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

[Livyjr]

http://www.counterpunch.org/

"An Illegal War Degenerates - Iraq: Raped"

By RAED JARRAR

The "Hadji Girl" song is yet another indicator that what happened to Abir is most like not an anomalous case.

"Hadji Girl" is a videotaped song about killing Iraqis written and performed by U.S. Marine Corporal Joshua Belile while he was at the Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq.

The song became controversial a few weeks ago when the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) discovered it on the internet and objected to its lyrics.

The lyrics, accompanied by loud laughter and applause, include lines as such as "So I grabbed her little sister and pulled her in front of me."

"As the bullets began to fly, the blood sprayed from between her eyes, and then I laughed maniacally."

"Then I hid behind the TV, and I locked and loaded my M-16, and I blew those little "expletive deleted"ers to eternity."

"And I said Dirka Dirka Mohammed Jihad, Sherpa Sherpa Bak Allah, they should have known they were "expletive deleted"ing with a Marine".

A two-week investigation held by the U.S. army ended with no punishment for Corporal Belile.

Furthermore, according to the spokesperson for the Mike Church Show, Mike Church is planning to record and release "Hadji Girl" and give royalties to Belile.

The right-wing presenter will sing and release the song on air this week.

A MESSAGE TO AMERICA .....

AND ALL THE CANDID WORLD ....

FROM GEORGE W. BUSH .....

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF ....

UNITED STATES MILITARY FORCES IN IRAQINAMISTAN .....

ZUG ZUG ....

OINK OINK ....

OOGA BOOGA ....

OOGA BOOGA ....

BURGER KING ....

DICK CHENEY ....

I KNEW ....

IT WAS LOVE ....

AT FIRST SIGHT ......

OINK OINK OINK .....

ZUG ZUG .....

BOOGA BOOGA .....

DURKA DURKA MOHAMMED JIHAD ....

SHERPA SHERPA BAK ALLAH ....

HADJI GIRL .....

DICK CHENEY ....

A LOT OF MONEY ....

REPUBLICAN PARTY ....

DURKA DURKA MOHAMMED JIHAD ....

SHERPA SHERPA BAK ALLAH ....

HADJI GIRL .....

I LOVE YOU ANYWAY .....

DURKA DURKA MOHAMMED JIHAD ....

SHERPA SHERPA BAK ALLAH ...

DURKA DURKA MOHAMMED JIHAD .....

SHERPA SHERPA BAK ALLAH ....

LITTLE SISTER ....

THE BLOOD SPRAYED FROM BETWEEN HER EYES ....

DICK CHENEY ....

REPUBLICAN PARTY ....

ZUG ZUG ...

BOOGA BOOGA .....

AND THEN I LAUGHED MANIACALLY .....

DICK CHENEY ....

DONALD RUMSFELD ....

CONDOLEEZA RICE ....

AND I SAID .....

ZUG ZUG .....

BOOGA BOOGA ....

REPUBLICAN PARTY ...

KARL ROVE ....

DURKA DURKA MOHAMMED JIHAD ....

SHERPA SHERPA BAK ALLAH .....

THEY SHOULD HAVE KNOWN .....

THEY WERE F***ING WITH A MARINE .....

--The lyrics to the "Hadji Girl," sung by a Marine, Cpl. Joshua Belile, who was videotaped during the performance; cited in Thomas Riggins, "The 'Hadji Girl' Debate and the Fog of War" (Political Affairs Magazine/Selves and others, June 21)
http://www.selvesandothers.org/article14713.html

"Military, civilian leaders are failing the U.S."

By TERENCE L. KINDLON
Albany, New York Times Union
First published: Sunday, July 16, 2006

Forty years ago I quit college to join the Marines.

There was a war on and, like so many of my generation, I was inspired to enlist by President Kennedy, who challenged us to ask not what our country could do for us, but to ask what we could do for our country.

I loved the Marine Corps and, even now, with my memories of Vietnam receding and my 60th birthday approaching, I am intensely proud that I once had the privilege of wearing its uniform.

My 30-year-old son, Lee, is also a Marine.

Lee is a captain, a military lawyer who's just finished a deployment in Fallujah with the grunts of 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, where he served as staff judge advocate.

Because of my longtime devotion to the Marine Corps, it has been alarming to follow several months of news reports about a few Marines who went berserk in the insurgent stronghold of Haditha and allegedly murdered 24 civilians, including mothers and their babies.

How could my Marines do such a crazy, evil thing?

Marines have always been warriors, to be sure, but we are noble warriors, not cold-blooded murderers.

If these terrible allegations are true, and reports so far are not encouraging, all of those responsible must be prosecuted with grim determination.

Earlier in this war, after the torture at Abu Ghraib prison was discovered, the military prosecuted a few backwoods sad-sacks who'd been miscast as prison guards.

The decision to charge only low-ranking soldiers was an obscene miscarriage of justice.

It told the Iraqis that, regardless of what we said, Americans were no better than the cruel dictator we had vanquished.

Worse, as we Americans idly stood by, any number of high ranking military officers, civilian officials and politicians -- the people who were actually most responsible for Abu Ghraib -- shamelessly blamed the scandal on a few bad apples while they walked away from the horrific mess they'd made, hoping the world wouldn't notice the blood dripping from their hands.

When we make a list of the people to be prosecuted for the Haditha massacre, the first names on that list, unfortunately, must be the Marines who actually fired the weapons that slaughtered 24 defenseless men, women and children.

It does not matter if they were outraged at the death of a lance corporal, or broken-hearted or freaked out or completely exhausted.

These are just excuses, and Marines never make excuses.

The words "Death Before Dishonor," which many Marines have tattooed on their arms, are more than an empty slogan.

In the Marine Corps, those words represent an immutable principle that sets the standard of conduct.

The murder of civilians flies in the face of that principle and represents a total breakdown of Marine Corps discipline.

But those few Marines in Haditha are not solely responsible for this abomination, and they must not be left to absorb all of the blame alone.

Such misconduct bespeaks a systemic problem, a scandalous failure of leadership, and the killers' superiors share responsibility with the men who actually pulled the triggers.

And this time, unlike the farcical Abu Ghraib cover-up, prosecutors must methodically work their way up the chain of command until they have identified every superior officer who, through neglect, indifference or incompetence has contributed to this catastrophe.

Next, and more important, we must assign blame to the civilian ideologues who poisoned America's well with their strange, selfish, paranoid ambitions.

These radicals, masquerading as "conservatives," lusted after the chance to invade Iraq so they could steal its oil and indulge their bizarre delusions of world dominance.

Craven chickenhawks, most of whom had never heard a shot fired in anger or seen a dead Marine up close, they consolidated their influence to twist intelligence until it suited their purposes, brushed aside the indispensable lessons of Vietnam with a few handy talking-points and led our country straight through the looking glass into another meat-grinder guerrilla war that simply can never be won.

The civilians ultimately responsible for our debacle in Iraq profess that military service is merely another job choice -- for somebody else's children, of course -- and that dying is just an incidental part of the downside.

They've hidden our flag-draped caskets, declared the Geneva Conventions quaint and thus inoperative, sent too few troops off to fight their battles, dispatched them without a strategic plan and supplied them with inadequate armor and defective equipment.

Finally, since they no longer can scrape up enough new recruits and because a military draft would be political suicide, they've issued "stop-loss" orders and consigned our Marines and soldiers to endless, exhausting cycles of deployment after deployment. '

Given all this, is it any wonder our troops are at their wits' end?

Given all this, is it a little easier to understand the collapse of Marine Corps discipline in Haditha and the murder of 24 civilians?

Because of their deceit and incompetence, our civilian leaders have managed to make the United States a global pariah, they have caused the deaths of thousands upon thousands of people and they are breaking the back of our military.

It's hard to believe, but we have now been in Iraq for as almost as long as we fought World War II.

At this point, however, instead of being on the verge of victory, our soldiers are exhausted and their families are disintegrating.

And nobody is able to say what victory is or how it can be attained.

As citizens of this democracy, we cannot permit this debacle to continue.

When the ghost of President Kennedy rises up to ask us what we can do for our country, the answer is stone simple.

What we can do for our country is accept the reality that we cannot win this war and end it now.

What we can do for our country is bring our soldiers and Marines home to their families, make amends and start healing our wounds.

What we can do for our country is take it back from the radicals who've stolen it away and start the process of restoring our integrity and our honor and our hope.

Terence L. Kindlon is a criminal defense lawyer in Albany.

He once was a Marine sergeant and was wounded in Vietnam during the Tet offensive in 1968. His email address is tkindlon@aol.com.

end quotes

There has not actually been .....

A break-down .....

In Marine Corps discipline .....

Rather ...

That discipline .....

HAS BEEN RACHETED DOWN .....

WAY DOWN, IN FACT ....

TO MATCH .....

THE COMPLETE ....

AND TOTAL ...

LACK ....

OF DISCIPLINE .....

THAT THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF .....

IS POSSESSED OF .....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

OUR FOREFATHERS .....

DID NOT WANT ...

CHURCHES .....

INVOLVED IN POLITICS ....

PRECISELY .....

BECAUSE .....

OUR FOREFATHERS ....

DID NOT WANT ....

ORGANIZED GROUPS ....

LIKE THESE EVANGELICALS ....

FORCING THEIR RELIGION ...

THEIR BELIEFS ....

DOWN OUR THROATS ....

THROUGH THE AGENCY ....

OF A GOVERNMENT ....

WHICH THEY CONTROLLED .....

AS THEY CONTROL ....

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY ....

AND WHO IT PUTS IN OFFICE ....

LIKE GEORGE W. BUSH ...

HERE IN OUR AMERICA .....

And so ...

"Looking past religion into the political candidate pool"

By KATHRYN LOPEZ
First published: Sunday, July 16, 2006

A Washington Post reporter once described evangelical voters as "poor, uneducated, and easy to command."

As we edge closer to the 2008 presidential elections, count on the press being the uneducated ones -- easily led by their farcical view of religious Americans.

In a recent Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll, more than a third of registered voters polled said they would not vote for a Mormon presidential candidate.

Mitt Romney, the Republican governor of Massachusetts, happens to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and is a contender for the GOP ticket; so "the Mormon question" has been a hot topic in some political circles.

But although, among the speculators, it is widely believed that evangelical Christians would no-way, no-how vote for a Mormon, the poll numbers hint that Romney's real obstacle might be a much more traditional political one.

Looking at the numbers, John C. Green, a religion-and-politics expert at the University of Akron, points out, "There appears to have been an increase in the skepticism about voting for a Mormon for president since the late 1990s."

Green speculates: "This increase may reflect the opposition to Mormons among evangelicals and other conservative Christians."

"But it also may reflect opposition from liberal Democrats and seculars who recognize Mormons as a socially conservative group."

In the 2006 poll, self-described "liberal Democrats" were those most likely to oppose a Mormon candidate.

However, these current generic numbers, Green says, "don't necessarily predict outcomes."

"The reason is that the candidates are real people with records, skills and programs -- all of which can matter more at the ballot box than generalized opinions about religious groups."

So as the discussion moves from an anonymous Mormon candidate to the actual Mitt Romney, and from abstract speculation to actual primaries and caucuses, polling will become more meaningful.

Those opposed to a generic Mormon candidate may reveal that their opposition is prompted much more by political ideology than by sectarian concerns about religion.

Michael Cromartie, who runs the Evangelical Studies Project at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, has observed: "Most evangelicals do perceive Mormonism to be a cult and are deeply troubled by its theology."

"But this does not mean they would not vote for someone like Gov. Romney."

When they vote for president, they are voting not for a pastor or confessor, but for a political leader -- and in that arena, evangelicals and Mormons have much in common.

Rewind to April 2005 for a hint at how theological differences fade once we start talking politics.

Some of the most heartfelt remembrances of Pope John Paul II came from evangelical Christians in Congress.

Now, true, a Roman Catholic has already been president, and my crowd (I'm Catholic) is bigger that the Salt Lakers, so folks are a bit more used to us; but papists and evangelical Protestants do have some not-minor theological differences.

Yet on abortion, cloning and gay marriage -- which Romney has some experience fighting in his oh-so-blue Bay State -- there's a real political and cultural bond that transcends theological differences.

I might not go to church with him, but I can work with him.

And if I were a conservative evangelical Protestant, I'd certainly consider voting for someone who talks about a culture of life in the way Romney does.

The media, naturally, will continue to miss the real story: the fact that Romney's convictions, as they are translated into politics, might make him more, rather than less, appealing to evangelicals.

This isn't just conservative grousing, either: CNN political analyst Bill Schneider recently remarked, to the L.A. Times, that "the press is one of the most secular institutions in American society."

"It just doesn't get religion or any idea that flows from religious conviction."

So can a Mormon be president?

Save that question until Romney announces.

And ask it again after people have had some more exposure to him, and can reference some speech he gave -- instead of having their quickest thought-association for "Mormon" in current events be an HBO show about polygamy.

And if and when some opponent tries to use his religion against him as Democrat Ted Kennedy (yes, brother of the religion-and-the-presidency-taboo-breaker Catholic JFK) did in his 1994 Senate race with Romney, Americans will see it for what it is -- that old-time, hardball, sometimes-unholy politics.

Lopez's e-mail address is klopez@nationalreview.com

[jeffmoskin]

In a recent Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll, more than a third of registered voters polled said they would not vote for a Mormon presidential candidate

Perhaps they misunderstood the word and thought the pollster said, MORON

America already has.

[Snuffysmith]

I received this in an email today and couldn't help being reminded of the Gulf of Tonkin:

Webster Tarpley issues False Flag warning.
B16712 / Sat, 15 Jul 2006 20:54:09 / "War on Terror"
The following warning was sent by Webster Tarpley, (author of “Synthetic Terrorism”) – 7/15/2006:

HOLD MOSSAD, SHIN BETH, ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES RESPONSIBLE FOR SAFETY OF 25,000 AMERICANS IN LEBANON

BEWARE OF FALSE FLAG WAR PROVOCATIONS PLANNED WITH CONNIVANCE OF CHENEY

By Webster G. Tarpley

Washington DC, July 15 (1 PM EDT)—The escalating Israeli assault on Lebanon clearly represents a conscious bid to provoke a general war in the Middle East. The captured Israeli soldiers are only the pretext for the present massive military operations. Israeli spokesmen are making constant allegations that Hezbollah missiles being fired at Israel have been manufactured or delivered by Iran. At the same time, the Israelis accuse Hezbollah of wanting to transfer the two captured Israeli soldiers to Syria or Iran. These statements are an attempt to build a case for an Israeli sneak attack on Syria and/or Iran. US spokesmen, including the Nietzschean fascist Bolton, constantly repeat the litany that Syria and Iran are the supporters of Hezbollah.

How might the Israelis and their Bush-Cheney allies escalate to a Middle East regional war? A linear scenario is that, after further bombardment of Israel by rockets allegedly made in Iran and allegedly delivered with the connivance of Syria, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) lashes out at Damascus and Teheran. Syrian and Iranian retaliatory measures would then be seized upon by the Bush-Cheney regime as a pretext for US entry into the war. Here the US would be openly dragged into war as the tail of the Israeli dog. But this is a deeply flawed scenario, sure to generate huge waves of resentment against the Israelis and their US partners as the body bags begin to come home.

False flag scenarios would be entirely more effective from the point of view of the war planners. CNN and MSNBC coverage this Saturday morning has been stressing the situation of the 25,000 Americans now stuck in Lebanon. These Americans are being invited to register with the US consulates for possible evacuation. The State Department and the US military have been remarkably slow to begin such an evacuation.

One possible provocation scenario to bring the US into the war is that a helicopter carrying US citizens being evacuated out of Lebanon is hit by a missile and destroyed, killing all on board. The missile might be fired by the Israelis or by their allies among the fascist Lebanese Phalangists. The Israelis would announce that the helicopter had been destroyed by Hezbollah, opening the way for a hysterical campaign by Fox News and the rest of the neocon mass brainwashing apparatus to secure an early US attack on Syria and Iran.

An alternative: a group of Arabic-speaking Israeli Mossad or Shin Beth special forces, or a group of Phalangist militia round up a few dozen Americans and machine-gun them to death. The controlled media then blame the massacre on Hezbolllah, thus stampeding the US population into war.

The “Christian” Phalangist (or “Kataeb Party”) have long been a willing cat’s paw for the US and Israelis in Lebanon. It was the Phalangists, controlled by the Gemayel family, who did most of the actual killing at the infamous Tel-al-Zaatar massacre in August 1976, the midst of the Kissinger-provoked Lebanese civil war. The Phalangists in that case did the dirty work under the supervision of the Israelis. Although the controlled media have been silent about the Phalange, it is clear that they are still available for dirty operations.

In an ominous sign, CNN broadcasts have featured first-person interviews with Caroline Shamoun, supposedly an American stuck in Lebanon. This reference recalls Camille Chamoun, the CIA puppet president of Lebanon who called in US forces in 1958. The goal of the current campaign is manifestly to call US forces to intervene into a Lebanon-centered crisis once again.

All peace-loving governments and all Americans of good will should make it clear that they hold the Israeli Mossad, Shin Beth, and Israeli Defense Forces directly responsible for the safety and welfare of the Americans trapped in Lebanon by the present aggression. Any atrocities against these Americans cannot be attributed to Hezbollah, Syria, or Iran, none of whom has any conceivable interest in provoking the US into an attack. It is Israel and Cheney who have such an interest, as is likely to have been discussed during Olmert’s visit to the US in May and Netanyahu’s visit here in June.

It is imperative that the US and world population be inoculated against the provocation scenarios now being propagandized by CNN, MSNBC, and the rest of the controlled media.
——————————————————————
Webster Griffin Tarpley is author of the books “9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA,” the only “full MIHOP” or “inside job from A to Z” study of 9/11 in print; and co-author of “George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography,” which was the first to break the story of the Bush dynasty’s key role in launching Adolf Hitler.

You can hear Tarpley’s “World Crisis Radio” show weekly at RBNlive.com
____________________________

Tell me I'm not getting paranoid. Please.

[Livyjr]

Tell me I'm not getting paranoid.

Please.

Oh, I don't think you are getting paranoid, Snuf .....

And besides, paranoia is simply a state of mind .....

Real, yes ...

But ......

Years ago, Snuf .....

I was a point man in Viet Nam ......

And I didn't "THINK" people were out to kill me .....

I knew they were .....

Because that is what their job was ....

And that was alright with me ...

Since they wanting to kill me ...

In and of itself ...

Did not make it happen ...

And so .....

My job .....

Was not to be .....

Their victim .....

And so ....

I'm still here .....

And while I don't like what is going on in the world right now .....

Just as I did not back then ....

I still realize ...

That all I might have control over ...

AT BEST ....

IN THE ABSOLUTE MIDST ...

Of the insanity .....

IS ME .....

And all the rest ...

IS HAPPENSTANCE .....

And so ....

I am with jeffmoskin, myself .....

That we are in the midst .....

Of a time of insanity .....

And a long time ago .....

I gave up ....

Trying to use rational methodology .....

To try and understand ...

Irrational behavior .....

And so .....

I OBSERVE .....

I myself have no doubts at all .....

That "these guys" .....

Want to have ...

One final big DUST-UP .....

Over there in the Middle East .....

And my money ....

Is on ...

Them having it ....

Which could plunge the world back into another "DARK AGES" ....

And you know what, Snuf ....

SO BE IT .....

I've got firewood to get in, before winter comes .....

And I am still working on getting a real roof over my head, to ward off the elements ....

And so ...

Life out in the hinterlands of civilization goes on .....

And this is not to say that I am indifferent ...

Au contraire ....

It is just that I do not have the emotional energy ...

To spend ....

On a world gone mad ....

When that expenditure ...

Will cripple me ....

In my own life ...

And so ...

[Livyjr]

I received this in an email today and couldn't help being reminded of the Gulf of Tonkin:

Webster Tarpley issues False Flag warning.
B16712 / Sat, 15 Jul 2006 20:54:09 / "War on Terror"
The following warning was sent by Webster Tarpley, (author of “Synthetic Terrorism”) – 7/15/2006:

HOLD MOSSAD, SHIN BETH, ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES RESPONSIBLE FOR SAFETY OF 25,000 AMERICANS IN LEBANON

BEWARE OF FALSE FLAG WAR PROVOCATIONS PLANNED WITH CONNIVANCE OF CHENEY

By Webster G. Tarpley

And of course, Snuf ...

THIS IS OPINION ......

Not yet fact .....

And so .....

And that is a problem in our world today ....

The plethora of opinions that we are barraged with ....

Especially down there where you are .....

Where having an opinion is a business .....

OPINIONS AS TO WHAT MIGHT BE ...

ARE MERELY OPINIONS .....

WELL-INFORMED .....

OR NOT .....

I myself do not know the names of half of these people .....

Who have these opinions ...

On which they make their living .....

And I have no idea at all who this Tarpley is .....

Other than someone with the leisure time to write a book or two ....

And so ......

I really pay him no mind at all ......

Beyond considering his words .....

And so .....

We got a guy up here .....

Who is a real fool ....

As only fools can be .....

Out in the country ...

And up here ...

People are just as inclined ...

To take his word on something .....

As readily ...

As they are inclined to take the word of this Tarpley ...

OR ME, for that matter .....

And so .....

Maybe it is just the slower pace of life up here, Snuf .....

Where it takes a week or so ...

After planting seeds ...

To see if something will come up .....

And then it takes weeks and weeks more .....

To see if something will actually bear fruit ......

And then ...

It takes more time .....

To see if the deer and squirrels and whatnot .....

Won't eat all that "fruit" .....

The day before you were ready to pick it for yourself ....

And so .....

Given the real prospect .....

Of freezing .....

And starving .....

In the middle of the winter up here .....

Sort of puts a perspective on things .....

That the folks in the city don't seem to have .....

Where life is much faster .....

And so ......

Priorities, Snuf .....

This Tarpley has a point of view .....

And that is all .....

Nothing to get paranoid over, from my perspective, anyway .....

ESPECIALLY IF HE IS RIGHT ......

And so .....

[Livyjr]

"Cheney raises funds for candidate - Vice president attends event for Republican running for congressional seat" 
 
By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press
First published: Saturday, July 15, 2006

UTICA -- Vice President Dick Cheney urged Republicans on Friday night to make the war on terror their top issue in the 2006 election, speaking at a fundraiser in a contested upstate congressional district.
 
"As we make our case to the voters in an election year, it is vital to keep issues of national security at the top of the agenda," Cheney told more than 300 donors to GOP candidate Ray Meier.

Meier, a state senator running against Democrat Michael Arcuri to replace a seat now held by retiring Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, said national security is not the first issue in the minds of voters he talks to.

"I think the voters in this district are really more interested in issues closer to home," Meier said, citing jobs, gas prices and the economy.

And with respect to Dick Cheney, Snuf ......

I just go back to this news article right above here .....

And I take my comfort from the reply of this Meier .....

That up here, where I am ......

OUTSIDE THE UNNATURALNESS OF THE "BELTWAY" .....

People are interested .....

NOT IN WHAT SOME WASHINGTON BUFFOON LIKE DICK CHENEY MIGHT BE SAYING .....

They are more interested in LIFE RIGHT HERE .....

And so .....

Let us presume for a moment that Dick Cheney really does have all this power that Tarpley attributes to him .....

IN WHICH CASE .....

He can do whatever HE wants .....

Like blow up the world ...

FOR PROFIT ....

WHICH DICK CHENEY IS QUITE CAPABLE OF DOING .....

In my opinion, anyway .....

Since I think Dick Cheney has gone past some boundary of rationality .....

Over into the uncharted wasteland ...

Of insanity .....

Then in the vernacular .....

IF DICK HAS THIS POWER ...

AND CHOOSES TO USE IT ...

Well ...

In that case .....

WE ARE ALL ****ED ......

Hypothetically, anyway .....

And so .....

In that case .....

What is there to worry about?

We are all already dead ...

And so .....

Might as well go on with life .....

Until the "end" gets here .....

And so .....

And if Dick Cheney does not have this power ...

Then there is also nothing to really worry about ...

Other than freezing .....

And starving .....

In the middle of the winter ....

And so ....

Back to perspective, Snuf .....

Practice being laconic, Snuf .....

Learn to say, "OH, WELL ..."

And then ...

Really mean it ....

Works for me, anyway .....

Out here in the wilds of America ....

And so .....

[Livyjr]

"Ex-GI charged in rape of Iraqi, killings" 
 
By TIM WHITMIRE, Associated Press
Last updated: 3:42 a.m., Tuesday, July 4, 2006

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- When U.S. military officials found the bodies of four Iraqis inside a burned house near Mahmoudiya in March, they at first blamed insurgents.

Three of the bodies had gunshot wounds, and the body of a woman was burned.

Authorities believe she was raped before being shot in the head.
 
But on Monday, federal prosecutors revealed the outcome of a joint military and FBI investigation: the culprits, they now believe, are U.S. soldiers who manned a checkpoint a short distance from the home.

end quotes

PUNKS .....

IN PARATROOPER SUITS .....

WHO RAPE AND KILL WOMEN .....

FOR GEORGE W. BUSH ...

AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY ....

ARE NOT REAL AIRBORNE TROOPERS .....

NOR ARE THEY REAL AMERICAN SOLDIERS ......

THEY'RE JUST A BUNCH .....

OF BUSHCOS ...

And so ....

"Military, civilian leaders are failing the U.S." 
 
By TERENCE L. KINDLON
Albany, New York Times Union
First published: Sunday, July 16, 2006

Earlier in this war, after the torture at Abu Ghraib prison was discovered, the military prosecuted a few backwoods sad-sacks who'd been miscast as prison guards.

The decision to charge only low-ranking soldiers was an obscene miscarriage of justice.

It told the Iraqis that, regardless of what we said, Americans were no better than the cruel dictator we had vanquished.

Worse, as we Americans idly stood by, any number of high ranking military officers, civilian officials and politicians -- the people who were actually most responsible for Abu Ghraib -- shamelessly blamed the scandal on a few bad apples while they walked away from the horrific mess they'd made, hoping the world wouldn't notice the blood dripping from their hands.

"U.S. military fears outcome of rape trial"

By RYAN LENZ, Associated Press
Last updated: 10:45 p.m., Sunday, July 16, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.S. military officials fear that religious hurdles in exhuming the body of a teenager could complicate the prosecution of American soldiers accused of raping and murdering the girl -- and create a political nightmare for the U.S. mission here.

Given the seriousness of the allegations, U.S. officials believe a vigorous prosecution is essential and punishment should be severe if the five U.S. soldiers and one former soldier are convicted.

Anything short of that would be seen by Iraqis as a cover up and could shatter remaining support for the U.S. presence here.

Five soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division are accused of raping and murdering Abeer al-Janabi near the town of Mahmoudiya on March 12.

A sixth soldier is accused of failing to report the crime.

The soldiers allegedly saw the victim at a checkpoint in the town and plotted the attack for a week, according to federal court documents.

Three of her family members were killed in the assault.

But the victim's male relatives have refused to allow her body to be exhumed because of objections from a Muslim cleric.

Islamic law frowns on exhumations as desecration of the dead.

"Chief among our concerns is carrying out justice."

"But when you get town officials or an imam saying that exhuming the body doesn't jive with our cultural sensitivities, that creates a massive stumbling block," a U.S. military official in Baghdad close to the investigation said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to media.

Without forensic evidence, prosecutors must rely heavily on statements from the suspects.

Defense lawyers will doubtless claim those statements were made under duress and seek to keep them from the jury.

While some evidence has been collected at the home where the assault allegedly occurred, officials say none of it confirms guilt.

A photograph of the girl's Iraqi identity card, viewed by The Associated Press in Baghdad, showed the girl was 14 at the time of the attack, with her birthdate listed as Aug. 19, 1991.

The identity card was issued in 1993 and shows a picture of the girl as a toddler.

The soldiers -- Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, Spc. James P. Barker, Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman and Pfc. Bryan L. Howard -- are accused of rape and murder.

They allegedly conspired with former soldier Steven D. Green, who was arrested last month in North Carolina.

Green, who was discharged from the Army because of a personality disorder, likely will be tried in federal court.

The former Army private pleaded not guilty to one count of rape and four counts of murder and is being held without bond.

Sgt. Anthony W. Yribe, is charged with failing to report the attack but is not alleged to have been a direct participant.

Those still on active duty face an Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a grand jury proceeding, to determine if they should stand trial.

If the case does go to trial, the murder suspects could face the death penalty.

Yet Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has complained that Iraqi courts should try cases of abuse by American soldiers -- something the U.S. command strongly resists -- and last week called for a review of an agreement giving foreign troops immunity from Iraqi prosecution.

"Those who are free from being punished misbehave, and they have misbehaved a lot," al-Maliki said.

The U.S. military always has insisted it will punish soldiers who commit crimes against Iraqis.

During a visit last week, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld underscored that position, insisting that "no one" in the U.S. force "is immune," meaning from U.S. though not Iraqi prosecution.

The attack was the latest in a string of allegations that U.S. soldiers and Marines in Iraq have killed civilians, including the alleged massacre of dozens in Haditha.

[Livyjr]

"McCain touts Sweeney's service - Arizona senator, once criticized by Clifton Park congressman, spends day campaigning for him" 
 
By KATE PERRY, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Sunday, May 21, 2006

Facing perhaps the toughest race of his political career, Rep. John Sweeney brought an unlikely supporter to the area Saturday to boost his campaign -- U.S. Sen. John McCain.

Six years ago, Sweeney blasted McCain, R-Ariz., who was in a presidential primary against George W. Bush, as "anti-New York," citing his voting record on ice storm relief for the Northeast, the Northeast Dairy Compact and mass transit money.

But Saturday, the pair praised each other limitlessly at events in Saratoga Springs and Brunswick.

In 2000, Sweeney was quoted saying, "If there was such a thing as an anti-New York caucus, (McCain) would be the head of it."

"I'm here because I think that John is a dedicated public servant, he is a real leader and one that I think is important to the future of the Republican Party," McCain said.

Sweeney, who took heat recently for appearing in photos at a late-night Union College fraternity party, faces Democratic attorney Kirsten Gillibrand from Hudson.

Gillibrand raised funds and campaigned aggressively early on, and some view her as Sweeney's first real opponent in years.

McCain said he frequently stumps for fellow Republicans during congressional races and is confident Sweeney will win re-election.

Still, he noted Sweeney has his work cut out for him.

"We all know this is going to be a very tough election season," McCain said.

"Republicans are going to have a difficult challenge in this election."

Gillibrand campaign manager Bill Hyers said his camp is shocked McCain would stump for Sweeney after the congressman's remarks in 2000.

"It's obvious that (Sweeney's) an endangered incumbent seeking to get any popular Republican that's out there," Hyers said.

Sweeney's deputy chief of staff, Melissa Carlson, said Gillibrand's camp canceled today's fundraiser with Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., because of pressure exerted by Republicans.

The Clifton Park GOP issued a release Thursday calling Emanuel, a Chicago congressman, "corrupt."

In Saratoga, about 125 people picked at cold Asian chicken salad and chocolate chip cannolis for $150 a plate as McCain spoke.

Outside, about 30 protesters hoisting picket signs and brooms said it was time to "clean out the House" by not re-electing Sweeney.

Later in the afternoon, the pair joined Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno under a slow drizzle at the Elks Lodge in Brunswick, where he hosted a picnic to raise funds for Rensselaer County's underprivileged children.

Bruno said it's important for Sweeney to take this year's election seriously, even in a district where enrolled Republicans outnumber Democrats by 84,657, but he said the situation isn't that dire.

"The President's numbers are as low as they've ever been," Bruno said.

"Some Democrats are working hard to make this sound like it's going to be a big tsunami, but it's not going to be."

end quotes

You can get a passable cold Asian chicken salad up here at any number of Chinese buffets for maybe five dollars .....

Or less .....

And a good cannoli is about a dollar .....

Maybe a dollar-and-a-half ......

And so .....

I guess it makes the REPUBLICANS up here feel good to get gouged on what they paid for theirs at this McCain-Sweeney LOVE FEST ........

And so ....

Go figure on that one .....

If you can ....

And so ....

"Sweeney ally calls rival rich urbanite - Gillibrand spokeswoman calls comment sophomoric distraction"

By CATHY WOODRUFF, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Monday, July 17, 2006

ALBANY -- A Republican ally of U.S. Rep. John Sweeney accused Sweeney's Democratic challenger Sunday of hiding her true identity as an affluent New York City lawyer in an effort to portray herself falsely as a regular middle-class upstater.

"Is she embarrassed to admit that she is probably more familiar with the price of dog-walkers in Manhattan than the price of a six-pack at Stewart's?" Clifton Park Republican Chairman Michael Lisuzzo asked during a news conference outside Kirsten Gillibrand's law office.

Gillibrand, 39, is challenging Sweeney, a Republican seeking his fifth two-year term in Congress.

"These are false claims," said her spokeswoman, Allison Price.

"The Gillibrands own one home."

"The Gillibrands have never owned a dog," she said.

"When Mr. Lisuzzo wants to send the Gillibrands a six-pack from Stewart's to apologize for these lies, they would prefer root beer."

Lisuzzo, a financial adviser and GOP chairman in the Saratoga County town in which Sweeney now resides, produced a sheaf of documents that he said proves Gillibrand's primary residence is a swank New York City apartment, not an expensive house she owns in Columbia County with her husband.

Price said the Gillibrands bought their Columbia County house in 2003.

At that time, it was a second home while Gillibrand wound down her practice in New York City, and that is why they signed the required "second home rider" with their mortgage documents in July 2003, she said.

They moved to that house permanently in 2004 and no longer maintain an apartment in New York City, Price said.

Sweeney, a Troy native, did not live in his congressional district when he ran the first time in 1998, Lisuzzo acknowledged Sunday.

"But he didn't live in a luxury New York City apartment," Lisuzzo said.

Price called the residency allegations "sophomoric attempts to run away from Sweeney's voting record."

Gillibrand grew up in this region and is the granddaughter of Albany Democratic icon Dorothea "Polly" Noonan.

end quotes

"Hey, Jackie Boy, Hey, Johnnie" Sweeney IS A LAWYER .....

Just like his Democratic challenger is .....

And "Hey, Jackie Boy, Hey, Johnnie" ......

IS IN THE GAME .....

FOR HIS POCKET .....

Which has done very well .....

For itself .....

Since "Hey, Jackie Boy, Hey, Johnnie" .....

First entered "public service" .....

As a REPUBLICAN THUG .....

And GOFER ....

And alleged BAGMAN .....

Back in the 1980's ......

IN CORRUPT REPUBLICAN-CONTROLLED RENSSELAER COUNTY .....

IN THE CORRUPT REPUBLICAN-CONTROLLED .....

State of New York .....

And so .....

To my knowledge .....

"Hey, Jackie Boy, Hey, Johnnie" Sweeney ....

HAS NEVER HELD ANY REAL JOB .....

OUTSIDE OF BEING A POLITICAL HACK .....

FOR THE REPUBLICANS .....

And so ......

SOME "TRUTH IN ADVERTISING" ......

Just to keep things balanced in here ....

LIKE FOX NEWS DOES OUT "THERE" .....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

And here is where we are .....

On this day ....

Here ....

In OUR America .....

"Heat wave broils much of nation"

By NAHAL TOOSI, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:36 p.m., Monday, July 17, 2006

NEW YORK -- Temperatures in the 90s and beyond gripped a large swath of the country Monday, sending people scrambling for shade and swimming pools and leading to calls for energy conservation.

On the streets of New York, a spot in the shade competed with a parking space as a valuable commodity.

Men and women made their way under narrow awnings, lounged under trees and took breaks beneath the large umbrellas of hot dog stands.

"It feels oppressive and sticky," said Laura Shaffer, a 30-year-old New Yorker, sipping a soda on her way to work.

In Cleveland, 22 outdoor pools that are normally closed on Mondays and Tuesdays were being opened.

Temperatures throughout Ohio were expected around 90 for the rest of the week.

Tony Godel was already sweating through his brown T-shirt by 10 a.m. as he worked on a remodeling project at a hotel in Cleveland.

He planned to drink a lot of water.

"You get used to it after a while," Godel said.

"You know what you're getting into."

"You're paid to deal with it."

With the sweltering weather expected to continue, calls also went out for electricity conservation.

PJM Interconnection, which operates the electric grid for all or part of 13 states and the District of Columbia, asked people to reduce usage, especially between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Health Authorities

New York state officials issued an air-quality health advisory for the entire state because of ground-level ozone, a major component of smog.

The Philadelphia Corporation for Aging set up a telephone hot line, with nurses available to answer questions about coping with the heat.

The city Health Department sent outreach workers to help the homeless and elderly, just as it does during bitterly cold weather.

Managing Director Pedro Ramos said workers would help them avoid dehydration and find shelter.

In New York City, the record for the date was set in 1953, when Central Park recorded 100 degrees.

On Monday, the mercury had reached 90 before noon.

Shaffer, who studies how corporations deal with environmental issues, decided to buy her lunch at a fast-food restaurant before heading into work so she would not have to go back outside.

"I think that it's a precursor of what we could be experiencing on a daily basis if we don't do something about global warming," she said.

The federal government reported last week that the first half of the year was the warmest in the United States since record keeping began in 1895.

The average temperature for the 48 contiguous United States from January through June was 51.8 degrees, or 3.4 degrees above average for the 20th century.

In Denver, Hyla Ferguson said the heat forces her to get things done in the morning.

"At my sister's house, I've been getting up with the kids and I've been taking them outside early, early in the morning because it's just too hot to have the babies out there at 1, 2 and 3," Ferguson said.

"So that way they get their fix for the day and they don't mind staying inside and watching movies or doing board games."

[Livyjr]

And here is where they are ...

Over there in Boston .....

Where they have a NEW YORK STATE-sized BOONDOGLE .....

TAXPAYER-FUNDED, OF COURSE ....

Known as the BIG DIG .....

"Documents reveal Big Dig design dispute"

By BROOKE DONALD, Associated Press Writer

28 minutes ago

BOSTON - Investigators probing the fatal collapse of a Big Dig tunnel ceiling have discovered documents showing there was a "substantial dispute" over whether the design of the tunnel was adequate to hold the weight of the ceiling panels, the attorney general said Monday.

Four of the 3-ton panels collapsed onto a car July 10, killing Milena Del Valle, 38, of Boston, and injuring her husband.

Since then, engineers have found hundreds of places within the connector tunnel, a main passage to Boston's Logan International Airport, where the bolts are not properly secured.

Attorney General Tom Reilly, who refused to give specifics, said he did not know how the dispute was resolved.

He said the designer, the installer and Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, the company overseeing the Big Dig project, were involved but would not say who raised the questions.

"There was a substantial dispute whether the design was adequate to hold the weight expected," Reilly said.

As investigations and testing on the tunnel system continued, commuters on Monday got their glimpse of the increased traffic hassles that officials say could endure for two months, at least.

A second tunnel ramp, which connects Interstate 90 west to Interstate 93, was closed Sunday after testing showed dozens of problems with the bolts holding up the ceiling.

That ramp had been used as part of a detour around the accident scene.

Gov. Mitt Romney has called the ceiling problems a "systemic failure."

He met Monday with congressional, state and city leaders to outline his plan for ensuring safety of the roadways and tunnels, and for easing traffic congestion in the meantime.

After the meeting, Sens. John Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy endorsed the governor's plans.

Kennedy said congressional committees are making plans to hold hearings into the tunnel collapse and the overall Big Dig project.

No hearings had been scheduled.

"We want to make sure the issue of safety is front and center," Kennedy said.

Kerry said the traffic jams resulting from the closures demonstrate the value of the project.

"One thing is for certain: The congestion that we're seeing and the incredible backup really is a statement to the importance of this project and to the difference it has made to the lives of people in this community," Kerry said.

State and federal investigators have focused their attention on the bolts and epoxy glue used to hold the drop-ceiling system in place in the tunnels.

Each of the concrete slabs suspended above the roadway weighs three tons.

The National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Highway Administration and the Massachusetts Highway Department conducted pull tests Monday of selected bolts in the tunnel where the panels fell to determine the characteristics of the epoxy used.

Pull tests are pending on bolts in the Ted Williams Tunnel, which remains open and has a different ceiling design which used lighter panels.

The $14.6 billion Big Dig buried the old elevated Central Artery that used to slice through the city, replacing it with a series of tunnels.

Although it's been considered an engineering marvel, the most expensive highway project in U.S. history also has also been plagued by leaks, falling debris, cost overruns, delays and problems linked to faulty construction.

Reilly is leading a state criminal investigation and has said that both the contractor, Modern Continental Construction Co., and the project overseer, Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, were told in 1999 that five ceiling bolts had broken free during testing.

He questioned whether a prescribed fix had been made.

Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff has defended the construction technique and said it was widely and successfully used throughout the construction industry.

[Livyjr]

And then ...

There is always ...

IRAQINAMISTAN .....

Where the people ....

Cannot use their real names .....

For fear of getting their heads blown off .....

Thanks to George W. Bush ....

And so .....

"3 American soldiers killed in Iraq"

2 hours, 15 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Three American soldiers were killed Monday in separate attacks, two in the Baghdad area and one in western Iraq, the U.S. military said.

A U.S. statement said one soldier was hit by small arms fire early in western Baghdad.

Another soldier died from injuries suffered in an explosion south of the capital, the military said in a separate statement.

The third soldier, assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, died "due to enemy action" in Anbar province, west of Baghdad, the military said.

At least 2,553 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the war in 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

The figure includes seven military civilians.

end quotes

To date ....

2553 members of the United States Military ....

Have died ....

Over there in IRAQINAMISTAN ....

For George W. Bush's LIES .....

Will George surpass the fifty-some thousand dead from Viet Nam?

Stay tuned ....

And see ....

[Livyjr]

"Megachurches build a Republican base"

By Andrea Hopkins

LANCASTER, Ohio (Reuters) - Sexton believes every word in the Bible, rejects evolution theory, and supports the Iraq war, the Republican Party and Bush -- in part because he is a born-again Christian.

"I trust his opinion because of his beliefs," she said.

"Bush curses Hezbollah on live microphone"

By JEANNINE AVERSA, Associated Press
Last updated: 7:06 p.m., Monday, July 17, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- It wasn't meant to be overheard.

Private luncheon conversations among world leaders, picked up by a microphone, provided a rare window into both banter and substance -- including President Bush cursing Hezbollah's attacks against Israel.

Bush expressed his frustration with the United Nations and his disgust with the militant Islamic group and its backers in Syria as he talked to British Prime Minister Tony Blair during the closing lunch at the Group of Eight summit.

"See the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this s--- and it's over," Bush told Blair as he chewed on a buttered roll.

He told Blair he felt like telling U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who visited the gathered leaders, to get on the phone with Syrian President Bashar Assad to "make something happen."

He suggested Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice might visit the region soon.

The unscripted comments came during a photo opportunity at the lunch.

The leaders clearly did not realize that a live microphone was picking up their discussion.

Asked about the microphone mishap during his final briefing of the summit, Blair quipped that it was "all about transparent government."

He smiled and tapped the microphone in front of him.

Bush "sort of rolled his eyes and laughed" when told the comments had been audible and a copy had been made, said Press Secretary Tony Snow.

"Actually his reaction first was, 'What did it say?'"

"So we showed him the transcript, then he rolled his eyes and laughed."

Bush also spoke to other leaders, and his unscripted comments ranged from the serious topic of escalating violence in the Mideast to light banter about his preference for Diet Coke and a gift he received from another leader.

Blair, whose remarks were not as clearly heard, appeared to be pressing Bush about the importance of getting international peacekeepers into the region.

Bush expresses amazement that it will take some leaders as many as eight hours to fly home -- about the same time it will take Air Force One with Bush aboard to return to Washington.

"You eight hours?"

"Me, too."

"Russia's a big country and you're a big country," Bush said, at one point telling a waiter he wanted Diet Coke.

"Takes him eight hours to fly home."

"Russia's big and so is China."

"Yeah Blair, what're you doing?"

"Are you leaving."

Bush thanked Blair for the gift of a sweater and joked that he knew Blair had picked it out personally.

"Absolutely," Blair responded, with a laugh.

A stickler for keeping to his schedule, Bush could also be heard telling Russian President Vladimir Putin, "We've got to keep this thing moving."

"I have to leave at 2:15."

"They want me out of town so to free up your security forces."

Bush also remarked that some speakers at the meeting talk too long.

It was the second time in less than a month that remarks at a G-8 event in Russia ended up being heard over an audio system officials thought was off.

Last month, an inadvertent audio feed from a closed-door lunch in Moscow between Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov exposed their sometimes testy discussion about the security situation in Iraq.

------

On the Net:

White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov

[Snuffysmith]

Quotation of the Day:


Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime: Ernest Hemingway

I couldn't have said this any better.

[Livyjr]

"Rivals dispute Spitzer's inevitability" 
 
By MARC HUMBERT, Associated Press
First published: Tuesday, June 27, 2006

BOLTON LANDING -- Suozzi, hoping to force Spitzer into a Sept. 12 Democratic primary, said New York can be fixed, but Spitzer isn't the man for the job.

The Nassau County executive compared state government to a troubled corporation.

Suozzi said Spitzer, as attorney general for more than seven years, "was sitting on the board of directors."

end quotes

No, Tom .....

That's not exactly right ...

Although close to the mark .....

Old "Big EL" Spitzer wasn't just on the "BOARD OF DIRECTORS" .....

HE WAS THE LAWYER ....

WHO WAS PROVIDING COVER .....

FOR ALL THE WRONG-DOING ...

BY THE "BOARD OF DIRECTORS" .....

TO INCLUDE .....

IN AT LEAST ONE CASE ...

UNDER DISCUSSION ...

IN ANOTHER THREAD ...

IN THIS FORUM ...

http://commongroundcommonsense.org/forums/...php/t24721.html

ALLEGEDLY SUBORNING PERJURY .....

SO THAT HE COULD CRUSH .....

CITIZEN DISSENT .....

AGAINST GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION .....

IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK .....

And so ...

"BIG EL" SPITZER .....

IS MORE THAN JUST A PARTICIPANT ....

AS NEW YORK STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ...

HE "EMPOWERS" CORRUPTION ....

WHICH IN TURN ...

BENEFITS HIM .....

BY WINNING HIM FAVOR ...

WITH THOSE ...

WHO BENEFIT THEMSELVES .....

FROM CORRUPT STATE GOVERNMENT ...

HERE IN THE CORRUPT STATE OF NEW YORK ...

And so .....

"Suozzi campaign manager steps aside"

By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:46 p.m., Monday, July 17, 2006

NEW YORK -- Democrat Tom Suozzi shook up his longshot bid for governor Monday, replacing campaign manager Kim Devlin in an effort to turn around the struggling campaign.

Suozzi, who badly trails Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in the Democratic primary race in polls and fundraising, announced that Devlin would be relieved of day-to-day responsibilities on the campaign but would continue as a close political counselor.

"I trust Kim Devlin and her abilities more than anyone in politics," Suozzi said in a statement.

"She will continue to do what she has done for the last five years, which is to advise me."

A Suozzi adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak for the campaign, said Devlin would be replaced by Paul Rivera, a longtime Democratic strategist and adviser to Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign, and by Anthony Cancellieri, the Nassau County deputy executive who has held a leadership role in the Suozzi campaign.

Rivera will take the lead on campaign strategy, and Cancellieri will be in charge of management.

Since announcing his candidacy at a raucous campaign kickoff in late January, Suozzi, the Nassau County executive, has been unable to chip away at Spitzer's momentum and enormous lead.

Polls show Suozzi trailing Spitzer by as much as 60 percentage points.

Suozzi has argued that Spitzer, despite his towering reputation as the so-called "sheriff of Wall Street," is too closely tied in to the Albany political establishment and lacks experience as a government reformer and manager.

Devlin, who has served as a key adviser to Suozzi since 2001, said she was willing to do whatever necessary to boost his political fortunes.

"I believe with everything in me that Tom Suozzi is the only candidate for governor who can truly change Albany and make New Yorkers' lives better," Devlin said in a statement.

"I will do anything to help see him as our next governor, including stepping aside as campaign manager and allowing new ideas and energy to flow through the campaign."

The Spitzer campaign was expected to announce Monday that it had about $15 million in the bank, compared to just $2.8 million for Suozzi.

The primary is Sept. 12.

end quotes

Eliot Spitzer ...

Is soft .....

On GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION .....

So soft ...

He is just like a marshmellow .....

And he has a lot of money ....

In his campaign warchest .....

SO ....

Go figure ....

[Livyjr]

And did I say ...

It was hot today?

Pretty hot, anyway ....

And so ....

"Heat, humidity and smog stifle upstate"

Associated Press
Last updated: 6:16 p.m., Monday, July 17, 2006

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Temperature records were threatened and the humid, sticky air was declared unhealthy across upstate New York as a heat wave that has hammered much of the nation moved over the Northeast on Monday.

The National Weather Service issued heat advisories from the Hudson Valley to the Buffalo region and high levels of ground-level ozone, a major component of smog, prompted state officials to issue an air quality health advisory for the entire state.

"I have asthma and it's hard to breathe in this heat," complained Walt Russell, 68, a hot-dog vendor who was getting only a trickle of lunch customers at his stand in normally crowded Cobbs Hill Park in Rochester, where the mercury edged toward a record-tying high of 95 degrees.

"People don't normally feel like eating in weather like this, so business is slow -- about 50 percent what it normally is," he said.

Russell believes the climate has turned warmer in recent times.

"Look at the mild winters we've had, and the summers seem to be a lot hotter," he said, wiping the sweat from his brow with plastic disposable gloves that get so sticky they need to be changed every quarter hour.

The heat pushed statewide power consumption to a record high of 32,624 megawatts for the hour between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., beating out the July 26, 2005 record of 32,075 megawatts, said Jim Smith, manager of communications for the New York Independent System Operator near Albany.

"One megawatt is enough to power 800 to 1,000 homes," Smith said.

Despite increased usage, power companies have sufficient supply to meet demand, he said.

In western New York, which had its warmest June-to-September period in 84 years in 2005 and then an unusually mild winter, "we're in sort of a banana belt of the North for the last year or so," said Steve McLaughlin, a meteorologist in Buffalo.

Temperatures have been above normal 14 out of the last 15 months, he said.

To the east, people outside the Capitol in Albany were taking the heat in stride.

"It's not bad in the shade," said construction worker Alan Reynolds.

"We got our briefing in the morning to take more breaks and drink more liquids."

"You just have to pace yourself."

Investigators in Buffalo were looking into whether heat played a role in the death of an 18-month-old girl found dead in her bedroom Sunday afternoon.

An autopsy was scheduled.

Temperatures inside the second-floor bedroom exceeded 90 degrees, police said.

[Livyjr]

And while we are on the subject of politicians dipping into the public till .....

To help themselves .....

And their POCKETS ....

And the PARTY ....

"Report: Pataki hosts N.H. GOP activists at Executive Mansion"

Associated Press
Last updated: 4:56 p.m., Monday, July 17, 2006

ALBANY -- Gov. George Pataki opened the doors of the Executive Mansion on June 20 for a taxpayer-financed dinner for about a dozen Republican activists from New Hampshire, it was reported Monday.

The dinner came just a few hours after Pataki had state lawmakers over for a lunchtime barbecue.

Pataki, the three-term, lame-duck governor, is eyeing a run for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination and has become a regular visitor in recent months to New Hampshire and Iowa, the states that traditionally begin the presidential nominating process.

On Monday, the New York Daily News reported that Pataki, in reversing the process, had the Granite State GOP activists to the governor's official residence for dinner.

"It was a very good salmon dinner," David Hess, one of the New Hampshire Republicans attending the event, told the tabloid.

"We even got a tour of the kitchen and met the chef."

State Democratic Chairman Herman Farrell complained that Pataki was using the mansion "to wine and dine politicians from another state who he thinks can help get him elected president."

Pataki spokesman David Catalfamo told The Associated Press that hosting the dinner at the publicly financed mansion was "appropriate."

"The governor is a national figure who travels throughout the state and the nation."

"He meets Democrats, Republicans and people from all walks of life and on occasion he has an opportunity to meet with these people when they visit New York," Catalfamo said in a statement to the AP.

"The mansion's historical purpose is to serve as the governor's private residence and like past governors he uses it as such when he's in Albany."

Pataki rarely stays in the mansion.

During his more than 11 years as governor, he and his family have never used it as their main residence, preferring to stay at their Victorian home in Garrison, Putnam County.

Catalfamo, citing security concerns, refused requests from the Daily News to make the guest list for the June 20 dinner public.

------

Information from: Daily News.., http://www.nydailynews.com

[Livyjr]

Graft ...

Corruption .....

Shoddy workmanship .....

And engineers .....

Who make excuses .....

Cook books ...

And look the other way .....

Life in OUR America today ....

So ...

Who actually is surprised .....

That the BIG DIG .....

Is a GEORGE W. BUSH-sized debacle?

And so ....

"Governor: Big trouble with Big Dig bolts"

By BROOKE DONALD, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:23 a.m., Tuesday, July 18, 2006

BOSTON -- Gov. Mitt Romney on Monday dramatically raised the number of potential trouble spots identified by engineers and investigators in a Big Dig connector tunnel where the ceiling collapsed.

Romney, speaking at a Statehouse news conference and illustrating his points with charts and diagrams, said that tests show more than 1,100 bolt assemblies that used epoxy and more than 300 other areas in the connector tunnel complex are unreliable.

All, he said, will have to be reinforced.

"In grabbing ahold of these bolts and pulling on them with excess force, they're letting go ... at lower pressures than they were designed to handle," Romney said.

"That suggests that this epoxy system is not working ... and for that reason we can't count on it," he said.

Last week, days after 12 tons of ceiling panels came loose and fell on a car, crushing a passenger, the governor announced that inspections had found at least 242 points where bolts were separating from the tunnel roof.

Two Big Dig tunnels have since been closed and Romney has not yet cleared the way for them to reopen.

The suspect bolt assemblies the governor described Monday used epoxy, and are the same type as the ones that failed, causing the fatality.

Thousands of other bolt assemblies in the tunnel complex were constructed differently and are not believed to pose a risk.

The $14.6 billion Big Dig -- the most expensive highway project in U.S. history -- buried a highway network that used to slice through the city, replacing it with a series of tunnels.

The project also has also been plagued by leaks, falling debris, cost overruns, delays and problems linked to faulty construction.

Attorney General Tom Reilly, who is considering filing involuntary manslaughter charges in the ceiling collapse, said Monday that investigators had discovered documents showing there was a "substantial dispute" from 1999 to 2000 over whether the design of the tunnel was adequate to hold the weight of the 3-ton ceiling panels.

Reilly, who refused to give specifics, said he did not know how the dispute was resolved.

He said the tunnel designer, the contractor and the company overseeing the Big Dig project were involved but would not say who raised the questions.

The contractor on the tunnel, Modern Continental Construction Co., issued a statement saying it was cooperating with the investigation and is "confident that our work fully complied with the plans and specifications provided by the Central Artery Tunnel Project."

Messages left with project manager Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff and tunnel designer Gannett Fleming were not immediately returned.

Commuters on Monday endured increased traffic hassles with the closing of a second tunnel ramp connecting two interstates.

It was closed Sunday after testing showed dozens of problems with the bolts holding up the ceiling.

That ramp had been used as part of a detour around the accident scene.

Romney said engineers successfully tested a system to reinforce the bolts.

With crews working around the clock, at least one portion of the closed areas could reopen by late in the weekend, he said.

Romney met earlier in the day with congressional, state and city leaders to outline his plan for traffic and to ensure the safe reopening of the tunnels.

After the meeting, Sens. John Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy endorsed the governor's plans.

Kennedy said congressional committees are making plans to hold hearings into the tunnel collapse and the Big Dig project.

"We want to make sure the issue of safety is front and center," Kennedy said.

end quotes

AS WE ENGINEERS SAY .....

"AIN'T GOT TIME ......"

"TO DO IT RIGHT ..."

"BUT WE ALWAYS ....."

"HAVE TIME ....."

"TO DO IT ...."

"TWICE ...."

And so ....

[Livyjr]

And speaking of old "ANTI-LAW AND ORDER" George W. Bush .....

It's George's way .....

Or the highway .....

And there is nothing .....

In between ......

Except George W. Bush .....

Listening in on our conversations .....

And snooping around .....

In our laundry bins .....

Looking around ......

In our dirty laundry .....

See if maybe a TAY-RIST got down in there somehow .....

Waiting for the chance .....

To murder us .....

In our sleep .....

So as to be able to take over ....

Our identities ....

Our houses .....

Out in the suburbs .....

And our bank accounts ....

And credit cards ....

And so .....

"Bush blocked eavesdropping program probe"

By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:55 p.m., Tuesday, July 18, 2006

WASHINGTON -- President Bush personally blocked a Justice Department investigation of the anti-terror eavesdropping program that intercepts Americans' international calls and e-mails, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Tuesday.

Bush refused to grant security clearances for department investigators who were looking into the role Justice lawyers played in crafting the program, under which the National Security Agency listens in on telephone calls and reads e-mail without court approval, Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Without access to the sensitive program, the department's Office of Professional Responsibility closed its investigation in April.

"It was highly classified, very important and many other lawyers had access."

"Why not OPR?" Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the committee chairman, asked Gonzales.

"The president of the United States makes the decision," Gonzales replied.

Later, at the White House, spokesman Tony Snow said the eavesdropping program is reviewed every 45 days by senior officials, including Gonzales.

The president did not consider the Justice unit that functions as a legal ethics watchdog to be the "proper venue," Snow said.

"What he was saying is that in the case of a highly classified program, you need to keep the number of people exposed to it tight for reasons of national security, and that's what he did," Snow said.

Yet, according to OPR chief Marshall Jarrett, "a large team" of prosecutors and FBI agents were granted security clearances to pursue an investigation into leaks of information that resulted in the program's disclosure in December.

Justice Department inspector general Glenn A. Fine and two of his aides were among other department officials who were granted clearances, Jarrett said in an April memo explaining the end of his probe.

That memo was released by the Justice Department Tuesday.

The inspector general is conducting a limited, preliminary inquiry into the FBI's role in and use of information from the NSA surveillance program, deputy inspector general Paul Martin said.

The existence of the eavesdropping program outraged Democrats, civil libertarians and even some Republicans who said Bush overstepped his authority.

A group of 13 prominent legal experts wrote lawmakers last week that the Supreme Court's recent decision striking down military commissions for detainees at the Guantanamo naval base in Cuba "strongly supports the conclusion that the president's NSA surveillance program is illegal."

Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., who requested the Justice Department investigation, said he and other lawmakers were preparing a letter to Bush asking him to allow the probe to go forward.

"We can't have a president acting in a dictatorial fashion," Hinchey said.

Gonzales insisted Tuesday that the president "has the inherent authority under the Constitution to engage in electronic surveillance without a warrant."

Still last week, under a deal with Specter, Bush agreed conditionally to a court review of the warrantless eavesdropping operations.

In the House, Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., introduced a bill Tuesday to update the 26-year-old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that would include allowing the government to monitor the suspected terrorists' communications without a court order for up to 45 days after an attack.

Wilson chairs the Intelligence subcommittee that oversees the NSA and has the support of Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., making her bill a leading proposal in the Republican-controlled House.

Bush's 2001 directive authorized the National Security Agency to monitor -- without court warrants -- the international communications of people on U.S. soil when terrorism is suspected.

The administration initially resisted efforts to write a new law, contending that no legal changes were needed.

But after months of pressure, officials have grown more open to legislation.

Under the deal with Specter, the president agreed to support a bill that could submit the program to the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for a constitutional review.

Last week, Gonzales said the bill gives Bush the option of submitting the NSA program to the intelligence court, rather than requiring the review.

Specter said Tuesday Bush assured him he will seek the court review if the legislation passes without significant amendment.

Critics of the legislation have called it a fig leaf that would give congressional blessing to a legally suspect program.

"The so-called compromise reached by Senator Specter and the White House does nothing to establish a check over the administration's warrantless surveillance program," said Bruce Fein, a former Justice Department official in the Reagan administration.

[Livyjr]

Quotation of the Day:

Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime:

Ernest Hemingway

I couldn't have said this any better.

Well done, Snuf .....

I must have completely missed this the other day .....

I'm glad I found it .....

No argument from me on those sentiments .....

At all ....