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

[Livyjr]

And since this story just came in on the "wire", and since it is directly relevant to this IRAQ SITUATION that we are monitoring in here, I will include it for the record right now, instead of dealing with some "housekeeping" matters, such as "JUSTICE DEPRIVED", here in OUR America, and some comments jeffmoskin made above on the "cold war" allegedly being over:

Top Stories - Chicago Tribune

"U.S. stays out of new Iraq's political wars"

By Colin McMahon Tribune foreign correspondent

The U.S. diplomat declined to speculate on how long a delay is too long, how much instability is too much and when the Americans might feel compelled to step in more aggressively.

This is my favorite sentence in that article, jeffmoskin, this one right above here, about "when the Americans might feel compelled to step in more aggressively!"

Now, that's what this DE-MOCKERY is all about, in a nutshell!

Force and aggression!

Yeah, man!

GO, Bush Co., GO!

[Livyjr]

And shifting gears in here, for a moment, and leaving Iraq to the Iraqis, if only they can hold on to the place, we cruise back over to HERE, where gadzooks, what is this now?

WE'RE BEING RETALIATED AGAINST?

How can that be?

We are the only SUPERPOWER on the face of the earth, and WE dictate to everybody else, don't we?

Hhhhhmmm!

Guess not!

Business - Reuters

"EU, Canada Add Duties on U.S. Exports"

1 hour, 4 minutes ago

By Jeremy Smith

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union and Canada will slap an extra 15-percent duty on tens of millions of dollars worth of U.S. exports in a dispute over payments to U.S. companies that Washington says were hurt by dumping, EU and Canadian officials said on Thursday.

"Retaliation is not our preferred option, but it is a necessary action."

"International trade rules must be respected," said Canada's Trade Minister Jim Peterson in a statement released in Ottawa.

Brussels and Ottawa said they opted for the duties because of Washington's failure to fix a program known as the Byrd amendment which the World Trade Organization has said is illegal.

The WTO gave permission to the EU, Canada, Japan and several other trading partners in November to apply an initial $150 million in trade sanctions after Washington failed to change the Byrd amendment to comply with WTO rules.

The program, which is named for Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, distributes anti-dumping duties to U.S. companies that initially sought government protection because of low-priced foreign competition.

Under the amendment, the U.S. government has doled out more than $1 billion to U.S. ball bearing, steel, seafood, candle and other companies over the past four years.

U.S. officials in Washington said they were disappointed with the EU and Canada's decision to go ahead with sanctions.

"The United States is working to comply with the WTO decision regarding the Byrd amendment," said Richard Mills, a spokesman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican whose panel has jurisdiction on trade issues, said he hoped Congress could reach "a consensus soon on the Byrd amendment that will enable us to avoid continued trade sanctions."

The EU said its retaliation totaled nearly $28 million on U.S. exports including textiles, stationery, sweet corn, and machinery products beginning May 1.

Canada said its new duties would hurt U.S. exports of live swine, cigarettes, oysters and certain specialty fish by about C$14 million ($11.6 million) annually, also beginning May 1.

The level of retaliation could rise depending on the amount payments made under the Byrd program.

U.S. pork producers said the 15-percent duty on live swine exports to Canada likely would put a big dent in sales.

The Canadian sanctions are the first on the United States since a fight over beer trade in the early 1990s.

BYRD AMENDMENT POPULAR IN CONGRESS

The Bush administration has proposed repealing the Byrd amendment in each of the last three years.

But the program remains popular with many lawmakers and there has been little other movement toward taking it off the books.

Byrd and other supporters want the Bush administration to negotiate a deal in world trade talks that would allow the United States to keep the program.

Japan has been authorized to impose about $80 million in sanctions on the United States, but has not decided yet whether to exercise that option.

"We haven't reached a final decision, but our position that we're strongly against the U.S. measures hasn't changed," said a Japanese embassy official in Washington.

[Livyjr]

And shifting gears in here, for a moment, and leaving Iraq to the Iraqis, if only they can hold on to the place, we cruise back over to HERE, where gadzooks, what is this now?

WE'RE BEING RETALIATED AGAINST?

How can that be?

We are the only SUPERPOWER on the face of the earth, and WE dictate to everybody else, don't we?

Hhhhhmmm!

Guess not!

Business - Reuters

"EU, Canada Add Duties on U.S. Exports"

By Jeremy Smith

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union and Canada will slap an extra 15-percent duty on tens of millions of dollars worth of U.S. exports in a dispute over payments to U.S. companies that Washington says were hurt by dumping, EU and Canadian officials said on Thursday.

"Retaliation is not our preferred option, but it is a necessary action."

"International trade rules must be respected," said Canada's Trade Minister Jim Peterson in a statement released in Ottawa.

Brussels and Ottawa said they opted for the duties because of Washington's failure to fix a program known as the Byrd amendment which the World Trade Organization has said is illegal.

And while we are being RETALIATED AGAINST by what are nothing more than pip-squeak nations, I think I heard Dick Cheney call them, what of the Bush Co.'s?

What's the haps with them?

How are they taking this economic aggression against US, the mighty United States of America?

Let's look and see what we can see!

Hhhhmmmm?

Is the Bush Co. "circling the wagons" or something here?

Let's take a closer look:

Politics - washingtonpost.com

"Bush Is Keeping Cabinet Secretaries Close to Home"

Thu Mar 31, 9:47 AM ET

By Michael A. Fletcher, Washington Post Staff Writer

President Bush is requiring Cabinet members to spend several hours a week at the White House compound, a move top aides say eases coordination with government agencies but one seen by some analysts as fresh evidence of the White House's tightening grip over administration policy.

Under a directive instituted by Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. at the start of Bush's second term, Cabinet secretaries spend as many as four hours a week working out of an office suite set up for them at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, adjacent to the White House.

There, they meet with presidential policy and communications aides in an effort to better coordinate the administration's initiatives and messages.

"It allows us to work on a much more regular basis with the Cabinet in helping to manage issues," said Claude A. Allen, Bush's domestic policy adviser.

"It also helps us lay the groundwork that is going to be necessary to implement the very aggressive agenda that the president has laid out for his second term."

The new practice applies to every Cabinet agency, although the heads of the Defense, State, Homeland Security and Justice departments are required to be at the White House so regularly for meetings that they rarely use the suite, said Erin Healy, a White House spokeswoman.

Robert S. Nichols, spokesman for the Treasury Department, said that Secretary John W. Snow was already spending a lot of time at the White House "in large part due to his key role on the president's top domestic priorities, primarily Social Security."

One White House official said the policy has caused some consternation among some of the Cabinet secretaries, but the officers publicly defended the new practice.

"Having an office and time to work at the White House is a great way to build an effective and cohesive team," Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao said.

Paul C. Light, a professor of public service at New York University and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, sees its purpose differently.

"This administration has been very conscious in the second term of the need to control what happens in Cabinet agencies and to make sure Cabinet officers don't get too far out there," he said.

"I find it absolutely shocking that they would have regular office hours at the White House."

"It confirms how little the domestic Cabinet secretaries have to do with making policy."

Some scholars said the new office-hours requirement continues a trend in which Cabinet secretaries have become less architects of policy than purveyors of initiatives hatched by the political and policy officials in the White House.

During the Eisenhower administration, for example, officials hashed out national policy during weekly Cabinet meetings.

Now, the Cabinet meets irregularly -- maybe once every 45 days, Healy said -- and those sessions are mostly ceremonial.

"Power has gravitated to the White House over the past 50 years, and it keeps going," said Bradley H. Patterson Jr., who served in three administrations and has written two books on the subject.

"I would say development of all major issues important to the president are centered in the White House."

"They have been sucked away from the Cabinet officers and brought to the White House."

"It was that way under Clinton, and more so under Bush."

The new requirement coincides with a series of top personnel moves seen as increasing White House control over the government and minimizing dissent, but also, critics say, means the president does not have the benefit of the widest range of opinion.

A succession of trusted Bush aides have been given Cabinet positions for the second term, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and Education Secretary Margaret Spellings.

Inside the White House, senior adviser Karl Rove has been given an expanded role coordinating domestic, economic and foreign policy.

White House aides with strong ties to Bush also have been placed in strategic sub-Cabinet jobs.

Bush also has nominated former White House counselor Karen P. Hughes and Dina Powell, who headed presidential personnel during his first term, to top jobs at the State Department, where they will work on repairing the nation's image in the Muslim world.

In at least one case, a key appointment was made despite the contrary wishes of an agency head.

New Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez, former head of the Kellogg Co., was set to bring in a longtime vice president, George A. Franklin, to be a senior adviser.

But the White House scuttled that plan after officials learned that Franklin had made a $500 contribution to the presidential campaign of Democrat John F. Kerry, an administration source said.

Later, White House deputy press secretary Claire Buchan was named Gutierrez's chief of staff.

Bush's moves to tighten control over an administration already regarded as disciplined comes as he is pursuing fundamental shifts in domestic policy that would rival the changes made in U.S. foreign policy during his first term.

He is advocating a plan to restructure Social Security, rewrite the nation's tax laws and change immigration laws.

He also has proposed an energy plan that includes broader use of nuclear power and oil drilling in environmentally sensitive areas.

Bush expects his entire Cabinet to offer a coordinated message to help achieve his goals, and the regular time at the White House with his policy and communications staff is, in part, aimed at keeping everyone in the administration in sync, aides said.

Martha Joynt Kumar, a Towson University professor who studies White House communication, called the office-hour requirement unusual.

"Obviously, this is a way for the White House to make sure what's going on in the agencies," she said.

Still, she said, it could also work to the advantage of Cabinet secretaries -- particularly those whose issues rarely rise to Bush's attention -- by allowing them to raise topics with the White House and to build stronger relationships with policymakers there.

"To me it has been absolutely great," said Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson.

"Before it was very difficult to get interaction or get someone from the White House to come to your office, because they are very busy, too."

"It has absolutely worked well. . . . During the past five weeks, I have had more interaction with the White House staff than I had in the previous three years."

One senior White House official said he was initially concerned about how agency heads, many of whom are former governors or top business leaders, would take to being required to be at the White House.

But the initiative has proved popular, he said.

Spellings, who has worked with Bush since his days as governor of Texas, said having built-in time at the White House "is a very efficient way to work."

She said it gives her an opportunity to consult with presidential personnel officials, to meet with top officials, including Bush, or to be briefed on administrative initiatives, such as the Social Security plan, a subject that often arises at her public appearances.

In addition, it allows her to tap into the aura of the White House by holding meetings there with key constituents.

Asked whether it was a means for the White House to control her department, Spellings, who spent Bush's first term as the president's domestic policy adviser, said:

"It is not that at all."

"I just think it keeps us connected to each other."

"It also helps guard against the us-against-them mentality that can develop between agencies and the White House."

Donna E. Shalala, who served two terms as secretary of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton, said having a regular presence at the White House is crucial to developing, coordinating and rolling out new policies.

"Maybe Andy [Card] is institutionalizing what is a natural process," she said.

"He's an awfully good administrator."

An aide to one Cabinet officer suggested it was a sign of status to be exempt from the requirement.

"The Cabinet officers who are involved in the hot issues are over there anyway all the time."

"The big Cabinet officers are coordinating all the time on legislative strategy, on message, on travel, on testimony issues."

"Do you think Condi Rice has to go over and coordinate every week?"

"No, it's a constant process."

"So this may pertain to Cabinet officers who aren't there all the time."

Staff writers Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and Dana Milbank contributed to this report.

[Livyjr]

Hhhhmmmm?

Is the Bush Co. "circling the wagons" or something here?

Let's take a closer look:

Politics - washingtonpost.com
 
"Bush Is Keeping Cabinet Secretaries Close to Home"

Thu Mar 31, 9:47 AM ET 

By Michael A. Fletcher, Washington Post Staff Writer

President Bush is requiring Cabinet members to spend several hours a week at the White House compound, a move top aides say eases coordination with government agencies but one seen by some analysts as fresh evidence of the White House's tightening grip over administration policy.

Under a directive instituted by Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. at the start of Bush's second term, Cabinet secretaries spend as many as four hours a week working out of an office suite set up for them at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, adjacent to the White House.

There, they meet with presidential policy and communications aides in an effort to better coordinate the administration's initiatives and messages.

Bush also has nominated former White House counselor Karen P. Hughes and Dina Powell, who headed presidential personnel during his first term, to top jobs at the State Department, where they will work on repairing the nation's image in the Muslim world.

"Bush also has nominated former White House counselor Karen P. Hughes and Dina Powell, who headed presidential personnel during his first term, to top jobs at the State Department, where they will work on repairing the nation's image in the Muslim world."

Now there is a real telling statement, isn't it?

Not one, BUT TWO people being appointed by the Bush Co. TO REPAIR all the damage that he has done to OUR America's image with the Muslim world!

And why does anyone think that anyone associated with George W. Bush can now undo all the damage to OUR America's image that George W. Bush personally has done?

Isn't that a bit incongruous?

Why on earth is anyone else in the world now going to believe anything a Bush Co. has to say, about anything, after all the lies, the half-truths, the deceptions, BY THE BUSH CO.'s which caused all the damage to OUR America's image in the first place?

Wouldn't the best way now for George W. Bush to repair the damage that he personally has done to America's image, ALL ACROSS THE WORLD, be for him to publicly admit that he has been wrong, and to then make a public apology to the whole candid world, including the Muslims?

After he resigns, of course, for a real good start to that process!

[Abu Beacon]

[b][color=redWhy on earth is anyone else in the world now going to believe anything a Bush Co. has to say, about anything, after all the lies, the half-truths, the deceptions, BY THE BUSH CO.'s which caused all the damage to OUR America's image in the first place?

Wouldn't the best way now for George W. Bush to repair the damage that he personally has done to America's image, ALL ACROSS THE WORLD, be for him to publicly admit that he has been wrong, and to then make a public apology to the whole candid world, including the Muslims?

After he resigns, of course, for a real good start to that process!

King Bush apologize?

You must be kidding.

Only people that do something wrong need to apologize.

KINGS do not make mistakes!! Got that??

Now that the commission on the CIA has issued their report on how " dead wrong "
the CIA was on the non existent WMD's in Iraq, it becomes a lot clearer why Bush hung that medal around ( ex ) CIA Director George Tenet's neck.

Could it be that George Tenet was being bought off? A medal for not saying anything embarrassing about the King?

Not saying anything about ANY pressure to even hint there might not have been any WMD's in Oilville?

Just a thought by one extremely cynical citizen.

A.B.

[Livyjr]

Not saying anything about ANY pressure to even hint there might not have been any WMD's in Oilville?

Just a thought by one extremely cynical citizen.

A.B.

Ah, cynical perhaps, Mr. A.B., BUT STILL A CITIZEN, and that is really what counts!

WE are the Republic, NOT GEORGE W. BUSH!

George W. Bush is OUR public servant, but it seems that he has forgotton that, if indeed he ever knew it in the first place, which is highly doubtful given the lack of integrity of this crowd that surrounds George W. Bush and keeps him propped up in power, despite his unpopularity with the American people, WHICH IS US.

How does the saying go?

Keep on keeping on?

One foot in front of the other?

Hence this forum, where Americans can unite in common cause against the tyranny and despotism and just plain incompetence and outright lying of the Bush Co.'s, and hence, this thread, to keep track of how the battle goes!

[Livyjr]

Politics - washingtonpost.com
 
"Bush Is Keeping Cabinet Secretaries Close to Home"

Thu Mar 31, 9:47 AM ET 

By Michael A. Fletcher, Washington Post Staff Writer

New Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez, former head of the Kellogg Co., was set to bring in a longtime vice president, George A. Franklin, to be a senior adviser.

But the White House scuttled that plan after officials learned that Franklin had made a $500 contribution to the presidential campaign of Democrat John F. Kerry, an administration source said.

And here, I have to wonder how the Bush Co.'s found out this guy made a $500 campaign contribution to John Kerry's presidential campaign, which shows the guy to have some intelligence and integrity, anyway!

Did they torture him, I wonder?

Or beat it out of him, perhaps?

Some of Condo's "thugs", maybe?

Or would it have been Donald's "HARD BOYS"?

[Livyjr]

Top Stories - Chicago Tribune

"U.S. stays out of new Iraq's political wars"

By Colin McMahon Tribune foreign correspondent

In the hours before the National Assembly opened for business, Iraqi political leaders desperate to find a suitable candidate for the speaker's post asked American diplomats to help twist arms and broker a deal.

The Americans declined, a U.S. diplomat said Wednesday.

And Tuesday afternoon, during only its second session, the Transitional National Assembly collapsed into rancor and retreated into secrecy.

"I expect there will be more hiccups like this," said the U.S. diplomat, outlining why the Americans are sticking to a limited role in a process that has dragged on far longer than anyone predicted.

"This is tough for [the Iraqis]."

"This is not part of their historical culture."

"This is not part of their historical culture!"

I have to say that after I left here last night, that one sentence kept spinning around in my head, for the irony that it contains for all of us in America and the world, today, an irony that shows the hypocrisy of this present administration in the full light of day!

WHY ISN'T IT PART OF THEIR HISTORICAL CULTURE, CLASS?

Little Johnny?

Little Suzy?

Yes, little Suzy, you were going to say something here?

Hhhhmmm!

Yes, I would say you have been doing your homework, little Suzy!

It is not a part of their historical culture because people in America like George H. W. Bush, the father of this present Bush, and a lot of big corporations wanted to make a lot of money, and so, they did what they always usually do, they propped up the evil dictator Saddam Hussein, AND MADE HIM STRONG, and thus, THEY SET IN MOTION, or more properly kept in motion, THE HISTORICAL PROCESSES OF CONTINUING TYRANNY AND OPPRESSION IN IRAQ which do make it very hard for the Iraqis today!

Well done, little Suzy!

[Livyjr]

And speaking about something that is a part of their HISTORICAL CULTURE, thanks to George H.(e) W.(eeps) Bush, and Donald Rumsfeld, and George Schultz, and Ronald Raygun, and all others involved in PROPPING UP Saddam Hussein for all those long years, including the American corporations who make their GEETUS off of human misery and suffering, we have, from Iraq, ah, let's see, yes, more violence:

Middle East - AP

"Shiite Pilgrims Fear Attacks in Iraq"

37 minutes ago

By ANTONIO CASTANEDA, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - An explosion Friday damaged a ninth-century minaret in Samarra that was once a sign of the central city's glory, as thousands of Shiite pilgrims slept on the streets of the holy city of Karbala for fear of traveling at night after a string of attacks on the faithful.

In other violence, a bomb near a Sunni mosque in Kirkuk killed one civilian heading to Friday prayers, said police official Sarhat Qadir.

Three others were also injured.

Gunmen in the eastern city of Balad Ruz, meanwhile, killed police chief Col. Hatim Rashid and another officer at a police station, police Col. Mudhafar al-Jubouri said.

A third officer was injured in the attack, 30 miles northeast of Baghdad.

In Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, witnesses said two men climbed the 170-foot-tall spiral minaret, then returned to the ground before the explosion, which tore a large hole in the structure, police Lt. Qasim Mohammed said.

The minaret is all that remains of a mosque dating back from the Abbasid Islamic dynasty and is featured on Iraq's 250-dinar bill.

It was unclear why the minaret, one of Iraq's most famous landmarks, was targeted.

In the holy city of Karbala, bus stations were packed with faithful heading home after a Shiite religious holiday marking the end of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and one of Shiites' most important saints.

Fighters from the Sunni Muslim-led insurgency staged several deadly attacks on Shiite pilgrims in the days leading up to the religious festival.

Security measures remained Friday, with policemen keeping watch from building rooftops and patrolling the streets.

On Thursday, a suicide car bomber blew himself up near an Islamic shrine in Tuz Khormato, 55 miles south of Kirkuk, killing five Iraqis and wounding 16, hospital officials said.

Also Friday, witnesses said a car bomb exploded outside a U.S. base in Ramadi, near a convoy at the base's gate.

The U.S. military and Iraqi police did not immediately have information on the blast.

Ukraine and Italy announced timelines to pull troops from Iraq later this year, further dwindling the number of U.S.-led coalition forces.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said his country's troops will leave Iraq by year's end.

Ukraine had already said it would begin pulling out its 1,650 soldiers, the fifth-largest contingent in the coalition, but had not set a timetable.

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi also said he plans to trim his contingent of troops at the end of September by about 300 soldiers from his current force of 3,300.

In Romania, which has 800 soldiers in Iraq, Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu refused to say whether he would consider withdrawing its troops after kidnappers released a video showing three Romanian journalists who were abducted in Baghdad.

The video, aired by Al-Jazeera satellite television, showed the three Romanian journalists and a fourth unidentified person — possibly an American — with guns pointed at them.

Tariceanu said no demands had been made yet.

The troop reduction announcements came as U.S. forces have intensified programs to train more troops in the Iraqi Army and police force, hoping to stabilize the country with native forces.

[Livyjr]

And speaking about something that is a part of their HISTORICAL CULTURE, thanks to George H.(e) W.(eeps) Bush, and Donald Rumsfeld, and George Schultz, and Ronald Raygun, and all others involved in PROPPING UP Saddam Hussein for all those long years, including the American corporations who make their GEETUS off of human misery and suffering, we have, from Iraq, ah, let's see, yes, more violence:

Middle East - AP

"Shiite Pilgrims Fear Attacks in Iraq"

By ANTONIO CASTANEDA, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - An explosion Friday damaged a ninth-century minaret in Samarra that was once a sign of the central city's glory, as thousands of Shiite pilgrims slept on the streets of the holy city of Karbala for fear of traveling at night after a string of attacks on the faithful.

Security measures remained Friday, with policemen keeping watch from building rooftops and patrolling the streets.

The troop reduction announcements came as U.S. forces have intensified programs to train more troops in the Iraqi Army and police force, hoping to stabilize the country with native forces.

And as U.S. forces under the DIRECT COMMAND of George W. Bush intensify their efforts to "stabilize" the country, BUSH CO. style, by using what the Bush Co.'s euphemistically call "native forces", let's take a look at what "stabilizing" Iraq BUSH CO. style really looks like, in person:

"Deaths spur calls to overhaul Iraqi police"

By Anne Barnard, Boston Globe Staff | March 31, 2005

BAGHDAD -- The Iraqi government's unprecedented admission that its police tortured and killed three Shi'ite Muslim militiamen while they were in custody has set off angry complaints from newly elected Shi'ite legislators who are engaged in a political battle for control of the police.

Shi'ite leaders have beamed gruesome images of the dead men to Iraqi television sets, displaying their bruised, scarred bodies as an argument for radically reshaping the police force, which is crucial to the fight against the country's bloody insurgency.

In a series of steps rarely seen in Iraq, US-backed Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's interim government has acknowledged the men ''died under torture by police," arrested six police officers in the case, launched a high-level investigation, and paid the men's families about $2,000 each plus a $500 monthly stipend.

Yet the debate over the deaths last month is only beginning.

Government officials insist the killings are an isolated case.

But the leaders of the powerful Shi'ite Islamist bloc that won more than half the seats in the new National Assembly say the case reveals mistakes in the way Allawi and his US advisers recruited and trained Iraq's police.

Those Shi'ite leaders say the force is a haven for Ba'athists who mistreated Iraqis, especially Shi'ites, under Saddam Hussein.

''Iraqis are being tortured by Iraqis, by the security groups which are responsible for their safety," said Hadi al-Ameri, head of the Badr Organization, an Iranian-trained militia founded in the 1980s as the armed wing of the Islamist party that is now the largest in the Shi'ite bloc.

''Under Saddam, we were used to prisoners being tortured until they died," he said.

''But the strange thing is that after Saddam, the same thing happens."

As the largest faction in the assembly, the Shi'ite bloc has the greatest say in naming the new Cabinet that will replace Allawi's, and some of its leaders want to make Ameri the interior minister, who will set police policy.

The killings of the three men -- all Badr members -- added an explosive element to the debate.

Their families say they were deliberately targeted by police opposed to the rise of Shi'ite power.

The way the case is perceived could help determine whether the new government overhauls the Iraqi security forces created over the past two years or builds on the current foundation, as US officials and Allawi have urged.

It could also affect whether Iraq's Shi'ite majority is willing to risk handing a larger security role to members of Islamist militias like the Badr, which informally patrols many Baghdad neighborhoods and southern cities.

The 85,000-member police force is a mix of lightly-trained recruits and veterans of Hussein's security services who have more experience but carry the taint of the regime's abuses.

Allawi insists the veterans have been carefully screened, but the Shi'ite bloc wants to purge many more.


Shi'ite leaders have publicized the killings to call for change.

Imams have extolled the three men as martyrs.

An eight-minute video of their bloodied corpses has run at least 10 times on the Al Furat television channel, which belongs to the parent group of the Badr, dubbing them martyrs to Hussein's thugs.

But Sabah Kadhim, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the three were killed by an officer who overreacted after he mistakenly arrested them during a firefight with Sunni Muslim insurgents, when, Kadhim said, ''everybody's blood was boiling."

''This case is not a case I would worry about," he said.

''You have to understand the Iraqi temperament."

"There is violence, an element of violence in every Iraqi."

Shi'ite parties are overemphasizing the case, he said, because ''they want to take this ministry."

Two recent reports, one issued in January by Human Rights Watch and the other by the US State Department last month, cite scores of reports of torture and arbitrary detention by Iraqi police and soldiers.

Last year, the US report says, police executed 12 alleged kidnappers in Baghdad and took part in revenge killings of 10 Ba'athists in Basra.

But the Badr case stands out because Iraqi officials acknowledge that the men were tortured, and medical records detail the brutal beatings they received.

The tale reverberates with Iraqi citizens, who desperately want improved security from their first elected government, but also demand new accountability from police.

The case opens a rare window on the workings of the Iraqi government, whose conflicting impulses teeter between increasing transparency and clinging to Hussein-era impunity.

Majbal Adnan Latif al-Alawi, 39, his brother Ali Adnan Latif al-Alawi, 35, and their friend, Aidi Mahaissen Lefteh, 30, returned from exile in Iran after the US invasion two years ago.

Like many men in their families, they carried Badr identification cards, a badge that inspires respect in some Iraqis and fear in others.

Sunnis, especially, recall that the Badr Brigades took Iran's side in its war with Iraq.

Now the group calls itself the Badr Organization and says it is now a civilian group acting only within Iraqi law.

The three victims, their families say, had office jobs with Badr and hoped it would find them government jobs.

On Feb. 12, they were arrested in Zafaraniya, in eastern Baghdad.

Abd Ali al-Alawi, the brothers' uncle, said they drove there to rent an apartment and mistakenly ran a police checkpoint, where they were detained after showing their Badr cards.

Kadhim, the Interior Ministry spokesman, told a different story, saying the men stumbled into a firefight in which Sunni insurgents had killed several police.

The police thought the three opened fire on them, Kadhim said, but he now thinks the Badr members joined the fight on the side of police.

The uncle, Alawi, said he went two consecutive days to the police station where the men were being held, but was not allowed to see them or the officer in charge, Brigadier Amer Sajid al-Dami.

On the third day, he said, a police major agreed to check on the case.

''When he came back out, he was trembling," recalled Alawi, whose big toe bears a scar he said was inflicted when Hussein's torturers pulled out the nail a decade ago.

''He told us, 'Please don't make me interfere with this case'."

"'I am afraid for my family'."

By then, the three men were already dead.

First Lieutenant Haider Abdul-Wahab, who works in another police station, said in an interview that he found the men's blindfolded corpses, one in handcuffs, dumped by a roadside on Feb. 13, the day after their arrest.

They were taken to Baghdad's central morgue.

Autopsy reports viewed by the Globe state that all three had bruises on their faces, arms, backs, and legs, apparently from being struck with a stick or long object.

Each died from blunt-force injuries and bleeding, the reports say.

Majbal's left big toenail had been pulled out.

The Interior Ministry immediately launched an investigation, Kadhim said.

But when Alawi learned his nephews and their friend were dead -- leaving 15 children fatherless -- he feared there would be no justice without political muscle.

He went to the main office of the Shi'ite bloc.

Angry and agitated, he threatened to take revenge -- tribal codes permit tit-for-tat killings -- if he did not get help.

The party made the case a cause celebre, distributing posters that displayed the bodies.

Al Furat broadcast a video taken at the morgue, on which a narrator points out blackened, scarred areas on the bodies that he says are the result of electric shocks.

Within a week, Prime Minister Allawi issued a statement that denounced the killings as ''a barbaric and criminal act by elements who exceeded the limits of their responsibility."

He vowed to follow the case personally and called for ''maximum punishment."

The families now receive a stipend well above the pay of most government officials, but they say they only want justice.

If the killers are not severely punished, ''we'll take revenge by tribal law," said Aidi's brother Farhan Mahaissen Lefteh, 37.

''That means we live in the jungle."

Anne Barnard can be reached at abarnard@globe.com.

end quotes

Will America be next?

Will the Bush Co.'s import this kind of violence against us, those few remaining in this country who are for decency and human rights?

Stay tuned!

And as always, if there is no action in here for a couple of days running, start scanning the trees around my area for an older-looking guy with greyish hair and a mustache nailed to one, or who knows, maybe they'll just dump me in a ditch like they did with those three Iraqis, in which case, I'll be easier to find, perhaps!

[Livyjr]

And as U.S. forces under the DIRECT COMMAND of George W. Bush intensify their efforts to "stabilize" the country, BUSH CO. style, by using what the Bush Co.'s euphemistically call "native forces", let's take a look at what "stabilizing" Iraq BUSH CO. style really looks like, in person:

"Deaths spur calls to overhaul Iraqi police"

By Anne Barnard, Boston Globe Staff  |  March 31, 2005

BAGHDAD -- The Iraqi government's unprecedented admission that its police tortured and killed three Shi'ite Muslim militiamen while they were in custody has set off angry complaints from newly elected Shi'ite legislators who are engaged in a political battle for control of the police.
 
Shi'ite leaders have beamed gruesome images of the dead men to Iraqi television sets, displaying their bruised, scarred bodies as an argument for radically reshaping the police force, which is crucial to the fight against the country's bloody insurgency.

In a series of steps rarely seen in Iraq, US-backed Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's interim government has acknowledged the men ''died under torture by police," arrested six police officers in the case, launched a high-level investigation, and paid the men's families about $2,000 each plus a $500 monthly stipend.

Yet the debate over the deaths last month is only beginning.

Government officials insist the killings are an isolated case.

But the leaders of the powerful Shi'ite Islamist bloc that won more than half the seats in the new National Assembly say the case reveals mistakes in the way Allawi and his US advisers recruited and trained Iraq's police.

Those Shi'ite leaders say the force is a haven for Ba'athists who mistreated Iraqis, especially Shi'ites, under Saddam Hussein.

''Iraqis are being tortured by Iraqis, by the security groups which are responsible for their safety," said Hadi al-Ameri, head of the Badr Organization, an Iranian-trained militia founded in the 1980s as the armed wing of the Islamist party that is now the largest in the Shi'ite bloc.

''Under Saddam, we were used to prisoners being tortured until they died," he said.

''But the strange thing is that after Saddam, the same thing happens."

And of course, the same thing is happening!

And who thought that it would change?

Anyone?

IS THERE ACTUALLY ANYONE OUT THERE WHO THOUGHT IT WOULD BE DIFFERENT?

[Livyjr]

King Bush apologize?

You must be kidding.

Only people that do something wrong need to apologize.

KINGS do not make mistakes!!

Got that??

Now that the commission on the CIA has issued their report on how "dead wrong" the CIA was on the non-existent WMD's in Iraq, it becomes a lot clearer why Bush hung that medal around (ex) CIA Director George Tenet's neck.

Could it be that George Tenet was being bought off?

A medal for not saying anything embarrassing about the King?

Not saying anything about ANY pressure to even hint there might not have been any WMD's in Oilville?

Just a thought by one extremely cynical citizen.

A.B.

And of course, the same thing is happening!

And who thought that it would change?

Anyone?

IS THERE ACTUALLY ANYONE OUT THERE WHO THOUGHT IT WOULD BE DIFFERENT?

And speaking of other things that just never seem to change, but, instead, always remain the same, and there really is no surprise at that, given that these are "POLITICAL" functions, where instead of getting competent people, we always seem to end up with dead wood and detritus, and lap dogs, and toadies and sycophants, and boot-lickers, and lick-spittles and other assorted ilk and just plain, downright hacks and incompetents from within the ranks of the POLITICAL PARTIES, we have as follows:

Top Stories - Los Angeles Times

"Spy Agencies Called 'Dead Wrong' in Prewar Analyses on Iraqi Arms

24 minutes ago

Associated Press

Mr. President:

With this letter, we transmit the report of the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Our unanimous report is based on a lengthy investigation, during which we interviewed hundreds of experts from inside and outside the intelligence community and reviewed thousands of documents.

Our report offers 74 recommendations for improving the U.S. intelligence community (all but a handful of which we believe can be implemented without statutory change).

But among these recommendations a few points merit special emphasis.

We conclude that the intelligence community was dead wrong in almost all of its prewar judgments about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

This was a major intelligence failure.

Its principal causes were the intelligence community's inability to collect good information about Iraq's WMD programs, serious errors in analyzing what information it could gather and a failure to make clear just how much of its analysis was based on assumptions, rather than good evidence.

On a matter of this importance, we simply cannot afford failures of this magnitude.

After a thorough review, the commission found no indication that the intelligence community distorted the evidence regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

What the intelligence professionals told you about Saddam Hussein's programs was what they believed.

They were simply wrong.

As you asked, we looked as well beyond Iraq in our review of the intelligence community's capabilities.

We conducted case studies of our intelligence agencies' recent performance assessing the risk of WMD in Libya and Afghanistan, and our current capabilities with respect to several of the world's most dangerous state and non-state proliferation threats.

Out of this more comprehensive review, we report both bad news and good news.

The bad news is that we still know disturbingly little about the weapons programs and even less about the intentions of many of our most dangerous adversaries.

The good news is that we have had some solid intelligence successes — thanks largely to innovative and multi-agency collection techniques.

Our review has convinced us that the best hope for preventing future failures is dramatic change.

We need an intelligence community that is truly integrated, far more imaginative and willing to run risks, open to a new generation of Americans and receptive to new technologies.

We have summarized our principal recommendations for the entire intelligence community in the overview of the report.

Here, we focus on recommendations that we believe only you can effect if you choose to implement them:

• Give the DNI powers — and backing — to match his responsibilities.

In your public statement accompanying the announcement of Ambassador [John] Negroponte's nomination as director of national intelligence, you have already moved in this direction.

The new intelligence law makes the DNI responsible for integrating the 15 independent members of the intelligence community.

But it gives him powers that are only relatively broader than before.

The DNI cannot make this work unless he takes his legal authorities over budget, programs, personnel and priorities to the limit.

It won't be easy to provide this leadership to the intelligence components of the Defense Department, or to the CIA.

They are some of the government's most headstrong agencies.

Sooner or later, they will try to run around — or over — the DNI.

Then, only your determined backing will convince them that we cannot return to the old ways.

• Bring the FBI all the way into the intelligence community.

The FBI is one of the proudest and most independent agencies in the United States Government.

It is on its way to becoming an effective intelligence agency, but it will never arrive if it insists on using only its own map.

We recommend that you order an organizational reform of the bureau that pulls all of its intelligence capabilities into one place and subjects them to the coordinating authority of the DNI — the same authority that the DNI exercises over Defense Department intelligence agencies.

Under this recommendation, the counterterrorism and counterintelligence resources of the bureau would become a single National Security Service inside the FBI.

It would of course still be subject to the attorney general's oversight and to current legal rules.

The intelligence reform act almost accomplishes this task, but at crucial points it retreats into ambiguity.

Without leadership from the DNI, the FBI is likely to continue escaping effective integration into the intelligence community.

• Demand more of the intelligence community.

The intelligence community needs to be pushed.

It will not do its best unless it is pressed by policy-makers — sometimes to the point of discomfort.

Analysts must be pressed to explain how much they don't know; the collection agencies must be pressed to explain why they don't have better information on key topics.

While policy-makers must be prepared to credit intelligence that doesn't fit their preferences, no important intelligence assessment should be accepted without sharp questioning that forces the community to explain exactly how it came to that assessment and what alternatives might also be true.

This is not "politicization"; it is a necessary part of the intelligence process.

And in the end, it is the key to getting the best from an intelligence community that, at its best, knows how to do astonishing things.

• Rethink the president's daily brief.

The daily intelligence briefings given to you before the Iraq war were flawed.

Through attention-grabbing headlines and repetition of questionable data, these briefings overstated the case that Iraq was rebuilding its WMD programs.

There are many other aspects of the daily brief that deserve to be reconsidered as well, but we are reluctant to make categorical recommendations on a process that in the end must meet your needs, not our theories.

On one point, however, we want to be specific:

While the DNI must be ultimately responsible for the content of your daily briefing, we do not believe that the DNI ought to prepare, deliver, or even attend every briefing.

For if the DNI is consumed by current intelligence, the long-term needs of the intelligence community will suffer.

There is no more important intelligence mission than understanding the worst weapons that our enemies possess, and how they intend to use them against us.

These are their deepest secrets, and unlocking them must be our highest priority.

So far, despite some successes, our intelligence community has not been agile and innovative enough to provide the information that the nation needs.

Other commissions and observers have said the same.

We should not wait for another commission or another administration to force widespread change in the intelligence community.

— Associated Press

[Livyjr]

And speaking of other things that just never seem to change, but, instead, always remain the same, and there really is no surprise at that, given that these are "POLITICAL" functions, where instead of getting competent people, we always seem to end up with dead wood and detritus, and lap dogs, and toadies and sycophants, and boot-lickers, and lick-spittles and other assorted ilk and just plain, downright hacks and incompetents from within the ranks of the POLITICAL PARTIES, we have as follows:

Top Stories - Los Angeles Times

"Spy Agencies Called 'Dead Wrong' in Prewar Analyses on Iraqi Arms

Associated Press

Mr. President:

The daily intelligence briefings given to you before the Iraq war were flawed.

Through attention-grabbing headlines and repetition of questionable data, these briefings overstated the case that Iraq was rebuilding its WMD programs.

Other commissions and observers have said the same.

We should not wait for another commission or another administration to force widespread change in the intelligence community.

— Associated Press

Hmph!

Daily intelligence briefings?

NO!

How about daily "DOG AND PONY" show for the likes of PROPAGANDAWEEK, er, NEWSWEEK, and the Washington Post, where the lies of the day to justify invading Iraq to steal its oil were cooked up and hatched out by the likes of "CON JOB" Connie Rice, who is chock full of beans, and Colin "I'll tell'em whatever you want, BOSS" Powell, and Frannie Frago Townsend, who just happened to "LEAK" the contents of her HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL "PUTTER" to PROPAGANDAWEEK, er, NEWSWEEK, just before the November elections, WITH NO ADVERSE FALLOUT, or RAMIFICATIONS to her, whatsoever, for leaking alleged NATIONAL SECURITY SECRETS to the BUSH CO. PROPAGANDA MACHINE, er, press, so that John Kerry could be further discredited, and the BUSH CO.'s could emerge from the elections, victorious one more time, IN THEIR DECEIT!

HOW ABOUT SOME TRUTH HERE, FOR A CHANGE?

We see through the lies, boys and girls down there in Washington, D$C$, and quite frankly, we ARE SICK OF THEM!

SICK TO DEATH, AND TIRED, TO BOOT!

We have "transparency, FINALLY, in this country, thanks to the power of the internet, AND NOT THE PRESS, and thanks to that "transparency", we have been following this IRAQ FIASCO right from its inception BORN IN LIES from the bowels of the WHITE HOUSE itself, and its minions therein, AND WE DON'T WANT ANY MORE, especially from this gutless CONGRESS!

GET THE PARTISAN POLITICS OUT OF OUR GOVERNMENT!

Get all the incompetents OUT!

Which starts with the REPUBLICAN PARTY!

GET THEIR DIRTY HANDS OFF OUR GOVERNMENT!

OR accept the alternative, that OUR REPUBLIC is nothing more than a great, big joke!

And OUR democracy is as well!

[Livyjr]

And speaking of other things that just never seem to change, but, instead, always remain the same, and there really is no surprise at that, given that these are "POLITICAL" functions, where instead of getting competent people, we always seem to end up with dead wood and detritus, and lap dogs, and toadies and sycophants, and boot-lickers, and lick-spittles and other assorted ilk and just plain, downright hacks and incompetents from within the ranks of the POLITICAL PARTIES, we have as follows:

Top Stories - Los Angeles Times

"Spy Agencies Called 'Dead Wrong' in Prewar Analyses on Iraqi Arms

Associated Press

Mr. President:

It won't be easy to provide this leadership to the intelligence components of the Defense Department, or to the CIA.

They are some of the government's most headstrong agencies.

Sooner or later, they will try to run around — or over — the DNI.

Then, only your determined backing will convince them that we cannot return to the old ways.

The old ways?

What old ways?

The "old ways" are the same "ways" that we still have today, BECAUSE NOTHING DOWN THERE IN WASHINGTON, D$C$ has changed ONE WHIT!

Nothing!

George W. Bush and the FABULOUS BUSH CO.'s, who can "spin" more lies per hour than the universe has atoms in it, are still in power, and there is now no disincentive for them to stop lying, SINCE the lies bought them another FOUR YEARS in power here in OUR America, and that is a fact!

And another "fact" is that Donald Rumsfeld is still in charge of the Defense Department, and the ANTINOMIAN PRIME, the Bush Co. himself, is still in charge of the CIA, through a political minion, of course, and so ......

WHAT ON EARTH ARE THESE GUTLESS WONDERS DOWN THERE IN WASHINGTON, D$C$, TALKING ABOUT, this alleged "return to the old ways"?

The "OLD WAYS" is all we have had now since 2000, and why should we expect change now?

After all, the REPUBLICANS, who have brought us "THESE OLD WAYS", are now gearing up to grab yet more power, even absolute power, here in OUR America, SO WHY WOULD THEY DISMANTLE THEIR MACHINE NOW?

It makes no sense!

And who is going to make them do so?

The REPUBLICANS in Congress?

Yeah, right!

Give me a break, please!

I just read something about where George W. Bush got a new dog, and he is said to have named that dog "John McCain", because he can only get the dog to "roll over" some of the time, but he expects, with further training, that the dog, perhaps like its alleged "namesake", will soon "roll over" on command, and that about sums up the matter of "change" coming out of WASHINGTON, D$C$, for me!

Yeah, right!

March 31, 2005

Max Boot: "The Iraq War's Outsourcing Snafu - The coalition of the billing has real limits."

Ever since Ronald Reagan proclaimed in his 1981 inaugural address that "government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem," leaders at all levels of government, Democrats and Republicans alike, have been outsourcing as much work as possible to the private sector.

This is generally a good idea, but when it comes to the military, this trend may have gone too far.

Peter W. Singer, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of "Corporate Warriors," estimates that there are 20,000 to 30,000 civilians in Iraq performing traditional military functions, from maintaining weapons systems to guarding supply convoys.

If you add foreigners involved in reconstruction and oil work, the total soars to 50,000 to 75,000.

To put this into perspective: All of Washington's allies combined account for 23,000 troops in Iraq.

In the latest issue of Foreign Affairs, Singer quips that "President George W. Bush's 'coalition of the willing' might thus be more aptly described as the 'coalition of the billing.'"

Let us stipulate that most contractors are upstanding, hardworking individuals who perform valuable and dangerous work.

At least 175 have been killed and 900 wounded in Iraq.

But their labor has been tarnished by scandals and snafus too numerous to ignore.

Oil-services giant Halliburton and the security firm Custer Battles, among others, have been accused of swindling U.S. taxpayers.

Other contractors are said to have been simply ineffective.

Vinnell Corp. did such a poor job of training Iraqi army recruits that half of its first battalion walked off the job.

The Army had to step in to perform the work itself.

Other companies have been accused of human rights violations:

Interrogators from CACI International were in the middle of the Abu Ghraib mess.

And still others have caused major problems by failing to coordinate with the military chain of command.

The most notorious example was the decision by four Blackwater employees to enter Fallouja on March 31, 2004, without notifying the local Marine garrison.

Their well-publicized deaths in an ambush forced the Marines into a costly offensive to try to regain control of the city.

There is nothing new or nefarious about privatizing military support functions.

But, in Iraq, the contractors aren't just building latrines or staffing mess halls.

They're also running around with assault rifles and black body armor performing "tactical" functions.

Many are well-trained U.S. or British veterans, but others are Rambo wannabes or sordid desperados.

Among the mercenaries who have surfaced in Iraq are South Africans who were members of apartheid-era death squads and Chileans who served in Pinochet's security services.

When U.S. service members are accused of wrongdoing, they are investigated and, if necessary, court-martialed.

That's not the case with civilians who are generally not covered by the laws of their home countries for crimes committed abroad.

The Iraqi legal system could hold them to account, but in practice Baghdad won't do anything that might lead to an exodus of foreign firms.

Dozens of U.S. and British soldiers have been prosecuted for misconduct in Iraq — but not a single contractor.

A lack of accountability leads to occurrences such as those described by four former Custer Battles employees who claim that poorly trained Kurds on the firm's payroll killed innocent motorists.

In one incident, a guard supposedly fired his AK-47 into a passenger car to clear a traffic jam.

In another, an aggressive driver in a giant pickup truck allegedly pulverized a sedan with children inside.

When true (the firm denies any wrongdoing), such incidents only create more insurgent recruits.

U.S. policymakers argue that they have to rely on private help because the U.S. armed forces simply aren't big enough to do everything, and allies have not made up the shortfall.

But that's an argument for expanding the armed forces, not for hiring a lot of freelance gunslingers.

Administration officials complain that a bigger army is too expensive, but are they really saving money by relying on privateers?

The most valued contractors are experienced former U.S. Special Forces operatives whose training cost the Pentagon hundreds of thousands of dollars.

They are being lured out of uniform by the promise of making $500 to $1,000 a day.

(If they stay in the service they'll be lucky to make $140 a day.)

And where does that money come from?

Pretty much all the foreign firms in Iraq are paid by the U.S. Treasury.

So the government is in competition with itself for its most skilled and hard-to-replace soldiers.

Does this sort of outsourcing really make sense?

end quotes

To the BUSH CO.'s?

Of course, it does!

IT'S ABOUT THE MONEY, STUPID!

[Abu Beacon]

We see through the lies, boys and girls down there in Washington, D$C$, and quite frankly, we ARE SICK OF THEM!

SICK TO DEATH, AND TIRED, TO BOOT!

We have "transparency, FINALLY, in this country, thanks to the power of the internet, AND NOT THE PRESS, and thanks to that "transparency", we have been following this IRAQ FIASCO right from its inception BORN IN LIES from the bowels of the WHITE HOUSE itself, and its minions therein, AND WE DON'T WANT ANY MORE, especially from this gutless CONGRESS!

Livyjr, as you well know, the opinions, the thoughts, the words, you use in your postings are certainly EXACTLY the same as mine and, I feel sure , of many, many others, both here in CGCS and outside of CGCS.

So ???

The problem is that sometimes, I have a feeling that all the postings put up on this thread by you and all others who participate and who feel the same way are very similar to the pastor who preaches to the choir.

And the point is???

I believe that getting these words out of this forum and into the hands and heads of others who are not part of this forum should be a priority for us.

We are not national columnists and we do not have a media vehicle but that does not mean we are completely impotent in putting forth our views.

How do we do this???

I am not as sure of the how., as I am of the " why ".

What would you think of the idea of you, jeffmoskin, ( if he is for it ) and any others who agree, of starting to bounce some ideas around.

Eventually, not too long in the future, we may find there is a way to add our voices collectively to those who are doing their best to expose the lies, the incompetence, the hypocrisy, and the DANGERS of this administration and it's followers.

It is inconceivable that we will not be able to come up with some ideas to make ourselves heard.

On Cnn, on the Judy Woodruff show, at about 4:15 every day some time is given to two females who refer constantly to other forums and present the views of the forum members.

Whether we are in agreement with Judy Woodruff's political opinions does not matter. She has a large following and our goal is to reach as many people as we can. There ought to be a way we can have CGCS opinions quoted on that
show.

Probably, we will need the help of the administrators/moderators of CGCS at some point.

In the meantime there should be something we can do to put together some sort of a plan.

What do you think?

Is this just a fantasy?

A.B.

[Livyjr]

What do you think?

Is this just a fantasy?

A.B.

Oh, no, Mr. A.B., it most certainly is no fantasy!

One, I am a believer in what Einstein said, that God don't play dice!

ALL THINGS UNDER HEAVEN, in their time!

I don't think this forum would exist, if there was not purpose for it, to be truthful, and certainly, this thread would not exist, were I not inspired each day to be here, and not somewheres else, and so ....

When I first came in here, I was talking about a book that I had been given, and read, entitled "The Power of Many" by Christian Crumlish.

Now, the author of this book is really one of the people to consult on this issue you are raising, but I think it is even easier than that, at first!

A key is Yahoo Groups!

What is needed is a type of electronic conduit from here, this forum, and the various threads in it, over to various Yahoo Groups, and from there, dissemination just flows naturally!

THAT IS GRASS ROOTS!

As to these other sites, well, that is just a process that has to be initiated, and then that will flow, too!

As for this thread, it is necessary, as are the other threads as well, BECAUSE THIS IS THE NECESSARY BULK STORAGE that you have to have compiled to make your various points to these other mediums!

I cut and paste from here over to various individuals who are themselves hooked up to groups through Yahoo, and I also send stuff over from here, via "cut-and-paste" to a non-politically-aligned veteran's network, who are themselves most definitely fed up and disgusted with GUTLESS Washington, D$$$C$$$.

It's just a process, Mr. A.B., and I don't trouble myself over all the details because this thread, and yours over in "Religion and Politics" are to me where my attention is warranted, right now, at least!

To make any point at all, we need a body of evidence, or a body of data, or both!

That is what this thread is all about!

It is a virtual record composed of the PUBLIC RECORD, from OUT THERE, where we all must live OUR lives as living, breathing human beings on this earth of OURS!

Yes, it is true, our various personal impressions on this or that are recorded in here, too, like graffiti on Pompeii's walls, BUT ....

It is what comprises LIFE as we see it through the eyes of the various "allegedly objective" mainstream print media in OUR America that makes up the bulk of this thread, as opposed to our own solely subjective views, AND UNLESS that collective data says something coherent, there is no point in putting a lot of effort into any other endeavors, like trying to get a message out to the world, WHEN THERE SIMPLY IS no coherent message!

Now, however, we have been at this for a sufficient time after the November elections, and a ton of dust has settled, and so, people's minds are now free to consider new things, and thus, a moment emerges that just did not exist before, and guess what, Mr. A.B., we are ready for it!

[Livyjr]

On CNN, on the Judy Woodruff show, at about 4:15 every day some time is given to two females who refer constantly to other forums and present the views of the forum members.

Whether we are in agreement with Judy Woodruff's political opinions does not matter.

She has a large following and our goal is to reach as many people as we can.

What do you think?

A.B.

And here I am very much in agreement with you, Mr. A.B., about "political opinions".

I have my own thoughts, because my LIBERTY allows me to, and I allow all others the same LIBERTY as I have in that regard, and so as far as I am concerned, I would have a duty to Judy Woodruff to protect her LIBERTY by affording her the opportunity to have and hold, and/or change at her will, whatever political beliefs she chose to have!

That would not preclude me from being able to converse with her!

In fact, since we would be communicating as equals, I am sure the dialogue would be educating and rewarding, and my God, I could even learn something from it!

And whoever knows?

But venture nothing, and no possible gain can occur!

And flip up to the top of the page, where the official logo is now "BRIDGING THE GAP between political labels and issues!"

SEE!

Evolution is happening, even as we are speaking of it in here!

SO!

How about that for synchronicity, will you?

[Livyjr]

Evolution is happening, even as we are speaking of it in here!

SO!

And speaking of evolution, where have things evolved to in Iraq, since last we were there?

Hop on the magic carpet, hang on, and we shall see:

Mideast - AFP

"Iraqi police chief gunned down as coalition talks drag on"

2 hours, 4 minutes ago

SAMARRA, Iraq (AFP) - Insurgents gunned down an Iraqi police chief and blew up the top of a centuries-old minaret as Sunni Arab leaders feuded over their role in a government still a long way from being finalized.

In a surprise development, Sunni clerics issued a fatwa, or religious edict, encouraging their people to join the country's armed forces.

The police chief of the tense town of Baladruz northeast of Baghdad, Colonel Hatem Rashid, was killed by gunmen overnight in the latest assassination of top army and police officers.

In the restive city of Samarra, north of Baghdad five gunmen, including four Syrians, were killed in clashes with US and Iraqi forces, Major General Rashid Flaih of the Iraqi police commandos said, adding that 12 suspects were captured and weapons seized.

The local hospital said it received five bodies.

This came after the top layer of the towering 9th-century spiral minaret of the Malwiya mosque in Samarra, a national archaeological treasure, was damaged in a blast that occurred just two weeks after the departure US troops stationed there.

Samarra continues to be an insurgent battleground as Iraqi and US forces press efforts to rid the mainly Sunni Arab city of insurgents.

A car bomb in the city centre on Thursday killed seven people.

The Romanian government meanwhile scrambled to secure the release of three of its nationals taken hostage in Iraq.

New photographs of the three journalists who went missing earlier in the week were shown on Romanian television after the trio and their US-Iraqi guide were shown late Wednesday on Al-Jazeera television cowering under the pointed rifles of two masked man.

"We are making an enormous effort, unprecedented for the Romanian state," said Foreign Minister Razvan Ungureanu, whose government has 800 soldiers deployed in Iraq.

Amid the continuing violence, Iraq's main political blocs were still far from forming a government two months after landmark elections.

The main stumbling block is a desire by Shiites and Kurds alike to include the embittered Sunni Arab community, which largely boycotted the elections.

The Kurds are also keen for the secular bloc of outgoing Prime Minister Iyad Allawi to join a new governing coalition to temper the influence of the religious parties that dominate the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance (UIA).

"We are still looking forward to participation but according to our terms," Qassim Daoud, a member of Allawi's list, told AFP.

Daoud said negotiators were meeting regularly with Shiites and Kurds and that the focus was still on nailing agreement on common principles rather than the distribution of cabinet posts.

A negotiator from Allawi's list said they wanted to be an equal partner in any coalition government with the right to dissolve it if they disagreed with any of its actions.

"We want to be true partners and not just to tag along," said Hussein al-Shaalan.

The Shiite tribal leader from southern Iraq scolded some elements of the Sunni leadership for trying to gain maximum leverage in a process they had shunned.

"The Sunnis who say they represent their community must be realistic and comprehend the gravity of the situation otherwise they will hurt themselves and their people," he said.

Sunnis could not even agree Tuesday on a nominee for the post of parliament speaker, which both Shiites and Kurds want reserved for the community that dominated successive Iraqi governments before the 2003 US-led invasion.

The assembly is due to meet again Sunday to take another stab at choosing a speaker and two deputies

As the politicians bickered, a group of 64 Sunni clerics issued a fatwa calling on members of their community to join the Iraqi police and army, which have so far been dominated by the majority Shiites.

"Foreign troops are hated by Iraqis ... I'm happy to see Iraqi police and soldiers controlling the situation in my country," said Sheikh Abdul Ghafur al-Samarrai, one of the signatories and a senior member of the Committee of Muslim Scholars, which boycotted the elections.

"Why do we have people from the north or south coming to our cities?"

"We want people from our cities to be serving their own people."

Thousands of newly recruited Iraqi soldiers, many of them from Baghdad or the Shiite south, were sent last autumn to keep the peace in Sunni cities like Mosul, Samarra and Fallujah following major military operations there.

Many Sunni Arabs served in the security forces under Saddam Hussein's regime and were enraged by the decision of the US-led occupation administration to dissolve his armed forces.

[Livyjr]

And speaking of the corrupt EMPIRE STATE of New York, quess who made the national news for finally getting something right, like having a budget in place on time, for the first time in 20 years?

Of course, it appears that the budget has "gaping holes" in it, and so, it would look as if the New York State Legislature were incompetent to do two things right, one of which would be to be on time, and the other, more important thing WOULD BE to be right, such as having a budget that actually balanced!

Talk about boys that can't walk and chew bubblegum, these clowns just might take the cake!

Politics - AP

"NY Meets First Budget Deadline in 20 Years"

Fri Apr 1, 4:14 AM ET

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press Writer

ALBANY, N.Y. - The state Legislature passed a $105 billion budget Thursday that increases school funding, makes university tuition cheaper and puts transportation projects in the hands of voters.

But its most remarkable feat is that for the first time in 20 years, the budget passed on time.

The dubious title of consecutive late budget champ now rests with California, with 18.

That state is the leader in state government spending, with New York second, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The Legislature declared the budget complete although some contentious issues were tabled to help hit the deadline.

Disagreements with Gov. George Pataki could delay enactment.

"What we have accomplished today, we have accomplished as one Legislature, driven by the spirit of bipartisanship to achieve one goal — government at its finest," said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat.

"It's an on-time budget, but it's certainly not a final budget," said Pataki, a Republican who admitted he may issue some vetoes.

"There are gaping holes that have to be closed."

The agreement, however, appears to end the annual angst of school districts and nonprofit agencies doing state tasks.

The uncertainty of funding as late as Aug. 11 — the date the budget was adopted last year — threatened state services.

The budget eliminates a $500 increase in public college tuition in the fall and annual increases for each class after that and provides a near-record increase in funding to most public schools.

It will impose higher motor vehicle fees and fees for camping in state parks, and it continues a sales tax on clothes that was set to expire.

The budget also puts a bond issue to voters in November asking whether the state should borrow $2.9 billion to pay for improvements to the Metropolitan Transit Authority and avoid a fare increase for New York City's subways and other commuter routes, as well as fix roads and bridges outside the city.
___

On the Net:

http://www.state.ny.us

http://www.ncsl.org

http://www.manhattan-institute.org

[Livyjr]

Of course, it appears that the budget has "gaping holes" in it, and so, it would look as if the New York State Legislature were incompetent to do two things right, one of which would be to be on time, and the other, more important thing WOULD BE to be right, such as having a budget that actually balanced!

Talk about boys that can't walk and chew bubblegum, these clowns just might take the cake!

And speaking of incompetence, what's this:

White House - AP

"Bush Social Security Analogy Questioned"

Fri Apr 1,10:17 AM ET

By GLEN JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Out on the hustings, President Bush likes to make a case for allowing younger workers to invest some of their Social Security taxes by citing the example of the Thrift Savings Plan, private investment accounts available to members of Congress and other federal employees.

"Doesn't it make sense for members of Congress to give younger workers the opportunity to do the same thing with their money that they get to do in their retirement system?" the president asked this week in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, baiting his congressional opponents.

"Frankly, if it's good enough for federal workers and elected officials — putting aside some of your own money in a personal savings account — it ought to be good enough for all workers in America."

What Bush fails to mention is that his accounts differ from Thrift Savings Plan accounts in a key way:

They would be carved out of the Social Security taxes nongovernment workers pay.

By contrast, federal employees get their accounts in addition to a traditional Social Security benefit check.

Democrats have said they would be much more inclined to embrace the private accounts — the signature item of the president's proposed Social Security overhaul — if they, too, were treated as an add-on to the traditional benefit check, rather than a partial replacement for it.

One Republican, Florida Rep. Clay Shaw, who oversees a House Social Security subcommittee, has filed legislation that would create the accounts as an addition to the program.

But so far the broader debate over ensuring Social Security's long-term solvency has stalled over opposition to the president's "carve-out" accounts.

"It is just so unfair, misleading and fraudulent," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said of the president's references to the Thrift Savings Plan.

The Nevada Democrat accused the administration of using carve-out accounts as a Trojan horse for eliminating Social Security, by siphoning off the taxes that pay benefits.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the top Democrat in the House, said:

"I think what the president is demonstrating is the weakness of the argument he is out perpetuating."

"It's the classic case of you can put lipstick on a pig ... but it's still a sow."

White House spokesman Trent Duffy said the president does not highlight the Thrift Savings Plan because of the way it is funded but because of the investment options and risk management it affords.

"The president talks about the TSP in the context of a safeguard approach," Duffy said.

"And, conceptually, it is the same thing if you — voluntarily — are given the option to set aside funds in a limited amount of investment options that might get a better return over a set period of time."

Federal employees, including members of Congress, have a retirement program that is the model of what most investment advisers suggest for any worker.

Advisers liken it to a three-legged stool.

The employees pay into Social Security, qualifying them for a government retirement check.

A portion of their pay also goes into a pension program, the Federal Employees' Retirement System, which pays a benefit based on their tenure.

And they have the option to participate in a so-called defined contribution program, the Thrift Savings Program.

Like a private-sector 401(k), it lets workers make contributions — a portion of which the government matches — that can be invested five different ways.

Those include government and corporate bond funds, plus a stock fund that tracks the S&P 500.

The stock funds performed well in the 1990s, with annual returns over 37 percent one year.

But after the 2001 recession, they have posted annual losses as high as 22 percent.

Over the most recent 10-year period, all the funds were profitable, according to the plan's Web site.

The private accounts the president has proposed for younger workers would be funded with up to 4 percentage points of the 12.4 percent payroll tax they now pay into Social Security.

On the stump, Bush does not mention the different manner in which the Thrift Savings Program is funded, only the example it should provide in the Social Security debate.

As Duffy suggested, the president also highlights the controls on investments in Thrift Savings:

"For example, federal employees can't take their money and put it in the lottery, or you can't take it to the racetrack," Bush told the Cedar Rapids crowd.

At the Iowa event, the president was joined on stage by a retired federal worker who reveled in the benefits of having a retirement program diversified by the add-on nature of the Thrift Savings Program.

The retiree, Joe Studer of Robins, Iowa, gets a pension from the precursor to Social Security for federal workers hired before 1984, the Civil Service Retirement System.

He also draws money from an Individual Retirement Account, which is available to all government and civilian employees, and has the proceeds of his Thrift Savings Plan.

"My Thrift Savings Plan is approaching $100,000," the 67-year-old told the presidential audience.