Steve's T's

The Perdue Flood

2007-11-16T07:28:00.000-08:00

Sonny prayed and the following night something strange happened: It was a cold and dark night in Atlanta. I was watching TV and then it happened. Something wet was going on outside. If my memory serves me right, I think it was RAINING! Yes, it was. I actually looked it up in the dictionary to make sure of this fact. I was filled with all kinds of joy and happiness. It was as if God opened the floodgates of heaven and a great pouring out of water appeared. An astronomical, huge, gigantic, well maybe not that much, actually it was only 4 tenths of an inch but here in Hotlanta, we are calling it "The Perdue Flood".

Prosecute the Murderers

2007-11-14T11:54:00.000-08:00

Report: FBI finds fault with Blackwater in Iraq
Feds determine 14 of 17 killings in Iraq unjustified, N.Y. Times reports

updated 9:18 a.m. ET, Wed., Nov. 14, 2007
WASHINGTON - Blackwater Worldwide supports “stringent accountability” for any wrongdoing, a spokeswoman said following a report saying federal investigators found that the shooting deaths of at least 14 Iraqi civilians by its guards violated rules of deadly force.

The New York Times cited unidentified civilian and military officials in reporting for Wednesday’s editions that the killings of at least 14 of the 17 Iraqi civilians shot by Blackwater personnel guarding a U.S. Embassy convoy were found to have been unjustified and violated standards in place governing the use of deadly force.

Responding to the Times report, Anne Tyrrell, a Blackwater spokeswoman, said the company “supports the stringent accountability of the industry. If it is determined that one person was complicit in the wrongdoing, we would support accountability in that. The key people in this have not spoken with investigators.”

She added that the company will withhold further comment “until the findings are made available.”

A government official familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press on Tuesday night that no final conclusions have been reached about any of the fatalities. A State Department official said he was not aware that the department had been informed of any findings. Both requested anonymity because the investigation is still under way.

The Times said the Justice Department is already reviewing the findings even though the FBI is still investigating the Sept. 16 shootings.

No evidence supports assertions by Blackwater employees that they were fired upon by Iraqi civilians, but the FBI has concluded that three of the deaths may have been justified under rules that allow lethal force in response to an imminent threat, the paper reported.

“Without a doubt, the teams were faced with deadly force that day,” the Blackwater spokeswoman said.

‘Productive moves toward accountability’
Investigators have concluded that as many as five of the company’s guards opened fire during the shootings, the newspaper reported. One guard has become the focus of the investigation, the Times reported, because that guard was responsible for several deaths.

The shootings took place in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square. Blackwater contends that its convoy was attacked before it opened fire, but the Iraqi government’s investigation concluded that the shootings were unprovoked.

State Department officials have said it has offered limited immunity to private security contractors involved in shootings in Iraq. They disagreed with law enforcement officials that such actions could jeopardize prosecutions in the Sept. 16 incident.

Rep. David E. Price, D-N.,C., has sponsored legislation to apply U.S. criminal law to contractors serving overseas and called for the Justice Department to hold someone accountable for the shootings.

“We’ve always supported any productive moves toward accountability, including Congressman Price’s bill,” said Tyrrell, the Blackwater spokeswoman.

Paul Cox, a spokesman for Price, said late Tuesday that “we don’t have any independent verification of this. I don’t have any access to the report.” But he said if the FBI concludes there was criminal wrongdoing, “just because there are deficiencies in the law, and Congressman Price is trying to rectify that, that’s no excuse not to prosecute.”

“For him, it just underscores that the administration should work with Congress in trying to pass this bill,” added Cox.

Time to wake up, America

2007-11-13T07:13:00.000-08:00

Report: Wars cost average U.S. family $20,000
Democrats say hidden costs double price of conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan

Upated 5:26 a.m. ET, Tues., Nov. 13, 2007
WASHINGTON - A new study by congressional Democrats says "hidden costs" have driven the price of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to about $1.5 trillion, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

That figure is nearly double the $804 billion the White House has spent or requested, according to the report by the Democratic staff of Congress's Joint Economic Committee, which examines the hidden costs of the wars, the Post said.

According to the panel, the hidden costs include higher oil prices, the expense of treating wounded veterans and interest payments on money borrowed to pay for the wars, the newspaper said.

SJK: Who are we borrowiong thisb money from? Some of the people we are borrowing money from are the same ones we are already paying a Billion dollars a day to.

The report was expected to be presented on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

A 21-page draft obtained by the newspaper estimates that the wars have cost the average U.S. family of four more than $20,000, the Post said.

SJK: I don't know where they are coming up with this $20,000. If we have a 420 Billion dollar debt and we have 380 million people in the US, that would be more than a Billion dollars for each person unless there counting corporation's income.
$20,000 seems awfully low to me.

The study concludes that the cost to the average family could more than double, to $46,300, over the next decade, with estimated economic costs to the United States reaching $3.5 trillion if the conflicts continue at their current pace, the Post said.

The Post said the report estimated that war injuries could add more than $30 billion in future disability and medical care costs, including billions in lost earnings for veterans who cannot work because of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Members of the panel's Republican staff could not be reached for comment, the Post said.

The newspaper cited war funding experts as saying that some of the numbers in the report should be met with skepticism.

The experts said it is difficult to calculate the precise impact of the Iraq war on global oil prices. They also said it was speculative to estimate how much the war will cost over time because situations change daily on the battlefield, the Post reported.

It's about time

2007-11-08T12:02:00.000-08:00

Congress Hands Bush First Veto Override

By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 8, 2007; 2:31 PM

A year after Democrats won control of Capitol Hill, Congress delivered its clearest victory yet over President Bush today, resoundingly overturning Bush's veto of a $23 billion water resources measure -- the first veto override of his presidency.

The Senate voted to override the veto, 79-14, with 34 Republicans abandoning the president and just 12 standing by him. The Senate vote followed one in the House, which rejected the veto Tuesday, 361-54. Both votes were well over the two-thirds majorities needed to defy Bush.

"I hope that the Congress feels good about what we've done," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). "I believe in the institution of the legislative branch of government. I think it should exist, and for seven years, this man has ignored us."

"We have said today as a Congress to this president, 'You can't just keep rolling over us like this. You can't make everything a fight, because we'll see it through'," said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and a primary architect of the law.

Today's override marks only the 107th time that Congress has overridden a presidential veto in the nation's history. Congress overrode two of Bill Clinton's 22 vetoes and just one of George H.W. Bush's 44 vetoes. Gerald R. Ford, who vetoed 66 bills, and Harry S. Truman, who vetoed 250, each had 12 overridden, the most of any president other than Andrew Johnson in the mid-19th century.

As obscure as the Water Resources Development Act may be, Congress's action sets the stage for much larger spending and tax fights to come in the next few weeks. The House tonight is scheduled to send Bush a $151 billion measure to fund federal health, education and labor programs, a bill that Bush has promised to veto because it exceeds his request by nearly $10 billion.

The Senate is likely to give final approval to a $459.3 billion defense spending this evening as well, one that increases defense spending by $35.7 billion -- or 9.5 percent -- over last fiscal year. Bush is expected to sign that legislation.

Democrats made clear today they will relentlessly compare the president's willingness to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on defense and war, while he rejects much smaller increases for domestic spending. Republican leaders vowed to round up enough votes to sustain Bush's vetoes on the spending bills, even though they acknowledged that many Republicans are likely to break with the White House.

Indeed, both parties sounded a discordant note on fiscal rectitude today. House Democratic leaders, defending a tax measure that will come to a vote tomorrow with offsetting tax hikes, largely on Wall Street titans, claimed to represent the party of fiscal responsibility -- even as they were pushing through some of the biggest domestic spending increases in years.

"We are making the hard decisions that Republicans refused to make, and continue to refuse to make," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).

Republicans said they were the party of small government and austerity, even as they abandoned the White House in droves to push through a water bill that, if fully funded, would build over 900 projects valued at a total of $38 billion, according to the White House.

"Sadly, because the authors of this bill have rained a few earmarks to every member's district, Congress didn't have the courage to stop this reckless overspending," said Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), whose dissent on the measure was a lonely one.

The bill would authorize billions of dollars in coastal restoration, river navigation and dredging projects, levee and port construction and other Army Corps of Engineers public works efforts. Seven years in the making, the measure took on particular political resonance in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, as Gulf Coast lawmakers secured nearly $2 billion in restoration and levee construction projects for the region. The bill also would continue projects such as the restoration of the Everglades and the dredging of the upper Mississippi River, while expanding oversight of the Army Corps.

The measure authorizes $30 million to reduce nitrogen flowing from the Washington-area Blue Plains sewage treatment plant into the Chesapeake Bay. It also provides $40 million for other Chesapeake Bay pollution reduction projects.

Another $192 million is authorized for the expansion of the bay's Poplar Island project, which involves rebuilding the island with dredged material from the channels that serve the Port of Baltimore. It includes a $30 million increase for Chesapeake Bay oyster restoration and an additional $20 million for other bay environmental protection projects.

But the law merely authorizes such projects. Lawmakers who support the projects now must secure funding through the House and Senate appropriations committees, with no guarantees. Senate Republicans repeatedly justified their votes by saying the law actually does not spend a cent, but Boxer made it clear that the authorizations would speed the allocation of funds.

Repent Purdue for voting for the BUSHwhacker

2007-11-08T07:42:00.000-08:00

What Sonny should first do is Repent; then he should pray! The droughts aren't an accident. It is God's wrath upon those who voted for the Wicked BUSHwhacker (Proverbs 12:6 "The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood". War is NOT the solution. Thru DIPLOMACY we can acheive PEACE.

Governor of parched Georgia prays for rain
Leader will host prayer service to ask for relief from Southeast drought

Lauren Victoria Burke / AP file
Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue has several times mentioned the need for prayer — along with water conservation — as the state’s drought crisis has worsened. Over the summer, he participated in day of prayer for agriculture at a gathering of the Georgia Farm Bureau in Macon, Ga.

Drought grips Southeast
From parched lawns to boats that have run aground, see the impact of a record-breaking dry spell in the Southeast.

updated 11:44 p.m. ET, Wed., Nov. 7, 2007
ATLANTA - What to do when the rain won’t come? If you’re Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, you pray.

What Liberals already know; You hypocrital Creationists

2007-11-07T12:06:00.000-08:00

More evangelicals concluding God is green
Traditionally conservative movement moving to embrace ‘creation care’

More evangelicals concluding God is green
Most viewed on MSNBC.com
By Alex Johnson
Reporter
MSNBC
updated 7:11 p.m. ET, Tues., Nov. 6, 2007

Alex Johnson
Reporter

The evangelical awakening to climate change is still a work in progress, but as the politically powerful movement becomes more active in environmentalism, political leaders will have to take notice or risk losing their jobs, a prominent evangelical leader said Tuesday.

Since President Bush’s re-election in 2004, a movement called “creation care,” which asserts that Christians are the stewards of God’s creation, has rapidly been been gathering momentum, said the Rev. Richard Cizik, vice president of government relations for the National Association of Evangelicals, or NAE.

“What is really happening is that American evangelicals are becoming, well, green, if you will,” Cizik said in an interview with MSNBC-TV’s Joe Scarborough.

The American evangelical community is in the midst of a wrenching shift in thinking on the environment. As recently as this spring, politically influential evangelicals were locked in a showdown over climate change, when 25 conservative evangelical leaders demanded that the NAE fire Cizik for his environmental advocacy.

The association’s refusal — rebuffing such influential conservative figures as James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family; former Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer; and Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council — marked a turning point for green evangelicals, emboldening them to take creation care into the political arena.

SJK: good for you; tell the Hypocrits to shut up.

“This is going to be an issue which evangelicals are going to look at when they cast their ballots,” Cizik said.

“I think it should be on par with all the other issues,” like abortion and same-sex marriage, he said. “When you think about it ... hundreds of millions of people around the globe are already being impacted by climate change.”

‘New day’ as conservative elders fade
For most of the movement’s history, American evangelicals as a rule steered clear of politics, heeding leaders who preached against risking contamination by secular culture.

But in the 1970s, a generation of deeply conservative activists attracted by the open courting of Ronald Reagan, who was preparing his successful run for president, broke with tradition and began talking about reforming that secular culture. That movement provided the foundation for the rise to prominence of conservative political pastors like the Rev. Jerry Falwell, the Rev. Pat Robertson and a coalition of dissidents who seized control of the Southern Baptist Convention in the early 1980s.

Those conservative evangelical leaders largely rejected the environmental movement, both because of its liberal heritage and because of the biblical injunction that Christians should worship the creator, not his creation. With their focus on conservative social issues like abortion, they kept environmentalism marginalized as an evangelical issue.

In a sermon shortly before his death in May, Falwell criticized “naive Christian leaders” for being “duped” by environmentalism, which he told his congregation at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va., was “Satan’s attempt to redirect the church’s primary focus” from evangelism.

Since the re-election of President Bush in 2004, however, and especially in the past two years — as awareness of climate change and disenchantment with the war in Iraq have crystallized — moderate and liberal evangelicals have been willing to step out of the shadows and confront the conservative leaders most Americans identify with evangelicalism.

Praise God. It's about time to silence these Hypocrits. On the one hand they defend God's Creation but on the other hand they don't mind polluting it. I'm sure God's impressed Dobson, Stanley, Bauer, Kennedy and others.

Get the Bitch

2007-11-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

Rice to be subpoenaed in espionage case
Judge OKs calls for intel officials to discuss talks with pro-Israel lobbyists
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may have to testify about her use of pro-Israel lobbyists as a go-between in crafting Middle East policy.
View related photos
Burhan Ozbilici / AP

updated 4:37 p.m. ET, Fri., Nov. 2, 2007
WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and more than a dozen other current and former intelligence officials must testify about their conversations with pro-Israel lobbyists, a federal judge ruled Friday in an espionage case.

Lawyers for two former American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobbyists facing charges have subpoenaed Rice, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams and several others to testify at their trial next year. Prosecutors had challenged the subpoenas in federal court.

Lobbyists Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman maintain the Israeli interest group played an unofficial but sanctioned role in crafting foreign policy and that Rice and others can confirm it.

If they ultimately testify in court, the trial in federal court in suburban Alexandria, Va. could offer a behind-the-scenes look at the way U.S. foreign policy is crafted.

Criminal or diplomatic?
The lobbyists are accused of receiving classified information from a now-convicted Pentagon official and relaying it to an Israeli official and the press. The information included details about the al-Qaida terror network, U.S. policy in Iran and the bombing of the Khobar Towers dormitory in Saudi Arabia, federal prosecutors said.

But defense attorneys argued that top U.S. officials regularly used the lobbyists as a go-between as they crafted Middle East policy. If so, attorneys say, how are Rosen and Weissman supposed to know the same behavior that's expected of them on one day is criminal the next?

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III said the lobbyists have a right to argue that "they believed the meetings charged in the indictment were simply further examples of the government's use of AIPAC as a diplomatic back channel."

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell cheered the ruling.

"For over two years, we have been explaining that our clients' conduct was lawful and completely consistent with how the U.S. government dealt with AIPAC and other foreign policy groups," Lowell said on behalf of both defendants. "We look forward to the trial."

Ellis left open the possibility that the Bush administration may challenge the subpoenas on the grounds they would reveal privileged information. But the judge said his ruling Friday "may trump a valid governmental privilege."

If so, that could force the government to decide whether to allow the testimony or drop the case.

Neither the State Department nor the Justice Department had an immediate comment.

Among those subpoenaed in the case were: former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz; former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage; and Marc Grossman, former undersecretary of state for political affairs.

Karl Benz's Big Blunder

2007-11-03T08:10:00.000-07:00

September 14, 2007, 8:05 am
Frankfurt Motor Show: A Look Back at Tomorrow’s Engine Technology

By Nick Kurczewski

Tags: engineering, Frankfurt, history, Mercedes Benz, motorwagen
MotorwagenAt the dawn of the 20th century, the future of the automobile appeared just as likely to be motivated by steam or electricity as it did gasoline. (Photo by Frank Rumpenhorst/European Pressphoto Agency)

With all the new engine technology on display at the Frankfurt motor show, I needed a break from the bustling press conferences to get back to my automotive roots. Mercedes-Benz brought several replicas of Karl Benz’s original Motorwagen to the Frankfurt show.

Remember, it was back in 1885 when Mr. Benz patented what would become the blueprint for every automobile made since. But the Benz Motorwagen was not only the first automobile, it set a precedent that gasoline power was the best choice for these new horseless carriages.

SJK: Thanks Mr. Benz; you IDIOT! Gasoline was the WRONG choice.

Other technology certainly gave these early gas-guzzlers a run for their money. At the dawn of the 20th century, the future of the automobile appeared just as likely to be motivated by steam or electricity as it did gasoline. Gas was dangerous. It was also inconvenient to buy. Early fillups took place at the local pharmacy, where gasoline was sold as a cleaning agent. Forget a fuel pump; these automotive pioneers relied on a bucket, a funnel, and a steady hand to refuel their pride and joy.

Hmm, a new fuel, lack of distribution and infrastructure… starting to sound familiar?

BUSHwhacker's Economy = Recession

2007-11-01T06:45:00.000-07:00

Foreclosures jump 30 percent in 3rd quarter
Congress, White House debate solutions to help people keep their homes

Foreclosure rate dips, expected to stay high
Michigan has relatively high foreclosure filing rate
Alabama's Foreclosure Rate Is On The Rise
Housing crisis hits home
911 for homeowners in trouble

Most viewed on MSNBC.com
By John W. Schoen
Senior Producer
MSNBC
updated 5:14 a.m. ET, Thurs., Nov. 1, 2007

John W. Schoen
Senior Producer

As Congress and the White House continue to work toward solutions to help embattled homeowners, home foreclosure filings took a big jump in the third quarter, according to the latest data from real estate Web site RealtyTrac.

Foreclosure actions were reported on more than 446,000 properties the three months ended Sept. 30, up 30 percent from the second quarter and double last year’s third quarter. That brings the overall foreclosure rate to one in every 196 U.S. households.

The rise in foreclosures was widespread, with 45 out of the 50 states reporting higher levels than last year. But the highest concentrations were a handful of housing markets; California Arizona, Florida, Nevada, Ohio, Texas and Michigan made up more than half of the total.

The rise in foreclosures comes as millions of homeowners face sharp increases in their mortgage payments from low “teaser” rates as the housing market remains mired in a slump.

Home prices in 10 markets tracked by the S&P/Case-Shiller housing index slid 5 percent in August, the eighth straight monthly drop, according to figures released Tuesday. Some economists expect home prices to fall by 10 percent before the market finds a bottom sometime late next year, barring a further economic downturn. The pullback follows one of the strongest housing booms on record that sent median prices up more than 50 percent earlier in the decade.

Because the low initial rates on many mortgages typically last for two or three years, the housing market faces further pressure next year from loans that were written in when the housing market was still rising and lenders were offering easy terms to borrowers with less-than-stellar credit.

“Given the number of loans due to reset through the middle of 2008, and the continuing weakness in home sales, we would expect foreclosure activity to remain high and even increase over the next year in many markets,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac

In Nevada, there was one foreclosure filing for every 61 households, the highest rate in the nation. That’s 23 percent from the previous quarter and more than triple the number reported in the third quarter of 2006.

California saw one filing for every 88 households, the second highest; the rate was up 36 percent from the previous quarter and nearly quadruple the third quarter of 2006.

Florida’s foreclosure rate, the nation’s third highest, from as year ago to one filing for every 95 households, a rise of more than 50 percent from the previous quarter.

Other states with foreclosure rates among the top 10 included Michigan, Ohio, Colorado, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana and Texas.

Who says the French are bad? Viva La France

2007-11-01T06:32:00.000-07:00

Torture suit against Rumsfeld filed in France
Groups: Ex-defense secretary OK’d war crimes at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo
NBC World Blog
NBC News correspondents and producers around the globe share their insight on news events.

updated 9:57 p.m. ET, Wed., Oct. 31, 2007
PARIS - American and European rights groups filed a legal complaint in France accusing former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of responsibility for torture in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay.

The complaint was filed with the Paris prosecutor's office as Rumsfeld arrived in France for a visit, according to the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, the Berlin-based European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, and two Paris-based groups, the International Federation of Human Rights and the League of Human Rights.

Lawrence Di Rita, former Pentagon spokesman under Rumsfeld, said: "These assertions have no merit, and they have been completely dismissed when made in other jurisdictions."

"Complaints such as this have zero foundation in the truth or the facts as presented in countless investigations," he said.

The rights groups say their complaint could go forward because people suspected of torture can be prosecuted in France if they are on French soil.

The complaint will now be examined by French prosecutors, who will decide whether it is well-founded and should be pursued or whether it should be rejected. The Paris prosecutor's office said on Friday night that it was checking whether Rumsfeld is protected by any sort of diplomatic immunity and whether he was still in France.

The complaint says Rumsfeld, in his former position as defense secretary, "authorized and ordered crimes of torture to be carried out ... as well as other war crimes."

Groups aim to restrict his travel
Filed Thursday, the complaint cites various documents, including memos from Rumsfeld, internal reports and testimony from former U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski — the one-time commander of U.S. military prisons in Iraq — to bolster its claims. It asks the prosecutor to open an inquiry and take Rumsfeld into custody.

"We know that we can't get him into prison right now, but it would be great to make sure that he couldn't safely leave the U.S. anymore," said Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights.

Ratner's group already filed a formal request in Germany to try to bring an investigation against Rumsfeld and other current and former Bush administration officials for either ordering, aiding or failing to prevent torture.

German federal prosecutors rejected that request in April, saying it was up to the U.S. to hold any inquiry.

More BUSHwhacker's immorallity

2007-10-30T05:41:00.000-07:00

Blackwater bodyguards promised immunity
State Department gave protection to all guards in deadly Iraq incident
Blackwater has said its Sept. 16 convoy was under attack before it opened fire, killing 17 Iraqis. An investigation by the Iraqi government concluded that guards, like the ones shown, were unprovoked.
View related photos
Marwan Naamani / AFP - Getty Images

Updated: 5:47 p.m. ET Oct 29, 2007
WASHINGTON - The State Department promised Blackwater USA bodyguards immunity from prosecution in its investigation of last month’s deadly shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians, The Associated Press has learned.

As a result, it will likely be months before the United States can — if ever — bring criminal charges in the case that has infuriated the Iraqi government.

“Once you give immunity, you can’t take it away,” said a senior law enforcement official familiar with the investigation.

A State Department spokesman did not have an immediate comment Monday. Both Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd and FBI spokesman Rich Kolko declined comment.

FBI agents were returning to Washington late Monday from Baghdad, where they have been trying to collect evidence in the Sept. 16 embassy convoy shooting without using statements from Blackwater employees who were given immunity.

Three senior law enforcement officials said all the Blackwater bodyguards involved — both in the vehicle convoy and in at least two helicopters above — were given the legal protections as investigators from the Bureau of Diplomatic Security sought to find out what happened. The bureau is an arm of the State Department.

Strained relationship with Iraq
The investigative misstep comes in the wake of already-strained relations between the United States and Iraq, which is demanding the right to launch its own prosecution of the Blackwater bodyguards.

Go Iraq: convict the murderers!

Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell declined comment about the U.S. investigation. Based in Moyock, N.C., Blackwater USA is the largest private security firm protecting U.S. diplomats in Iraq.

Security firm = mercenaries.

The company has said its Sept. 16 convoy was under attack before it opened fire in west Baghdad’s Nisoor Square, killing 17 Iraqis. A follow-up investigation by the Iraqi government, however, concluded that Blackwater’s men were unprovoked. No witnesses have been found to contradict that finding.

Republican Morality at its best.

2007-10-27T05:06:00.000-07:00

Craig to claim sex sting arrest unconstitutional
ACLU agrees, says senator’s foot-tapping in stall was protected speech

Updated: 9:52 p.m. ET Oct 26, 2007
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Idaho Sen. Larry Craig will argue before an appeals court that Minnesota's disorderly conduct law is unconstitutional as it applies to his conviction in a bathroom sex sting, according to a new court filing.

This is the first time Craig's attorneys have raised that issue. However, an earlier friend-of-the-court filing by the American Civil Liberties Union argued that Craig's foot-tapping and hand gesture under a stall divider at the Minneapolis airport are protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech.

Craig has been trying to withdraw his August guilty plea to disorderly conduct. A judge turned him down earlier this month, and now Craig is taking his request to the state Court of Appeals. The conservative Republican at one point said he would resign from the U.S. Senate but now says he will finish his term, which ends in January 2009.

If this HYPOCRITE had any morality at all, he would resign. Good riddens to another BUSHwhacker.

Why are we putting up with the BUSHwhacker's Wicked Regime?

2007-10-27T04:44:00.000-07:00

Army to examine Iraq contracts for fraud
Probe focuses on Army office in Kuwait that gave $2.8 billion in contracts
Interactive

Updated: 9:28 p.m. ET Oct 26, 2007
WASHINGTON - A team of specially trained investigators will hunker down in an Army office north of Detroit on Monday to begin poring over hundreds of Iraq war contracts in search of rigged awards.

This team of 10 auditors, criminal investigators and acquisition experts are starting with a sampling of the roughly 6,000 contracts worth $2.8 billion issued by an Army office in Kuwait that service officials have identified as a hub of corruption.

The office, located at Camp Arifjan, buys gear and supplies to support U.S. troops as they move in and out of Iraq. The pace of that operation has exploded since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003.

Based on what the team finds, the probe may expand and the number of Army military and civilian employees accused of accepting bribes and kickbacks could grow, U.S. officials told The Associated Press. Nearly two dozen have been charged so far.

Signs of trouble include contracts continually awarded to vendors without the usual competition and awards that were competed but went to the bidder with the highest price rather than the lowest. A mismatch between the original product to be purchased and what was actually delivered is another red flag.

“Is there anything in there that might indicate to us that there might be some potential fraudulent activity?” Jeffrey Parsons, director of contracting at Army Materiel Command, said in an AP interview. “If there are patterns that we start to identify, then we’re going to do further review.”

Contracts with significant problems will be forwarded to the Army Audit Agency and the Army Criminal Investigation Command. If there’s credible evidence of wrongdoing, the FBI and prosecutors from the U.S. Justice Department are called in.

The U.S. Justice Dept called in. They don't know anything about justice. This is a joke right?

In Warren, Mich., home to a large Army acquisition center, the contracting review team will examine 314 of the Kuwait contracts, each worth more than $25,000 and issued between 2003 and 2006.

Another group also looks for corruption
In Kuwait, a separate team of 10 at Camp Arifjan is already going through 339 contracts of lesser value and awarded during the same time period, according to Army Materiel Command at Fort Belvoir, Va.

Both reviews are to be finished before the end of the year.

A probe of 2007 contracts out of Kuwait has been completed; investigators found numerous problems with the office, including inadequate staffing and oversight, high staff turnover, and poor record-keeping.

The same old BUSHwhacker story: inadequate staffing and oversight, high staff turnover, and poor record-keeping. Spells corruption to me.

In the midst of those shortcomings came billions of dollars in war funding, creating an environment ripe for misconduct and malfeasance.

The teams in Michigan and Kuwait will go through paper records and also use data-mining tools to electronically search data stored on computers.

“Do we have contractors with different names but the same address?” Parsons said. “That would cause some suspicion.”

Tips from individuals familiar with the contracts are another tool for finding flawed awards, he said.

Contractors or mercenaries What a quackmire. If these people are riping America off, they are worst than Al Queade and should be tried for TREASON.

Corrupt Mercenary Corp: DynCorp

2007-10-23T07:37:00.000-07:00

Audit: ‘Disarray’ on $1.2 billion Iraq contract

U.S. can’t account for DynCorp performance in training police, report says

	An International Police Liaison Officer hired by the U.S. security company DynCorp walks through the rubble of a police station in the Iraqi city of Fallujah on Oct. 20. View related photos
Patrick Baz / AFP - Getty Images FIL

By Aram Roston

Investigative producer

NBC News

Updated: 12:05 a.m. ET Oct 23, 2007

Aram Roston

Investigative producer

Just as the State Department is trying to work its way clear of its Blackwater troubles, a scathing federal audit released Tuesday exposes a glaring lapse in oversight of another federal contractor in Iraq, DynCorp. DynCorp was supposed to train and equip Iraqi police, but the report says the State Department doesn’t know how most of the money in the billion-plus-dollar program was spent.

The State Department "does not know specifically what it received for most of the $1.2 billion in expenditures under its DynCorp contract for the Iraqi Police Training Program," the audit says. The federal watchdogs, with the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, or SIGIR, said that they even had to suspend their audit because there wasn't enough data to check the books, which were in “disarray.”

DynCorp’s contract was part of the U.S. strategy to arm and train a new Iraqi police force in the wake of the 2003 invasion. Training the police was a key part of the Bush administration’s efforts in Iraq. The training was considered crucial because police are often unable to withstand insurgent attacks, and are considered penetrated by various militias.

DynCorp’s contract, issued in February 2004, entailed broad responsibilities, including equipping, housing and security for police training. It was overseen by the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, or INL, which also assigned the company to handle police training in Afghanistan.

The program in Iraq has been riddled with problems. Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general, said at first the State Department had only two officials to administer the massive contract. He said the department wasn’t equipped to handle it. “They bit off more than they could chew,” Bowen said in an interview. “This is far and away the largest contract they have ever assigned in the history of the organization.”

‘Ripe for waste and fraud’
Bowen’s auditors said the environment was “ripe for waste and fraud.” DynCorp's invoices had numerous problems, such as duplicate payments. Auditors also reported on the "the purchase of a $1.8 million X-ray scanner that was never used, and payments of $387,000 to house DynCorp officials in hotels in Iraq rather than in existing living facilities." (A State Department spokesperson disputes that, in part, and says the unused X-ray scanner and hotels were in Afghanistan rather than Iraq.) Bowen says the State Department says it will try to organize its books so that the auditors can come back at the end of the year and try again.

But with invoices paid without being checked, and with no one tracking what they were for, auditors say it's impossible to determine what money was spent on. The State Department admits that it was unable to reconcile the books for the entire period of February 2004 to October 2006 but says since then it has made tremendous improvements. A spokesperson disputes that “most” of the $1.2 billion was not accounted for and suggests it should be “some" rather than "most." The spokesperson said that "INL is committed to considerable improvement. We've already made considerable staffing and process changes to improve our contract oversight."

Some costs renegotiated
But in an indication of the scale of the problem, the State Department says it has renegotiated some old invoices with DynCorp, and the company has dropped its price by about $116 million.

In a letter responding to the audit, the Acting Assistant Secretary of the State Department’s INL wrote that it “will take three to five years” to “fully review and validate invoices” for pre-October 2006 work. The letter points out that there have been vast improvements. Bowen, the IG, agreed.

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Meanwhile the State Department continues to try to sort out another DynCorp debacle identified in a separate audit earlier this year — the purchase of hundreds of residential trailers in Baghdad. Bowen says the trailers, years after their purchase, are all in storage in the Baghdad airport complex, unoccupied. On top of that, the company spent $4.2 million on "unauthorized work" — that is, on projects that were not approved by the State Department. That work included building a U.S. taxpayer-funded Olympic-sized swimming pool near the Adnan Palace in Iraq even though the State Department never approved it.

DynCorp did not respond to two calls for comment.

The new audit is sure to raise new concerns. DynCorp, in addition to the police training, is one of three security companies awarded the Worldwide Personal Protective Security contract, under which it works with Blackwater and a company named Triple Canopy providing bodyguard services for diplomats. Currently DynCorp has received only $38 million under the program, while Blackwater has received $470 million. If Blackwater is indeed banned from Iraq, security experts expect a lot of its business may go to DynCorp.

BUSHwhacker's Propaganda Statement

2007-09-22T13:34:00.000-07:00

BUSHwhacker's Proaganda Statement: Fight them over there or fight them over here.

If we have Homeland Security then why are we worried about fighting them over here?

What are they going to do hop in their B1 and B2 bombers or may get on their battleships, aircraft carriers, submarines. I know they are going to hop in their rubber rafts and pattle all the way over here and bomb us off our shores. Maybe they might swim over here and use their WMD's on us.

See how stupid the BUSH whacked out Propagandists sound.

Here's what the Anti-Christ would say: "Peace thru War".

Order the "W stands for Worst" T-shirt today for the reduced price of $5.75.
Steve's T's

Bush 9/11

2007-09-22T13:22:00.000-07:00

Now the last question is this: Did the BUSHwhacker allow 9/11 to happen? Remember people we have the AWAX 70,000 feet right above them. The BUSHwhacker knew somethng was going on thru the Cell Phone chatter.
Yes, that's right. We can listen in. I believe the BUSHwhacker knows where Osama is. Michael Moore is right in his movie Fahrenheit/911. He states that the BUSHwhackers made a pact with the Bin Lootens and because of our OIL addiction we can't go after Osama. Saudia Arabia will cut back or stop their OIL shipments to us.

Why was he down in Florida reading to elementary students instead of being our Commander in Chief? If We the People can prove that he knew that 9/11 was going to happen and he allowed it then we can try him for TREASON. Why did he want Hans Blitz out of Iraq so soon? Was he blood thirsty for Saddam's blood? Revenge? Why couldn't we (America) wait another 6 months to see if Saddam had WMD's?

The BUSHwhacker's Iraq Conspiracy is bigger than the Clinton's "White Water Conspiracy".

It's time to impeach President Adolf W Bush. May GOD judge him for every drop of blood shed in this Iraq War.

Psalm 55:23 - "Men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days."

Don't just take my word for it, read this insiteful article by Tim McGettigan:
W Stands for “War is the Answer”: An Apology

You can checkout the Articles of Impeachment by Ramsey Clark here: Articles of Impeachment

Boycott FOXNews and Hate Talk Radio shows

2007-09-22T08:17:00.000-07:00

Boycott FOXNews (the BUSHwhacker's Propaganda station).

Do you know when I first started questioning the BUSHwhacker's Propaganda; when I heard on FOXNews that this evil wicked dictator Saddam wasn't going to use his WMD's. Then I said; Are you kidding me? BushShit! If he had WMD's that Bastard would have used them.
Then I heard that France, Germany and Russia had sold WMD's to Saddam. Again I said, BushShit!

Then I saw that the BUSHwhacker was foaming at the mouth to get Hans Blitz out of Iraq and I said to myself, the war in Iraq is eminent. Do you know what really convinced me that the BUSHwhacker knew Saddam didn't have any WMD's, was when he started using America's WMD's and was bombing all over Iraq. That's right I said America's WMD's. Remember MOAB (Mother of All Bombs). If Saddam had all of these WMD's, why did the
BUSHwhacker start bombing all over Iraq? Wouldn't he be woried that he would hit one of these depots of WMD's and release the poisons (Anthax) into the air and kill everybody? If the BUSHwhacker didn't inherit a surplus, where did he get all of this money to buy all of the weapons(WMD's)?

Boycott the other Axis of Evil (Hate Talk Radio Shows): Rush Limblob, Shenanigans Hanity, Shepard Smith and Niel "Mr. Irrelevant" Smortzy Bortzy and all other BUSHwhacker Propagandists.

Offensive Idiotic Leadership

2007-09-22T08:10:00.000-07:00

I want to deal with the issue of fighting for Offensive Idiotic Leadership in Iraq and why we will never win. When I talk about true freedom, I am talking about Energy Independence not fighting for OIL which is really fighting for BONDAGE. Now some of you might get into bondage (S&M, OIL loving, WARmonging, Stupid Utility Vehicles (the BUSHmoblie); I DON'T. I like FREEDOM! It is time we got our heads out of our tailpipes before it's too late.

We import over 12 million barrels of OIL a day. Let's do the math: 12,000,000 barrels * $65/barrel = $780,000,000/day into foreign pockets. I heard last night on the news that a barrel of OIL went to and all time high at $80/barrel. You do the math.

The BUSHwhacker probably has spent up to a Trillion dollars or more on this worthless war in Iraq for OIL. Does he not understand basic Economics 101?

What if we had taken that money and spent it on Ethanol, Bio-diesel, Solar, Propellar and hydro-electric plants all over America and we had gotten off of OIL by let's say 25% or more.
Let's do the math: $780,000,000 * .25 = $195,000,000 savings per day. Money in America's pockets. Wouldn't that be a step in the right direction?

But you say, what will happen when the terrorists take over the OIL fields and I say, Nothing. They will NEVER take over the OIL fields. Saudia Arabia, Iran and the other Arab nations are NOT going to allow that. They want the OIL and are fighting for it now just like we are.

This is the main reason, we need to get out of Iraq and let the chips fall where they
will fall and as they are fighting themselves let's get off of Offensive Idiotic Leadership. We cannot keep spending money on BONDAGE. We must start spending these Billions on ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES or we are DOOMED to FAILURE.

Now the issue of why we will never win the war in Iraq. It is an immoral, unrighteous and unBiblical war and GOD is NOT going to bless us. It is against His will and Prophetic Scriptures. No one has ever conquered the Middle East. Not even the Roman Empire and as Israel will stand; so won't the Arab nations stand. It has been so since Abraham's two sons: Issac and Ishmael (Genesis Chapters 15 - 17). There will never be a Democracy or real peace in the Middle East. Remember people, we envaded Iraq. They did NOT attack us. We attacked them.

Now the question comes down to this, did the BUSHwhacker LIE or just made a MISTAKE? Here lies the answer to why I call this Iraq war immoral and unrighteous. He LIED. The BUSHwhacker suppressed the TRUTH in UNRIGHTEOUSNESS (Romans 1:18).
I believe that he knew that Saddam had NO WMD's and propagandized America and the free world. It was believable that Saddam had WMD's. He was an extremely wicked man but the truth is he didn't have any WMD's. Well you say, The BUSHwhacker went on the knowledge that was given him. BUSHshit! He made it up. The truth was there. Hans Blitz was telling the TRUTH. There were NO smoking guns. Other people were telling the TRUTH. The Downey Street letter tells the truth in the fact that the war was eminent. Powell LIED to the UN.

This is why Scudder Libby, Karl Rove, Rummyhead, Tricky Dicky Chaney, Powell and yes, the BUSHwhacker himself and the rest of his corrupt regime should be in JAIL.

They need to be brought to JUSTICE.

BUSHwhacker's New Bible

2007-09-22T08:01:00.000-07:00

Matthew 5:9 - "Blessed are the PEACEMAKERS, for they shall be called sons of GOD".

Bush 5:9 - "Blessed are the WARMONGERS, for they shall be called sons of OIL Barons".

Psalm 55:21 - "His speech was smoother than butter, but his heart was War; His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords."

"W stands for WAR"

Order my Anti-War "It's Not About Patriotism" T-shirt today for $5.75. This T-shirt is going out of print.

BUSHwhacker's Economics 101

2007-09-22T07:40:00.000-07:00

Last week on the news, they said that the number of home foreclosures was at an all time high. Well let me tell you that under the BUSHwhackers's Economic Plan 101, we have seen the highest ever bankruptcies, repossesions and foreclosures and yet the BUSHwhacker wants to give the rich more tax breaks.

Now this week, it is Greenspan that's wrong but the BUSHwhacker who doesn't understand anything about Biblical Economics is right. Give me a break. I agree with Greenspan our greatest Federal Reserve Chairman ever except for removing Saddum. We must remember that Saddum was the glue that kept Iraq together. Removing Saddum is causing the problems we are in right now in Iraq. America prospered under Clinton thanks mostly to Al Core who opened up the Internet to the public. Al Gore for President in 2008. America is being decimated under the BUSHwhacker's Economic Plan for American Property.

Winners and Losers

2007-09-20T18:54:00.000-07:00

Winners let their attitude determine their success.

Losers let their success determine their attitude.

Translation:

Going great = great attitude

Doing poorly = miserable attitude

It's easy to have a great attitude when you're winning.

The test comes when the chips are down...when you've been "smacked".

Everyone goes through this...everyone.

So, when you're on top...ride the wave!

Ethanol

2007-09-16T10:47:00.000-07:00

Ethanol
Did you know that Henry Ford developed the Model A (Alcohol) car to run on Alcohol not gasoline?
What we need today are cars that can run on Electric/FFV or 160 proof (80%) Alcohol which is easier to make than Ethanol.
View Fexible Fuel Vehicles

According to the NEVC Newsletter on 1/11/2007 by Justin Hyde, GM's electric-car concept, the Chevrolet Volt, was designed with a backup engine that can run either gasoline or E85.
Same article, The U.S. ethanol industry produced 5 billion gallons of the fuel last year, most of which were mixed into regular gasoline. Is OPEC starting to feel
the pinch. HOPEFULLY! This is another reason to end the Iraq War. This is TRUE PATRIOTISM.

According to American Coalition for Ethanol, Ethanol drives economic development, adds value to agriculture, and moves our nation
toward energy independence. It cleans America's air and offers consumers a cost-effective choice at the pump.
This year the U.S. ethanol industry will grow to provide more than 6 billion gallons of clean burning fuel for our country's supply.
Please use this site to learn more about ethanol and its many benefits.

Please consider subscribing to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition to learn how you can contribute to America's Energy Independence and True Freedom
NEVC

Checkout this very informative video on E85 from Jay's Garage

OIL = Offensive Idiotic Leadership

Checkout this article on OIL

Order your Anti-OIL T-shirt today for only $5.75.

I am a Small Alcohol (Ethanol) Fuel Producer now and would like to open up a Large Ethanol Plant in the near future.

Bush's New Testment

2007-09-16T10:26:00.001-07:00

Matthew 5:9 - "Blessed are the PEACEMAKERS, for they shall be called sons of GOD".

Bush 5:9 - "Blessed are the WARMONGERS, for they shall be called sons of OIL Barons".

Now the militant religious right wing extremists (BUSHwhackers) have rewritten the New Testament. Instead of all the books that were there, now there is only one book. The book of BUSH.
This makes it easier for liberals to find the newly revised translated verses and help them understand the ways of the BUSH and in case any of you left wing extremists can't read, our fiscal conservatives offer a CD in English and you can get a copy of the CD in Espanol
thru US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as you cross the border, if he remembers to bring them with him as he greets you otherwise you will
have to learn English and get the English version ( El Comprehendo! ).

Psalm 55:21 - "His speech was smoother than butter, but his heart was War; His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords."

"W stands for WAR"

Order my Anti-BUSH "W stands for WORST" T-shirt today for $5.75.

America's Healthcare

2007-09-04T13:34:00.000-07:00

Well the BUSHwhacker got his taxpayer paid excellent Government Healthcare, but he doesn't want you to get the same deal. What a nice guy, huh!

What a HYPOCRITE! Isn't it strange that the BUSHwhacker doesn't mind government controlled education but he does when it comes to Government sponsored Healthcare.
I quess the lobbyists don't get paid for that. We have Government controlled Hospitals now. Ask yourself this question, How is it that the BUSHwhackers opposes
Michael Moore's SICKO movie which suggests some Government sponsored Healthcare should supplement private Healthcare when 38 million American's don't have affordable Healthcare?

Get your "W stands for WORST" T-shirt today at Steve's T's.

Chavez and Citgo OIL

2007-09-01T11:39:00.000-07:00

Chavez's government has begun exploring the sale of parts of Citgo, the Venezuela-owned retailer in the United States. Here we go again, the BUSHwhacker has pissed off yet another OIL producing country Venezuela Yet another reason to get off of OIL and onto Ethanol.
OIL = Offensive Idiotic Leadership Order your Anti-OIL T-shirt today for only $5.75 at Steve's T's