Life in OUR America, Volume 2, The Livyjr Files Options

[Livyjr]

"As families grieve, soldier awaits fate - Suspect in killings could face death penalty as kin buries 1 of 2 officers slain in Iraq" 
 
By TIM O'BRIEN, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union
First published: Saturday, June 18, 2005

If found guilty of murdering his commanding officers, a Schaghticoke soldier could be sentenced to death, a military spokeswoman said Friday.

Staff Sgt. Alberto B. Martinez, 37, is accused of killing two commanders on June 7 at Forward Operating Base Danger in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit.

Martinez was charged Wednesday with two counts of premeditated murder after military officials say he blew up his superiors and tried to make it look like a mortar attack.

Martinez, who lived in Cohoes prior to moving to his father's home in Schaghticoke, is the first soldier charged with "fragging" -- or killing a superior officer -- since the Iraq war began.

"Soldier called a killer - Staff Sgt. Alberto B. Martinez of Schaghticoke accused in "fragging" deaths of officers in Iraq"

By BRUCE A. SCRUTON, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union
First published: Friday, June 17, 2005

The Army has filed murder charges against a Rensselaer County soldier, saying he blew up two of his commanders near Tikrit and tried to make it look like a mortar attack by insurgents.

Staff Sgt. Alberto B. Martinez of Schaghticoke was formally charged Wednesday and the case is being referred through the chain of command for review and recommendations on how to proceed, according to a news release from the Department of Defense.

Martinez, 37, is a New York National Guard soldier and, as a supply specialist, is assigned to the Headquarters Company of the 42nd Infantry Division.

That division is headquartered in North Greenbush and is on active duty in Iraq, in charge of military operations in the area around Tikrit.

But while the main body of 42nd Infantry troops have been in Iraq since early this year, Martinez has been there since May 2004, according to the state Division of Military and Naval Affairs in Latham.

The incident occurred June 7 at Forward Operating Base Danger. Capt. Phillip T. Esposito, 30, of Suffern, Rockland County, and 1st Lt. Louis E. Allen, 34, of Milford, Pa., were killed.

Esposito was commander of Headquarters Company, while Allen was the company's operations officer.

Initial reports were that an insurgent mortar round had struck the window of a building that the two commanders were in, but ordnance experts later determined the blast pattern was inconsistent with a mortar attack.

On June 10, military officials said a criminal investigation into the blast was under way.

The formal charges of premeditated murder under Article 118 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice were lodged on Wednesday.

The Associated Press reported that Martinez is believed to have allegedly used some kind of explosive device, possibly a grenade, in the attack, military officials said on condition of anonymity because the matter was still under investigation.

Martinez is being held in a facility in Kuwait, according to the military.

Martinez, who joined the National Guard in December 1990, lived for a time on Congress Street in Cohoes.

However, the apartment burned a couple of years ago and he and his wife, Tamara, moved across the river into his father's home located at the dead end of River Road in Schaghticoke.

On Thursday afternoon, a military officer was seen leaving the home, which sits on the side of a hill overlooking the Hudson River.

Thursday evening, a young man walked out of the house and said the family would not have any comment.

Several cars were parked in the yard next to the house and at the bottom of the driveway at the turn-around at the end of River Road.

A former neighbor on Congress Street, who asked that his name not be used, said Martinez seemed to be a quiet, hard-working man.

The neighbor said he believed Martinez worked at the Watervliet Arsenal.

On Thursday night, the arsenal could not confirm Martinez's employment status.

Kent Kisselbrack, a spokesman for the Division of Military and Naval Affairs, said National Guard soldiers normally spend only a year in Iraq and could not say why Martinez was still there.

He also did not immediately know whether Martinez' unit was called up a year ago or if he was called up to fill a slot in another unit.

Most recently, however, Martinez was part of the 42nd Headquarters Company, which began its year of duty in January.

The 42nd was a regular Army unit in both World Wars and in 1947 was reactivated as a National Guard Division for New York.

Now, the division has units in nine different states.

The division got its Rainbow Division nickname from then-Col. Douglas MacArthur, who served as its first chief of staff during World War I.

The division, he said, "stretches like a rainbow from one end of America to the other."

In 1989, the division's headquarters was moved from New York City to a new armory in North Greenbush, just south of the Troy city line.

The 42nd is in charge of a huge swath of central and northern Iraq, which includes Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein.

Forward Operating Base Danger is headquarterd in one of the former dictator's palaces on the banks of the Tigris River.

Allen was a science teacher at George F. Baker High School in Orange County and was deployed to Iraq just a few weeks ago.

He is survived by his wife, Barbara, and four sons, ages 1 to 6.

Esposito is survived by his wife and 19-month-old daughter.

This is the second known case in which a U.S. soldier has been charged with killing fellow Americans during the Iraq war.

Hasan Akbar, a 34-year-old Muslim, was sentenced to death in April.

He was found guilty of staging an attack on fellow soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division in the opening days of the invasion.

That 2003 attack came in Kuwait and killed two officers and wounded 14 soldiers.

However, the Martinez case is the first so-called "fragging" incident.

The term came into use during the Vietnam War and means a soldier intentionally killed a commanding officer, often through use of a fragmentation grenade.

Between 1969 and 1971, the Army reported 600 fragging incidents in which 82 Americans were killed and another 651 were injured.

His motive remained unclear Thursday.

Martinez will be provided with a military defense counsel from the Army's Trial Defense Service.

He can also hire his own civilian attorney.

"Staff Sgt. Martinez has been and will continue to be afforded the extensive rights under the Uniform Code of Military Justice," said Col. Billy J. Buckner, a spokesman for the Multinational Corps Iraq.

Whether the death penalty will be sought in this case will be determined as part of the review and recommendations up through the chain of command.

Bruce A. Scruton can be reached at 454-5462 or by e-mail at bscruton@timesunion.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[jeffmoskin]

Incredible, jeffmoskin, just incredible!

I never did know what had become of him after he was released by the "EVIL EMPIRE", and now, I do!

Kind of makes you wonder, don't it, about whether or not God or nature really ever intended for this one guy to be a "flier"!

SAY .....

You don't think he ran out of gas, over there in Russia, too, do you, and that being shot down business was just a ruse to cover that up?

Well, he certainly earned the "fickle finger of fate" award. Imagine, having been shot down (yes, I really DO believe he was) over USSR, going through KGB interrogs, finally getting traded for Rudolph Abel (?), coming back to America and getting a cushy job flying a TV news chopper...

HE RUNS OUT OF GAS AND GETS KILLED.

A classic, if you ask me.

[Abu Beacon]

And when you couple that with the gross indifference that most people I encounter seem to have to all of this, well, one just has to wonder "if folly will always be our nemesis!"

Livyjr, I believe you have really nailed it with that statement.

There was a time when the misadventure or folly or dishonest action on the part of one of our elected officials would arouse the ire of an entire population.

I find this still to be true when it comes to local politicians.

Let a councilman or a mayor of a town, large or small, get caught doing something less than honorable, and the front page of the local paper will headline the event.

Local columnists will milk several days worth of columns out of it.

People and their neighbors would shake their heads, discuss it at length, and be up in arms.

The transgression might involve a few thousand dollars, perhaps a bribe, padding an expense account, something of that sort. The transgressor would find his political career effectively over, perhaps even some jail time would be applied.

These rules do not seem to apply to presidents, vice presidents, and others in the inner circle.

Occasionally, events cause punishment to " higher ups " i.e. Nixon, almost to Clinton. Usually it is not the breaking of the rules or being caught that cause these exceptions. I believe it is a combination of a hostile congress and the approval of the media.

How can Bushco get caught in so many lies, so many actions harmful to the the American people, even so many stupid moves and still get reelected? Still have so many citizens approve of him?

The answer is not so obvious. Yes, he still has a majority of congressman that feel their careers are closely dependent on his approval by the voters.

And as Livyjr so astutely points out, the inexplicable indifference so many people seem to have.

Do these people really not want to know the truth?

A.B.

[Livyjr]

There was a time when the misadventure or folly or dishonest action on the part of one of our elected officials would arouse the ire of an entire population.

I find this still to be true when it comes to local politicians.

A.B.

Not here, Mr. A.B., some 500 or 600 miles to the east of you, across Lake Erie, and the State of New York, if I have got the distance down right, give or take a 100 miles or so.

And that really begins to point out a lot of regional differences between people, here in OUR America.

And I know how foolish and dangerous it is to make generalizations, and so, I do it cautiously, but still, here where I am, to be a politician at the local level, and to stay there, you seem to have to be the most corrupt ones on the block!

And nobody says a word, starting with the local media.

Now, I think that is in part because I live within a certain radius of the state capital, where politics plays such a dominant part in who gets a job, and who gets punished for speaking out, but even from my readings about the Revolutionary War, there was a big perceived difference between people in New York, versus people in New England, versus people in the southern states, and as I have traveled around, I have come to the conclusion that we are not all the same, when it comes to tolerance of corruption and ineptness in OUR governments.

New York State, and especially Albany, the present state capital, has a history of corruption that goes back to the 1600's, in fact, and it is probably one of the longest histories of corrupt government in the United States.

People in the past were able to deal with this by simply moving westwards, and so they did!

Look at your state, Mr. A.B, for an example!

Yours is what I call a "clean slate" state, in that it came out of the old Northwest Territory, which had, right from the start, a "charter" that set it on a different course than what was the case in the original 13 states, which had ROYAL, which is to say corrupt government in place at the time of the American Revolution.

During the Revolution, New York City itself was a Loyalist city, by and large, and New York State was one of the hold-out states in ratifying the United States Constitution, which can be interpreted a host of different ways perhaps, but to me, there has been a kind of osmotic factor going on in OUR America since, where people who did not want or accept corruption simply went west to those places like the Northwest Territory that later became such progressive states as Ohio and Wisconsin, while those who were weaker and so couldn't move, or resist corruption stayed back here, where corruption had been the regular course of BID-NESS for so long a period of time as to be the way things are!

And that is still what you hear people saying today, up here, "Oh, Livyjr, you're just wasting your time, you damn fool!"

"Don't you know that that's the way it has always been, and you're not going to change anything?"

Well, Mr. A.B. I do know that's the way it has been, and I do know that I haven't made a dent in it, and so, I wish we had some people with some more integrity and guts up here, but I think those people went west!

And that just is the way it is!

[Livyjr]

And speaking of differences in "tolerance" as one moves farther from the cesspit of New York State politics that is located at the top of State Street Hill in Albany, New York:

"More council calls to resign - Felony indictment against Schenectady councilman unites parties in new effort"

By ANNE MILLER, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union
First published: Friday, June 17, 2005

SCHENECTADY -- A more serious felony indictment against a Schenectady councilman accused in a beating case has united Democrats and Republicans in new calls for his resignation.

City political leaders say that while Councilman Peter Della Ratta, 33, is innocent until proven guilty, the negative attention the case has generated detracts from government business.

Mayor Brian U. Stratton, a Democrat, and city Republican party chief Armando Tebano renewed their efforts to get Della Ratta, 33, to quit on Thursday.

"We don't need any more bad press," Tebano said.

Stratton said his fellow Democrat should leave office.

"We've been a city that's been through police scandal, through financial mismanagement," said Stratton.

"I have a fondness for Peter and I like him as an individual, but this goes beyond that."

Della Ratta wasn't talking.

He faces charges of second-degree assault, a felony, and third-degree assault, a misdemeanor.

His attorney, E. Stewart Jones, said he would make no comment until after Della Ratta's arraignment, set for 9 a.m. Thursday.

City police first arrested Della Ratta on April 8, three days after he allegedly punched Mark Maiorello, 21, in the face.

Police said the fight broke out when Della Ratta allegedly caught his former employee with his ex-girlfriend in an apartment on South Church Street the night of April 5.

Maiorello was taken to Ellis Hospital for treatment after the fight.

Amid the bruises, hospital records showed he also suffered a broken nose.

Della Ratta was originally charged with a misdemeanor, but the grand jury upgraded one of the charges to a felony.

He faces a minimum of five years probation if convicted.

"It really wasn't determined that there was felony conduct until we examined the medical records" from Ellis Hospital, said Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III, who has stepped in as a special prosecutor at the request of Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney.

Under state law, Della Ratta would lose his office if convicted of a felony, said L. John VanNorden the Schenectady city deputy corporation counsel.

Until then, the city cannot force him out.

"It's a charge that has nothing to do with his duties as a city councilman," VanNorden said.

Second-degree assault is D felony, punishable by up to seven years in prison.

Elected officials facing felony charges are not unheard of.

One of the most notorious cases involved North Greenbush Town Board member John Ramahlo Sr. who was convicted in 1993 of killing his wife.

In that case, Ramahlo's own Republican party encouraged him to stay, which he did, until his conviction.

VanNorden said there have been no criminal charges against a Schenectady council member at least during his 15 years in the corporation counsel's office.

Anne Miller can be reached at 454-5697 or by e-mail at amiller@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

And speaking of differences in "tolerance" as one moves farther from the cesspit of New York State politics that is located at the top of State Street Hill in Albany, New York:

"More council calls to resign - Felony indictment against Schenectady councilman unites parties in new effort" 
 
By ANNE MILLER, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union
First published: Friday, June 17, 2005

Elected officials facing felony charges are not unheard of.

One of the most notorious cases involved North Greenbush Town Board member John Ramahlo Sr. who was convicted in 1993 of killing his wife.

In that case, Ramahlo's own Republican party encouraged him to stay, which he did, until his conviction.

Good old Rensselaer County.

When I was in the Army, and said that I was from near Troy, New York, people from across America would say, "Oh, that's where Mame Fay is"!

Mame Fay, of course, was a famous "Madam" in Troy in the early 1900's, when some older folks still living were still young, and her "establishment" was safely ensconced right behind the Police Station in Troy, near the now-demolished train station!

It used to be said, and still is, actually, that if you want to commit a murder, come to Rensselaer County to do it, and Mr. Charlie "Legs" Diamond himself was on trial in Troy, and was acquitted of something, just before he was murdered himself over across the river in Albany, the oozing cesspit of New York State politics.

And this Ramahlo case really took the cake, where the Republican Party itself became real militant and "in your face" to anyone that wanted this wife killer out of local politics!

"So what if he killed the b****!"

"He's a good guy, one of us, a REPUBLICAN to the core!"

Got any wife killers in your local government out there, Mr. A.B.?

[Livyjr]

And talking about "taking the cake", THIS IS SIMPLY INCREDIBLE ....

Should cities be allowed to seize homes and buildings for private projects as long as they benefit the public good? * 64339 responses

Yes, all parties benefit in the long run 3%

No, property owners will lose and developers gain 97%

"Homes may be 'taken' for private projects - Justices: Local governments can give OK if it's for public good"

Jack Sauer / AP file
This home in New London, Conn., is one of several at the center of Thursday's Supreme Court ruling. Susette Kelo and other homeowners had refused to sell their property for what their city said was a needed private development project.

The Associated Press
Updated: 12:23 p.m. ET June 23, 2005

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that local governments may seize people’s homes and businesses — even against their will — for private economic development.

It was a decision fraught with huge implications for a country with many areas, particularly the rapidly growing urban and suburban areas, facing countervailing pressures of development and property ownership rights.

As a result, cities now have wide power to bulldoze residences for projects such as shopping malls and hotel complexes in order to generate tax revenue.

The 5-4 ruling — assailed by dissenting Justice Sandra Day O’Connor as handing “disproportionate influence and power” to the well-heeled — represented a defeat for some Connecticut residents whose homes are slated for destruction to make room for an office complex.

Those residents argued that cities have no right to take their land except for projects with a clear public use, such as roads or schools, or to revitalize blighted areas.

Under the ruling, residents still will be entitled to “just compensation” for their homes as provided under the Fifth Amendment.

But residents involved in the lawsuit expressed dismay and pledged to keep fighting.

“It’s a little shocking to believe you can lose your home in this country,” said resident Bill Von Winkle, who said he would refuse to leave his home, even if bulldozers showed up.

“I won’t be going anywhere."

"Not my house."

"This is definitely not the last word.”

Jobs, tax revenue cited

Writing for the court’s majority in Thursday’s ruling, Justice John Paul Stevens said local officials, not federal judges, know best in deciding whether a development project will benefit the community.

States are within their rights to pass additional laws restricting condemnations if residents are overly burdened, he said.

“The city has carefully formulated an economic development that it believes will provide appreciable benefits to the community, including — but by no means limited to — new jobs and increased tax revenue,” Stevens wrote.

He was joined by Justice Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.

O’Connor, who has been a key swing vote on many cases before the court, issued a stinging dissent.

She argued that cities should not have unlimited authority to uproot families, even if they are provided compensation, simply to accommodate wealthy developers.

“Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random,” O’Connor wrote.

“The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms.”

She was joined in her opinion by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, as well as Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

Thomas filed a separate opinion to argue that seizing homes for private development, even with “just compensation,” is unconstitutional.

“The consequences of today’s decision are not difficult to predict, and promise to be harmful,” Thomas wrote.

“So-called ’urban renewal’ programs provide some compensation for the properties they take, but no compensation is possible for the subjective value of these lands to the individuals displaced and the indignity inflicted.”

Homeowners refused to budge

The case involves Susette Kelo and several other homeowners in a working-class neighborhood in New London, Conn., who filed a lawsuit after city officials announced plans to raze their homes to clear the way for a riverfront hotel, health club and offices.

The residents had refused to budge, arguing it was an unjustified taking of their property.

“I’m not willing to give up what I have just because someone else can generate more taxes here,” said homeowner Matthew Dery, whose family has lived in the neighborhood known as Fort Trumbull for more than 100 years.

New London contends the condemnations are proper because the development plans serving a “public purpose” — such as boosting economic growth — are valid “public use” projects that outweigh the property rights of the homeowners.

The Connecticut Supreme Court agreed with New London, ruling 4-3 in March 2004 that the mere promise of additional tax revenue justified the condemnation.

Issue across the country

Nationwide, more than 10,000 properties were threatened or condemned between 1998 and 2002, according to the Institute for Justice, a Washington public interest law firm representing the New London homeowners.

In many cases, according to the group, cities are pushing the limits of their power to accommodate wealthy developers.

Courts, meanwhile, are divided over the extent of city power, with seven states saying economic development can justify a taking and eight states allowing a taking only if it eliminates blight.

In New London, city officials envision replacing a stagnant enclave with commercial development that would attract tourists to the Thames riverfront, complementing an adjoining Pfizer Corp. research center and a proposed Coast Guard museum.

“The record is clear that New London was a city desperate for economic rejuvenation,” the city’s legal filing states, in asking the high court to defer to local governments in deciding what constitutes “public use.”

The New London neighborhood that will be swept away includes Victorian-era houses and small businesses that in some instances have been owned by several generations of families.

Among the New London residents in the case is a couple in their 80s who have lived in the same home for more than 50 years.

Where other states stand

According to the residents’ filing, the seven states that allow condemnations for private business development alone are Connecticut, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York and North Dakota.

Eight states forbid the use of eminent domain when the economic purpose is not to eliminate blight; they are Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, South Carolina and Washington.

Another three — Delaware, New Hampshire and Massachusetts — have indicated they probably will find condemnations for economic development alone unconstitutional, while the remaining states have not addressed or spoken clearly to the question.

[Livyjr]

And talking about "taking the cake", THIS IS SIMPLY INCREDIBLE ....

"Homes may be 'taken' for private projects - Justices: Local governments can give OK if it's for public good"

The Associated Press
Updated: 12:23 p.m. ET June 23, 2005

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that local governments may seize people’s homes and businesses — even against their will — for private economic development.

It was a decision fraught with huge implications for a country with many areas, particularly the rapidly growing urban and suburban areas, facing countervailing pressures of development and property ownership rights.

As a result, cities now have wide power to bulldoze residences for projects such as shopping malls and hotel complexes in order to generate tax revenue.

The 5-4 ruling — assailed by dissenting Justice Sandra Day O’Connor as handing “disproportionate influence and power” to the well-heeled — represented a defeat for some Connecticut residents whose homes are slated for destruction to make room for an office complex.

Where other states stand

According to the residents’ filing, the seven states that allow condemnations for private business development alone are Connecticut, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York and North Dakota.

"Players in land venture connect to Bruno - Senator's son got friends to buy some homes in controversial project"

By MICHELE MORGAN BOLTON and BOB PORT, Staff Writer and Senior editor
Albany, New York Times Union
First published: Thursday, June 23, 2005

Ask state Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno about First Grafton Corp., his controversial real estate venture in eastern Rensselaer County, and his spokesman has a quick answer:

"The senator doesn't have a real estate company -- it's in a blind trust."

But just how blind is Bruno's 25 percent share?

It's true, the second most powerful state Republican did remove himself in 1992 from the board of directors of the company run by influential Albany lobbyist James Featherstonhaugh.

But "Feathers," a longtime close Bruno friend, then sold parcels of land to the senator's son, the senator's son's new girlfriend, the senator's son's snowmobiling friends, the wife of the senator's thoroughbred horse-racing friend and the son of the Republican supervisor in the town of Grafton.

Now the remaining acreage just off Route 2 has been sold to Massachusetts developer David Lipinski, of Stonybrook Land LLC, who plans to build out the rest of the 22-home luxury subdivision and carve a second access road around the leafy perimeter of Dyken Pond.

Lipinski said he never talked to the senator about the deal, though he recalled meeting Kenneth R. Bruno, the senator's son, and Theresa Russo, Ken Bruno's girlfriend, who is also a lobbyist.

Featherstonhaugh insists he never was steered to any buyer by Sen. Bruno, though he acknowledged Bruno's son brokered some deals.

He said he and Albany lawyer Douglas Rutnik invested cash in the venture some years before Sen. Bruno, his brother, Peter Bruno, and Glens Falls businessman Richard Carota, chief executive officer of Finch Pruyn, joined the venture.

The company was dissolved on May 31.

"Rutnik and I lost maybe less than $100,000," Featherstonhaugh said.

He said other investors lost a "substantial amount" of money.

Sen. Bruno, through a spokesman, refused to say how much.

Grafton Supervisor Tyler Sawyer said First Grafton received no special treatment, nor did his son.

Ken Bruno's home, which was recently appraised at $550,000, is assessed at less than half of that.

The massive home on Dyken Pond isn't the only edifice with the Bruno name attached to it in Grafton.

Just down the road from Bruno's subdivision, a multimillion-dollar senior center is about to be built with an infusion of state and federal grant money.

Of that, close to $600,000 has been arranged by Sen. Bruno.

And tens of thousands of dollars in state grants have been given to the local historical society and fire department.

It caps an era that began in 1991 when Bruno, R-Brunswick, introduced his 625-acre project to the mountainous and sparsely populated community by bulldozing a 1.7-mile road through the old-growth forest and wetlands without the necessary state permits.

Nearby residents were furious.

Then, in 1996, the state fined and suspended from practice one of First Grafton's engineers for manufacturing the state-mandated Environmental Quality Review Assessment that the Health Department said was at odds with actual conditions.

As the project continued to raise the ire of its country neighbors, it was stalled by a number of state and federal lawsuits.

But it finally kicked into gear in 2001 when the senator's son, who was then the Rensselaer County district attorney, laid the foundation for his own home on 10.8 acres.

Next in was Scott Newell, an avid outdoorsman and longtime friend of Ken Bruno, who with his wife, Tracie, purchased 8 acres in 2002.

However, he said his relationship with First Grafton has been as rocky as the soil.

"They told anyone what they wanted to hear to get the land sold," Newell said.

"They did a lot of bad things."

Among them, he said, was attempting to take a 15-foot-wide public accessway from his property; breaking a landowner covenant to keep the access road, Pond View Way, private by secretly deeding it to the town to make the development more marketable; and working to dissolve a stipulation to forever preserve several hundred acres as wild, Newell said.

"I've spent $15,000 in legal fees fighting them," he said.

Grafton Building Inspector Tom Withcusky chuckles when he thinks about the First Grafton effort, still largely an unrealized vision.

"Who in their right mind would want to move in here?" he mused.

"You couldn't give me that place."

"Maybe they thought if they built it, people would come."

"But I don't see them coming and it's been a really long time."

Everyone knows that anyone who builds in Grafton has to lug in their own fill to supplement the poor soil, Withcusky and other local officials pointed out.

First Grafton landowners also are on their own when it comes to securing state and local permits to dig wells and put in septic systems abutting the wetlands area.

Withcusky said that although he regularly visited Bruno's home to inspect it during the construction process, he couldn't recall the name of a single contractor involved in the project.

[Livyjr]

"Players in land venture connect to Bruno - Senator's son got friends to buy some homes in controversial project" 
 
By MICHELE MORGAN BOLTON and BOB PORT, Staff Writer and Senior editor
Albany, New York Times Union
First published: Thursday, June 23, 2005

Then, in 1996, the state fined and suspended from practice one of First Grafton's engineers for manufacturing the state-mandated Environmental Quality Review Assessment that the Health Department said was at odds with actual conditions.

As the project continued to raise the ire of its country neighbors, it was stalled by a number of state and federal lawsuits.

But it finally kicked into gear in 2001 when the senator's son, who was then the Rensselaer County district attorney, laid the foundation for his own home on 10.8 acres.

Kenny Bruno, or "Joe's Boy" as he is affectionately known hereabouts, was the Rensselaer County District Attorney in 2001 whose "office" was instrumental in covering over an August 7, 2001 assault in the Town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer County, on a state licensed professional engineer who was investigating another licensed engineer and a land surveyor who was also Town of Poestenkill Planning Board Chairman for "manufacturing" a state-mandated Environmental Quality Review Assessment that was at odds with actual conditions on the property in question in the Town of Poestenkill, and his "office" accomplished this on August 22, 2001, by helping other REPUBLICAN Rensselaer County officials have this engineer conducting the investigation falsely and fraudulently declared a "dangerous mental patient", so that they could then have him committed to a secure CORPORATE psychiatric facility in the city of Troy, New York in order to protect the developer and engineer and the Town of Poestenkill!

A protection racket that would make the Mafia drool!

Power!

These days, don't leave home without it!

[Livyjr]

In the meantime ........

"Leaders get green light to dip into pork barrel" 
 
By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press
First published: Thursday, May 19, 2005

ALBANY -- A panel appointed by the governor and legislative leaders quietly approved more than $440 million in borrowing Wednesday for projects the leaders will pick and New York's taxpayers will pay off over the next 30 years.

The borrowing includes $235 million for "various projects" to be determined by Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and $209.5 million to be used at the discretion of Gov. George Pataki, according to board resolutions.

Kenny Bruno, or "Joe's Boy" as he is affectionately known hereabouts, was the Rensselaer County District Attorney in 2001 whose "office" was instrumental in covering over an August 7, 2001 assault in the Town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer County, on a state licensed professional engineer who was investigating another licensed engineer and a land surveyor who was also Town of Poestenkill Planning Board Chairman for "manufacturing" a state-mandated Environmental Quality Review Assessment that was at odds with actual conditions on the property in question in the Town of Poestenkill, and his "office" accomplished this on August 22, 2001, by helping other REPUBLICAN Rensselaer County officials have this engineer conducting the investigation falsely and fraudulently declared a "dangerous mental patient", so that they could then have him committed to a secure CORPORATE psychiatric facility in the city of Troy, New York in order to protect the developer and engineer and the Town of Poestenkill!

A protection racket that would make the Mafia drool!

Power!

These days, don't leave home without it!

"Family matter or political violation? - Deal between Bruno, son raises questions"

By MICHELE MORGAN BOLTON and BOB PORT, Staff writer and Senior editor
Albany, New York Times Union
First published: Thursday, June 23, 2005

ALBANY -- A year ago, Kenneth R. Bruno, a lobbyist, paid $50,000 to his father, Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno.

To get the $50,000, Ken Bruno, a former Rensselaer County district attorney, borrowed it from a bank without any collateral.

And to get the loan -- an unsecured "signature line of credit" at 5 percent interest -- Bruno, the lobbyist, had his father, the senator, co-sign the loan agreement.

Thus, the father became personally responsible for his son repaying a debt that put money into the senator's pocket.

The peculiar financial transaction, revealed in sealed court documents obtained by the Times Union, raises a question: Why would a father and son, much less a senator and a lobbyist, do such a thing?

According to John McArdle, spokesman for Sen. Bruno, Ken Bruno was repaying a loan the senator had made two years earlier "tied solely to the construction and completion of a home for his family."

The senator declined to speak about the issue to reporters for the Times Union, but issued a written statement:

"For 30 years, every aspect of my life as a businessman and a public servant has been thoroughly scrutinized and examined."

"Despite numerous false allegations and inferences, my record has held up."

Government watchdogs, however, say the transaction may represent an illegal conflict of interest.

Ken Bruno now earns $50,000 a month, plus expenses, as an independent lobbyist, representing horse-racing businesses and the Oneida Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, among other clients.

Madison Square Garden, which has been in the news recently as it fought plans to build a stadium on Manhattan's West Side, pays him $15,000 a month.

"The public deserves to have an impartial review," said Blair Horner, director of the New York Public Interest Research Group, a government watchdog group.

Horner called for a special prosecutor.

"The governor should appoint someone with impeccable qualifications and the authority and resources and a history to review it," Horner said.

"Only then can the public -- and Senator Bruno -- see that the allegations are impartially reviewed."

"This raises really troubling allegations about definite conflicts of interest," said Rachel Leon, executive director of Common Cause of New York, a group that advocates honesty and openness in government.

"Albany is incestuous, with the tremendous power of a few who are all related or connected," she said.

Any review of the $50,000 payment-loan deal might begin with its timing.

Ken Bruno borrowed the cash to pay off his father in June 2004, at a time when he was deeply in debt and being sued for divorce by his wife, according to court records.

And the repayment occurred within weeks of the younger Bruno's wife issuing a subpoena for Sen. Bruno to appear at trial.

By quickly paying off his father, Ken Bruno removed any legal grounds for his wife to put the senator under oath in court.

Bruno's ex-wife, Mary Beth Bruno, later agreed to settle the divorce and the subpoena was withdrawn.

The transaction also exposes a loophole in disclosures required by state ethics laws.

If Ken Bruno were not Joe Bruno's son, state law would be clear:

Sen. Bruno would have been required to report the transaction on his financial disclosure -- as either a gift or repayment of a loan.

To have concealed it "knowingly and willfully with intent to deceive" would be illegal and could be prosecuted as a misdemeanor crime.

But the disclosure law does not apply to personal transactions with family members.

And the state's ban on gifts by lobbyists to lawmakers exempts "gifts from a family member."

More generally, state officials are covered by the Public Officers Law.

It states that a public official cannot have "any interest, financial or otherwise, direct or indirect, or engage in any business or transaction or professional activity or incur any obligation of any nature, which is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge of his duties in the public interest."

The question in the Bruno-to-Bruno deal may be whether the transfer of money represented a "substantial" conflict.

McArdle, the senator's spokesman, strongly denied Bruno's family loan is a conflict.

"To imply that a father helping his son and his family build a home is a conflict of interest goes beyond the bounds of reason and decency," he said.

"My son is no longer a public official and his personal life and the lives of his former wife and his children should not be subjected to treatment that would not be given to other private citizens," the senator said in the statement sent to the Times Union.

The Times Union has sought comment from Ken Bruno for several weeks.

Last week, he demanded the questions in writing, which the Times Union supplied last Thursday night.

Late Wednesday, Ken Bruno, through his attorney, Michael Assaf, said:

"Any suggestion of improper, unethical or illegal conduct on the part of Mr. Bruno in connection with this loan has no basis in fact and publication of any statement declaring or implying the same would be false and defamatory."

Last week, Ken Bruno was back in divorce court with his ex-wife, who is accusing him of failing to promptly pay her share of marital assets.

Mary Beth Bruno also said, in one court document obtained by the Times Union, she believes her ex-husband is concealing commissions on land deals in Rensselaer County "brought to the table by his father, Joseph L. Bruno."

Her evidence was enough to convince state Supreme Court Justice Leslie Stein to subpoena the records of First Grafton Corp., a real estate company started in the late 1980s by Albany lobbyist and lawyer James Featherstonhaugh and lawyer Douglas Rutnick.

First Grafton later drew investment by Sen. Bruno, his brother Peter, and Richard Carota, a Glens Falls business associate of Peter Bruno.

Featherstonhaugh continued to run the company until it was dissolved this year.

About 10 years ago, Bruno placed his one-fourth stock ownership of First Grafton in a blind trust to silence criticism that his business investment, and his association with a lobbyist -- Featherstonhaugh -- were conflicts of interest.

In a recent interview, Featherstonhaugh said the senator had not involved himself in First Grafton business since his legal trust was formed.

A lawyer representing the trust weighs in on behalf of the senator's investment, he said.

In any case, he said, the company's plan for developing acreage in Rensselaer County encountered steady opposition.

"Having Bruno as a partner turned out to make everything hard," Featherstonhaugh said.

"Senator Bruno has no interest in, nor did he participate in, any land sales or other activities with First Grafton because his interest was in a blind trust," the senator's spokesman said.

Featherstonhaugh arrived early last Thursday at the Albany chambers of Judge Stein accompanied by about a dozen boxes of what appeared to be company files.

The Times Union was barred from a conference between lawyers in the case.

Times Union lawyer Michael Grygiel asked for the proceedings to be opened to the public and the judge gave lawyers 30 days to respond.

Ken Bruno's unusual $50,000 transaction with his father has its roots in the lobbyist's enormous house -- a mansion with 5,000 square feet of enclosed living area built using a construction loan of less than $340,000.

It was built on land on Dyken Pond in Grafton Ken Bruno and his wife purchased for $44,000 from First Grafton.

Featherstonhaugh signed the deed.

Ken Bruno claimed in his divorce to have received the money from his father in April 2002, about the time his construction project was coming to a close.

In a financial statement filed in April 2004, as a part of his divorce, Ken Bruno listed the $50,000 as a liability.

Had it been listed as a gift, his wife could have claimed a share of it as an asset.

Had it not been listed at all, it would have increased her share of the equity in their home.

To pay off Sen. Bruno -- which had the effect of keeping Mary Beth Bruno from $25,000 -- Ken Bruno, the son, took out a loan at First Niagara Bank, formerly Troy Savings Bank.

His father co-signed the note -- the senator thus guaranteeing a loan to a lobbyist in order to pay money to himself.

Ken Bruno got an unsecured loan, meaning the bank has no property to seize if either lobbyist Bruno or Sen. Bruno fail to repay the debt.

Ken Bruno got an interest rate of 5 percent and a promise from the bank that none of the loan payments would be applied to other loan amounts overdue at the same bank.

Indeed, according to documents obtained by the Times Union, First Niagara gave the $50,000 to Ken Bruno at a time when he was already $628,000 in debt and had a "frequently delinquent" credit rating, including delinquent payments to First Niagara on his mortgage for the house.

State banking officials refused to comment.

Daniel J. Hogarty, former president of Troy Savings Bank and now a top executive with First Niagara, was out of town and couldn't be reached, according to his assistant, Linda Comstock.

Melissa Ryan, director of the Legislative Ethics Commission, refused to discuss Senate ethics rules and said the commission does not discuss past ethics cases, nor does it answer hypothetical questions about legislative ethics.

State Sen. George Winner, R-Elmira, who was appointed by Sen. Bruno to head the Senate Ethics Committee, would not comment on whether the Bruno money exchange should have been disclosed

"We only respond to verified written complaints," Winner said.

"So we have nothing to respond to."

Winner said it would be as uncomfortable to investigate his friend as it is "to sit in judgment" of any member of the Legislature.

"I have no doubt, in that event, that we would respond as we do to each and every written, verified complaint that depicts a violation of Public Officers Law," he said.

The ranking minority member of the Senate Ethics Committee also refused to discuss ethics rules, refused to discuss past ethics cases and refused to discuss any hypothetical questions.

"We don't talk about ethics," said Sen. William Stachkowski, D-Buffalo, the ranking minority member on the committee.

"Everything we do is secret."

[jeffmoskin]

“I won’t be going anywhere."

"Not my house."

Ahh, as we harken back to the 50s out here on the left coast. Mayor Norris Poulson, Norman Chandler (LA Times) and Walter O'Malley were cooking up the GREATEST land swindle of the century.

We are talking about the coming move of the Brooklyn Dodgers to their present location of...

Chavez Ravine! In the heart of Los Angeles...a centuries old community of mexican heritage who had been there since before there ever was a California.

So, you say, but you can't use the power of eminent domain to evict thousands of homeowners to build a ballpark.

True, but you COULD evict them to build a public housing project.

Which is exactly what they did, supported by the real estate people and proudly endorsed by the LA Times.

Of course, later on, when it turned out that they couldn't get the funding they needed to build that housing project, they HAD to do something with all that land they had appropriated...

Oh well, I guess you know the rest of the story.

[Livyjr]

"Family matter or political violation? - Deal between Bruno, son raises questions" 
 
By MICHELE MORGAN BOLTON and BOB PORT, Staff writer and Senior editor
Albany, New York Times Union
First published: Thursday, June 23, 2005

The senator declined to speak about the issue to reporters for the Times Union, but issued a written statement:

"For 30 years, every aspect of my life as a businessman and a public servant has been thoroughly scrutinized and examined."

"Despite numerous false allegations and inferences, my record has held up."

And actually, folks, that is not actually true!

In 1989, then-New York State Health Commissioner Dr. David Axelrod issued a Report of Investigation of misfeasance and malfeasance in the Rensselaer County Department of Health as was investigated by the same licensed professional engineer whose August 7, 2001 assault in the Town of Poestenkill was covered over by Kenny "BOY" Bruno's "office", while he was serving as Rensselaer County District Attorney on August 22, 2001, and in that March 1989 Axelrod Report, which is a public record filed with the Rensselaer County Clerk's Office, at page 5, Dr. Axelrod confirmed in item #6 that:

"Developers may have evaded the realty subdivision regulations."

"The files (of the Rensselaer County Department of Health) contain instances of unenforced violations of Article IX and Public Health Law violations, i.e., sale of realty subdivision lots prior to plan approval/filing."

end quotes

Having personal knowledge of that investigation, I can state with authority that Senator Joseph "Big Joe" Bruno's Winfield Estates Subdivision in the Town of Brunswick, Rensselaer County, was one of those in question, and I can point to a March 27, 1989 Report of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for corroboration:

"According to (name deleted), the results of the State's investigation were that New York State laws were not being followed by the Rensselaer County Health Department, Rensselaer County laws were not being followed by the Rensselaer County Health Department, and there was very little 'enforcement activity' even in the face of illegal sales."

"(Name deleted) advised that other instances were discovered wherein lots within realty subdivisions were sold without County Health Department certification."

"These subdivisions are as follows:

Dutch Acres Subdivision - Town of North Greenbush
Holser Subdivision - Town of Poestenkill
Winfield Subdivision - Town of Brunswick
Algonquin Estates Subdivision - Town of Poestenkill"

"(Name deleted) advised that the Rensselaer County Health Department's oversight of realty subdivisions in that county is 'unsatisfactory'!"

"(Name deleted) also faulted the State of New York Health Department for not auditing Rensselaer County's program."

"(Name deleted) advised that he would not expect to find a worse county in the region (the Capital District region which comprises 17 counties)!"

"According to (name deleted), the object of any county health department is to protect the public and not to facilitate development."

"In the case of Rensselaer County ('Big Joe' Bruno's county), it appears that the Rensselaer County Health Department was in business to facilitate developers and development rather than to protect the public."

"Another specific violation occurred in the Winfield Estates Development, during the period 1986 to 1988."

"In this case, the land was offered for sale on August 4, 1987, however, (name of politically-connected engineer withheld), AFTER THE REMOVAL OF THE INVESTIGATING ENGINEER, did not approve these plans until November 16, 1988, shortly after he took over THE INVESTIGATING ENGINEER'S position."

"According to (name deleted), this process is exactly backwards as the land was sold before the plans were approved!"

end quotes

On May 1, 1989, this FBI investigation into "WHITE COLLAR CRIME" in Rensselaer County was shut down, tight, by the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, after alleged political complaints received by that office from high-ranking New York State politicians, and the licensed professional engineer who conducted the investigation WAS FIRED BY RENSSELAER COUNTY, and was subsequently the victim of an uninvestigated hit-and-run assault on Liberty Lane in the Town of Poestenkill, for which he was then prosecuted by the Rensselaer County District Attorney for causing damage to the hit-and-run driver's vehicle, with his body, as a weapon!

In the meantime, Rensselaer County refused to prosecute Joseph "Big Joe" Bruno, and the rest is now history, regardless of what "spin" Joseph "Big Joe" Bruno and his lackeys and lickspittles and toadies might want to put on the matter, as is their privilege, here in OUR America, the land of liars and cowards and cravens, where it used to be the "LAND OF THE BRAVE, AND THE HOME OF THE FREE", in the days before the liars, cravens and cowards usurped political control and changed America into their image, instead!

[Livyjr]

So, you say, but you can't use the power of eminent domain to evict thousands of homeowners to build a ballpark.

True, but you COULD evict them to build a public housing project.

Which is exactly what they did, supported by the real estate people and proudly endorsed by the LA Times.

Of course, later on, when it turned out that they couldn't get the funding they needed to build that housing project, they HAD to do something with all that land they had appropriated...

Oh well, I guess you know the rest of the story.

You know, without your input in here, jeffmoskin, I might not know much, at all, because I didn't know about this, either!

What a story!

Of course, being more familiar with the east coast REPUBLICAN HELL-HOLE of Rensselaer County in the corrupt EMPIRE State of New York, I do know the story of a New York State licensed professional engineer who got fired by Rensselaer county for sticking his nose into these kinds of dealings, and who was then run down on Liberty Lane in the Town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer County, on December 29, 1989, by a hit-and-run driver, and who was then subsequently prosecuted by the Rensselaer County District Attorney for attacking the hit-and-run driver's brown Ford pick-up with his body .....

He was crazy, you see, a Viet Nam veteran, they say, and well, you know what that means, and it seems that this licensed professional engineer who was also a Viet Nam veteran flipped right out, and they do, you know, the engineers, I mean, and it seems that he ran down this poor sod's truck as the poor sod was racing down Liberty Lane, in a state of abject fear and TAY-RAH, trying to get away from this berserk engineer who was coming after him like a hurtling freight train, and the engineer actually out-distanced the speeding truck on foot, and he hurled his body at the truck in an effort to kill the poor sod driving it ....

Or at least that is what the New York State Police said in Poestenkill Town Court, to the REPUBLICAN who just happened to also be the judge there ......

This post has been edited by Livyjr: Jun 23 2005, 05:47 PM

[jeffmoskin]

You know, without your input in here, jeffmoskin, I might not know much, at all, because I didn't know about this, either!

What a story!

Of course, being more familiar with the east coast REPUBLICAN HELL-HOLE of Rensselaer County in the corrupt EMPIRE State of New York, I do know the story of a New York State licensed professional engineer who got fired by Rensselaer county for sticking his nose into these kinds of dealings, and who was then run down on Liberty Lane in the Town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer County, on December 29, 1989, by a hit-and-run driver, and who was then subsequently prosecuted by the Rensselaer County District Attorney for attacking the hit-and-run driver's brown Ford pick-up with his body .....

He was crazy, you see, a Viet Nam veteran, they say, and well, you know what that means, and it seems that this licensed professional engineer who was also a Viet Nam veteran flipped right out, and they do, you know, the engineers, I mean, and it seems that he ran down this poor sod's truck as the poor sod was racing down Liberty Lane, in a state of abject fear and TAY-RAH, trying to get away from this berserk engineer who was coming after him like a hurtling freight train, and the engineer actually out-distanced the speeding truck on foot, and he hurled his body at the truck in an effort to kill the poor sod driving it ....

Or at least that is what the New York State Police said in Poestenkill Town Court, to the REPUBLICAN who just happened to also be the judge there ......

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.

And of course, we all know about engineers.

I am a recovering engineer myself. It takes more than twelve steps.

[Livyjr]

And of course, we all know about engineers.

I am a recovering engineer myself.

It takes more than twelve steps.

Here, in the corrupt EMPIRE State of New York, I think the Legislature has decreed that it is either 32.765 steps, or was it 87.90674?

Well, somewhere in there, anyway!

And both of those numbers are greater than twelve, and so, in New York State, anyway, you are right, jeffmoskin!

And yes, we do know about engineers, don't we!

[jeffmoskin]

And yes, we do know about engineers, don't we!

I cannot resist:

Understanding Engineers – Take One

Two engineering students were walking across campus when one said, "Where did you get such a great bike?"

The second engineer replied, "Well, I was walking along yesterday minding my own business when a beautiful woman rode up on this bike. She threw the bike to the ground, took off all her clothes and said, 'Take what you want'." The second engineer nodded approvingly , "Good choice; the clothes probably wouldn't have fit."

Understanding Engineers - Take Two

To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is half empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

Understanding Engineers - Take Three

A pastor, a doctor and an engineer were waiting one morning for a particularly slow group of golfers. The engineer fumed, "What's with these guys? We must have been waiting for 15 minutes!" The doctor chimed in, "I don't know, but I've never seen such ineptitude!" The pastor said, "Hey, here comes the greens keeper. Let's have a word with him. Hi George! Say, what's with that group ahead of us? They're rather slow, aren't they?" The greens keeper replied, "Oh, yes, that's a group of blind firefighters. They lost their sight saving our clubhouse from a fire last year, so we always let them play for free anytime." The group was silent for a moment. The pastor said, "That's so sad. I think I will say a special prayer for them tonight." The doctor said, "Good idea. And I'm going to contact my ophthalmologist buddy and see if there's anything he can do for them."

The engineer said, "Why can't these guys play at night?"

Understanding Engineers - Take Four

What is the difference between Mechanical Engineers and Civil Engineers? Mechanical Engineers build weapons and Civil Engineers build targets.

Understanding Engineers - Take Five

The graduate with a Science degree asks, "Why does it work?" The Graduate with an Engineering degree asks, "How does it work?" The graduate with an Accounting degree asks, "How much will it cost?" The graduate with an Arts degree asks, "Do you want fries with that?"


Understanding Engineers - Take Six

Three engineering students were gathered together discussing the possible designers of the human body. One said, "It was a mechanical engineer. Just look at all the joints." Another said, "No, it was an electrical engineer. The nervous system has many thousands of electrical connections." The last one said, "Actually it must have been a civil engineer. Who else would run a toxic waste pipeline through a recreational area?"


Understanding Engineers - Take Seven

Normal people believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet.

Understanding Engineers - Take Eight

An architect, an artist and an engineer were discussing whether it was
better to spend time with the wife or a mistress. The architect said he enjoyed time with his wife, building a solid foundation for an enduring relationship. The artist said he enjoyed time with his mistress, because the passion and mystery he found there. The engineer said, "I like both." "Both?" Engineer: "Yeah. If you have a wife and a mistress, they will each assume you are spending time with the other woman, and you can go to the lab and get some work done."

Understanding Engineers - Take Nine

An engineer was crossing a road one-day when a frog called out to him and said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn into a beautiful princess." He bent over, picked up the frog and put it in his pocket. The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess will stay with you for one week." The engineer took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and returned it to the pocket. The frog then cried out, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I'll stay with you and do ANYTHING you want. Again the engineer took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket. Finally, the frog asked, "What is the matter? I've told you I’m a beautiful princess, and that I'll stay with you for a week and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?" The engineer said, "Look, I'm an engineer. I don't have time for a girl friend, but a talking frog, now that's cool."


Understanding Engineers – Take Ten

A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a
woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted, "Excuse me, can you help me? I
promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The woman below replied, "You are in a hot air balloon hovering approximately
30 feet above the ground. You are between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between
59 and 60 degrees west longitude."

"You must be an engineer," said the balloonist.

"I am," replied the woman, "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is, technically
correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I am
still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help so far."

The woman below responded, "You must be in Management."

"I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well," said the woman, "you don't know where you are or where you are
going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made
a promise, which you have no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to
solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in
before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault."

[Livyjr]

"Well," answered Karl the balloonist, "the fact is, I'm supposed to be at my therapist's an hour ago, and I am lost, and I haven't the slightest idea of what I am doing."

The woman below responded, "Well, you must be THE MANAGEMENT, then, right, Karl?"

"I am," replied Karl the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well," said the woman, "you got a real fat head and a lard ***, and you don't know where you are or where you are going."

"You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of real hot air, and you expect LIBERALS, who you hold to be beneath you, to solve ALL OF YOUR problems, since you ain't got the brains God gave a rooster, slick."

And since we are on the subject of Karl Rove ......

Politics

"Democrats demand Rove apology - Bush adviser said liberals urge ‘understanding’ for 9-11 attackers"

The Associated Press

Updated: 4:03 p.m. ET June 23, 2005

NEW YORK - Democrats demanded Thursday that White House adviser Karl Rove either apologize or resign for accusing liberals of wanting “therapy and understanding” for the Sept. 11 attackers, escalating the rancor that threatens to consume Washington.

Rove’s comments — and the response from the political opposition — mirrored earlier flaps over Democratic chairman Howard Dean’s criticism of Republicans, a House Republican’s statement that Democrats demonize Christians and Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin’s comparison of the Guantanamo prison to Nazi camps and Soviet gulags.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan came to Rove’s defense, saying the president’s chief political adviser was “simply pointing out the different philosophies and different approaches when it comes to winning the war on terrorism.”

“Of course not,” McClellan said when asked by reporters whether President Bush will ask Rove to apologize.

What he said

Rove, in a speech Wednesday evening to the New York state Conservative Party just a few miles north of Ground Zero, said, “Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers.”

Conservatives, he said, “saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war.”

He added that the Democratic Party made the mistake of calling for “moderation and restraint” after the terrorist attacks.

During the 2004 campaign, Bush dismissed the notion of negotiating with terrorists and said, “You can’t sit back and hope that somehow therapy will work and they will change their ways.”

Rove’s comments quickly escalated the bitter divide between the parties that could get worse as Congress prepares for what may be a drawn-out political fight, possibly this summer, over a Supreme Court nominee.

New York Sen. Charles Schumer said Rover “took something that is virtually sacred to New Yorkers” — the tragedy of the Sept. 11 attacks — “and politicized it for political, opportunistic purposes.”

“Karl Rove is not just another political operative,” added New York’s other Democratic senator, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

“He sits in the White House, a few doors down from the president.”

Rumsfeld caught in crossfire

At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday, Clinton urged Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to repudiate the “insulting comment.”

Rumsfeld replied that it “is unfortunate when things become so polarized or so politicized.”

Schumer and Clinton joined the four Democratic senators from Connecticut and New Jersey in a letter to Rove requesting that he immediately retract his comments.

“To try to score partisan, political points at the expense of the 3,000 victims and their families was unacceptable and opportunistic,” they wrote.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., wrote a similar letter to Rove from House Democrats.

Schumer said Rove’s comments might have been made in the heat of the moment and he was willing to accept an apology.

But “if they try to stonewall,” he said, “then I think resignation would be called for.”

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., also said Rove, the political mastermind behind Bush’s election victories, should fully apologize for his remarks or resign.

Dean said Bush should “condemn Karl Rove’s desperate and divisive attempt to help the Republicans regain their political footing.”

Republicans condemn Pelosi

Republicans, meanwhile, have recently condemned House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., for calling the Iraq War a “grotesque mistake,” and demanded and finally got an apology from Durbin for his linking detainee abuse and Nazis.

And they were unapologetic about Rove’s comments.

“The Republican leadership priority is to have our troops hunt down, kill or capture terrorists before they try to attack us again at home,” said Ron Bonjean, spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.

“The Democratic leadership priority is to actively engage in the politics of division and distraction that can undermine our national security in favor of a left-wing agenda,” he said.

Increasing public doubts about the Iraq war have emboldened Democrats to challenge the president’s policies.

Republicans, in turn, contend that criticism undermines the war on terror.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Republican running for re-election in an overwhelmingly Democratic city, issued a statement urging both sides to keep politics out of the war on terrorism.

“We owe it to those we lost to keep partisan politics out of the discussion and keep alive the united spirit that came out of 9/11,” he said.

end quotes

United spirit?

Bull crap!

There was no "unity" after 9-11!

There was George W. Bush's way, or the highway!

I took the highway, myself, because as a twice-wounded Viet Nam combat veteran, I had a gut-full of incompetent "leadership" back then, and I am now too old to pretend that anyone can ever get to home, following behind an incompetent leader who sat there like a moon-struck fool, while this nation was being "attacked", on his watch, BECAUSE IT WAS HIS WATCH, and so, no one was looking!

Everyone was asleep at the switch, instead, like the LEADER!

Ask any Viet Nam combat veteran about incompetent leadership, and see what they say!

As for me, what I would say is that people like George W. Bush get people killed, and that is about the height of his achievement level, right now, today, besides a lot of fear-mongering, which these boys and girls are pretty good at ....

This post has been edited by Livyjr: Jun 24 2005, 04:08 PM

[Livyjr]

Politics

"Democrats demand Rove apology - Bush adviser said liberals urge ‘understanding’ for 9-11 attackers"

The Associated Press

Updated: 4:03 p.m. ET June 23, 2005

“The Republican leadership priority is to have our troops hunt down, kill or capture terrorists before they try to attack us again at home,” said Ron Bonjean, spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.

"Italy judge orders arrest of 13 CIA agents"

By AIDAN LEWIS, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:26 p.m., Friday, June 24, 2005

ROME -- An Italian judge on Friday ordered the arrests of 13 CIA officers for secretly transporting a Muslim preacher from Italy to Egypt as part of U.S. anti-terrorism efforts -- a rare public objection to the practice by a close American ally.

The Egyptian was spirited away in 2003, purportedly as part of the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" program in which terror suspects are transferred to third countries without court approval, subjecting them to possible torture.

The arrest warrants were announced Friday by the Milan prosecutor's office, which has called the disappearance a kidnapping and a blow to a terrorism investigation in Italy.

The office said the imam was believed to belong to an Islamic terrorist group.

The 13 are accused of seizing Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, known as Abu Omar, on a Milan street on Feb. 17, 2003, and sending him to Egypt, where he reportedly was tortured, Milan prosecutor Manlio Claudio Minale said in a statement.

The U.S. Embassy in Rome and the CIA in Washington declined to comment.

The prosecutor's statement did not name the suspects, give their nationalities or mention the CIA by name.

But an Italian official familiar with the investigation confirmed newspaper reports Friday that the suspects worked for the CIA.

The official also said there was no evidence Italians were involved or knew about the operation.

He asked that his name not be used because official comment was limited to the prosecutor's statement.

Minale said the suspects remain at large and Italian authorities will ask the United States and Egypt for assistance in the case.

The prosecutor's office said Nasr was released by the Egyptians after his interrogation but was arrested again later.

The statement said Nasr was seized by two people as he was walking from his home toward a mosque and bundled into a white van.

He was taken to Aviano, a joint U.S.-Italian base north of Venice, and flown to a U.S. air base in Ramstein, Germany, before being taken to Cairo.

It said investigators had confirmed the abduction through an eyewitness account and other, unidentified witnesses as well as through an analysis of cell phone traffic.

In March 2003, "U.S. authorities" told Italian police Nasr had been taken to the Balkans, the statement said.

A year later, in April-May 2004, Nasr phoned his wife and another unidentified Egyptian citizen and told them he had been subjected to violent treatment by interrogators in Egypt, the statement said.

Italian newspapers have reported that Nasr, 42, said in the wiretapped calls that he was tortured with electric shocks.

On Friday, the Milan daily Corriere della Sera cited another Milan-based imam as telling Italian authorities Nasr was tortured after refusing to work in Italy as an informer.

According to the testimony, he was hanged upside down and subjected to extreme temperatures and loud noise that damaged his hearing, Corriere reported.

Minale said the judge rejected a request for six more arrest warrants for suspects believed to have helped prepare the operation.

Judge Chiara Nobile ordered the arrests after investigators traced the agents through Milan hotels and Italian cell phones, said reports in Corriere and another daily, Il Giorno.

Il Giorno said all the agents were American and three were women.

Minale said a judge also issued a separate arrest warrant for Nasr on terrorism charges.

In that warrant, Judge Guido Salvini said Nasr's seizure violated Italian sovereignty, according to Italian news agency Apcom.

Nasr was believed to have fought in Afghanistan and Bosnia and prosecutors were seeking evidence against him before his disappearance, according to a report in La Repubblica newspaper, which cited intelligence officials.

Corriere said Italian police picked up details, including cover names, photos, credit card information and U.S. addresses the agents gave to five-star hotels in Milan around the time of Nasr's alleged abduction.

It said investigators also found the prepaid highway passes the agents used for the journey from Milan to the air base.

The report said investigations showed the agents incurred $144,984 in hotel bills in Milan, and that two pairs of agents took holidays in northern Italy after delivering Nasr to Aviano.

Italian-U.S. relations were strained after American soldiers killed an Italian intelligence agent near Baghdad airport in March.

He was escorting a kidnapped Italian journalist after he had secured her release from Iraqi captors.

Germano Dottori, a political analyst at the Center for Strategic Studies in Rome, said it is not unusual for intelligence agencies to have squabbles with allied countries but that he could not recall prosecutors directly involved in investigating or apprehending agents involved.

"At some point the Americans will begin to think they can't trust the Italians," Dottori said.

[Livyjr]

Politics

"Democrats demand Rove apology - Bush adviser said liberals urge ‘understanding’ for 9-11 attackers"

The Associated Press

Updated: 4:03 p.m. ET June 23, 2005

“The Republican leadership priority is to have our troops hunt down, kill or capture terrorists before they try to attack us again at home,” said Ron Bonjean, spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.

"Italy judge orders arrest of 13 CIA agents" 
 
By AIDAN LEWIS, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:26 p.m., Friday, June 24, 2005

Corriere said Italian police picked up details, including cover names, photos, credit card information and U.S. addresses the agents gave to five-star hotels in Milan around the time of Nasr's alleged abduction.

The report said investigations showed the agents incurred $144,984 in hotel bills in Milan, and that two pairs of agents took holidays in northern Italy after delivering Nasr to Aviano.

$144,984 in hotel bills at FIVE STAR hotels!

Hhhhmmm!

REPUBLICAN leadership?

How about thievery, instead, along with a continuing daily dose of pure BULL ****!

[Livyjr]

$144,984 in hotel bills at FIVE STAR hotels!

Hhhhmmm!

[b]REPUBLICAN leadership?

How about thievery, instead, along with a continuing daily dose of pure BULL ****![/b]

"Pentagon leaders warn insurgency is still strong - Kennedy urges Rumsfeld to resign over Iraq"

By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press
First published: Friday, June 24, 2005

WASHINGTON -- The Iraqi insurgency is as active as six months ago and more foreign fighters are emerging, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East said Thursday.

But Pentagon leaders rejected calls for a timetable to withdraw U.S. troops.

Gen. John Abizaid testified at a contentious Senate hearing with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, where lawmakers of both parties expressed concerns.

"People are beginning to question, and I don't think it's a blip on the radar screen," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., told Rumsfeld he should quit.

Rumsfeld said he had offered his resignation to President Bush twice, and the President had said no.

Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, acknowledged that U.S. troops, too, were becoming aware of the drop in the public's confidence.

"When my soldiers say to me and ask me the question whether or not they've got support from the American people or not, that worries me."

"And they're starting to do that," he said.

In back-to-back hearings of the House and Senate Armed Services committees, lawmakers vigorously questioned the Pentagon leaders.

Told by Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, D-Mich., that his assessment of the insurgency contradicted Vice President Dick Cheney's, Abizaid said: "I gave you my opinion."

Cheney later Thursday defended his recent statement that the insurgency is in its "last throes," calling the violence is a final convulsion before the militants collapse.

On CNN, Cheney compared the fighting in Iraq to the Battle of the Bulge and combat on Okinawa in World War II, which preceded the surrender of Germany and Japan.

"The toughest battles ... both in Europe and in the Pacific, occurred just a few months before the end," said Cheney.

"I see this as a similar situation, where they're going to go all-out."

"They'll do everything they can to disrupt that process."

"But I think we're strong enough to defeat them."

The hearings came ahead of today's White House meeting between Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.

"We see good progress in both Iraq and Afghanistan ... but we are realistic."

"And we know that great change is often accompanied with violence," Abizaid said.

Said Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: "Leaving before the task is complete would be catastrophic."

Rumsfeld was confident that public support would bounce back.

Addressing concerns about manpower, he said, "there isn't a chance in the world that the draft will be brought back."

Amid these developments:

The U.S.-led multinational force must stay in Iraq until Iraqi forces are fully prepared to defend the country by themselves, al-Jaafari said Thursday in Washington.

Setting of a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign forces would be a sign of weakness, he told the Council on Foreign Relations.

American and Iraqi troops killed at least five al-Qaida-linked insurgents in a Baghdad neighborhood Thursday.

In the capital, four car bombings killed 15 people and wounded 28.

There also were reports that a Saudi al-Qaida fugitive, Abdullah Mohammed Rashid al-Roshoud, died in a U.S. airstrike last week near the Syrian border.