Life in OUR America, Volume 5, the Livyjr Files Options

[Livyjr]

While George W. Bush continues to win HEARTS AND MINDS .....

In IRAQINAM ......

"Military Investigating Deadly Raid in Iraq"

By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer

58 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Shortly after a roadside bomb killed a U.S. Marine in a western Iraqi town, American troops went into nearby houses and shot dead 15 members of two families, including a 3-year-old-girl, residents say.

The military is investigating possible misconduct by the Marines and confirms there is a video, which Time Magazine says shows the aftermath of the Marines' assault.

Residents contacted by The Associated Press described what happened after the Nov. 19 roadside bomb in the town of Haditha, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad, as "a massacre."

Khaled Ahmed Rsayef, whose brother and six other members of his family were killed in the incident, said the roadside bomb exploded at about 7:15 a.m. in the al-Subhani neighborhood.

A U.S. Humvee was badly damaged.

The military acknowledged Monday it was investigating the incident after it was approached by Time with accounts from residents, officials and hospital authorities in Haditha as well as a videotape purportedly showing the aftermath of the incident.

Military officials declined further comment.

A U.S. military statement shortly after the November attack described what happened as an ambush on a joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol, with a roadside bombing and subsequent firefight killing 15 civilians, eight insurgents and a U.S. Marine.

The statement said the 15 civilians were killed by the blast, a claim the residents strongly denied.

Residents said there only was a roadside bombing, and all the shooting was done by American troops.

Time, in a story in this week's edition, reported that a U.S. colonel went to Haditha for a weeklong probe to interview Marines, survivors and doctors at the morgue.

The magazine cited unidentified military officials close to the investigation.

The probe, Time reported, concluded that the civilians were killed by Marines and not a roadside bomb, and that no insurgents appeared to be in the first two houses raided by the Marines.

The probe found, however, that the deaths were the result of "collateral damage," investigators said.

[Livyjr]

"To fight ....."

"You must be brutal and ruthless ....."

"And the spirit of ruthless brutality ....."

"Will enter into the very fibre of our national life ...."

"Infecting Congress ...."

"The courts ......"

"The policeman on the beat ....."

"The man in the street ......."

- Woodrow Wilson, an American president with perhaps as much real experience of real war as has the TYRANT George W. Bush .....

[Livyjr]

"To fight ....."

"You must be brutal and ruthless ....."

"And the spirit of ruthless brutality ....."

"Will enter into the very fibre of our national life ...."

"Infecting Congress ...."

"The courts ......"

"The policeman on the beat ....."

"The man in the street ......."

- Woodrow Wilson, an American president with perhaps as much real experience of real war as has the TYRANT George W. Bush .....

What we really have is this "NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND" program of George W. Bush's .....

Which no one seems to really understand ...

At least up here where I am ...

WHAT EXACTLY IS IT THAT THESE CHILDREN WILL NOT BE KEPT AWAY FROM?

I mean ...

NO child left behind ...

That implies a line of children ....

And someone is taking them somewhere ...

Or someone is leading them someplace ....

And someone else is watching, apparently, to make sure none escape ....

And up here, in the cold country ...

Where there is really not much to do during the winter ...

Well, us yokels get to sitting around the fire ...

And we get to talking ....

And musing ....

And we consider whose program this really is ....

Which is George W. Bush's ...

And we consider this man ...

Who is violent ....

And who is in favor of torturing OUR fellow human beings ...

And we consider that HIS "NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND" program really is intended to let the BUSH MILITARY MACHINE have access to America's children ....

ALL OF THEM ...

For these wars that George W. Bush intends to start all over the world ...

As he and his go about erasing national boundaries ....

From Gaza and Iraq all the way through Indonesia ...

And beyond ...

As they IMPOSE REPUBLICAN DOMINATION and TYRANNY on all the world ....

I mean, what the hey ...

It is a dog-eat-dog world out there, despite what these women-men Democrats and LIB-RAWLS might have to say about it, over a glass of chardonay ......

And only the tough can really survive ....

And those are the ones that George W. Bush is looking for ...

So as to be able to flesh out his MILITARY JUGGERNAUGHT with fresh meat for cannon fodder ...

And so ....

"Abuse beyond Abu Ghraib - Elite U.S. military unit routinely mistreated detainees, rebutting assertions that conduct was confined to a few rogue soldiers at infamous Iraq prison" 
 
By ERIC SCHMITT and CAROLYN MARSHALL, New York Times
First published: Sunday, March 19, 2006

According to Pentagon specialists who worked with the unit, prisoners at Camp Nama often disappeared into a detention black hole, barred from access to lawyers or relatives, and confined for weeks without charges.

"The reality is, there were no rules there," another Pentagon official said.

The story of detainee abuse in Iraq is a familiar one.

But the following account of Task Force 6-26, based on documents and interviews with more than a dozen people, offers the first detailed description of how the military's most highly trained counterterrorism unit committed serious abuses.

The new account reveals the extent to which the unit members mistreated prisoners months before and after the photographs of abuse from Abu Ghraib were made public in April 2004, and it helps belie the original Pentagon assertions that abuse was confined to a small number of rogue reservists at Abu Ghraib.

Five Army Rangers in the unit were convicted three months ago of kicking and punching three detainees in September 2005.

As the PLAGUE of BUSHIANONIANISM continues to sweep over not only OUR America ....

But the candid world as well ....

George W. Bush continues to do everything in his power ...

To insure that no American child ...

Or any other child in the world, for that matter ...

Will be left behind the wave of ugliness that this one man and HIS ...

Have unleashed in this world ...

OF OURS ....

And here is one of George's "CHILDREN" right now ....

"Man had grenades, rifle near path, police say - Gunfire draws officers to bike trail, where they arrest 18-year-old who wants to be Army Ranger"

By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Tuesday, March 21, 2006

COLONIE - A Colonie man carrying two homemade hand grenades built from parts purchased over the Internet was arrested Sunday while holding a rifle near the town bike path, police said.

Brian P. Sweeney, 18, who family members said has a dream of becoming an Army Ranger, was firing his military-style rifle into the ground and "pointing it in the direction of the homes" on nearby Heritage Court, according to his arrest report.

Town police patrolling on all-terrain vehicles said they were drawn to the wooded area, just south of the town landfill, by the sound of "rapid-fire gunshots."

Sweeney was being held without bail Monday in Albany County jail as authorities investigate why he allegedly had the explosives.

He works as a cook in the family business, is not in school and has applied to enlist in the Army, his father said.

"What his mind-set was beyond yesterday, I have no idea," said Colonie Police Lt. John Van Alstyne.

But Sweeney's father described him as a curious, hard-working young man whose well-intentioned desire to prepare himself to fight for his country might have led him astray.

"Our son is not a danger to anyone," said Thomas Sweeney.

"He was dabbling into something he shouldn't have been ..."

"But all the things Brian has, he has because he was preparing to become a good soldier."

He said he bought the rifle for his son at a North Troy gun shop in October because the clerk told him it was just like the one he would use in the Army, only newer.

Thomas Sweeney said his son took the rifle without his knowledge Sunday and was trying to find a safe place to fire it, ultimately choosing a gully in the woods.

As the officers closed in on the source of the gunfire, they encountered Sweeney with his rifle, several magazines of ammunition and the explosives, Van Alstyne said.

Officers Stephen Donovan and Guy Jubert Jr. shouted orders to Sweeney, who complied and told police he was "just shooting" in the woods, according to statements attributed to him by police and filed in town court.

Asked if he had any weapons other than the rifle, Sweeney allegedly replied:

"You're not going to like these" and produced from his vest two plastic bags with the grenades, according to court records.

Later, in a written statement signed by Sweeney, he explained to investigators how, starting in September, he bought inert grenade shells on the Internet with his mother's credit card and modified them with common tools and legal ammunition to build the bombs.

The pineapple grenade hulls are not explosive by themselves and are similar to what can be found in a military surplus store, authorities said.

Sweeney explained to police how he tested the first batch of explosives behind his house last fall, and they were powerful enough to break bricks and blow a hole in the ground.

He told police he planned to detonate the two explosives in the woods Sunday.

Sweeney's rifle, described as an semi-automatic AR-15, was a legal weapon, said John Morgan, resident agent in charge of the Albany office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Morgan said his office is working with town police to decide whether Sweeney should also be charged in federal court.

Van Alstyne said additional state weapons charges stemming from searches of Sweeney's Fonda Road home are likely, though he declined to characterize what was seized.

The family never knew Sweeney had been building the explosives, his father said.

Now he said he worries authorities will mistake his son for someone with more sinister intentions.

"Whatever their profile says, it's not Brian," Thomas Sweeney said.

"We don't want him to be villainized."

"... He had no intention to harm anyone."

[jeffmoskin]

No Child Left Behind.

Regarding George W Bush, perhaps they should have made an exception

[Livyjr]

No Child Left Behind.

Regarding George W Bush, perhaps they should have made an exception.

Amen to that, jeffmoskin .....

I was thinking, as I read that article above here, about that boy with the gun ...

The one who wants to be an Army Ranger ....

Just how strange the world has really gotten to .....

Or maybe it is just me .....

But I actually was a soldier ...

And a good one, by all accounts ....

And I never fired my weapon into the ground .....

Nor did I ever really like explosives ...

But, of course ...

That is just me ...

And so ....

[Livyjr]

As the PLAGUE of BUSHIANONIANISM continues to sweep over not only OUR America ....

But the candid world as well ....

"Bush: Troops to Stay in Iraq Through '08"

By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent

53 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Tuesday that American forces will remain in Iraq for years and it will be up to a future president to decide when to bring them all home.

But defying critics and plunging polls, he declared, "I'm optimistic we'll succeed."

"If not, I'd pull our troops out."

The president rejected calls for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, chief architect of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Listen, every war plan looks good on paper until you meet the enemy," Bush said, acknowledging mistakes as the United States was forced to switch tactics and change a reconstruction strategy that offered targets for insurgents.

He also rejected assertions by Iraq's former interim prime minister that the country had fallen into civil war amid sectarian violence that has left more than 1,000 Iraqis dead since the bombing last month of a Shiite Muslim shrine.

"This is a moment the Iraqis had a chance to fall apart and they didn't," Bush said, crediting religious and political leaders with restraint.

The president spoke for nearly an hour at a White House news conference, part of a new offensive to ease Americans' unhappiness with the war and fellow Republicans' anxiety about fall elections.

He faced skeptical questions about Iraq during an appearance Monday in Cleveland, and plans another address soon on Iraq.

Public support for the war and for Bush himself has fallen in recent months, jeopardizing the political capital he claimed from his 2004 re-election victory.

"I'd say I'm spending that capital on the war," Bush said.

The White House believes that people appreciate Bush's plainspoken approach even if they disagree with his decisions.

"I understand war creates concerns," the president said.

"Nobody likes war."

"It creates a sense of uncertainty in the country."

Bush has adamantly refused to set a deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.

Asked if there would come a day when there would be no more U.S. forces in Iraq, Bush said, "That, of course, is an objective."

"And that will be decided by future presidents and future governments of Iraq."

Pressed on whether that meant a complete withdrawal would not happen during his presidency, Bush said, "I can only tell you that I will make decisions on force levels based upon what the commanders on the ground say."

White House officials worried Bush's remarks would be read as saying there would not be significant troop reductions during his presidency.

They pointed to comments Sunday by Gen. George W. Casey, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, who said he expected a substantial troop reduction "certainly over the course of 2006 and into 2007."

The Pentagon announced last December that U.S. force levels would be reduced from the baseline figure of about 138,000 to about 131,000 by the end of March.

The total currently is 133,000.

In late February the Pentagon told Congress that "it will be possible to consider" additional reductions as the political process moves forward and as Iraqi security forces gain experience.

No timetable has been set for deciding on additional cuts.

More than 2,300 American troops have died in Iraq.

At home, nearly four of five people, including 70 percent of Republicans, believe civil war will break out in Iraq, according to a recent AP-Ipsos poll.

"I am confident — I believe, I'm optimistic we'll succeed," the president said.

"If not, I'd pull our troops out."

"If I didn't believe we had a plan for victory I wouldn't leave our people in harm's way."

Bush said U.S. forces were essential for the stability of Iraq and restraining al-Qaida in the Middle East.

"Their objective for driving us out of Iraq is to have a place from which to launch their campaign to overthrow moderate governments in the Middle East, as well as to continue attacking places like the United States," he said.

Despite pleas from fellow Republicans, Bush has rejected calls for a White House staff shake-up, saying he was satisfied with his aides.

He did not rule out bringing in a savvy Washington insider, as some have suggested, but said, "I'm not going to announce it right now."

Aides said later he was not trying to signal any appointment.

Bush defended his administration's warrantless eavesdropping program whose legality has been questioned by Democrats and Republicans alike.

Putting his remarks in a political context, he said, "Nobody from the Democratic Party has actually stood up and called for getting rid of the of the terrorist surveillance program."

Bush accused Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold of "needless partisanship" for urging censure of the president for authorizing the surveillance program.

On the economy, Bush sidestepped a direct answer when asked whether he was concerned about rising interest rates.

He simply said the U.S. economy was very strong.

He expressed disappointment that Congress shelved his Social Security overhaul and said the system won't be changed without the cooperation of Democrats and Republicans together.
___

On the Net:

http://www.whitehouse.gov

[Livyjr]

"Bush: Troops to Stay in Iraq Through '08"

By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent

WASHINGTON - The president rejected calls for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, chief architect of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Listen, every war plan looks good on paper until you meet the enemy," Bush said, acknowledging mistakes as the United States was forced to switch tactics and change a reconstruction strategy that offered targets for insurgents.

He also rejected assertions by Iraq's former interim prime minister that the country had fallen into civil war amid sectarian violence that has left more than 1,000 Iraqis dead since the bombing last month of a Shiite Muslim shrine.

I still wonder what George W. Bush knows about war plans ...

Since he didn't have any for when he invaded IRAQINAM ......

Because George didn't know there was going to be a war ....

He did not know his enemy ...

He did not know the ground on which he would be forced to fight .....

He sure is one ****-poor Commander-in-Chief ....

And that is a fact .....

"Gunmen kill 20 in breakout at Iraqi jail"

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press
Last updated: 6:36 p.m., Tuesday, March 21, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- About 100 masked gunmen stormed a prison near the Iranian border Tuesday, cutting phone wires, freeing all the inmates and leaving behind a scene of devastation and carnage -- 20 dead policemen, burned-out cars and a smoldering jailhouse.

At least 10 attackers were killed in the dawn assault on the Muqdadiyah lockup on the eastern fringe of the Sunni Triangle, police said.

The raid showed the mostly Sunni militants can still assemble a large force, capable of operating in the region virtually at will -- even though U.S. and Iraqi military officials said last year that the area was no longer an insurgent stronghold.

The insurgency's strength, spiraling sectarian violence and the stalemate over forming a government in Iraq have led politicians and foreign policy experts to say Iraq is on the brink or perhaps in the midst of civil war.

In all, 33 prisoners were freed, including 18 insurgents who were detained Sunday during raids by security forces in the nearby villages of Sansal and Arab, police said.

It was the capture of those insurgents that apparently prompted Tuesday's attack.

The 15 other inmates were a mix of suspected insurgents and common criminals.

In an Internet posting Tuesday night, the military wing of the Mujaheddin Shura Council, a militant Sunni Muslim insurgent group, purportedly claimed it carried out the operation.

The posting said the group killed "40 policemen, liberated 33 prisoners and captured weapons."

The claim was posted on the Iraqi News Web site.

Neither the higher casualty toll among policemen nor the captured weapons could not be independently verified.

The cutting of the telephone lines made it impossible for jailers or security men, who apparently did not have cell phones, to call other police for backup.

Residents of the town informed authorities of the situation after hearing the firing.

With the wires cut, the insurgents had 90 minutes to battle their way into the law enforcement compound before police reinforcements showed up from the nearby villages of Wajihiyah and Abu Saida, police said.

Muqdadiyah is about 25 miles from the Iranian frontier and 60 miles northeast of Baghdad.

By the time the insurgents fled, taking away the bodies of many of their dead compatriots, nearly two dozen cars were shot up and set on fire and the jail was a charred mass of twisted bunk bed frames and smoldering mattresses.

Afterward, U.S. helicopters hovered in the air above the jail.

Police said residents fired into the air, but it was not clear if the American aircraft were the target.

None was hit.

It was not the first time militants have targeted a jail.

On April 20, 2004, insurgents fired 12 mortars into the infamous Abu Ghraib prison on the outskirts of Baghdad, killing 22 inmates and wounding 92.

A U.S. general speculated the attack may have been an attempt to spark a prison break or an uprising.

In other violence Tuesday, a roadside bomb killed one policeman and wounded three in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, authorities said.

U.S. soldier with the 4th Infantry Division was killed by small-arms fire Tuesday while patrolling western Baghdad, the U.S. military reported.

At least 2,315 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Also in the capital, gunmen killed an employee of the mayor's office while he was driving in the Dora neighborhood of south Baghdad.

Police reported discovering eight more blindfolded corpses in west Baghdad, some of them under a highway and showing signs of torture, officials said.

In Suwera, 50 miles south of Baghdad, four more corpses were found on the bank of the Tigris River.

The execution-style killings have become an almost daily occurrence in a wave of sectarian violence that has left more than 1,000 Iraqis dead since the bombing last month of a Shiite shrine.

With an increasing number of Americans calling for a pullout of U.S. forces regardless of the consequences for Iraq, a powerful group of U.S. senators met with interim Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari on Tuesday to discuss prospects for formation of a national unity government.

The Bush administration views that step as all-important in establishing peace and opening the way for the start of a U.S. troop withdrawal as early as this summer.

Al-Jaafari said he believed Iraq's most difficult political hurdles had been crossed and predicted a new government would be ready in the coming weeks.

"I hope that the formation of the new government does not last beyond April," he said after the meeting.

Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said: "April is fine, but it is necessary that this commitment be kept in order for there to be continued support for the presence of American troops in Iraq."

However, President Bush said Tuesday that the decision about when to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq will fall to future presidents and Iraqi leaders, suggesting that U.S. involvement will continue at least through 2008.

[Livyjr]

"Bush: Troops to Stay in Iraq Through '08"

By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent

WASHINGTON - He also rejected assertions by Iraq's former interim prime minister that the country had fallen into civil war amid sectarian violence that has left more than 1,000 Iraqis dead since the bombing last month of a Shiite Muslim shrine.

While George W. Bush continues to win HEARTS AND MINDS .....

In IRAQINAM ......

"Military Investigating Deadly Raid in Iraq"

By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Shortly after a roadside bomb killed a U.S. Marine in a western Iraqi town, American troops went into nearby houses and shot dead 15 members of two families, including a 3-year-old-girl, residents say.

The military is investigating possible misconduct by the Marines and confirms there is a video, which Time Magazine says shows the aftermath of the Marines' assault.

Residents contacted by The Associated Press described what happened after the Nov. 19 roadside bomb in the town of Haditha, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad, as "a massacre."

"Iraqis sound angry on invasion anniversary"

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press
Last updated: 6:36 p.m., Monday, March 20, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Some Baghdad residents voiced anger and dismay when asked about their lives as the U.S.-led war in Iraq entered its fourth year Monday, when insurgents and sectarian gangs killed at least 38 more people.

Salah Hashim, a 49-year-old businessman, said he yearned for the return of Saddam Hussein, the country's ousted dictator, given the violence that now envelops the country.

"Despite all he did that was bad, we did not suffer as we are now," Hashim said.

"Now we have lost everything, even a sense of living."

"The Americans promised us, especially (President) George Bush, prosperity."

"And we thank them all because we got it -- but we got a prosperity of car bombs, kidnappings and killings."

At least 992 people have been killed in a surge of sectarian killings since the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite Muslim shrine in Samarra, according to an Associated Press count.

"Now I have to spend time worrying about my safety while walking in the streets," said Hashim.

"I have to worry about my children when they leave home for school."

"Instead of being comfortable and enjoying time with my family, I worry that I can't ensure their good life."

Ahmen Najeeb, a 33-year-old supermarket owner, said he originally "waved his hands" at American forces as they entered the country in March 2003, but that his outlook has since changed.

"Day after day the Americans proved that they are here to steal our oil and protect their homes by keeping their war against terror in another country," he said.

One English teacher, though, said that Iraqis had tolerated Saddam's tyranny for so long that it was worth fighting through the violence to rebuild the country.

"What we are now living in is not an American failure nor that of the Iraqi government," said Assmaa Ali, 38.

"The problem is in the Iraqi people ... we started fighting each other using statements and words."

"Now we are fighting each other with guns.

Ali said the only ones to blame were the insurgents and sectarian fighters who cause the problems.

"They are the main reason behind the loss of life and destruction."

"We should help both the government and coalition forces in fighting these troublemaker instead of blaming them."

One man who said three of his daughters were killed by a bombing last year sounded despondent.

"I got nothing from this so-called liberation, just this cell phone and my satellite receiver."

"But I lost my three daughters," said Nawar Maarof, a 34-year-old taxi driver who said he had dreamed of becoming an accountant.

"I have a feeling that my destiny is the same."

"Anyway, we're all dead."

Salam Nassir, a 25-year-old college student, also longed for Saddam.

"We deserve all this because we didn't fight the Americans," he said.

"We had to know from the start they would not help us and were lying about liberating Iraq."

[Livyjr]

"Iraqis sound angry on invasion anniversary" 
 
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press
Last updated: 6:36 p.m., Monday, March 20, 2006

Salam Nassir, a 25-year-old college student, also longed for Saddam.

"We deserve all this because we didn't fight the Americans," he said.

"We had to know from the start they would not help us and were lying about liberating Iraq."

This morning ...

On FOX NEWS FAIR AND BALANCED YOU DECIDE broadcasting over CLEARCHANNELS WORLDWIDE .....

The BROADCAST SPECIALISTS who dole out the day's propaganda ....

Were talking about UNITED STATES PRESIDENT George W. Bush ...

Giving a speech, today, I think it was to be ...

BEFORE A VERY FRIENDLY AUDIENCE OF SOME SEVERAL THOUSAND PEOPLE .....

Assembled for that very purpose ..

To be very friendly to UNITED STATES PRESIDENT George W. Bush ....

BY THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE .....

And when I heard this ...

Well ...

I don't know ...

But isn't that just a little transparent ...

Or something ..

I mean ...

Well ...

George W. Bush has finally come out with the truth here .....

Which is that for the rest of many of our lives ...

There is going to be nothing but death and despair .....

And POVERTY ...

Thanks directly to that one man ...

George W. Bush ...

Who the CHAMBER OF COMMERCE is going to be CHEERING TODAY ...

AT A PEP RALLY ...

To praise George W. Bush for the real fix ...

That his INCOMPETENCE ......

Has gotten this nation into .....

SO .....

HHHHhhhmmm .....

Go figure ......

Because I can't quite, yet, myself ....

And so .....

[Livyjr]

There's something happening here ....

Although to George W. Bush ....

By his own public admissions .....

That is not at all clear ...

TO HIM, anyway ....

There's some armed, organized men over there ....

And there, as well ...

Not only telling the BUSHIANIRAQINAMIS they better beware .....

BUT ....

"U.S., Iraqi Forces Capture 50 Insurgents"

By VANESSA ARRINGTON, Associated Press Writer

2 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi forces trapped dozens of insurgents Wednesday during a two-hour gunbattle at a police station south of Baghdad, a day after 100 masked gunmen stormed a jail near the Iranian border and freed more than 30 prisoners, most of them fellow insurgents.

Sixty gunmen, firing rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles, attacked the Madain police station before dawn, police Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohammadawi said.

U.S. troops and a special Iraqi police unit responded, capturing 50 of the insurgents, including a Syrian, al-Mohammadawi said.

Four policemen, including one commander, were killed and five were wounded, he said.

None of the attackers was killed.

Madain, about 14 miles southeast of Baghdad, is at the northern tip of Iraq's Sunni-dominated "Triangle of Death," a region rife with sectarian violence — retaliatory kidnappings and killings in the ongoing conflict between Sunnis and Shiites.

In a highly publicized episode last April, there were reports that Sunni militants had seized 100 Shiites and threatened to kill them unless all Shiites left the Madain area.

Iraqi security forces swept into the region and found no hostages.

In the capital, roadside bombs that targeted police patrols wounded at least six policemen, including four who work as guards at the Education Ministry, police said.

Gunmen in western Baghdad attacked a truck carrying Shiite Muslim pilgrims returning from a religious commemoration in the city of Karbala, killing one, police said.

Ten were wounded.

Also early Wednesday, gunmen killed three civilians transporting bricks on a country road outside the city of Baqouba northeast of Baghdad, police said.

A roadside bomb then exploded when a police patrol went to the site, wounding one officer, police said.

The body of a man wearing an Iraqi military uniform was delivered to a morgue in the southern city of Kut, a morgue official said.

The man had been killed outside Madain, he said.

In the Tuesday attack in Muqdadiyah, about 100 gunmen cut phone wires and fired rocket-propelled grenades in a daring operation that freed 18 fellow insurgents who had been captured in police raids just two days earlier.

Police said 15 other captives were sprung in the assault on the Muqdadiyah lockup.

Twenty Iraqi security men and at least 10 insurgents were killed in the attack.

In an Internet posting Tuesday night, the military wing of the Mujaheddin Shura Council, a militant Sunni Muslim insurgent group, purportedly claimed to have carried out the operation.

The posting said the group killed "40 policemen, liberated 33 prisoners and captured weapons."

The claim was posted on the Iraqi News Web site and could not be independently verified.

With the telephone lines cut, the insurgents had 90 minutes to battle their way into the law enforcement compound before police reinforcements showed up from the nearby villages of Wajihiyah and Abu Saida, police said.

Muqdadiyah, on the eastern fringe of the Sunni Triangle north of Baghdad, is about 25 miles from the Iranian border.

By the time the insurgents fled, taking away the bodies of many of their dead compatriots, nearly two dozen cars were shot up and set on fire and the jail was a charred mass of twisted bunk bed frames and smoldering mattresses.

U.S. helicopters were in the air above the jail after the insurgents had fled. Police said there was firing into the air by residents, but it was not clear if the American aircraft were the targets. None was hit.

The insurgents whose incarceration apparently prompted the assault were detained Sunday during raids by security forces in the nearby villages of Sansal and Arab, police said.

Both U.S. and Iraqi military officials had said last year that the area was no longer an insurgent stronghold, but Tuesday's attack showed the militants still could assemble a large force, capable of operating in the region virtually at will.

The insurgency's strength, spiraling sectarian violence and the continuing stalemate over forming a government in Iraq have led politicians and foreign policy experts to say Iraq was on the brink or perhaps in the midst of civil war.

With an increasing number of Americans calling for a pullout of U.S. forces regardless of the consequences for Iraq, a powerful group of U.S. senators met with interim Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari on Tuesday to discuss prospects for formation of a national unity government.

The Bush administration views that step as all-important in establishing peace and opening the way for the start of a U.S. troop withdrawal as early as this summer.

Al-Jaafari said he believed Iraq's most difficult political hurdles had been crossed and predicted a new government would be ready in the coming weeks.

"I hope that the formation of the new government does not last beyond April," al-Jaafari said after the meeting.

Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said:

"April is fine, but it is necessary that this commitment be kept in order for there to be continued support for the presence of American troops in Iraq."

The committee chairman, Sen. John Warner, a Virginia Republican, said decisions on the U.S. troop presence would be made not only by Bush, Congress and other leaders, but also by the American people — a seeming allusion to declining U.S. popular support for the Iraq war.

Most mainstream Iraqi politicians do not want the United States to withdraw troops until the insurgency is defeated, although some more radical leaders, like firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, demand an immediate pullout.

In other violence Tuesday, a U.S. soldier with the 4th Infantry Division was killed by small-arms fire while patrolling the streets of western Baghdad, the military reported.

At least 2,315 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

[Livyjr]

"Bush: Troops to Stay in Iraq Through '08"

By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent

WASHINGTON - "Listen, every war plan looks good on paper until you meet the enemy," Bush said, acknowledging mistakes as the United States was forced to switch tactics and change a reconstruction strategy that offered targets for insurgents.

George ...

Let me tell you something ...

Your alleged and supposed "WAR PLANS" ...

Were never more than a HUGE CROCK OF **** ....

And so ...

THEY NEVER LOOKED GOOD, George ...

Because there was NEVER anything more than smoke, mirrors, and PURE BULL**** to see .....

Although you did gull some, George .....

And that is a fact ....

"Police widen grenade case - Authorities seize silencers and military equipment from home"

By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Wednesday, March 22, 2006

COLONIE -- Hours after police arrested a man in the woods with two homemade grenades and a rifle on Sunday, authorities seized illegal gun silencers and other military equipment from his Latham home, police said.

Brian P. Sweeney, 18, faces additional weapons charges when he appears in court tonight because it's a felony in New York to possess a firearm silencer, investigators said.

Sweeney's family contends he's just a dedicated young man driven by curiosity about the military and a hope to one day serve as an Army Ranger, not the type who would intentionally hurt others.

And while authorities refused to speculate Tuesday about Sweeney's plans for the explosives, they revealed more about what they found while searching Sweeney's Fonda Road home: an armored helmet, several silencers and a handgun.

The silencers, which muffle the sound of gunfire, are illegal under the same law that make it a felony to possess the grenades that Sweeney allegedly built from components purchased on the Internet, said Lt. John Van Alstyne, a Colonie police spokesman.

Van Alstyne said it is not illegal to have a bullet-resistant Kevlar helmet, which was seized.

Sweeney, a cook in his family's business, was arrested Sunday afternoon when two police officers patrolling on newly acquired all-terrain vehicles were drawn to the wooded area between the town bike path and Heritage Court by the sound rapid gunfire.

They allegedly found Sweeney firing into the ground and pointing what authorities described as a Colt AR-15 semi-automatic rifle in the direction of nearby homes.

Van Alstyne said police have found no evidence Sweeney tried to illegally alter the weapon.

In addition to the rifle, which is legal, and several 30-round magazines, Sweeney produced two homemade fragmentation grenades that he told police he planned detonate in the woods.

He told police he had built other grenades several months ago, powerful enough to break bricks and blow a hole in the ground.

According to court records, Sweeney cooperated with police and told them he was just target shooting in the woods.

"At some point I think we'll be comfortable labeling it one way or another," Van Alstyne said.

Authorities also took a computer from Sweeney's home, and town police are working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to determine whether he should also be charged in federal court.

Sweeney is scheduled to appear tonight in Town Court and remains in Albany County jail without bail at least until then.

Right now, Sweeney is charged in connection with the two explosives he had Sunday.

But he might also face charges for firing his rifle close enough to the new homes on Heritage Court to pose a danger, Van Alstyne said.

Sweeney's father said he bought him the rifle in a North Troy gun shop last fall because it was similar to the one he would eventually carry in the military.

Meanwhile, Police Chief Steven Heider praised the results of the department's all-terrain vehicle program started last year.

"This is one of the prime examples of why we got them in the first place," Heider said, adding that illegal hunting and target shooting are not unusual in the town.

"Neighbors are concerned."

"They hear gunshots, they don't know where they're coming from."

Staff writer Jordan Carleo-Evangelist can be reached at 454-5445 or by e-mail at jcarleo-evangelist@ timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"Forum Says Governments Must Improve Water"

By MARK STEVENSON, Associated Press Writer

1 hour, 51 minutes ago

MEXICO CITY - Governments, not private companies, should take the lead in improving public access to safe drinking water, representatives of 148 countries said Wednesday at the end of a forum on how to tackle the world's water crisis.

The seven-day forum focused much of its attention on the developing world's growing reliance on bottled water bought from private companies.

Worldwide, the industry is now worth about $100 billion per year.

Anti-corporate forces and other critics say governments should instead be improving tap water supplies.

The forum's declaration, to be adopted later Wednesday, does not specifically mention privatization, but states that "governments have the primary role in promoting improved access to safe drinking water."

The declaration also described dams and hydroelectric projects — opposed by environmentalists for decades — as important and innovative.

"(We) acknowledge the implementation and importance in some regions of innovative practices such as ... the development of hydropower projects," said the draft declaration, circulated in advance of the closing ceremony.

Environmentalists oppose big dam projects — used to create hydroelectric power — because they can disrupt natural water sources and take up land.

They say corporate interests, combined with an aggressive lobbying campaign by the World Bank, are pushing developing countries to build large dams.

On Wednesday, United Nations officials presented a report warning about the effects of climate change and the need for more dams.

The U.N. World Water Development Report, however, recommends small dams instead of big ones — or at least making the larger projects more environmentally friendly.

"Many regions will likely need to increase water storage capacity in order to cope with (climate) change," UNESCO official Walter Erdelen said at the same Mexico City hotel where government representatives met for the water forum.

Almost everyone who spoke at the summit — from leading business figures to government officials — claimed they did not support handing local water authorities over to private administrators, which was done starting in the 1990s.

Violent protests in countries including Bolivia and Guatemala have led private firms to withdraw from some contracts and to be more cautious about signing new ones.

But private companies have vastly increased their sales of bottled water in the developing world in recent years, in what some see as a sort of "stealth" privatization of water services in countries where the tap water is unsafe.

The declaration also included recommendations in favor of the expansion of water services to reduce poverty, community water planning and careful consideration of the environmental, social and economic impacts of water projects.

The water forum is held every three years.

[Livyjr]

"Report: Afghan Opium Stymies U.S. Efforts"

By GEORGE GEDDA, Associated Press Writer

Venezuela is a key transit point for drugs leaving Colombia, a situation aggravated by "rampant corruption at the highest levels of law enforcement and a weak judicial system."

"As a result, organized crime flourishes, with seizures and arrests of underlings more an annoyance than a threat," the report stated.

The Bush administration has clashed repeatedly in recent months with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

"Venezuela's Chavez Inspires Fierce Loyalty"

By CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER, Associated Press Writer

2 hours, 47 minutes ago

CARACAS, Venezuela - His portraits hang in homes across Venezuela.

Loyal "Chavistas" cheer him on during folksy speeches that last up to seven hours and end up in print for sale on street corners.

Admirers often say he embodies the spirit of Simon Bolivar, South America's 19th century independence hero.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has become so firmly enshrined in the national psyche, so adored by followers who see him as their savior, that his personality has become the predominant issue of his re-election campaign.

Love him or hate him, Venezuelans agree that his crusading, magnetic persona is at the heart of what Chavez calls his socialist revolution.

"He gives the impression that he truly cares for the poor, that he would do anything to help us," says Anita Lopez, 32, a single mother who carries a photograph of "El Comandante" in her wallet.

Such loyalty among Venezuela's poor frustrates Chavez opponents, who have yet to come up with any force capable of countering him.

Chavez takes to the airwaves almost daily to address the nation, delivering rebellious tirades against the rich, the media, international capitalism and the U.S. government.

And masses of Venezuelans respond in Chavez fashion.

Many turn out for rallies wearing red, the color that represents his movement.

His running skirmishes with the Bush White House have increased tension, with America alleging he is trying, Fidel Castro-style, to export his revolution to the rest of Latin America, and Chavez claiming Washington is out to overthrow him.

His friendly ties to Saddam Hussein before the Iraq war, and his current honeymoon with Iran, further heighten Washington's disquiet.

The Chavez phenomenon illustrates a uniquely Latin American attraction to charismatic "caudillo" figures, says Bruce Bagley, a professor of international studies at the University of Miami.

Whether on the right or the left, these are strong-armed leaders who appeal to a cultural hunger for a "powerful-but-kind patron" to solve the people's woes, Bagley says.

With deep pockets from high oil prices — last year alone, Venezuela made $48 billion from oil exports — Chavez has signed generous oil deals with a host of friendly governments and has become a leading benefactor for Latin America's increasingly popular left, and beyond.

This winter he supplied millions of gallons of heating oil at a 40 percent discount to poor Americans in the Northeast.

At home, he offers social programs from state-subsidized markets to free government-run universities.

While Chavez hates to be called "populist," his critics complain that he's a master of handout politics.

Many Venezuelans go straight to Chavez seeking solutions for problems such as a failing school or crumbling shantytown.

Aides at the presidential palace shuffle through more than 10,000 letters and handwritten notes to Chavez every year, said Mildred Zambrano, who reviews the pleas of people seeking surgery or specialized health care.

The idolization of Chavez carries echoes of like-minded figures, from Cuba's Castro to Argentina's Juan Peron and his famous first lady, Eva.

Just as "Peronistas" decades ago displayed framed portraits of "Evita" in their homes, today's Chavistas often put up posters of him on their walls.

This heartfelt glorification contrasts sharply with the fearful attention once commanded by right-wing dictators like Gen. Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic or Gen. Augusto Pinochet of Chile.

Chavez's government bears no resemblance to the right-wing dictatorships in Chile and Argentina in the 1970s, with their mass killings and disappearances of dissidents.

Chavez is an elected leader whose opponents generally feel free to call him a menace to democracy who props up his government with heavy spending on propaganda.

Even the bags of sugar, pasta and beans sold at the discount government-run groceries he pioneered carry presidential slogans, and billboards bearing his image stare down at motorists on highways.

"The regime has developed a mythology and an exaggerated cult of personality through government publicity," complains opposition leader Cesar Perez.

The president's followers say they genuinely believe Chavez is finally using Venezuela's vast oil deposits — the largest proven reserves outside the Middle East — to help the poor, rather than just the elite few favored by past leaders.

Chavez says he hopes to eventually help do away with poverty, and he cites government statistics showing poverty has decreased from 48 percent in 1997 to about 37 percent today.

Opponents dispute those numbers, insisting poverty has not significantly declined.

"In the past, presidents came from the higher classes, the oligarchy, and didn't know anything about us, the poor."

"Chavez is different," Lopez said.

He has been in office seven years, and nine months before he runs for re-election, he has become a larger-than-life figure with no comparable challenger.

Chavez developed his popular touch while hawking tropical fruit and homemade candies as a child to help his family make ends meet in Sabaneta, a small town in the sunbaked plains of southwestern Venezuela.

He became an army paratrooper, and led a 1992 coup that failed to oust President Carlos Andres Perez, a populist-turned-fiscal conservative.

More than 80 civilians and 17 soldiers were killed.

Released after two years in prison and discharged from the army, Chavez traveled the country promising to wipe out corruption and usher in prosperity.

Many saw him as a fresh alternative to leaders from the two entrenched political parties that had shared power since the fall of Marcos Perez Jimenez, Venezuela's last dictator, in 1958.

He won the 1998 election with 56 percent of the vote.

Briefly ousted in a coup in April 2002, he bounced back after just two days accusing the United States of engineering the plot.

His opponents later mounted a recall campaign, forcing Chavez to put the matter to a referendum in 2004.

He won it.

Chavez often warns of assassination plots.

His bodyguards keep close watch while he greets supporters, planting kisses on women's cheeks and greeting "hermanos" with firm hugs and handshakes.

"I want to thank God for giving us a president as good as you," a crying woman told Chavez recently during his weekly TV program as she appeared on-camera to receive a government housing loan.

"Don't thank me," Chavez replied.

"Thank God."

"He's the boss."

[Livyjr]

"State senator accused of assault - Female staffer alleges Ada Smith, D-Queens, threw coffee on her and pulled her hair"

By ELIZABETH BENJAMIN, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 4:09 p.m., Wednesday, March 22, 2006

ALBANY - State Police are investigating an allegation that State Sen. Ada Smith, D-Queens, assaulted a staffer Tuesday morning in the Legislative Office Building.

Lt. Glenn Miner, a State Police spokesman, confirmed "we're been made aware of the allegations'' but could not comment on the specifics or say whether an arrest of the 17-year incumbent is imminent.

Law enforcement sources said the female staffer alleged that Smith threw coffee in her face and pulled her hair.

The alleged attack, according to one person familiar with the details of the complaint, happened after the senator returned from a Weight Watchers meeting and announced she had lost about four pounds, and the staffer remarked that she thought the senator would have lost more given her active lifestyle.

The alleged victim went to St. Peter's Hospital Tuesday, the source said.

She complained of damage to her eyes and abrasions on her neck.

Smith's office said the staffer is no longer employed there.

It had no immediate comment on the investigation or the allegations.

The accusation is not Smith's first brush with the law or her own staff.

Smith was found guilty in 2004 of failing to obey a direct order from a police officer in May 2003 when she refused to hand over her government ID and drove through a security checkpoint at an Empire State Plaza parking garage.

Albany City Judge E. David Duncan ordered her to pay $200, including a $50 state surcharge.

She could have faced up to 15 days in jail on the infraction.

State Police Trooper Michael Kovarovic said Smith refused to take her ID out and give it to him, then spewed profanities, put her car in drive and "sped'' off to a lot reserved for legislators, refusing his order to stop.

Kovarovic said he had to step back to prevent Smith from driving over his feet.

Smith maintained she did not speed and proceeded forward because traffic was backing up behind her stopped car.

She said she told the trooper she would continue their conversation at her parking space, but he never showed up.

She said the trooper wanted her to surrender her ID, not simply show it.

Last year, Douglas Greene, a former chief of staff for Smith, asked Soares and Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to investigate the senator for misusing state funds and resources by providing no-show and semi-show jobs and putting her office staff to work on political business.

The state ethics commission had cleared her of any wrongdoing within its jurisdiction.

Smith was cleared last year by the state Division of Human Rights of accusations by another former chief of staff, Philip Wayne Mahlke, that she made racist remarks and fired him because he's gay.

The division found "insufficient'' evidence and said Mahlke's termination was based on his "poor behavior and performance.''

Smith was also charged with biting a New York City Police officer's hand during a traffic dispute in 1998.

In 1996, she was accused by a former staff member of threatening the employee with a knife.

In both cases, Smith denied the charges.

[Livyjr]

"Tales from the crypt an epic work of art"

By GEORGE PSYLLIDES, Associated Press
First published: Tuesday, March 21, 2006

NICOSIA, Cyprus -- A 2,500-year-old sarcophagus with illustrations from Homer's epics has been discovered in western Cyprus, archaeologists said Monday.

Construction workers found the limestone sarcophagus last week in a tomb near the village of Kouklia, in the coastal Paphos area.

The tomb, which probably belonged to an ancient warrior, had been looted during antiquity.

"The style of the decoration is unique, not so much from an artistic point of view, but for the subject and the colors used," said Pavlos Flourentzos, director of the island's antiquities department.

Only two similar sarcophagi have been discovered in Cyprus.

One is housed in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the other in the British Museum in London.

Flourentzos said the coffin -- painted in red, black and blue on a white background -- dated to 500 B.C., when Greek cultural influence was gaining on the eastern Mediterranean island.

Pottery discovered in the tomb is expected to provide a precise date.

Experts believe the ornate decoration features the hero Ulysses in scenes from Homer's Iliad and Odyssey -- both hugely popular throughout the Greek world.

In one large painting, Ulysses and his comrades escape from the blind Cyclops Polyphemos' cave, hidden under a flock of sheep.

Another depicts a battle between Greeks and Trojans from the Iliad.

Archeologists think the scenes hint at the status of the coffin's occupant.

"Why else take these two pieces from Homer and why deal with Ulysses?"

"Maybe this represents the dead person's character -- who possibly was a warrior," Flourentzos said.

Reflecting a long oral tradition loosely based on historic events, Homer's epics were probably composed around 800 B.C. and written down in the 6th century B.C.

[Livyjr]

How Long Do We Have?

About the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior:

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government."

"A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury."

"From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."

"The average age of the worlds greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years."

"During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

1. -From bondage to spiritual faith;

2. -From spiritual faith to great courage;

3. -From courage to liberty;

4. -From liberty to abundance;

5. -From abundance to complacency;

6. -From complacency to apathy;

7. -From apathy to dependence;

8. -From dependence back into bondage ."

It seems, Snuf, that maybe a more modern corollary is needed here ...

Something to do with the OUTRIGHT GREED AND HOGGISHNESS of the "modern STATE" being the DESTRUCTION OF THE STATE, itself .....

Or maybe OUTRIGHT GREED AND HOGGISHNESS of the "modern STATE" coupled with complete and total lack of responsibility on the part of those who comprise that "modern STATE" .....

"A tax some want nipped in bud - As state advises local officials on extracting revenue from timber, opposition from landowners, legislators takes root"

By RICK KARLIN, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Thursday, March 23, 2006

If a tree grows in the forest and nobody cuts it, should it be taxed?

Apparently yes, according to state officials who are advising local tax assessors on how to tap all those oaks, maples and pines that landowners have on their property for cash.

The trouble is, this newfound revenue source could sprout unforeseen problems.

Some fear taxing trees could cause wholesale clear-cutting.

And farmers worry it could lead to taxes on standing crops such as corn, hay or fruit trees.

If nothing else, it's an example of how New York's endless appetite for tax revenue can take root in novel ways.

"We're starting to get phone calls from around the state," said Kevin King, president of the Empire State Forest Products Association, a trade group of timberland owners of varying sizes.

He said town assessors in western and northern New York have started to put a taxable value on timber, and the state Office of Real Property Tax Services has been advising local officials how to do that.

In theory, King said, a town could tax a small patch of trees in someone's backyard, although that probably wouldn't be worth the time and effort.

Tupper Lake in the Adirondacks, rural Montgomery County, and the Catskill community of Shandaken, in Ulster County, have all started assessing trees, said King.

In the Cattaraugus County town of Allegany, King said, the change will double land taxes, with one landowner seeing his taxes go up fivefold.

"You talk to people and their jaw drops," said Jason Crisafulli, chief administrative officer at Kinley Corp., a family-owned firm that owns 3,000 acres of timberland in Allegany.

Assessing the trees means their tax bill is set to rise from $15,000 to $57,000.

They plan to fight the assessment.

Crisafulli and King, as well as Capital Region politicians, place part of the blame on the Office of Real Property Tax Services for advising local assessors on how to tax timber.

ORPS spokesman Joe Hesch said state law has long allowed trees to be assessed and his agency hasn't offered any new directives or memos about the issue.

"Trees have always been taxable."

"We've been using the same process for 40 years," said Hesch.

"We have forest data available for assessors who ask for it, but that's nothing new."

Crisafulli said ORPS wants all of the state's communities to have up-to-date assessments that reflect the full market value of properties.

That makes sense, he said.

But as part of that, ORPS is saying that timber, which has skyrocketed in price due to the Iraq war, Hurricane Katrina and the booming Asian economy, should be factored into land values.

"This is going to be an up and coming topic," said Crisafulli.

It's already having some local impact.

The Rensselaer County Legislature last month passed a resolution urging the tree tax be axed.

Kenneth Herrington, a Brunswick dairy farmer and Republican legislator, said farmers are worrying the state will try to apply the concept to standing crops such as corn or grain.

"It's a new layer of taxes," he said.

Bills to stop the practice have also been introduced in the Assembly and Senate.

The method by which trees are assessed and taxed can be complex.

Essentially, King said, the new approach involves separating trees and their value from the land they grow on.

Different values can be assigned to various types of tree stands or woodlots.

So far, the new method of assessment has been seen in rural areas and has hit people with timber stands and large tracts of land the hardest.

Tree taxes can also be viewed as a politically acceptable way to raise revenue, King suspects.

Increasing "broad based taxes," such as income or sales taxes, is politically unpopular, he noted, so government is constantly on the lookout for more targeted or subtle ways to get more money.

It's not the first time a relatively obscure tax hike has sprouted in localities across the state.

Two years ago, counties began quietly raising their mortgage taxes, increasing transaction costs by hundreds of dollars.

County officials said they needed the money to pay for Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor.

There could be other forces at work as well, including rising timber prices, which have made trees more valuable.

There may be a desire among state officials to have private landowners shoulder more of the cost in areas where the state owns a lot of wilderness land and pays local property taxes.

Taxing trees could have environmental effects, noted Assemblyman William Parment, D-Jamestown, who has introduced a bill to stop the assessments.

Parment is among those who say some landowners may simply clear-cut their woodlots to achieve long-term savings on taxes.

King said he's already heard of such instances.

"They are forcing people to aggressively cut and subdivide," said Crisafulli.

Sen. Catherine Young, R-Jamestown, is also offering a bill to stop the tax.

Parment also said he didn't believe taxing timber makes much policy sense.

"In taxing policy, trees don't demand much service," he said.

Rick Karlin can be reached at 454-5758 or by e-mail at rkarlin@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"Iraqis sound angry on invasion anniversary" 
 
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press
Last updated: 6:36 p.m., Monday, March 20, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Some Baghdad residents voiced anger and dismay when asked about their lives as the U.S.-led war in Iraq entered its fourth year Monday, when insurgents and sectarian gangs killed at least 38 more people.

Salah Hashim, a 49-year-old businessman, said he yearned for the return of Saddam Hussein, the country's ousted dictator, given the violence that now envelops the country.

"Despite all he did that was bad, we did not suffer as we are now," Hashim said.

"Now we have lost everything, even a sense of living."

"The Americans promised us, especially (President) George Bush, prosperity."

"And we thank them all because we got it -- but we got a prosperity of car bombs, kidnappings and killings."

At least 992 people have been killed in a surge of sectarian killings since the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite Muslim shrine in Samarra, according to an Associated Press count.

Ahmen Najeeb, a 33-year-old supermarket owner, said he originally "waved his hands" at American forces as they entered the country in March 2003, but that his outlook has since changed.

"Day after day the Americans proved that they are here to steal our oil and protect their homes by keeping their war against terror in another country," he said.

Salam Nassir, a 25-year-old college student, also longed for Saddam.

"We deserve all this because we didn't fight the Americans," he said.

"We had to know from the start they would not help us and were lying about liberating Iraq."

This morning ...

On FOX NEWS FAIR AND BALANCED YOU DECIDE broadcasting over CLEARCHANNELS WORLDWIDE .....

The BROADCAST SPECIALISTS who dole out the day's propaganda ....

Were talking about UNITED STATES PRESIDENT George W. Bush ...

Giving a speech, today, I think it was to be ...

BEFORE A VERY FRIENDLY AUDIENCE OF SOME SEVERAL THOUSAND PEOPLE  .....

Assembled for that very purpose ..

To be very friendly to UNITED STATES PRESIDENT George W. Bush ....

BY THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE .....

And when I heard this ...

Well ...

I don't know ...

But isn't that just a little transparent ...

Or something ..

I mean ...

Well ...

George W. Bush has finally come out with the truth here .....

Which is that for the rest of many of our lives ...

There is going to be nothing but death and despair .....

And POVERTY ...

Thanks directly to that one man ...

George W. Bush ...

Who the CHAMBER OF COMMERCE is going to be CHEERING TODAY ...

AT A PEP RALLY ...

To praise George W. Bush for the real fix ...

That his INCOMPETENCE  ......

Has gotten this nation into .....

SO .....

HHHHhhhmmm .....

Go figure ......

Because I can't quite, yet, myself ....

And so .....

And while we are on the subject of HUCKSTERISM in OUR America .....

What is a day without OUR George ....

And BU-shite, of course .....

That "MIRACLE PRODUCT" from the labratories of WHITE HOUSE BEHAVIORAL SCIENTIST Karl Rove .....

That has since been analyzed .....

And has been found to be quite harmful to one's overall state of health and well-being ...

As it is concocted out of a cocktail of whatever blend of toxic sludges that Rove can get his hands on at the moment .....

Along with a massive infusion of nothing but real hot air .....

And the purest BULL ****, of course ......

Purity of "product" is of importance to Rove, the "dedicated" scientist .....

And so .....

"Bush seeks support on Iraq, boost in polls"

By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press
Last updated: 7:56 a.m., Thursday, March 23, 2006

WHEELING, W.Va. -- Whether he's before a friendly West Virginia audience, a Cleveland club proud of its interrogation skills or a White House news conference, President Bush is drawing on his plainspoken manner in freewheeling venues to defend his Iraq strategy.

Alternately serious and joking, charming and disarming in this war anniversary week, Bush is trying to counter election-year critics and reverse an approval ratings slide.

In Wheeling on Wednesday, the fifth day in a row Bush devoted his remarks to Iraq, the president bantered with the locals, his shoulders bouncing up and down as they do when he's pleased with his own jokes.

Then he brought down the house with his trademark I-won't-back-down pledge.

"Let me put it to you this way: If I didn't think we'd succeed, I'd pull our troops out," Bush said.

More than 2,000 supporters -- including many active-duty military and their families -- leapt from their seats and filled the gilded Capitol Music Hall with wild applause.

"I cannot look mothers and dads in the eye, I can't ask this good Marine to go into harm's way if I didn't believe, one, we're going to succeed, and, two, it's necessary for the security of the United States," Bush said.

Beginning with a speech last Monday in Washington, and with more planned to come, the president wants to convince Americans not only that there is reason for optimism about Iraq's future but that the situation now is better than the daily reports of strife make it appear.

With national polls showing he has a tough hill to climb -- and the upcoming midterm congressional elections making Republicans nervous -- Bush laces his remarks with nods to both Americans' worries and the grim realities on the ground in Iraq.

The insurgency remains strong, sectarian violence is spiraling and talks to form a unity government seem stalemated.

The president said at least a half-dozen times here that he understands the concern about Iraq.

"There was some awful violence."

"Some reprisals taking place."

"And I can understand people saying, `Man, it's all going to -- you know, it's not working out,'" he said.

But, Bush added, standing in front of three large blue-and-yellow "Plan for Victory" posters:

"The way I like to put it is, they looked into the abyss as to whether or not they want a civil war or not and chose not to."

"That's not to say we don't have more work to do, and we do."

The crowd in Wheeling needed little convincing.

Another standing ovation was prompted by a woman who asked Bush what could be done to keep the press from ignoring progress in Iraq.

"Our major media don't want to portray the good," she said.

"If the American people could see it, there would never be another negative word about this conflict."

Bush declined the opportunity to tell the media what to publish.

"You're asking me to say something in front of all the cameras here."

"Help over there, will you?" he joshed.

"Just got to keep talking."

"Word of mouth."

In Cleveland on Monday, Bush did his talking at the City Club.

The questions got tough at the forum known for taking on world leaders, ranging from Iraq to his warrantless wiretapping program to a new nuclear deal with India.

But the exchanges allowed Bush to make his case for the war, and earned him a few laughs and several rounds of enthusiastic applause along the way.

"Anybody work here in this town?" Bush joked at one point as the Cleveland questioning went on in an appearance that eventually went over 90 minutes.

On Tuesday, Bush called a news conference with the Washington media.

But he rejected the formal East Room in favor of going toe-to-toe with reporters in the cramped, casual White House briefing room that better suits his style.

The president bantered with an outspoken critic, journalist Helen Thomas, saying he "semi-regretted" calling on her, and he teasingly accused other reporters of falling asleep during his speeches.

The sessions follow a December blitz by Bush that succeeded in arresting an earlier fall in his approval ratings.

This time, White House advisers hope the speaking events, even when they draw the kind of difficult questions that have occasionally come Bush's way this week, will showcase a president comfortable with his message, his strategy and his facts.

"It's one of the best chances he has to be effective, to change away from the Pollyanna-ish characterizations of it being all good news," said Bruce Buchanan, a University of Texas political scientist who has long observed Bush.

However, Wayne Fields, a specialist in presidential rhetoric at Washington University in St. Louis, said, "The problem is that clearly he's doing this because of the polls and that adds a level of desperation."

http://gprime.net/video.php/presidentialspeechalist

[Livyjr]

"Bush seeks support on Iraq, boost in polls" 
 
By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press
Last updated: 7:56 a.m., Thursday, March 23, 2006

Another standing ovation was prompted by a woman who asked Bush what could be done to keep the press from ignoring progress in Iraq.

"Our major media don't want to portray the good," she said.

"If the American people could see it, there would never be another negative word about this conflict."

Bush declined the opportunity to tell the media what to publish.

http://gprime.net/video.php/presidentialspeechalist

And looping back in time ...

As we are able to do in here ...

Thanks to the massive memory that this FORUM provides us with ....

Coupled with a very handy "search engine" feature ....

We have from back in the "beginning days" of this thread, as follows ......

U.S. National - AP

"AP Poll: U.S. Split Over Handling of Iraq"

Fri Dec 10, 2004

By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Americans remain sharply divided in their views of how President Bush is handling Iraq, and their confidence that a stable, democratic government will be established in that country has eroded, an Associated Press poll found.

Fewer than half, 47 percent, think it's likely Iraq will be able to establish a stable government, according to the poll conducted for the AP by Ipsos-Public Affairs.

Just over half, 51 percent, say they think it's unlikely.

In April, 55 percent said they believed a stable, democratic government probably would be established, and 44 percent thought it was not likely.

While doubts are growing about Iraq's future, the American public's view of the president's handling of the situation has remained fairly constant through the year — dipping slightly in June — but evenly split now.

About half of the people still approve of going to war there, even as they see problems, said Charles Franklin, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"It's a question of whether they hold the president personally responsible for the troubles there."

As long as half the public see the war as the right decision, they are likely to continue supporting Bush's efforts, he said.

Some of the doubters acknowledge they still see a stable Iraq as an important goal.

"Once you made that initial step, you can't backtrack," said Richard Bates, 50, a Democrat who works at a steel mill near Pittsburgh.

"But I'm concerned Iraq is going to become another Vietnam."

Those most likely to have lost faith in the chances of a stable, democratic Iraq are those with college degrees, Southerners, city-dwellers, homeowners, Catholics, independents and Democrats.

Asked whether Iraq will be able to establish a stable democracy, Susan Welch of Jasper, Ga., was quick to say:

"No way."

"I don't think that President Bush started off with the right attitude — you cannot beat people into freedom," said Welch, a political independent and a part-time postal carrier.

People were about evenly divided on the president's handling of Iraq, with 48 percent approving and 50 percent disapproving.

In June, 43 percent approved, and 55 percent disapproved.

"I have no problem with the president's handling of Iraq," said Donna Baker, a 56-year-old Republican from Robinson Creek, Ky.

"I haven't heard any plan better."

Baker said she expects the election in Iraq to go off as planned Jan. 30, though not without problems.

The establishment of a stable democracy in Iraq will take time, she said.

Rising violence in recent weeks suggests her concerns are well-founded.

A series of insurgent attacks in recent days have killed more than 80 Iraqis, mostly members of the country's fledgling security forces.

Iraqi and U.S. officials insist elections will go ahead next month despite the violence and the fact that some insurgent strongholds have been too dangerous for voter registration to begin.

More than half, 52 percent, still think the United States overall is on the wrong track, while 43 percent think it's headed in the right direction.

The pessimistic mood has lingered since January, when people were about evenly split on the country's direction soon after the capture of deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Bush's overall job approval in the poll among registered voters was at 51 percent, with 47 percent disapproving, about the same as in November shortly after his re-election.

The president got some of his strongest ratings for his handling of foreign policy and terrorism, with 53 percent approving and 45 percent disapproving.

The AP-Ipsos poll of 1,000 adults, including 845 registered voters, was taken Dec. 6-8 and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points for all adults, 3.5 percentage points for registered voters.

[Livyjr]

"Bush seeks support on Iraq, boost in polls" 
 
By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press
Last updated: 7:56 a.m., Thursday, March 23, 2006

WHEELING, W.Va. -- Whether he's before a friendly West Virginia audience, a Cleveland club proud of its interrogation skills or a White House news conference, President Bush is drawing on his plainspoken manner in freewheeling venues to defend his Iraq strategy.

Alternately serious and joking, charming and disarming in this war anniversary week, Bush is trying to counter election-year critics and reverse an approval ratings slide.

In Wheeling on Wednesday, the fifth day in a row Bush devoted his remarks to Iraq, the president bantered with the locals, his shoulders bouncing up and down as they do when he's pleased with his own jokes.

http://gprime.net/video.php/presidentialspeechalist

http://dr-joe.net/flash-files/Bush-Leno.htm

[Snuffysmith]

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/HC24Dj01.html


SPEAKING FREELY
US living on borrowed time - and money
By Julian Delasantellis

In 1987, Yale historian Paul Kennedy published The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, in which he argued that "military overstretch" - where conquering nations engaged in more foreign military adventures than their economic resources could support - led to the eventual decline and fall of empires.

So far, the US attempt at dominion that commenced in 2001 has not been threatened in this manner because, in essence, the
nation has been able to borrow the costs simultaneously to maintain both its new empire and its avaricious middle-class consumerist lifestyle.

But the times, they are a-changing. Buried deep in the arcanum of some recently released economic statistics are indications that the world is tiring of its role as America's charge card.

So far the United States has easily financed its endeavors in Iraq, as well as undiminished levels of domestic social-welfare spending, not by the traditional solution of raising taxes (in fact, taxes have been cut numerous times since 2001, an occurrence unheard of during previous wars) but by running huge budget deficits, such as fiscal year 2006's projected shortfall of US$423 billion.

Accompanying the federal budget deficit is the huge US trade deficit, burgeoning out of control as more and more of previously domestically produced consumption items are outsourced to foreign, mostly Chinese, manufacture. The stimulative US budget fiscal position assures that Americans will have all the money needed to buy them.

Standard economic theory since the adoption of floating foreign exchange rates in 1973 states that big trade deficits auto-correct by having the currency of the profligate nation depreciate. Thus if Brazil is buying more from, say, South Korea than South Korea is buying from Brazil, there will be more South Koreans with Brazilian reals (earned from the exports to Brazilians ) than there will be Brazilians with won.

In most cases, this would lead to selling of the currency of the deficit country, since there will be a surplus of the deficit country's currency in these foreigners' hands. The selling will drive down the value of the deficit currency; that will eventually make consumption of the shiny foreign goodies too expensive, and eventually the trade deficit will equalize.

This has traditionally not happened with foreigners holding US dollars. The United States dollar is what is called a "reserve currency", ie, foreigners are willing to hold dollars even though they can't easily use them as the domestic currency in their home markets. Without the selling that would accompany all the exporters to the United States trading their dollars for their home currencies, the US dollar stays higher than the economic fundamentals would theorize it should, and the great American global shopping spree can continue.

The ledger of how much more capital the US sucks in to finance its consumption as compared with how much it sends out to invest is called the current account deficit. The money that foreign exporters hold in US dollars and then invest in US government or private bonds, stocks or short-term bills is entered in the minus column on the current account. As the US domestic savings rate is so pitifully low, the United States must import a huge amount of foreign capital just to finance that huge federal government budget deficit.

From an even then huge $531 billion in 2003, the current-account deficit has been rising in recent years by more than 20% a year, last year's was $805 billion, and the projection for 2006 is more than $975 billion - that's almost 7% of gross domestic product. In other words, America's spending addiction, from DVD players to destroyers, means that the nation consumes 7% more than it produces.

But until very recently, financing this hunger wasn't all that much of a problem.

The most important US government economic statistical report that you've never heard of is called the Treasury International Capital (TIC) report. The current-account data report how much the US needs to finance its lifestyle; the monthly TIC data report what it actually gets.

Thus in 2003, the current-account deficit meant that the US needed to entice $531 billion from the rest of the world. TIC data reported that what it actually got was $747 billion. For 2004, the need was $666 billion; it actually got $915 billion. For 2005, the need was $801 billion; $1.025 trillion was actually received. Many economic commentators believe that as this excess foreign capital started sloshing around and through the US banking and financial system, it kept US interest rates low and thus fired the tremendous rallies in real-estate and stock-equity prices that have occurred in the past few years.

But nothing good lasts forever. From reaching a high of $117.2 billion in August 2005, the TIC reports are showing a steady decline in foreign inflows, down to $74 billion in December, and $78 billion for January, the last month for which data are available. The nasty thing about this is that with a projected $975 billion current-account deficit for this year, the US is no longer getting what it needs from the world to maintain its lifestyle. The foreign-capital food supply is dwindling just as the hunger increases.

True, the actual shortfall is not yet very large, right now less than $5 billion a month. But I see the salient fact here as not being the current-account deficit minus TIC-inflow shortfall right now, but the rather significant 35% absolute reduction in inflows since last summer. As the US political system shows absolutely no indication of being either desirous or even able to deal with its fiscal profligacy (the recent congressional farce surrounding the increase in the debt ceiling being an example), the current-account deficit will only rise; unless US households are willing to increase their savings rates massively (very unlikely, since I haven't seen any "going out of business" signs on Best Buy or Circuit City lately) or the declining-TIC-inflow trend reverses, there's trouble ahead for the latest US experiment in cut-rate conquest.

There are many ways this trouble could manifest itself. Since much of this foreign-capital inflow finds its way into long-term US Treasury securities, it's hardly surprising that, with the recent shortfall in TIC inflows, Treasury interest rates are rising to their highest levels in two years. If demand is falling, then the market is marking down prices, and the basic rule of bond markets is that yields move in inverse directions to prices. Rising mortgage rates will put the US real-estate boom in real jeopardy, and it has been US homeowners pulling spendable cash out of the inflated values of their homes that has generated much of the consumption component of recent US growth.

It is also possible that this could lead to a sharp selloff in the US dollar, as has been happening in the dollar-euro market since November. If foreigners with export earnings from the US do not put it back into US assets, they will not just keep it stuffed in their mattresses; they will look around for interest-bearing instruments denominated in euros, sterling, yen, or a dozen other currencies.

This will cause these currencies to appreciate in value, and the dollar to fall. If you've ever looked at the back page of The Economist magazine you'll have seen the huge foreign-exchange reserves being built by countries that have recently been the winners in the global trading game. As of December, the International Monetary Fund lists Japan's reserves at $847 billion, China's at $819 billion, Taiwan's at $253 billion, South Korea's at $210 billion, Russia's at $194 billion, and India's at $137 billion. These reserves, held overwhelmingly as US dollars, are the potential gasoline just waiting for the match to set alight a huge global economic conflagration.

If somebody starts selling his dollar reserves, even if it's only a portion of his dollar portfolio, other countries could be forced into panic selling of their huge dollar reserves. The foreign-exchange markets are the biggest and most liquid in the world, but whether they would be able to absorb the amount of selling that could emerge from portfolio adjustments this large is a very open question.

More likely there would be a sharp overshoot in the dollar-selling, leading to a perhaps 20-30% decline in dollar values within a very short time. For the US, this would mean a sharp rise in the prices of everything it imports, especially crude oil. That would mean inflation, with the Federal Reserve raising interest rates to contain it, or maybe the economy would bypass the intermediate inflationary phase and head straight into deep recession or depression.

Either way, the great run of US prosperity would be over. Worldwide, along with the global contractionary effects of US economic growth suddenly stopping or going into reverse, the effect of an almost instantaneous 20% haircut in the value of the world's financial reserves would be no picnic, either.

On the first day of class, business teachers like me love to introduce our sleepy students to the concept of TANSTAAFL - there ain't no such thing as a free lunch. The United States may soon be introduced to the concept of TANSTAAFE - there ain't no such thing as a free empire. Specifically, will the nation still think it's so important to control the sands of Samarra, or the streets of Fallujah, or, for that matter, those of Baghdad if, like the signs say in US doctors' offices, "payment is expected at the time of service"?

Julian Delasantellis is a management consultant, private investor and professor of international business in the US states of Washington.

(Copyright 2006 Julian Delasantellis.)