applauded politely. But it was hardly the boisterous, rock-star reception Bush typically gets at military bases. During his lunchtime speech, the soldiers were attentive but quiet. Not counting the introduction of dignitaries, Bush was interrupted by applause just three times in 30 minutes -- once when he talked about a previous Medal of Honor winner from Fort Benning, again when he pledged to win in Iraq and finally when he repeated his intention to expand the Army.

Bush's speech essentially repeated his address to the nation the night before, and he appeared a little listless as he talked. Aides said he was deliberately low-key to reflect the serious situation. Whether the audience was sobered by the new mission or responding to Bush's subdued tone was unclear, because reporters were ushered out as soon as his talk ended.

White House officials had promised reporters they could talk with soldiers. But that was not good enough for Wojdakowski. "The commanding general said he does not want media talking to soldiers today," spokeswoman Tracy Bailey said. "He wants the focus to be on the president's speech." Only hours later, after reporters complained, did the base offer to make selected soldiers available, but the White House plane was nearing departure.

Reuters Suspected Greek militants fire rocket at U.S. embassy

"There are one or two anonymous phone calls which claim that the Revolutionary Struggle was behind the attack," Public Order Minister Byron Polydoras told reporters outside the embassy. "Most likely, it is an act by local perpetrators."

The leftist guerrilla group has emerged as the most serious domestic threat since the dismantling of the deadly November 17 group in 2002, adopting its anti-U.S. polemics in proclamations usually sent to Greek media.

WaPo Too Casual To Sit on Press Row?

When the trial of Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice opens next week, scores of journalists are expected to throng the federal courtroom in Washington, far too many for the 100 seats set aside for the media.

But for the first time in a federal court, two of these seats will be reserved for bloggers. After two years of negotiations with judicial officials across the country, the Media Bloggers Association, a nonpartisan group with about 1,000 members working to extend the powers of the press to bloggers, has won credentials to rotate among his members. The trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the highest-ranking Bush administration official to face criminal charges, could "catalyze" the association's efforts to win respect and access for bloggers in federal and state courthouses, said Robert Cox, the association's president

That's only fair considering how the corporate owned media failed to tell Americans the whole truth in the lead up to the war. Prissy is going to try to attend a day or two of the trial. Other bloggers will attend daily and keep us well informed. Prissy looks forward to EmptyWheel and Christy at Firedoglake explaining what's what of the Libby trial.

Sino daily Iran, China to finalise 16 bn dollar gas deal despite sanctions threat

Iran will hold talks with China next month to finalise a 16-billion-dollar gas

agreement despite a US warning that the Chinese partner could become subject to sanctions, an official said Thursday.

"We start talks with the Chinese on North Pars gas field in February," Akbar Torkan, the managing director of Pars Oil and Gas Company -- which is in charge of the project -- told AFP.

"(Negotiating) teams will be set up for four rounds of talks and signing a contract depends on when the talks are concluded," Torkan said.

Iran and China's biggest offshore oil producer, CNOOC, announced having signed on 21 December a preliminary deal to develop Iran's offshore North Pars gas field located in Gulf waters.

Alternet Another Vietnam

During March 1968, despite this discovery, President Johnson agreed to send 24,500 more troops to Vietnam on an emergency basis. President Johnson and Secretary Clifford thought that this increase in U.S. troops would lead to U.S. victory there. And in an address to the nation on March 31 President Johnson stated: "We have no intention of widening this war."

At that time, approximately 24,000 U.S. service members had died in Vietnam. By the end of that war, more than 58,000 U.S. troops had been killed. More U.S. soldiers died winding down the war than had in starting it. In addition, by the end of the war, the United States had greatly expanded the war into Cambodia and Laos.

But, little more than a year later, after he left office, Clifford wrote: "Nothing we might do could be so beneficial ... as to begin to withdraw our combat troops. Moreover ... we cannot realistically expect to achieve anything more through our military force, and the time has come to begin to disengage."

By recommending to President Bush that U.S. troops in Iraq should be increased, with no clear plan for achieving victory there, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates risks following in the footsteps of Clark Clifford. As with Secretary Clifford, Secretary Gates has succeeded the architect of a U.S. military failure. Like Clifford, Gates has proven incapable of calling for a dramatic change in course.

Dejavu...

Independent UK Mr Bush's masterplan: to spread the blame around

In its grave tone and subdued staging, this was a broadcast whose sombreness rivalled the low points of the Nixon and Carter presidencies. From a commander-in-chief whose cheery outlook has twice contributed to his electoral appeal, the dark mood was doubly shocking. Alluding, perhaps, to his arrogant "mission accomplished" speech from the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln, George W Bush warned that victory would not look like the victories of the past: "There will be no surrender ceremony on the deck of a battleship."

The question, of course, is whether the United States can achieve anything approaching victory in Iraq at all. Violence is now endemic. The country is awash with weapons. Society is fractured along ethnic and religious lines several times over. There may be an elected government in Baghdad, but it, too, is splintered, and its authority does not extend much further than the heavily fortified "green zone".

The military push, or "surge", that Mr Bush has ordered almost guarantees that things in Iraq will get worse, perhaps much worse, before they have the slightest chance of getting better. More likely, the new plan will run out of time, money, manpower, or all three. It has, though, one key advantage for Mr Bush compared with the so-called Baker plan and the more gradualist alternatives on offer: he cannot - yet - be accused of cutting and running, and the blame for failure will be spread around.

Time Govt Criticized on Data Mining

A privacy advocate says the government's ability to use computers to gather personal information about citizens and act on it has far outstripped the federal laws designed to protect them from secret federal dossiers.

Guardian UK Isolated Bush faces rebellion over Iraq

· Congress to reject plan· Public against extra troops

President George Bush faced increasing isolation last night after his much-vaunted new strategy for Iraq met with overwhelming public and political opposition.

Mr Bush and his most senior staff embarked on a huge public relations exercise to sell the plan to send an extra 20,000 troops to Iraq, aware of formidable opposition in Congress which already promises an embarrassing vote next week rejecting the new strategy.

In contrast to the deference the president enjoyed in his first six years in office, he is confronting for the first time a combination of reinvigorated Democrats and rebellious Republicans. Harry Reid, the Democratic majority leader in the Senate, said: "In choosing to escalate the civil war, the president virtually stands alone."

Look behind you there Dubya, its only Laura and Barney the dog...

Quotes of the Day

RE: Bush, Iraq, Somalia, Oil The U.S. doesn't have a congress with ethics enough to stop Bush. If that was their intention, they'd be coming out in droves against him. You don't have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.-- Dennis, anon poster on RAW Story

The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.-- Flannery O'Connor

There go the people.I must follow them for I am their leader.--Alexandre Ledru-Rollin,French politician

He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander.--Aristotle

Ohio Vote SNAFU While Media Still Shills for Bush's War

Dearest Readers, Prissy has been so busy with investigation work, there has been no time to blog this week. Next week will be hectic too! Prissy will keep you updated on the investigation, giving more details when its over. You know its that "ongoing investigation" thing...Board of Elections officials are nervous enough. But why?

Cannot say for sure, but preliminary investigation results show voter signature numbers not matching the machine results...hmm. Golly Gee, how could we have more votes than voter signatures?

Don't be fooled by the so-called "recounts". Example: You are given a register tape of numbers and told to see if you come up with the same results when you add them up. A "recount" is meaningless if the numbers Prissy gives you add, are bogus numbers to begin with...

The dems may have turned Ohio blue, however we are finding there was a possible effort made to steal votes for the republican side...it seems the "mistakes" are always in favor of the republicans- statistically impossible. No question that the touch screen machines are worth less than a dimestore calculator and Ohio should ask ES&S for their money back.

Search "Hacking Democracy" on this site to see the HBO Special on this subject.

Hot Links

How much lobbying is John Ashcroft doing these days? Find out here- Open Secrets new search for lobbyists Lobbying Database

You can use the options below to search through our database in four ways: search by name for a company, lobbying firm or individual lobbyist; search for the total spending by a particular industry; search for the total spending by lobbyists on a specific issue; or view the amount spent to lobby a particular government agency

WaPo still shilling for Dubya Like the Nation, Military Families Divided on Iraq

Nancy Hecker hasn't read the Iraq Study Group's report. She doesn't need to. She knows her son, Army Maj. William F. Hecker III, died at 37 for a just cause, no matter what the antiwar crowd thinks.

If she "can stand firm in support of our country and the mission, is it too much to ask the rest of the country to do so as well?" she asked.

Command Sgt. Major Jeff Krausse, 51, of the Washington National Guard, said the country never should have invaded Iraq. He spent a year there, ending in 2005. About three weeks after he got home, his daughter, Army 1st Lt. Jaime Campbell, 25, died when the helicopter she was co-piloting crashed in northern Iraq.

Asked about the war, Krausse said: "First of all, I believe that we were lied to." He denounced the "propaganda" about weapons of mass destruction that justified the invasion and described the war now as a "no-win situation" that is "costing the taxpayers billions of dollars."

Nancy wants all military families to feel her pain. Her son died for this illegal war, so we should be willing to sacrifice too. Prissy thinks it is a coping method for those who prefer to shut out the facts. No question Nancy deserves our pity.

However, most military families and the public are NOT divided on this issue-the majority want our soldiers home. As usual, the WP misleads the public. Sane people who do not make their fortunes on this war, are well aware it is a dead-end.

Baker's report on Iraq isn't telling anything new. Nor will Bush follow any suggested change of course. He has said he will not pull out of Iraq while he is "president" even if down-trodden wife Laura and his dog Barney are the only ones left supporting his decision. Just one more reason he is utterly incompetent.

Washington Post have given cause to have the pants sued off of them for their part in our soldiers deaths and injuries. Maybe Iraqis' should sue them too. After all, they lied when they could have printed the truth, well before the war ever began...

Reuters Saddam's nephew escapes prison with guard's help

Ayman al-Sabawi, the son of Saddam's half brother, Sabawi Ibrahim al-Tikriti, escaped from Badoush prison northwest of the northern city of Mosul at 4 p.m. (13:00 GMT), a senior police officer told Reuters.

Brigadier Mohammad al-Waqaa, the head of the Mosul police operation room, said the nightwatch commander had helped Sabawi to escape. It was unclear how they made their getaway.

Sabawi's father was head of the Iraqi secret service in 1991 and head of the General Security Directorate from 1991 to 1996. After Saddam's overthrow in 2003, Washington offered a $1 million reward for information leading to his capture or death.

It is believed that Syria turned over Sabawi's father, who had been in hiding, to the Iraqi authorities in February 2005

Brad Blog EXCLUSIVE: REP. HOLT SAYS HIS ELECTION REFORM LEGISLATION WILL REQUIRE 'VOTER-VERIFIED PAPER BALLOTS'

The other day, Brad commented that money already spent is not an adequate reason to keep unverifiable electronic voting machines in use. Of course, unverifiable systems should not be kept in place simply because they are already bought and paid for. The point of my legislation is not to certify or decertify specific designs of voting systems, but to require that voters use systems that are verifiable, or as I prefer to say, auditable. (In New Jersey, all voting machines will be rendered independently auditable by 2008 in accordance with state law modeled on H.R. 550.) Auditability should be mandated, period. Cost is not the issue.

I am proud of the fact that I have been trying for years to require voter-verified paper ballots, and I will continue to work to make them a federal requirement. The fact that my legislation does not outlaw the use of electronic machines does not mean that I am against paper-ballot-based voting or that I am in favor of touch-screen machines. In fact, my legislation intentionally avoids dictating technology except for requiring a voter-verified paper ballot. If states and localities choose paper-ballot-based voting, and they do so while still protecting accessibility and privacy for disabled voters, then they have my support.

As HR550 is currently being re-written for re-introduction in the new Congress --- and in fact, we've been in touch with Holt's office on a number of occasions to discuss our concerns, the paper "ballot" language being among the most important --- we'd be delighted that Holt's comments, as posted above, seem to be a clear signal that he plans to reintroduce his bill as requiring paper ballots instead of "records" or "trails" in its new iteration.

Until personally witnessing the poll workers, the recount and conducting an audit of voter signature books Prissy would not have fought you to correct the problem machines. But forget those messed up machines; let's stick with paper ballots like 95% of the worlds democracies. The feds know the machines are junk too. See below

Internet News Feds to Toughen E-Voting Standards

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is recommending that the 2007 version of the Voluntary Voting Systems Guidelines (VVSG) decertify direct record electronic (DRE) machines.

According to an NIST paper to be discussed at a meeting of election regulators at NIST headquarters in Gaithersburg, Md., on Dec. 4 and 5, DRE vote totals cannot be audited because the machines are not software independent.

In other words, there is no means of verifying vote tallies other than by relying on the software that tabulated the results to begin with.

The machines currently in use are "more vulnerable to undetected programming errors or malicious code," according to the paper.

Iraq Uncovered: The Whole Truth

The War on Iraq(Film 56 min 8 sec), filmmaker Robert Greenwald chronicles the Bush Administration's determined quest to invade Iraq following the events of September 11, 2001. The film deconstructs the administration's case for war through interviews with U.S intelligence and defense officials, foreign service experts, and U.N. weapons inspectors -- including a former CIA director, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia and even President Bush's Secretary of the Army. Their analyses and conclusions are sobering, and often disturbing, regardless of one's political affiliations.

UK Guardian After Baker, what next for the war in Iraq?

Perhaps the most important report Bush will receive will be from a military panel headed by General Peter Pace. That report is likely to suggest a range of options dubbed 'Go Strong, Go Long or Go Home'. It could recommend increasing troop numbers in a short-term 'surge' to bring stability to Baghdad and then settling in for the long haul while trying to bring the Iraqi army up to speed.

That is also the thinking behind the National Security Council's research, headed by National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. In a leaked memo Hadley has described bringing additional US combat troops into Baghdad. These reports, unlike the ISG, were commissioned by the White House and are likely to be received more warmly by Bush. 'The Baker report was embraced only by the media. A lot of people on the right see it as defeatist and naive,' Haas said.

Bush's New Way Forward is likely to disappoint many critics, especially in European diplomatic circles. He is most likely to start increasing short-term troop number, not withdrawing them. Just two days before he resigned, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told Bush in a memo that he believed US troops should be 'drawn down' to encourage Iraqis to stand up for themselves. The new Pentagon chief, Robert Gates, will in fact pursue the opposite of that policy by ordering an increase in troops in the new year, numbering perhaps 30,000 in order to secure the capital.

Though Baker has warned that the White House should not treat his report 'like a fruit salad' and only choose bits of it, that is exactly what is set to happen. Bush has already shown himself sceptical of its two key suggestions: no US combat brigades in Iraq within 15 months and direct talks with Iran and Syria. The clearest signal of Bush's thinking was provided at his White House press conference with Tony Blair. 'History will look back on our time with unforgiving clarity and demand to know what happened,' he said. 'How come free nations did not act to preserve the peace?'

Not encouraging, as the pretend General Peter Pace is more than willing to lie for his Dubya-the heck with our troops. While Prissy has great respect for our military, alas she has none left for Pace and his kind...What dirt does the cabal have on General Pace to make him heel?

Brasscheck and Google video War and the News Media

An illustrated talk by Amy Goodman of "Democracy Now!" detailing how the US news media has been turned into a propaganda tool of the Pentagon and the White House.

Financial Times Iraq bribe prosecutors criticised as ‘lazy’

State prosecutors are dragging their feet investigating corruption in the Iraq oil-for-food programme, according to one of the authors of last year’s United Nations report on one of the world’s largest bribery scandals.

Mark Pieth, a Switzerland-based lawyer who wrote the report with Paul Volcker, former chairman of the US Federal Reserve, told the Financial Times that prosecutors in many countries were too career-minded, too unwilling to enter new legal terrain “and sometimes simply lazy”.

In spite of high-profile investigations in Australia, France and elsewhere, few cases have led to charges being laid in the 13 months since the report was published. Mr Pieth said he was “astonished” the report’s conclusions had not led to organisational changes in the UN, which was accused of mishandling the oil-for-food programme.

News from Norway Deeply honoured' Peace Prize winner slams war in Iraq

Ole Danbolt Mjøs, leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, made a forceful speech before presenting the award that attempted to explain and justify why the committee awarded the Peace Prize to a banker and a profit-making bank. He claimed that lasting peace can't be created until people find a way to break out of poverty.

Yunus' and Grameen Bank's micro-credit system "is such a way," Mjøs said. His speech was interrupted by applause several times from the roughly 1,000 in attendance at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo's City Hall, not least when he said that Yunus' micro-credit system is an example of the Islamic world teaching something to the western world, and that the system has led to "female empowerment" because fully 97 percent of Grameen Bank's loan customers are women.

Men too often use money they receive on themselves, Mjøs noted, while women tend to use money they receive on their families. Obtaining loans, however small, has nurtured initiative and a sense of responsibility among Grameen Bank's customers, he said.

Helping poor people help themselves can also nurture peace, he claimed, noting that "most wars take place in poor countries," and that a battle against poverty is a battle for peace.

Congressional Quarterly The Root of All Terror

“One man’s garbage is another man’s treasure,” he says. “So I don’t know how you measure attractiveness.” The chatter factor, meanwhile, leaves O’Brien entirely in the dark: “I’m not sure what that means.”

The DHS undersecretary for preparedness, George W. Foresman, offered no specific comment on the calculations beyond saying that he only knows of “chatter” as a term used in the intelligence community. Foresman argues that the larger point of the risk assessment is that “the math informs the knowledge. The math is but one component of a process that involves common sense, gut instinct and quantitative measures.”

O’Brien has other criticisms of Vegas’ downgrade that don’t involve a graphing calculator. DHS reported this year that the Las Vegas region was not home to any military bases, though Nellis Air Force Base hugs the city line. O’Brien also says the 2006 assessment made no mention of Hoover Dam — a critical asset — which is a mere 25 miles from the Vegas strip.

None of this inspires much confidence, O’Brien says, in how DHS arrives at its risk assessment. “Holy smokes. If you’re relying on the soundness of a calculation that involves millions of arithmetical activities, who checked the accuracy to insure that some little tweak over here isn’t throwing the whole thing off?”

Oh my, we are supposed to place our national security with these people?

The Australian Bush Sr breaks as one son's troubles recall another's With defeat in the midterm elections, and the verdict of the Iraq Study Group looming, Papa Bush started showing the strain, Sarah Baxter reports

Then the former president began to sob. As he struggled to continue, he said haltingly, "a true measure of a man is how you handle victory and how you handle defeat", before breaking down in tears again.

And...Dov Zakheim, a former senior official at the Pentagon, has a plan to pull US forces back and station them along the borders of Iraq in an attempt to prevent the war spreading to the region.

US forces would not intervene in sectarian conflicts, but some would remain as trainers for Iraq forces and as a strike force against al-Qa'ida in Iraq.

"The basic premise is that we're not going to be able to stop a civil war. At some point these things exhaust themselves but we're not there yet," Zakheim said. "If our number one priority is regional stability, this would provide us a cordon sanitaire."

Prissy thinks both Georges will cry when the indictments roll in

About Dov Zakheim

Liberty Forum Dov Zakheim and the 9/11 Conspiracy

In a document called "Rebuilding America's Defenses" published by The American Enterprise's "Project for a New American Century"(1), SPC International executive, Dov Zakheim, called for a 'Pearl Harbor' type of incident being necessary to foster the frame of mind needed for the American public to support a war in the Middle East that would politically and culturally reshape the region. A respected and established voice in the intelligence community, his views were eagerly accepted, and Dov went from his position at Systems Planning Corporation to become the Comptroller of the Pentagon in May 2001. (2) Tridata, a subsidiary of Systems Planning Corporation, was in charge of the investigation after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 1993.

Systems Planning Corporation, according to their official website, specializes in many areas of defense technology production and manufacture, including a system developed by their Radar Physics Group called the Flight Termination System, or FTS. (3) This is a system used to destroy target drones (craft that would be fired on by test aircraft or weaponry) in the event of malfunction or "misses". This highly sophisticated war-game technology allows the control of several 'drones' from a remote location, on varying frequencies, and has a range of several hundred miles. This technology can be used on many different types of aircraft, including large passenger jets.

According to the SPC website (4), a recent customer at that time was Eglin AFB, located in Florida. Eglin is very near another Air Force base in Florida-MacDill AFB, where Dov Zakheim contracted to send at least 32 Boeing 767 aircraft, as part of the Boeing /Pentagon tanker lease agreement. (5)

As the events of September 11, 2001 occurred, little was mentioned about these strange connections, and the possible motives and proximity of Dov Zakheim and his group. Since there was little physical evidence remaining after the events, investigators were left only with photographic and anecdotal evidence.

Prissy is uncomfortable with "dual citizens" having top secret clearance.

Mad Cow Morning News Voting Company Official Figure Involved in Election Bribe Scandel

Gary L.Greenhalgh, the election company executive responsible for the touch-screen electronic voting machines in Sarasota County which failed to register fully one of every seven votes cast in last week’s hotly-contested race to replace Rep. Katherine Harris, has a checkered past, the MadCowMorningNews has learned exclusively, including involvement in election bribery scandals.

The most recent rocked voters in North Carolina in 1999, and resulted in the supervisor of elections in North Carolina's Mecklenburg County being sent to federal prison for taking over $130,000 in payoffs from MicroVote, the election company where Greenhalgh was national sales director.

More recently, as vice president of Election Software & Services (ES&S), Greenhalgh was instrumental, first success of an all-out push in 2001 by then newly-elected Sarasota County election supervisor Kathy Dent to persuade Sarasota County to pay more than four million dollars for touch-screen electronic voting machines; and then as the project manager overseeing their installation.

Greenhalgh's Ivotronic machines allegedly failed to register over 18,000 votes in Sarasota County last week; his touch screen machines were almost entirely responsible for the massive 13% undercount of votes which marred the closest Congressional contest in the country, which pitted Republican Vern Buchanan against Democrat Christine Jennings.

Artic Beacon Too Good To Be True: Is Daddy Bush's Illegal Financial NWO Empire Collapsing? by Greg Szymanski

But since all empires fall as did Gotti's, Bush's Satanist stranglehold on America may be in jeopardy if what two insiders say is finally acted upon by an American public fed-up with fascism brought on deceptively by the Bush family ever since the National Archives and the U.S. Congressional Record documented former Sen. Prescott Bush, as being a Nazi traitor while financing Hitler.

Although it is hard to imagine Daddy Bush as broke and penniless after stealing trillions of dollars of off shore money as documented in the Leo Wanta story, Wanta's financial agent said his sources said Bush Sr. was actually reduced to tears Tuesday when he learned much of his stolen financial empire, held in Vatican Bank accounts, has been lost through complicated financial transactions related to the unpaid $4.5 trillion owed Ambassador Wanta as well as the American people.

Cottrell would not elaborate on how Bush lost trillions of illegal dollars he has amassed since the end of the Cold War, but said he was told by credible sources he "cried like a baby" when he learned much of his stolen empire had been wiped-out.

"I can't get into specifics but let me tell you this," said Cottrell from his East Coast home Tuesday late Tuesday evening. "We are going to get the $4.5 trillion but this country is headed for the worst financial nightmare since the depression due to the amount of thievery by Bush and the last three presidential administrations."

Does Greg really have the scoop? We'll find out by Feb...

Speaking of Crooks and Liars...GAO: The status quo is unsustainable

C-Span's Friday Washington Journal had on David Walker, U.S. Comptroller of the GAO on to discuss two recent reports, one on recommendations for 110th Congress Targets for Oversight and Global War on Terror Costs (both .pdf. You can watch archives of the show here.

Walker was fairly scathing in his assessment of how things are going for the country fiscally. The GAO has produced videos with their assessment that you can download here. It's a lot of information to take in. When they start to toss out estimates in the TRILLIONS, my mind started to reel.

From the video on America's Fiscal Future: …And even if we're able to constrain discretionary spending for the next ten years to the rate of inflation, which we haven't for a long time, we still face large and growing structural deficits in the years ahead. Bottom line? The status quo is unacceptable and unsustainable. We're on an imprudent and unsustainable fiscal path. Tough choices are required. We will not be able to grow our way out of this problem. Anybody who says that suffers from two problems. Number one, they have not studied economic history adequately; and number two; they probably wouldn't do real well at math. Because the numbers just don't add up.

KWTX Man Sues Over Church As Polling Place

A Florida man who had to vote in a Catholic church last month is suing election officials.

Jerry Rabinowitz of Delray Beach argues that casting a ballot amid crucifixes and anti-abortion banners violates the separation of church and state. Rabinowitz is a non-observant Jew.

He says elections officials refused to remove or cover religious items at Emmanuel Catholic Church.

And he says that amounted to government endorsement of religion.

It does seem rather strange to vote in a church. So much for separation of church and state...

Riverbend, blogger in Iraq When All Else Fails

It’s not about the man- presidents come and go, governments come and go. It’s the frustration of feeling like the whole country and every single Iraqi inside and outside of Iraq is at the mercy of American politics. It is the rage of feeling like a mere chess piece to be moved back and forth at will. It is the aggravation of having a government so blind and uncaring about their peoples needs that they don’t even feel like it’s necessary to go through the motions or put up an act. And it's the deaths. The thousands of dead and dying, with Bush sitting there smirking and lying about progress and winning in a country where every single Iraqi outside of the Green Zone is losing.

Once again… The timing of all of this is impeccable- two days before congressional elections. And if you don’t see it, then I’m sorry, you’re stupid. Let’s see how many times Bush milks this as a ‘success’ in his coming speeches.

A final note. I just read somewhere that some of the families of dead American soldiers are visiting the Iraqi north to see ‘what their sons and daughters died for’. If that’s the goal of the visit, then, “Ladies and gentlemen- to your right is the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, to your left is the Dawry refinery… Each of you get this, a gift bag containing a 3 by 3 color poster of Al Sayid Muqtada Al Sadr (Long May He Live And Prosper), an Ayatollah Sistani t-shirt and a map of Iran, to scale, redrawn with the Islamic Republic of South Iraq. Also… Hey you! You- the female in the back- is that a lock of hair I see? Cover it up or stay home.”

And that is what they died for.

Quotes of the Day

"A daily reminder that while Laura can divorce George, we appear stuck with him. People are dying because of his obstinance and stupidity. Like a nasty, doltish ex-husband, you just want him to move on as soon as possible."-- BuzzFlash.com

"Only our individual faith in freedom can keep us free." -- Dwight D. Eisenhower

"I'm also not very analytical. You know I don't spend a lot of time thinking about myself, about why I do things." --George W. Bush, June 4, 2003

If men could only know each other, they would neither idolize nor hate.--Elbert Hubbard (1856 - 1915)