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

[Livyjr]

And then ....

Of course .....

THERE IS .....

IRAQINAMISTAN .....

Where major combat operations are now over .....

And Saddam is starving to death .....

And DE-MOCKERY is in the air ......

And George has brought peace .....

To that land ....

So finally .....

Our troops .....

Can come back home ....

NOT!

"Bush, Maliki to consider adding troops in Baghdad"

By Steve Holland

Mon Jul 24, 1:03 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will consider adding more U.S. and Iraqi troops in Baghdad and other ways to counter surging violence when they meet at the White House on Tuesday.

Bush and Maliki will consider new approaches to quelling the bloodshed in and around the capital after Maliki's security plan for the region proved a disastrous failure.

"One of the first challenges, obviously, is to go ahead and find an effective way to secure Baghdad," said White House spokesman Tony Snow.

Senior Bush administration officials said one option to was to move more U.S. and Iraqi troops into Baghdad from different parts of the country.

"The situation in Baghdad is one that if there starts to be improvement in that city, that will have positive reverberations throughout the country," one official said.

Bush is under political pressure to show progress in Iraq, clearing the way for a reduction in U.S. troops by the end of the year, as his Republicans face elections in November with their control of the U.S. Congress at stake.[/size]

"Iraq is still the prism which every American voter looks through when thinking about politics," said Republican strategist Scott Reed.

He said although voters were also worried about high U.S. gas prices and illegal immigration, "Iraq is still front and center."

Bush and Maliki were also expected to discuss the Iraqi leader's strong condemnation of Israel's attacks in Lebanon, one of the only issues that has united Iraq's warring factions.

U.S. officials characterize his sharp criticism, which differs from the U.S. approach, as a sign of a healthy democracy.

CIVIL WAR

While the Bush administration insists civil war has not broken out in Iraq, Democrats disagree.

"There is a civil war in Iraq..."

"In the last two months more than 6,000 Iraqis have been killed."

"It is averaging more than a hundred a day being killed in Iraq."

"We need to make sure there is a debate on this," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat.

Bush is fighting to maintain Americans' support for the troops, keep up troop morale and urge patience from a public weary of the three-year-old conflict.

He visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Monday to attend a ceremony for three wounded U.S. military service personnel to become American citizens.

"I want our troops to understand that not only does the country support them but we'll win."

"It's in our national interest that we win."

"And we will," Bush told recently returned military service personnel in Aurora, Colorado, on Friday.

Maliki's emergence to power prompted Bush to make a surprise visit to Baghdad June 13 and, along with the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al Qaeda leader in Iraq, spawned hopes among Americans that things were changing for the better.

But with Sunni-Shiite violence claiming hundreds of lives in the weeks since, analysts see Iraq getting worse with violence among Shiite groups rising as well as Shiite-versus-Sunni bloodshed.

Anthony Cordesman, an Iraq expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, called the violence "soft ethnic cleansing" and said that violence was spreading beyond Baghdad to other cities.

"These trends strongly argue that the Iraqi government and U.S. are now losing, not winning," he said.

"They are scarcely based on firm data, however, and they scarcely mean the struggle is lost."

"What they do mean is that the Maliki government must act far more quickly and decisively."

(Additional reporting by Patricia Wilson)

end quotes

"It's in our national interest that we win?"

Win what, George?

Win what?

What on earth ....

Is it .....

That you think .....

We can win?

And when are you going to tell someone?

So that somebody other than you ...

Has the slightest idea .....

Of what you are talking about .....

IF YOU EVEN KNOW ....

And so .....

[Livyjr]

And then ...

There is this too ....

From the HACKOCRACY .....

Of PRESIDENT FOR LIFE ....

George W. Bush ....

"US blamed abroad for WTO collapse"

By Doug Palmer

21 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration faced blame from U.S. trading partners on Monday for the collapse of world trade negotiations, but won praise at home for holding firm in the talks.

European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson accused the United States of "stone-walling" by refusing to offer deeper cuts in U.S. trade-distorting domestic farm subsidies, which now total about $20 billion annually.

"Surely the richest and strongest nation in the world, with the highest standards of living, can afford to give as well as take," Mandelson said.

Brazil, India and Japan joined in the criticism after a weekend G6 meeting in Geneva failed to resolve long-standing differences over how far to cut farm subsidies and tariffs.

Australia also took part in the weekend talks.

The impasse, after nearly five years of negotiation, prompted a decision to "suspend" the talks, increasing the chance a final deal will never be reached.

The negotiations, officially known as the Doha Development Agenda, were launched in late 2001 with the goal of helping poor countries prosper from trade.

U.S. officials said other countries were not offering deep enough farm tariff cuts to persuade Congress, which has the final say in the United States over trade deals, to significantly cut farm subsidies.

"The stuff on the table at Doha would never have been approved by Congress," White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

Senior U.S. lawmakers reinforced that view, saying they were not interested in a deal that fails to significantly open global markets.

"The United States is willing to change its domestic agriculture policies, but American farmers demand equal access to markets on the world stage," House of Representatives Majority Leader John Boehner said in a statement.

Washington contends that the biggest benefit of a new world trade deal would come from cutting tariffs that block developing-country exports, as well as its own.

U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab has accused the EU and others of "pocketing" an offer the United States made last year to reduce farm subsidies and pushing for deeper U.S. cuts without offering significant new market access in return.

"Ambassador Schwab was right to hold firm and accept nothing less than real concessions."

"I commend her for her resolve," said Sen. Max Baucus, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, expressing the view of many lawmakers.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Saxby Chambliss, a Georgia Republican, said he hoped the setback on Monday would force Brussels to rethink its position.

Leading U.S. business groups also praised Schwab's tough stance, but said they hoped the talks could be revived.

Schwab told reporters by phone from Geneva the United States was prepared to offer deeper farm subsidy cuts, but withheld that offer when it become apparent others were unwilling to move.

The United States will explore ways to "resuscitate" the world trade talks in meetings with other trading partners in the coming weeks and months, she said.

At the same time, it's unlikely a deal can be completed and submitted to Congress before U.S. trade promotion authority expires in mid-2007, Schwab said.

[Livyjr]

And winging our way through the uncharted realms of CYBERSPACE .....

Back to the CORRUPT REPUBLICAN EMPIRE of New York .....

"Spitzer-Suozzi gap will be up for debate - With clear favorite in poll, Democrats meet tonight in race for governor"

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

First published: Tuesday, July 25, 2006

ALBANY -- Political debates are not always must-see TV. But given the dramatically different needs of the two Democratic gubernatorial candidates, tonight's first -- and perhaps only -- live pre-primary matchup could be worth watching.

A Siena College poll Monday showed Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi 69 points behind the front-runner, state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, among likely Democratic primary voters with just seven weeks left in the race.

He needs a big debate win to even start to catch up with Spitzer.

Suozzi has to capitalize on his charm, political strategists agreed, walking the line between pointed criticism and over-the-top attacks that make him look desperate.

Spitzer, on the other hand, needs to maintain his carefully cultivated air of inevitability by sticking to broad themes and avoiding any show of his storied anger.

Spitzer can come off as stiff, and tends to lapse into legalese.

But his enormous lead relieves him of the need to dazzle, strategists said, and even leaves room for error.

"In order for this to be useful to Suozzi, Spitzer either has to make a gaffe, or Suozzi has to hit him very hard to make news," said consultant Hank Sheinkopf, who is working for Democratic attorney general candidate Mark Green.

"Spitzer, on the other hand, all he has to do is keep being Eliot Spitzer."

Suozzi's campaign has called the debate "the opening night of the campaign," insisting it kicks off a period when voters will start paying attention enough to hear the county executive's message that he's more qualified to be governor.

Up until now, Suozzi, who has done one television ad at a cost of $3 million, hasn't had much success in getting his message of "I can do it because I've done it" across.

In the Siena poll, 56 percent of the 410 Democrats questioned didn't know if they had a favorable view of Suozzi, or had no opinion.

The rest were evenly split, with 22 percent saying they viewed him favorably, and 22 percent saying they did not.

Spitzer, by contrast, has spent $10.1 million on TV ads.

His campaign said he's paid up to keep airing ads through the end of July, and he has $16.3 million on hand, compared with Suozzi's $2.8 million.

His favorable rating is a whopping 82 percent.

Spitzer's lead widened slightly over the past three months, according to the poll, from 75-12 against Suozzi in May to 78-9 this month, with 13 percent of Democrats undecided.

"In this David and Goliath scenario, Suozzi is going to need a lot more than a slingshot over the next seven weeks to knock out Spitzer and win the primary," said Joe Caruso, director of polling for the Siena Research Institute.

Political observers have been speculating on what kind of attacks Suozzi will launch at Spitzer tonight and wondering if he'll recycle some accusations on live TV.

Chief among Suozzi's recent issues has been Spitzer's role on the board of his family's charitable trust, which is overseen by the attorney general's office.

Suozzi insists this presents a conflict of interest and has requested a state Ethics Commission opinion.

He also has attacked Spitzer's decision not to take action against the Oneida Nation's Turning Stone Casino in Verona, whose state compact has been invalidated in court.

Spitzer aides insist he doesn't have the authority to shut down Turning Stone, which would result in the loss of some 4,000 jobs.

Suozzi campaign manager Paul Rivera said the county executive intends to highlight the differences between himself and Spitzer and poke holes in the attorney general's image as the white knight reformer who battled Wall Street fat cats on behalf of small investors.

"There's a mythology built around Eliot, and we need to show he's not who he says he is," Rivera said.

No matter what bombs Suozzi throws, Norman Adler, a political consultant who has worked for candidates from both major parties, said he was hard-pressed to imagine any scenario in which Suozzi alters the course of the race in a single night.

"Let's say for the sake of argument that it was actually a terrific debate and Suozzi did really wonderfully," Adler said.

"The distance between the two candidates is too great to be overcome with one debate."

"I don't know what kind of a haymaker he lands on Eliot to knock him down, much less knock him out."'

Regardless of what comes his way this evening, Spitzer will "represent himself the way he has throughout the race," said Spitzer campaign spokeswoman Christine Anderson.

"You can expect thoughtful answers that show a knowledge of the issues," Anderson said.

Given Suozzi's underdog status and need for free media, he is seeking more debates, but the attorney general has yet to agree.

Both Democrats and the Republican gubernatorial candidate, John Faso, are scheduled to participate in a televised event June 30, but the candidates won't all be in the same room.

Benjamin can be reached at 454-5081 or by e-mail at ebenjamin@timesunion.com.

On television

Tonight's debate will be aired live from 7 to 8 p.m. on Capital News 9 in the Capital Region, NY1 and NY1 Noticias in New York City and News 12 on Long Island. The candidates will have 90 seconds to respond to each question and 60 seconds for a rebuttal.

[Livyjr]

And speaking of people with NO CREDIBILITY, whatsoever .....

As well as people who are more ...

A part of the problem ...

Than they ever will be ...

A part ....

Of any real solutions ....

HEEERE'S "CON-JOB CONNIE" RICE ...

Who is chock full of beans ....

If "CON-JOB" hadn't helped lie OUR way into IRAQINAMISTAN .....

Well, who knows ...

BUT SHE DID ....

And so ....

"Rice Outlines Proposal to Deploy Force In Lebanon - Plan for Buffer Zone on Border Greeted Skeptically in Beirut"

By Robin Wright and Scott Wilson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, July 25, 2006; Page A01

BEIRUT, July 24 -- On an unannounced trip to ravaged Beirut, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice outlined a plan Monday to deploy an international force, possibly led by NATO, in a buffer zone just inside Lebanon for 60 to 90 days, after which it would expand its mission to help the Lebanese army regain control of the south, Lebanese and U.S. officials said.

The force would also help train the army, which according to U.S. officials now has neither the will nor the means to disarm Hezbollah, Lebanon's last private militia.

But Rice's plan to end the conflict, prop up the Lebanese government and weaken Hezbollah was greeted with skepticism by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, as well as Lebanon's top elected Shiite official and other leaders.

Siniora and the speaker of parliament, Nabih Berri, a Shiite with close ties to Hezbollah, warned that Hezbollah was unlikely to accept any foreign military presence in its traditional stronghold in heavily Shiite southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah has already rejected calls to disarm.

Rice released her proposal, the first major U.S. diplomatic move since the crisis began, as Israeli tanks and troops pushed about a half-mile farther inside south Lebanon on Monday.

They met stiff resistance from entrenched Hezbollah fighters around the town of Bint Jbeil, which is roughly two miles inside the border.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah fired 80 rockets into northern Israel, wounding more than 20 civilians, two of them seriously, according to Israeli military officials.

Two Israeli soldiers were killed and 14 others were wounded in the fighting.

Israeli military officials said they are attempting to secure a roughly 15-square-mile region that they describe as a center of Hezbollah operations.

Hezbollah has killed 24 Israeli soldiers and 17 civilians since the crisis broke out 13 days ago.

More than 60 soldiers have been wounded.

The Israeli air force said it struck about 70 Hezbollah targets across Lebanon Monday.

Israeli strikes have killed at least 384 Lebanese, the vast majority of them civilians, during the crisis, the Associated Press reported.

The news service also reported that the United Nations said four U.N. peacekeepers were wounded Monday, one of them seriously, in south Lebanon.

[Early Tuesday, the Associated Press reported, an Israeli missile struck a house in the southern Lebanon town of Nabatiyeh, killing seven people and wounding one, hospital and security officials said.]

In Beirut, U.S. officials said that Siniora promised to look more fully at Rice's plan and explore it with others in his government, chosen in elections last year.

"He was receptive to our ideas."

"He gave us enough to keep going."

"There were no show-stoppers," said a U.S. official traveling with Rice.

"We came away convinced that Siniora and the U.S. are on the same page, working toward the same ends."

But U.S. officials also conceded that Lebanon's weak government also faces its own heavy lifting.

After flying in by military helicopter from Cyprus, Rice praised Siniora for his "courage and steadfastness."

On the first leg of her diplomatic effort, Rice focused heavily on humanitarian issues.

She announced that the U.S. government is pledging $30 million in aid as part of a new international drive to raise $150 million for Lebanon.

The U.S. aid will come largely in the form of goods, including 100,000 medical kits, 20,000 blankets and 2,000 plastic sheets that the U.S. military will begin delivering Tuesday.

But Siniora pressed Rice for an immediate cease-fire.

The United States is coming under growing Arab and European pressure because of the humanitarian crisis, with about 750,000 displaced people in Lebanon, a country of 4 million people.

The sequence of next steps is also becoming an issue, U.S. officials said.

Arab demands have focused on first achieving an immediate cease-fire, before considering other measures such as arrangements to disarm Hezbollah and release two Israeli soldiers taken captive by Hezbollah on July 12 in an incident that sparked the crisis.

The Bush administration has backed Israel's campaign to cripple the Shiite militia, which has fired more than 1,000 rockets into Israel, and the United States and Israel are demanding the immediate release of the Israeli soldiers.

Rice told Berri that she was "deeply concerned" about the Lebanese and "what they are enduring."

President Bush had personally asked her to make Lebanon the first stop of her Middle East mission, she said.

But she also told Berri, whose mainstream Shiite Amal party has worked politically with Hezbollah, that "the situation on the border cannot return to what it was before July 12."

After her five-hour visit under heavy guard through a Beirut that was suddenly quiet, Rice flew back to Cyprus, then on to Israel, where she had a working dinner with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

On the battlefield, Israeli soldiers, encountering a seasoned Hezbollah guerrilla force, say they have killed dozens of gunmen fighting with guided anti-tank missiles, mortars and small arms from houses, tunnels and bunkers in the past few days.

"They're in the forests and inside hiding places in town."

"They hide in holes in the ground," said Lt. Shahar Mintz, 20, who serves in a tank battalion operating inside Lebanon.

"They have so many places to hide from the airstrikes, so we have to send in the infantry."

"It can be dangerous."

Mintz spoke from Avivim, an Israeli farming community a half-mile from the hilltop Lebanese town of Maroun al-Ras, where Israel's ground operation has focused in recent days.

Busloads of soldiers mustered in the mostly abandoned town, painting their faces green and black before walking into Lebanon.

Columns of four to five tanks waited to be sent across the border.

At least a dozen ambulances awaited the wounded.

Israeli unmanned drone aircraft buzzed overhead, and a steady pounding of air and artillery strikes sounded throughout the day, leaving Maroun al-Ras shrouded in a brown-gray fog of smoke and dust.

On Israel's second front, the Gaza Strip, where the governing Hamas movement's military wing and two smaller armed groups continue holding an Israeli soldier captured in a June 25 raid on an army post just outside Gaza, at least six Palestinians died in Israeli artillery strikes near the town of Beit Lahiya.

Palestinian hospital officials said the dead included a 50-year-old woman, her 11-year-old grandson and a 4-year-old girl.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said 20 rockets were launched from Gaza in the last two days, including eight on Monday from the area that Israeli forces were targeting.

In the incident that killed the girl, the spokeswoman said Israeli forces were not aiming at residential buildings "but one of our shells misfired, and it hit closer to the civilian population than it was aimed."

The military was also investigating the crash of an Apache Longbow helicopter in Israel's northern Galilee region that had been flying support operations for troops on the edge of Bint Jbeil.

Israeli military officials said two crew members died in the crash.

While leaving open the possibility the helicopter could have been damaged by Hezbollah ground fire, Israeli military officials said it was more likely that a technical malfunction caused the crash, the second by a U.S.-made Apache here in the past week.

"This battle against Hezbollah is going to last," Avi Dichter, Israel's public security minister, told a small group of reporters in Jerusalem.

"We're not in any hurry."

But Dichter also acknowledged that the military operation would likely make way for diplomacy in the coming days.

"The target is not to dismantle totally Hezbollah from its missiles capability -- that's not the mission," Dichter said.

"But we know that we, Israel, by our means, and the guidelines we gave to the [military], can't drive Hezbollah from its means of warfare."

Lebanese medics spoke about a weekend incident that highlighted what they said was Israel's indiscriminant targeting in the south.

On Saturday, Israeli forces struck two ambulances outside the town of Qana, injuring six Red Cross volunteer medics as well as the three wounded passengers they were carrying, Red Cross medics said.

The ambulances were flashing blue lights and had illuminated the Red Cross flag, the medics said.

"I fell down," said Qassem Shalaan, 28, one of the wounded medics, who was standing about three feet from the first ambulance when it was struck.

"I opened my eyes to make sure I could still see, then I checked my body and I was okay."

He had three stitches below his lip and cuts on his leg.

His eardrums were bruised.

As the medics in the other ambulance called for help, a second missile hit it less than a minute later, wounding the three other medics, they said.

The medics, all wearing flak jackets and helmets, kept working despite their injuries.

They took the wounded -- a 14-year-old boy, his father and his grandmother -- into a nearby home.

There, in the basement, they used their shirts as bandages amid shelling that lasted throughout their two-hour wait for help.

"I'll speak for myself, but I feel like I have no cover even as a Red Cross worker," Shalaan said from his hospital bed.

By evening, Sami Yazbak, head of the Red Cross in Tyre, said he had received an Israeli apology and an assurance they would not be attacked again.

Shaalan returned to the Red Cross office, a small, six-room compound a short way from the Mediterranean coast.

He had taken off his bandages before seeing his mother so as not to worry her.

Wilson reported from Jerusalem. Correspondents Anthony Shadid in Tyre, Edward Cody in Beirut, Jonathan Finer in Avivim and John Ward Anderson in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

[Livyjr]

And getting back to the Tom Suozzi/Eliot Spitzer blow-out that is scheduled for tonight ......

Or more correctly .....

What takes place after .....

With regard to Tom Suozzi, anyway .....

Because who cares about Eliot Spitzer ....

Who is just too soft ...

On government corruption .....

For my taste, anyway ....

Here is this ....

Just in "off the wire" .....

And so ....

"Suozzi, the day after"

July 25, 2006 at 3:40 pm by Jay Jochnowitz, State Editor, Albany, New York Times Union

Fresh from tonight’s debate against Eliot Spitzer, Tom Suozzi plans to be in Albany for a town meeting Wednesday.

Suozzi’s campaign has booked space in the Holiday Inn Express at 1442 Western Avenue for the 7 p.m. event.

No word on how many people the room will fit, but the campaign says the event is open to the public and will feature “everyday voters asking whatever they want to ask.”

end quotes

Now .....

That is "grass-roots" politics ....

The way it should be ...

With face-to-face confrontation .....

BY REAL PEOPLE .....

Not a bunch of ringers .....

Like George W. Bush ....

Has at his so-called "town meetings" .....

Where only pre-selected friendly faces can go ....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

This morning ....

On the radio news .....

They were talking about Queens, New York .....

And the power being out .....

And I heard some woman say, "This is not some third-world country, this is New York ...."

And all I could think ...

Was ......

How wrong she was .....

New York IS ......

A THIRD-WORLD COUNTRY NOW .....

Thanks to all the looters ...

And slackers .....

And dead political wood .....

That OUR government is chock full of up here .....

Like some third-world Hellhole ....

And it has been heading there ...

For awhile .....

And now ...

THE CHICKENS ....

ARE COMING HOME ....

TO ROOST ....

And so ....

"Lights still out and anger boils - Lawmakers, Spitzer fault utility with more than 10,000 in dark in Queens"

By COLLEEN LONG and SARA KUGLER, Associated Press
First published: Tuesday, July 25, 2006

NEW YORK -- More than 10,000 people in Queens entered their second week without electricity Monday, a major improvement from the 100,000 affected at height of the blackout but not enough to quell the anger over the outages.

Con Edison said that about 3,000 customers remained without electricity as of Monday evening.

A customer can represent anything from a single-family home to an entire apartment building, roughly translated to four individuals per customer.

Meanwhile, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said that Con Edison "failed to heed the warnings from an earlier blackout and that the Public Service Commission's oversight of the utility has been wholly inadequate."

He cited a 2000 report he wrote examining the effects of a 1999 blackout in Manhattan, and urged Con Edison to develop tests for detecting vulnerable equipment, and improve crisis communication with customers once power was restored.

State Sen. John Sabini, a Queens Democrat, said he has been getting several calls from residents begging him to help them get generators, or to help turn the power on.

"You get the feeling that some of these neighborhoods are considered an 'oh, by the way,' " he said.

"This neighborhood is an 'oh, by the way' with the blackout."

Sparks flew at City Hall on Monday between Mayor Michael Bloomberg and three lawmakers who are outraged that he is defending Con Edison's handling of the week-long outage.

The lawmakers -- two Queens councilmen and a state assemblyman -- were invited to stand with the mayor as he gave a blackout update in his briefing room.

In response to questions about Con Ed and its CEO, Kevin Burke, Bloomberg said, "They have been open, they have been responsive, they've been working well with the city, they've accepted our help every time -- we can't ask for anything else."

As he spoke, the three lawmakers -- who are calling for Burke's resignation and criminal investigations into the company's response -- shifted uncomfortably and rolled their eyes.

They and other critics of Con Ed say the company has not been forthcoming about the extent of the damage and has been slow to address the problems that left thousands without power for days.

Council members Eric Gioia and Peter Vallone Jr. said afterward that they nearly walked out, and Assemblyman Michael Gianaris said Bloomberg has his "head in the sand."

end quotes

Of course ......

There is Eliot Spitzer ....

Coming on the scene .....

Now ....

To get his picture .....

In the news ....

Because that is Eliot's style .....

SHOW-BOATING ...

But no real substance .....

When it comes ...

To cleaning up .....

The CORRUPT ....

DYSFUNCTIONAL GOVERNMENT ....

That we are stuck with up here ...

ALONG WITH ....

ELIOT SPITZER ....

AS THAT CORRUPT, DYSFUNCTIONAL GOVERNMENT'S

TOP LAWYER ....

OR IS THAT CONSIGLIERE ....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

"Rove blames Iraq war for low Bush numbers" 
 
By TOM RAUM, Associated Press
Last updated: 6:16 p.m., Monday, May 15, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Presidential adviser Karl Rove blamed the war in Iraq on Monday for dragging down President Bush's job approval ratings in public opinion polls.

"People like this president," Rove said.

"They're just sour right now on the war."

On the economy, Rove credited the president's fiscal policies, particularly a series of first-term tax cuts, for a recovery that has gone on since late 2001.

"The reality is, the tax cuts have helped make the U.S. economy the strongest in the world," Rove said.

STRONGEST ECONOMY IN THE WORLD?

Uh ......

Yeah .....

Okay, Karl .......

If you say so .....

HEY, EVERYBODY .....

And all you college grads ......

DID YOU HEAR WHAT KARL ROVE JUST SAID?

I THINK .....

IT'S BECAUSE .....

OF GEORGE W. BUSH'S TAX CUTS .....

THAT'S WHAT KARL ROVE SAYS, ANYWAY .....

And .....

Well .....

Come on here, folks ...

LET US FACE FACTS ....

KARL ROVE ....

IS ...

THE ARCHITECT .....

And so ....

HE WOULD KNOW ....

"Diplomas don't mean dollars - Workers with bachelor's degrees suffer first prolonged slump in wages in 30 years"

By MOLLY HENNESSY-FISKE, Los Angeles Times
First published: Tuesday, July 25, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Wage stagnation, long the bane of blue-collar workers, is now hitting people with bachelor's degrees for the first time in 30 years.

Earnings for workers with four-year degrees fell 5.2 percent between 2000 and 2004 when adjusted for inflation, according to White House economists.

It is a setback for these workers, and it may explain why surveys show that many Americans think President Bush has not been a good manager of the economy.

Not since the 1970s have workers with bachelor's degrees seen a prolonged slump in wages.

These workers did well during the last period of growth, with average wages rising 12 percent from 1995 to 2000, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute.

Although earning a bachelor's degree is still worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in lifetime earnings, on average, the recent wage slump has affected a substantial part of the work force.

About 30 million Americans ages 20 to 59 have a four-year degree and no advanced degree, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

White House economists did not lay out wage trends for people with master's and other advanced degrees.

But other studies have found that wages for those workers were flat between 2000 and 2004, when adjusted for inflation, while confirming the decline for people with undergraduate degrees.

When wages for people with bachelor's degrees declined in the 1970s, the cause was a flood of baby boomers entering the job market.

This time, economists say, much of the blame goes to trends familiar to workers with less education.

Offshoring, which has shifted manufacturing and call-center jobs to Mexico and India, is increasingly affecting the white-collar sectors of engineering and software design.

Companies have continued their long effort to replace salaried positions with low-paid, nonsalaried jobs, including part-time and freelance positions without benefits.

Those positions make up nearly half of the 6.5 million jobs created since 2001, said Paul Harrington, a labor economist at Northeastern University in Boston.

Harrington looked at the growth of salaried jobs during the past five economic recoveries and found that they increased an average of 11.5 percent, compared with 2.5 percent during the current recovery.

"There's clear deterioration in the college labor market," he said.

Alan Guarino, chief executive of Cornell International, an international staffing firm, sees a similar change in his own work as an employment recruiter.

About 15 percent of workers with four-year college degrees are working at "gray collar" jobs below their skill level, such as in retail, because they cannot find better-paying jobs.

Before 2001, the figure was about 10 percent.

"A very significant percentage of the jobs we are creating are contingent jobs," not salaried positions, Guarino said.

Concerns might seem unusual, given that gross domestic product has averaged a solid 3.8 percent growth in the past three years, including a 5.6 percent spurt in the first quarter of 2006.

Unemployment remains at a low 4.6 percent.

In an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released in July, 60 percent of respondents said they disapproved of how Bush was handling the economy.

"The administration is saying the only reason people are not sharing in the recovery is they don't have the right skills," said Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute.

But if college graduates are not doing well, Mishel asked, "what does that say?"

Bush's advisers say graduates are earning less because their ranks are swelling, and they face tougher competition for better-paying jobs.

But they see good news in the fact that productivity is increasing and that, eventually, wages will follow, as they have in the past.

"Whether or not new college graduates are making more than they were five years ago, we do know the same people will be making more five years from now," said White House spokesman Ken Lisaius.

Not all college graduates are faring poorly.

Starting pay is up for business administration, marketing and accounting majors, but down for humanities majors, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Compared with 2005, starting salaries for accounting majors rose 5.5 percent this year, while those for English majors declined 4.1 percent.

However, some experts say wage stagnation could become a permanent fixture for the bulk of four-year degree holders.

Harvard University economist Richard Freeman, in his 1976 book "The Overeducated American," detailed the previous erosion of graduates' wages.

Today, he believes that college-educated workers will continue to see their wages erode, due to the global labor market.

Moreover, the pressure will intensify as China, India and other offshoring hubs develop their own glut of graduates.

China alone expects the number of college graduates to increase by 22 percent this year, with 4.13 million job candidates entering a domestic market with only 1.66 million jobs available, according to a Chinese government report released in May.

Still, a college education can be a ticket to higher-paying jobs.

College graduates earned an average $51,206 last year, while high school graduates earned $27,915, according to Census Bureau figures.

Those with no high school diploma earned $18,734.

end quotes

I think that one problem .....

That we have here ....

In OUR America .....

Is that we are stuck ....

With a man ....

THAT DON'T KNOW ....

WHAT COUNTRY IT IS ....

THAT HE IS PRESIDENT OF .....

NOR DOES HE SEEM TO KNOW ....

JUST WHAT IT IS .....

THAT A REAL PRESIDENT NEEDS TO DO ....

TO KEEP HIS OWN PEOPLE ...

STRONG .....

INSTEAD OF HARING AROUND .....

OUT THERE IN THE WORLD ....

LIKE A COMPLETE FOOL ....

BREAKING THINGS ..

WASTING MONEY ....

AND DOING NOT MUCH ELSE .....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

I think that one problem .....

That we have here ....

In OUR America .....

Is that we are stuck ....

With a man ....

THAT DON'T KNOW ....

WHAT COUNTRY IT IS ....

THAT HE IS PRESIDENT OF .....

NOR DOES HE SEEM TO KNOW ....

JUST WHAT IT IS .....

THAT A REAL PRESIDENT NEEDS TO DO ....

TO KEEP HIS OWN PEOPLE ...

STRONG .....

INSTEAD OF HARING AROUND .....

OUT THERE IN THE WORLD ....

LIKE A COMPLETE FOOL ....

BREAKING THINGS ..

WASTING MONEY ....

AND DOING NOT MUCH ELSE .....

And so ....

"Iraqi leader clashing with U.S. on key issues"

New York Times
First published: Tuesday, July 25, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- When Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki visits the White House today for the first time, he is expected to make requests that clash sharply with President Bush's foreign policy, Iraqi officials say, signaling a widening gap between the Iraqis and the Americans.

The requests will include asking Bush to allow U.S.-led troops in Iraq to be tried under Iraqi law, and for Bush to call for a halt to Israeli attacks on Lebanon, according to several sources.

Al-Maliki is also expected to demand more autonomy for Iraqi forces, though he will not ask for a quick withdrawal of the foreign troops, the officials say.

Sectarian violence has soared despite the presence of the Americans, and recent cases where American troops have been accused of killing civilians or raping Iraqi women have infuriated the public.

Al-Maliki and other top Shiite leaders also want to maintain strong ties to Iran, whose influence is rising across the Middle East, officials say.

Al-Maliki, who was installed in late May, presides over a relatively weak government, divided among Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish blocs that oppose each other on important issues.

To forge unity and win the confidence of the Iraqis, officials say, he has to take some stands that conflict with those of the White House, while still relying on the U.S. military to ward off the Sunni-led insurgency.

Bush administration officials said they viewed al-Maliki's public breaks with U.S. policy positions as proof that he is his own man leading his own government.

A U.S. general told The Associated Press Monday that U.S. troops are stepping up operations in the Baghdad area to combat death squads.

Two more U.S. soldiers were killed Monday, the military said.

U.S. and Iraqi forces conducted 19 operations last week targeting death squads, U.S. spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told reporters.

All but two were in Baghdad, he said.

Many of the death squads are believed to be associated with either Sunni or Shiite armed groups, targeting members of the rival sect as part of a struggle for power between the country's two major religious communities.

Many Iraqis have said they believe they are operated by Shiite militias and Sunni extremist groups, some of which have ties to political parties.

The U.S. and Iraq are moving thousands of troops into Baghdad in what the White House suggests is an acknowledgment that the six-week U.S.-Iraqi security offensive is not working, despite earlier optimism expressed.

"It's pretty clear that there's an attempt in Baghdad to create as much chaos and havoc as possible."

"And it's important to make sure that we address this," White House press secretary Tony Snow said on Monday.

end quotes

Life .....

In OUR America .....

In this day ...

And age .....

Of one of the STUPIDEST PRESIDENTS .....

This .....

Or any other country .....

For that matter ...

Has ever had ....

And so ...

[Livyjr]

Which leads us to ....

"Some Democrats say will shun Maliki speech"

By Vicki Allen

2 hours, 38 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. congressional Democrats voiced alarm on Tuesday over Iraq's denunciation of Israel in the Middle East conflict, and some said Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's upcoming address to Congress should be canceled unless he apologizes.

A group of House of Representatives Democrats was circulating a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert urging the Illinois Republican to secure an apology from Maliki or cancel the address on Wednesday to a joint meeting of Congress.

A number of Senate and House Democrats said they planned to protest Maliki's speech by not attending, or were waiting first to hear if he apologized.

Ron Bonjean, Hastert's spokesman, said there was no intention of canceling Maliki's speech, and he accused Democrats of "political gamesmanship during an election year."

Iraq's U.S.-backed government on Saturday denounced Israel's raids on Lebanon and Gaza.

Maliki last week called for "the world to take quick stands to stop the Israeli aggression."

Senate Democratic leaders in a letter asked Maliki to clarify his remarks before addressing Congress.

They said his failure to condemn Hizbollah's "aggression and recognize Israel's right to defend itself raise serious questions about whether Iraq under your leadership can play a constructive role in resolving the current crisis and bringing stability to the Middle East."

With more than 2,500 U.S. service members killed in the Iraq conflict, more than 18,000 wounded and more than $300 billion in U.S. tax dollars spent, the Senate Democrats said, "Americans deserve to know whether Iraq is an ally in these fights."

In the House, about 20 Democrats signed the letter to Hastert saying Maliki's speech should be canceled unless he apologizes, citing mounting evidence "that the Iraqi leadership's goals are not in the best interest of the United States, nor the Middle East."

Rep. Nita Lowey, a New York Democrat, said Congress "should not supply a platform for supporters of Hizbollah."

Rep. Joseph Crowley, also of New York, said allowing Maliki "to address a joint session of Congress after he has condemned Israel, our best ally and the only true democracy in the Middle East, sends the wrong message."

end quotes

NO ....

They have it wrong ....

I know ....

BECAUSE ....

I heard George W. Bush say ...

That IRAQ ....

Was a TRUE DEMOCRACY .....

BECAUSE ....

HE MADE IT THAT WAY ....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

And as America deals death ....

And destruction ....

To the rest of the world ....

As a key part ....

Of George W. Bush's ....

"FOREIGN POLICY" .....

A euphemism .....

For genocide ....

The earth ....

Is giving us back some ....

It seems ....

Just to keep the score even ....

And so ....

"Death toll climbs in U.S. heat wave"

By SAMANTHA YOUNG, Associated Press
First published: Tuesday, July 25, 2006

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Scorching heat pushed California's electricity supply to the brink Monday as authorities investigated at least 29 possible heat-related deaths in the state, most in the Central Valley.

An eighth day of intense heat pushed electricity usage to a peak of 50,270 megawatts -- a record for California but still short of the 52,000 megawatts experts had predicted for the day.

"It appears we have ridden out this mammoth peak demand without any problems," said Stephanie McCorkle, spokeswoman for the California Independent System Operator, which manages the state's power grid.

Hoping to avoid involuntary rolling blackouts in California, ISO declared a "Stage 2" emergency, which calls for businesses to reduce their power usage in exchange for lower rates.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also directed state agencies to reduce electricity use by 25 percent by turning off unnecessary equipment; he urged local and municipal governments and universities to do the same.

The reductions appeared to work.

By 5 p.m. ISO officials said the threat of rolling blackouts had passed.

Tens of thousands of homes and businesses lost power in California on Sunday because of heavy electricity use and high temperatures that caused transformers and other equipment to overheat.

Officials said the equipment was under stress.

Some 50,000 customers in northern California still were without electricity.

About 20,000 Los Angeles customers also remained without electricity.

Meanwhile, utilities in the St. Louis area labored to restore power to hundreds of thousands whose electricity was knocked out by storms and equipment failures last week.

Four deaths in that region region were attributed to the storms or to the heat.

[Livyjr]

And starting out in here this morning ...

With some ....

Ancient words of advice .....

For George W. Bush .....

PRESIDENT FOR LIFE ....

OF THE WORLD ...

And America, too .....

"The less ...."

"A leader ...."

"Says ..."

"And does ..."

"The happier ..."

"His people ..."

"The more ..."

"A leader ..."

"STRUTS ..."

"AND BRAGS ..."

"The SORRIER ....."

"His people ...."

- Lao Tze, Tao Te Ching

Commentary by R. L. Wing

Severe controls and regulations characterize a detailed and exacting administration.

Such an administration conceives of an ideal subject AND THEN ATTEMPTS TO REGULATE THE PEOPLE INTO THIS IDEAL.

Since HUMAN NATURE invariably resists REPRESSION, resentment and discontent begin to grow within the organization (NATION/WORLD).

AS THE ADMINISTRATION PUSHES, THE RESISTANCE OF THE PEOPLE GROWS EVEN STRONGER.

Evolved Leaders (and this clearly excludes George W. Bush, who is a CONSERVATIVE, hopelessly stuck in time and space, like a fly in amber, forever reacting to the effects he has caused by his ignorance) UNDERSTAND the actions of polarity in nature, and therefore, they avoid such extremes.

They know that misfortune and good fortune do not respond to direct control, and that excessive regulations toward "good" and "order" will surely cause a counter-reaction.

INSTEAD, THEY USE THEIR INTELLIGENCE TO SHAPE THE WORLD WITHOUT DIRECT CONFRONTATION OR EXCESSIVE STRATEGY OR CONTROL.

Stable, subtle and sincere, they CULTIVATE THEMSELVES and become models for their subjects.

This post has been edited by Livyjr: Jul 26 2006, 05:05 AM

[Livyjr]

And as to ...

THE GREAT DEBATE ...

Last night ....

Between .....

New York State Attorney General Eliot "Big EL" Spitzer .....

And Tom Suozzi ....

I would have to say .....

That UNDERDOG Suozzi .....

Emerged as .....

THE CLEAR WINNER!

And it really came down to .....

One simple issue .....

Two men ....

Spitzer ....

And Suozzi ....

Both took an OATH OF OFFICE ....

To uphold the CONSTITUTIONS ....

Of the State of New York ...

And the United States .....

AND ONLY ONE OF THEM ....

TOM SUOZZI .....

HAS LIVED UP TO THAT OATH ....

And so ....

"Spitzer, Suozzi spar in spirited debate - Democratic candidates for governor trade barbs, charges, accusations"

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

First published: Wednesday, July 26, 2006

NEW YORK CITY -- Long-shot gubernatorial candidate Tom Suozzi and front-runner Eliot Spitzer exchanged verbal blows in the first Democratic primary debate Tuesday, as accusations flew of subterfuge, spin, and, in at least one case, lies.

Suozzi, trailing Spitzer by double digits in both fund-raising and polls, declared victory after the hourlong debate.

The Nassau County executive claimed he had forced Spitzer, the state attorney general, to discuss specifics on issues he had been avoiding, such as funding a court-mandated increase in public education aid.

"I won the debate," Suozzi said after the event at Pace University sponsored by NY1 News, a Manhattan-based cable station.

"We should be doing more of them."

Baruch College political science professor Douglas Muzzio said it was more of a draw, agreeing that Suozzi landed a few blows.

But, Muzzio noted, Spitzer acquitted himself well enough to deflect any lasting damage.

Primary day is just seven weeks away.

"Suozzi won because he was on the same stage with Spitzer, and in many ways appeared as Spitzer's equal, which has not been not been reflected in the polls," Muzzio said.

"But Spitzer did nothing to diminish his front-runner status."

Spitzer, in typical front-runner style, did not speak to the media after the debate.

The tension between the candidates was palpable.

They traded barbs and tried to one-up each other with pointed asides.

Spitzer often grinned tightly; Suozzi was deadly serious.

NY1 anchor Dominic Carter, the moderator, had to interrupt to get the candidates back on track several times.

Spitzer hit Suozzi on a signature issue, accusing him of relying on property tax increases to balance budgets as county executive and in his earlier job as Glen Cove mayor.

He also cited Suozzi's unpopular proposal to charge people to travel on the Long Island Expressway during times of heavy traffic.

Suozzi called Spitzer's tax increase allegations "just false."

He insisted Nassau County is the only county in the state not to raise property taxes since 2003.

Suozzi tried to highlight the differences between himself as government manager, and Spitzer, a prosecutor who has won praise for lawsuits against Wall Street and other corporate concerns.

One clear difference was Spitzer's support of the death penalty for terrorists and cop-killers.

Suozzi opposes it in all cases, and insisted Spitzer has narrowed his stance -- which Spitzer denied.

Suozzi continued to try to paint Spitzer as too much of an Albany insider to be able to truly reform state government.

Spitzer noted he created a public integrity unit, investigated public authorities and called for their complete overhaul.

"We're all entitled to our own opinions," Spitzer said.

"We're not entitled to our own facts."

Suozzi criticized Spitzer, who as attorney general is charged with representing the state's interests in court, for not using outside counsel on cases in which he does not agree with the state's position.

Spitzer responded that he is "constitutionally obligated" to represent the state, and said he does not feel that saddling taxpayers with outside counsel bills is responsible, although his office has done that in cases when the governor and the Legislature are at odds.

Suozzi also noted that the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case, in which courts found the state failed to adequately fund poverty stricken, urban school districts, was handled by outside counsel under Spitzer's predecessor, Republican Dennis Vacco.

Spitzer had state lawyers handle the case after he took office in 1999.

In a lightning round of questions, during which the candidates were allowed only yes or no answers, Spitzer said he is not interested in being president, while Suozzi admitted he'd like to occupy the White House.

Suozzi later said any politician who denies presidential dreams "is lying."

Both admitted they've driven over the speed limit and smoked marijuana, which Suozzi supports legalizing for medical use.

Spitzer does not.

Spitzer said private schools are better than public schools; Suozzi disagreed.

Suozzi wavered on whether he would be able to institute universal health care if elected, and reluctantly answered "no."

Spitzer said "yes."

After the debate, Suozzi alleged Spitzer lost his temper backstage before the event over Suozzi's attempt to take his notes on stage.

Suozzi said Spitzer, whose anger has been an issue in the past, was "hostile," accused Suozzi of breaking the rules -- which included no "visual aids, props and charts" -- and threatened to walk out.

NY1 Political Director Bob Hardt said only that a notebook was removed after "one candidate" complained about it.

Elizabeth Benjamin can be reached at 454-5081 or by e-mail at ebenjamin@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"Oh, Eliot, You're JUST So Vain" 
     
With apologies to Carly Simon

Oh, Eliot ....

You foxy devil, you .....   

You walked into the party ....

Like you were walking into the Governor's Chambers ....

In the capital ....

In Albany, New York ....

Your hat strategically dipped below one eye ...

Your scarf it was apricot ....

You had one eye in the mirror ....

On yourself, of course .....

And the other ...

On all the LOBBYISTS in the room ....

And the little bags of money in their hands ....

As you watched yourself gavotte ....

From lobbyist to lobbyist ...

Collecting your due, of course ...

And all the girls dreamed .....

As they do when in the company of powerful politicians like you ....

That they'd be your "partner" .....

They'd be your partner, and....

Oh, Eliot ......

You're just so vain ....

You KNOW this song is about you .....

Oh "Big EL" .....

You're just so vain ....

You're out there hiring people ....

To write pretty songs about you .....

Aren't you?

Aren't you?

You had New York State .....

Several years ago .....

When we were still quite naive .....

Well you said that you and New York State ....

Made such a pretty pair ....

And that you would never leave us stranded .....

Outside the protection of law ....

While your GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDACY .....

Stuffed its pockets .....

With money ...

From those who would have it be so .....

But like all politicans in the end, Eliot ....

You gave away the things we loved .....

Like HONESTY ...

And INTEGRITY ....

And FORTHRIGHTNESS .....

And Eliot ....

One of those "things" you gave away ....

Was me .....

So Eliot ....

I had some dreams ....

Or so I thought ....

They were clouds in my coffee .....

Clouds in my coffee and ....

NO ...

Actually .....

It was GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION, instead .....

And no dream at all ...

Thanks to YOU, Big EL ....

And Eliot ....

You're just so vain .....

You know this song is about you .....

You're just so vain .....

You have your "press poodles" out there ....

Writing all sorts of pretty songs about you ....

Don't you, Eliot ....

Yes, you do .....

Well I hear you went up to Saratoga ......

To "get" some votes .....

And your horse naturally won .....

Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink ....

Then you flew your Lear jet up to Nova Scotia .....

To see the total eclipse of the sun .....

As well as to see what kind of CONTRIBUTIONS and DISBURSEMENTS there might be up there ....

While you were at it ....

Well, Eliot ...

Smart politician that you are ....

You're where you should be .....

All of the time .....

Thanks to a good appointments secretary .....

And campaign committee .....

And when you're not .....

You're with .....

Some underworld spy .....

Plotting some further political strategy ...

That will put you in the New York State Governor's Mansion .....

In 2006 ....

Or the wife of a close friend .....

With lots of money ....

Wife of a close friend, and....

Ready to make a fat contribution ...

To your cause ....

Because ...

Eliot ....

You're just so vain .....

Which people actually like in their politicans today .....

That you just know this song is about you .....

You're just so vain .....

Thinking you could even be president of America one day ..

The SPITZER PRESIDENCY ....

You already have your lackeys writing that song  about you .....

Don't you?

Don't you?

And so ......

Of course ....

Tom Suozzi ....

And New York State Attorney General Eliot "Big EL" Spitzer ......

Are like night ....

And day ....

When it comes to a choice between them ....

Tom Suozzi is like polenta .....

Solid ....

Nourishing .....

But plain ....

While "Big EL" Spitzer .....

Is Charlotte Russe .....

All puffed up and pretty .....

BUT NO REAL SUBSTANCE UNDERNEATH .....

THE GLITTER MAN ...

As he is known up here .....

And so .....

"Kentucky horse set donates $265,000 to Spitzer -
Bluegrass State breeders, operators support Democrat"

By JAMES M. ODATO, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Wednesday, July 26, 2006

ALBANY -- Gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer's campaign collected more than $265,000 from Kentucky horse breeding interests in recent weeks, including some with top horses racing in Saratoga Springs this summer.

The contributions come as some bidders on the New York thoroughbred racing franchise complain that Kentucky horse breeders have become a growing influence on race operations at the state's Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga Springs tracks.

The funds, including $20,000 from Mary Lou Whitney and husband John Hedrickson, stemmed from a fundraiser hosted by Tracy Farmer and his wife, Carol, at their Shadow Lawn Farm in Midway, Ky.

Farmer said about 75 people attended the June 19 event, including Spitzer, many horse breeders and some outside the industry.

Farmer, who was chairman of the Kentucky Democratic Party in the early '90s, was among several Kentucky horse owners at the event who either rent or own homes in Saratoga Springs and race their horses in New York.

He said he was approached by supporters of Spitzer, a Democrat, to raise funds in horse country.

"We believe in him as a candidate and we believe in the horse industry," Farmer said.

"We're trying to get him elected as governor."

"Any decisions he makes as governor would be helpful to the horse industry in general."

He said he purposely did not invite anyone tied to the 16 prospective bidders on the franchise to run races in New York.

The Farmers gave $58,051 -- $50,000 from Tracy Farmer and $8,051 from Carol Farmer.

Other horse owners invited also gave $50,000, including Angela Levy Beck, Bill Casner, and B. Wayne Hughes.

Contributing $10,000 were former Kentucky Gov. Brereton Jones, also a big owner, R.D. Hubbard, a racetrack and casino operator, and his wife Joan.

Jeff Perlee, head of Empire Racing Associates, one of the possible bidders on the state racing franchise, said many people concerned about racing back Spitzer.

He complained of the influence over state racing operations from Kentucky breeders, saying they have a great deal of sway over the New York Racing Association.

Spitzer campaign spokeswoman Christine Anderson said the candidate went to Kentucky to discuss the importance of the viability of the New York horse industry.

The event demonstrated "the breadth and depth of his support," she said, because Republicans and Democrats gave.

James M. Odato can be reached at 454-5083 or by e-mail at jodato@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

And as to ...

THE GREAT DEBATE ...

Last night ....

Between .....

New York State Attorney General Eliot "Big EL" Spitzer .....

And Tom Suozzi ....

I would have to say .....

That UNDERDOG Suozzi .....

Emerged as .....

THE CLEAR WINNER!

And it really came down to .....

One simple issue .....

Two men ....

Spitzer ....

And Suozzi ....

Both took an OATH OF OFFICE ....

To uphold the CONSTITUTIONS ....

Of the State of New York ...

And the United States .....

AND ONLY ONE OF THEM ....

TOM SUOZZI .....

HAS LIVED UP TO THAT OATH ....

And so ....

"Spitzer, Suozzi spar in spirited debate - Democratic candidates for governor trade barbs, charges, accusations" 
 
By ELIZABETH BENJAMIN, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Wednesday, July 26, 2006

NEW YORK CITY -- "I won the debate," Suozzi said after the event at Pace University sponsored by NY1 News, a Manhattan-based cable station.

"Suozzi won because he was on the same stage with Spitzer, and in many ways appeared as Spitzer's equal, which has not been not been reflected in the polls," Muzzio said.

NEW YORK STATE OATH OF OFFICE

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the state of New York, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of ______________________, according to the best of my ability.

[Livyjr]

And from that ....

We go ...

To this .....

"US gasoline seen near $3 for rest of summer"

By Tom Doggett

2 hours, 6 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. drivers should expect to pay around $3 a gallon coast to coast for gasoline through the rest of the summer, the government's top energy forecasting agency said on Wednesday.

The federal Energy Information Administration said it expects "gasoline prices to remain in the vicinity of $3.00 per gallon for much of the rest of the summer, with any significant price declines not likely to occur before September (after the Labor Day holiday) when demand typically drops sharply."

The national price for regular unleaded gasoline increased 1.4 cents over the last week to $3 a gallon, up 71 cents from a year ago and the second highest pump price ever, the EIA said.

The agency said it was not sure if gasoline prices during one or more of the remaining weeks this summer will pass the record $3.07 a gallon hit last September after Hurricane Katrina disrupted petroleum supplies.

"For both August and September, an increased likelihood of hurricanes, particularly this season, is another major uncertainty that can dramatically affect gasoline prices, especially if the hurricanes are powerful and hit the major oil producing and refining centers along the Gulf Coast," the EIA said in its weekly review of the oil market.

The agency pointed out that, when adjusted for inflation, gasoline prices are still far below the monthly average of about $3.20 a gallon posted in March 1981.

"Moreover, because today's car and light truck fleet has significantly better average fuel economy than the vehicles that were in use 25 years ago, the current average real fuel cost per mile of travel today remains significantly below its 1981 level," the EIA said.

High pump prices have not cut that much into Americans' driving habits.

In a separate report on Wednesday, the EIA said U.S. gasoline demand averaged 9.6 million barrels a day over the last four weeks, up 1.8 percent from the same period last year.

The strong demand helped lower gasoline inventories by 3.2 million barrels last week to 211 million, near the middle of the average range for fuel stocks at this time of year.

end quotes

I'm not using more gas, me .....

In fact .....

I'm hardly driving at all now ......

**** the oil companies .....

And Dick Cheney, too .....

[Livyjr]

And then ...

Well ....

There is this, too .....

How about that American economy, will you ......

The strongest one in the world, I heard someone say ......

And they must know, of course ...

Elsewise ......

Why would they say such a thing?

"Housing market slowdown rippling across the economy"

By Mark Trumbull, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

Wed Jul 26, 4:00 AM ET

BOSTON - A nationwide housing boom gave the current economic expansion its biggest boost.

Now, a housing dip is raising the prospect of a slower economy ahead.

After another monthly dip in June, sales of previously owned homes have fallen in all four major regions of the United States from a year ago, with nationwide sales volume down 9 percent, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors.

Home prices have flattened, up just 1 percent from a year ago, when housing activity peaked.

And in some metro areas, such as here in Boston, home prices have fallen on average over the past year.

These trends are rippling into the broader economy.

Home builders, among the most impressive contributors to gross domestic product (GDP) in recent years, are scaling back their plans.

And millions of consumers face indirect effects: With interest rates rising even as home prices stall, fewer people can borrow on home equity as a source of free cash.

Many others – those with adjustable-rate loans – are now being hit by a jump in their mortgage payments.

The question is how far housing's slowdown will go, and how fast.

So far, the impact on the overall economy has been, in the words of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, "orderly."

Economists generally expect that it will remain that way, although some high- flying real estate markets may face a harder fall.

"We don't think it's going to be a disaster."

"It's just going to be bad," says David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's in New York.

Although a housing bust has often been a precursor of recession in the past, "it hasn't been recently."

What this housing downturn could do is slow the pace of economic growth significantly.

Economists at Merrill Lynch, for example, reckon that the dive in homebuilding alone could subtract a percentage point from overall gross domestic product in the third quarter, tugging GDP growth down to perhaps 2.5 percent, annualized, for that quarter.

And recession is a real possibility, in the view of Merrill Lynch's David Rosenberg.

After the past 10 peaks in new-home starts by builders, an economy-wide slump has followed seven times.

Housing starts, like home sales, peaked last summer.

The effects of a housing downturn are both direct and indirect.

Residential construction has become a larger force in the economy, rising from about 4.5 percent of GDP to 5.5 percent since 1990.

But in the months ahead, builders won't be hammering out much of an addition to GDP.

Last week, the National Association of Home Builders index of contractors' sentiment fell to a 14-year low point.

The indirect effects stem from consumers, whose spending represents two-thirds of GDP.

In recent years, rising home prices and low interest rates have allowed them to extract billions of dollars in cash.

Now that gusher is fizzling out.

"Households are beginning to feel the full impact of higher borrowing costs, a softening housing market, and high gasoline prices," Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at the consulting firm Global Insight in Lexington, Mass., wrote in a report this month.

If a construction slowdown represents a cut of nearly 1 percent from GDP growth, the impact from a slowdown in home-equity extraction could be almost as large, some economists say.

Fixed-rate mortgage rates have jumped more than a full percentage point during the past year, as the threat of inflation has loomed larger and the Federal Reserve has raised the short-term interest rates it sets.

"The higher the Fed raises interest rates, the worse the problem gets," says Mr. Wyss at Standard & Poor's.

"The rising level of home prices has been a big boost for consumers."

But the American economy has behaved in an increasingly resilient fashion in recent years, weathering setbacks such as hurricanes, terrorist attacks, and soaring energy prices.

Many forecasters say that the housing slowdown will be offset, in consumer pocketbooks, by rising pay in the year ahead.

Americans showed some of their renowned economic resilience Tuesday, as a major index of consumer confidence rose slightly for the month, rather than edging down as analysts had predicted.

A generally optimistic view of the job market was a key factor.

Consumers saying jobs are "plentiful" increased to 28.6 percent from 28 percent, while those claiming jobs are "hard to get" remained virtually unchanged at 19.9 percent, reported the Conference Board, a business research group in New York that conducts the monthly survey.

The full extent of the housing slowdown will unfold slowly, and in ways that are often unique to individual markets, economists say.

Often a down cycle involves two or three years of flat or falling prices, followed by a slow recovery.

Prices in the Midwest and South have fallen slightly during those twelve months, while the West has held flat and the Northeast notched 7-percent gains.

But Northeastern cities such as New York remain vulnerable, along with other cities in California and Florida where prices had been soaring at double-digit rates.

"Price reduced!" advertisements increasingly beckon customers in Boston, where median prices fell 1.5 percent over the year ending April 30.

Nationwide, the inventory of homes for sale is up 39 percent – leaving a 7-month supply of homes on the market.

That could leave plenty of time for home buyers to shop around.

[Livyjr]

In the mornings ....

When I get up ....

I usually catch the morning news ....

Which up here, where I am ....

Comes in from FOX FAIR AND BALANCED YOU DECIDE ....

As carried on CLEARCHANNELS WORLD-WIDE ......

And this morning ....

The woman announcer ....

On FOX .....

In very breathy tones .....

Which indicate extreme displeasure with what is to follow ....

Denounced Howard Dean ...

Because he had the temerity ...

In FOX's view anyway ...

To actually insult a WORLD LEADER ....

By calling the BIG BOSS of IRAQINAMISTAN .....

An ANTI-SEMITE .....

Because the BIG BOSS of IRAQINAMISTAN .....

Denounced Isreal ....

For invading Lebanon ....

And to drive that nail home ...

FOX's extreme displeasure with Howard Dean, that is .....

FOX then put on Newt Gingrich .....

And Newt got his mouth up to hypersonic speed pretty quick ....

As Newt can do, of course ......

Since he is a REPUBLICAN .....

And hence ......

Has been fitted out with a bionic hypersonic mouth .....

Such as REPUBLICANS are, here in OUR America .....

And this is what Newt said ...

In response ..

To Howard Dean ....

Calling the boss of IRAQINAMISTAN .....

An ANTI-SEMITE .....

Newt said that Howard Dean wanted to keep Saddam Hussein in power in IRAQINAMISTAN ......

And if it was up to Howard Dean ...

Saddam Hussein would still be paying families in IRAQINAMISTAN .....

$25,000 .....

To provide him ....

With suicide bombers .....

To go to Isreal .....

To blow up people over there .....

And I had to wonder to myself .....

About just how weird this is all getting .....

OVER HERE .....

SOUNDS LIKE FOX FAIR AND BALANCED .....

IS BECOMING UNHINGED .....

ASSUMING THEY WERE EVER HINGED .....

IN THE FIRST PLACE .....

SOUNDS LIKE NEWT GINGRICH IS UNHINGED HIMSELF ...

But hey ....

He always was, anyway .....

And so .....

Newt's a CONSERVATIVE .....

And they don't like to change .....

For anything ....

Period ...

And so ....

[Livyjr]

And while we are on the subject ....

Of living ....

In the past ....

As the CONSERVATIVES do ....

Here in OUR America ....

Let's take a look ....

At some local history ....

Of a time back when ....

A different day ....

And age ....

IN OUR AMERICA ...

And so ....

Fire guts 19th-century hotel - Bennett House in West Albany was a stopover for cattlemen, cowboys"

By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST and KEN THURMAN, Staff writers, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Thursday, July 27, 2006

COLONIE -- A fast-moving fire swept Wednesday through the upper floors of an apartment building that once housed the Bennett House, a 19th-century watering hole for western cattlemen in town to sell their livestock in the rail yards, according to a local historian.

The fire at 2 Exchange St. in West Albany, one of the town's most densely packed sections, broke out around 3 p.m. and badly gutted the building, sending a cloud of acrid black and yellow smoke into the air, visible as far away as Sand Creek Middle School.

Authorities reported no serious injuries, but several volunteer firefighters were treated for minor burns and heat exhaustion, said Dan Sullivan, chief of the West Albany Fire Department.

As many as seven people might have been home at the time of the fire, according to one witness.

"It's sad to see this historic building destroyed."

"It's the last example of the Golden Age when Albany was the Abilene of the East."

"Cowboys brought the cattle by railroad to exchange them for gold and silver ... thus the name Exchange Street," said Dick Barrett, a local railroad historian and director of the Mohawk & Hudson chapter of National Railway Historical Society.

In minutes Wednesday, the old Bennett, which had been divided into six units, bowed to flames that rushed through its antiquated wood-frame construction, Sullivan said.

The blaze appears to have started in the rear of the third floor, but the cause was not immediately clear.

Investigators from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were on the scene Wednesday evening, but Sullivan said there was no reason to believe the fire was suspicious.

"Thank God some of those windows were open," said Brian Stone, who lives across Exchange Street from the building and was sitting on his front porch when the fire broke out.

Stone said he ran to warn the people inside but couldn't open a locked side door, so he began screaming for them to get out.

"Not even a minute went by and the top of the roof was on fire -- and that's when I knew everybody had to get out," Stone said.

Sullivan ordered firefighters who were attacking the blaze from inside out of the building twice when the roof threatened to collapse and the narrow interior stairways made it difficult to get water to the upper floors.

A window air conditioner also crashed as a "flaming mass" from a third-floor window, authorities said.

It took firefighters from across the town about 2 hours to control the blaze.

Ten of the town's 12 departments were either on the scene or on stand-by.

"There were firemen everywhere," the chief said.

CDTA brought in several air-conditioned buses to help the volunteers cool off while they were watched over by Colonie EMS.

It was not immediately clear how many people were living in the building, but authorities said the American Red Cross was helping them.

The bar on the first floor had been vacant for several years, neighbors said.

In the old days, Barrett said the cattle were brought in on the New York Central Railroad, founded by industrialist and former Albany Mayor Erastus Corning.

The hotel was conveniently located not far from the railhead and stock yards where the cattle were sold to local slaughterhouses.

He estimated the hotel at Exchange and Sumpter streets dates to the 1870s or 1880s.

Barrett described the Bennett House as a "stopover for cowboys who had come east" and he noted that it also housed a first-floor bar that was frequented by visiting cattlemen.

A number of bars have occupied the first floor since, including the Exchange Street Cafe.

Bob Dames, who grew up on Exchange Street, watched the blaze consume the building that he said was reputed to have been a brothel for men who worked in the West Albany rail yards.

Dames said the stairways inside were so narrow it was almost impossible to carry a couch through them.

Nearly 100 years ago, the hotel was damaged by another fire.

A Times Union article, dated Wednesday, Oct. 9, 1907, told of the blaze and of how the city of Albany sent in three pieces of equipment to battle the inferno, which began around 5 in the morning in the attic.

"Albany Firemen Save Bennett House," the headline read.

"The means of fighting fire in this neighborhood is very meagre (sic) and it was sure destruction if help was not obtained from Albany," the article continued.

"Walking in there was like walking into an 1800s saloon," Dames said.

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

end quotes

And the railroads ....

Well ...

They don't really run here, no more .....

Not like back then, anyway .....

And so ....

The only cowboy ....

In Albany, New York these days ....

If George W. Bush ....

Or Dick Cheney isn't in town .....

Would be George Pataki ....

And he ain't worth much ....

As a cowboy ...

Or as a governor, for that matter .....

And so ...

[Livyjr]

And speaking about Dick Cheney ....

And PROTECTING ....

HIS FRIENDS ....

HIS BUDDIES ....

Who are ....

THE LOOTERS ...

THE GOUGERS ....

THE TAKERS ....

Here ...

In OUR America ....

WHO WILL NEVER HAVE ENOUGH ...

EVEN IF THEY HAVE EVERYTHING ....

And so .....

"Exxon Mobil 2Q profit hits more than $10B"

By STEVE QUINN, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:47 p.m., Thursday, July 27, 2006

DALLAS -- Soaring energy prices catapulted Exxon Mobil, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, to a second-quarter profit of more than $10 billion, and they promise to ignite industrywide growth -- and public outrage -- all year.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC came close to matching Exxon Mobil Corp.'s 36 percent quarterly earnings boost on Thursday, posting net income of $7.3 billion, an increase of 40 percent from the year before.

The oil and gas industry's prolific profits come as motorists in the U.S. pay an average of $3-a-gallon at the pump and as Washington lawmakers consider opening to drilling areas of the Gulf of Mexico currently off-limits -- both of which have generated political backlash.

Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) said Thursday that American consumers have been "tipped upside down and have (had) their savings shaken out of their pockets at the gas pump."

Across the globe, energy-intensive businesses such as shippers and chemical manufacturers are feeling the pinch from higher prices, while oil exporting nations in the Middle East and beyond are experiencing rapid economic growth.

Crude-oil prices are hovering near $75 a barrel, and analysts do not foresee a sharp drop anytime soon given the world's rising appetite for fuel and supply threats that pump fear into the market.

"We continue to see demand growth year over year," Henry Hubble, Exxon's vice president of investor relations, told analysts.

"We're selling everything we can make."

Other oil companies reported big numbers for the quarter this week as well.

BP PLC reported its quarterly profit rose 30 percent to $7.3 billion and ConocoPhillips said its earnings rose 65 percent to $5.18 billion.

Chevron Corp. will round the field of five majors when it reports its second-quarter performance Friday.

These five were expected to earn an estimated $33.6 billion, or a 32 percent boost, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Already the first four have reported earning $30.16 billion.

And if prices stay at these levels, look for more record-breaking profits soon, said Fadel Gheit, analyst for Oppenheimer & Co.

"The rising tide lifts all boats," Gheit said.

"Unless there is a price collapse of oil, you will see the second half of the year best its first half."

Exxon Mobil said earnings amounted to $1.72 per share in the April-June quarter compared with a profit of $7.64 billion, or $1.20 per share, a year ago.

The results topped Wall Street expectations but came in behind Exxon Mobil's record profit of $10.71 billion set in the fourth quarter of 2005.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected the company to earn $1.64 per share.

Revenue rose to $99.03 billion from $88.57 billion in the prior-year quarter.

That was short of Exxon Mobil's record third-quarter revenue of $100.72 billion -- which also stands as record revenue generated by any U.S. public company in a quarter.

Its shares fell 13 cents to close at $66.47 on the New York Stock Exchange after reaching an all-time high of $67.65 earlier in the session.

Exxon Mobil said it spent $4.9 billion on capital and exploration projects during the quarter, up 8 percent from a year ago, while distributing $7.9 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases.

Congress has been urging the big oil companies to put more of their profits toward boosting the supply of energy for consumers.

And this week the Senate sought to help out the industry by working on an election-year bill that would open a large area of the central Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling.

By a vote of 86-12 the Senate agreed Wednesday to proceed with the legislation that opponents fear could clear the way to lifting a federal drilling moratorium that has protected 85 percent of the country's Outer Continental Shelf from New England to Alaska for a quarter century.

Hubble told analysts that Exxon will boost capital spending from the previously stated $19 billion by another $1 billion this year, though one-third of that increase is tied to rising costs for labor and equipment.

"That's a big midyear jump," said Bruce Lanni, analyst with A.G. Edwards.

Exxon Mobil's production has increased 6 percent from a year ago and 9 percent if the impact of divestments are excluded.

"For a company of this size to report that sort of production, that growth is quite remarkable," said Tina Vital, equity analyst for Standard & Poor's.

Exxon Mobil watched all parts of its business grow.

By segment, exploration and production earnings rose sharply to $7.13 billion, up $2.23 billion from the second quarter of last year, a reflection of higher crude and natural gas prices.

The company's refining and marketing segment reported a $264 million earnings increase to $2.48 billion, the result of soaring fuel prices, which offset reduced output at its refineries and, as a result, fewer gallons of gasoline, heating oil and jet fuel being sold.

The company said its average sale price for crude oil in the U.S. during the quarter was $63.84 a barrel, compared to $45.85 a year earlier.

Internationally, however, Exxon said the average sale price for oil was $65.12 compared to $47.55 a year ago.

Natural gas prices were slightly lower in the U.S. and around the world.

------

Associated Press Writer Toby Sterling in Amsterdam contributed to this report.

[Livyjr]

And then ....

Well ....

There is George W. Bush's ....

MASSIVE COCK-UP .....

Over there in IRAQINAMISTAN ....

Where George ....

NOW HAS NO SOLUTIONS ....

BECAUSE HE WENT IN ....

LIKE A REAL DAMN WORLD-CLASS FOOL ....

WITH NO PLANS ....

AND NO IDEA ....

AT ALL ....

WHAT HE WAS GETTING THIS COUNTRY INVOLVED IN .....

AND LIKE A FOOL ....

THE COUNTRY WENT RIGHT ALONG WITH GEORGE ....

AND NOW?

Well ....

The chickens are coming home to roost .....

And so ....

"Our Eyes Are Open. Now What? - What options does the U.S. have left?"

TIME Magazine, Mar. 27, 2006

A few weeks before the war in iraq began three years ago, I checked in with an Israeli friend, an intelligence expert who in 1991 had uncannily laid out for me the course of the first Gulf War on the night before it happened.

"It'll be easier than 1991 this time," he said.

"A three or four-week campaign."

"But I have a question: You're not actually thinking of occupying that country, are you?"

I asked if he had an alternative.

"You decapitate the government—Saddam, his family and friends, the Special Republican Guard—but leave the rest of the army intact, and then find yourself a nice Mubarak," he said, referring to Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak.

As I've traveled through the region since the war began, I have heard the same sentiments from high-ranking government officials in Jordan, Turkey, Syria and Saudi Arabia: only a strong Sunni general could tame Iraq.

But what about the rightful claims of the Shi'ite majority?

"Oh, the Shi'ites usually go along," I was told in Saudi Arabia.

"They're simple country people."

There was a breathtaking cynicism to all this.

There was also utter disbelief that President George W. Bush actually thought he could bring democracy to a medieval society in which the strongest social units were tribes.

Saddam was dangerously excessive, the neighbors agreed, but so were the Iraqi people--"the most violent in the neighborhood," a Jordanian told me.

It went without saying that the Shi'ites usually endured unspeakable brutalities before they agreed to "go along."

But this was realism, Middle East style.

Three years into this awful adventure, the question is, What is realism, American style?

The U.S. effort in Iraq has been a deadly combination of utopian fantasy and near criminal incompetence.

The absence of thoughtful military preparation—the Bush Administration's unwillingness to acknowledge the threat of a guerrilla insurgency—is laid out in greater detail than ever before in a new book, Cobra II, by General Bernard Trainor and Michael Gordon.

It remains a mystery why Donald Rumsfeld, the architect of this disaster, has been allowed to continue as Secretary of Defense.

There is some good news in Iraq today, says Andrew Krepinevich, a leading counterinsurgency expert:

"After the recent wave of sectarian violence, all parties--even many of the Sunnis—realize they need us to keep the peace."

"The bad news is we still don't have a real campaign plan for doing that."

What would a realistic American policy look like now?

There are three possibilities, none of them attractive: a top-down political solution, a bottom-up security solution and a staged retreat.

Krepinevich and Kenneth Pollack of the Brookings Institution support the bottom-up "oil stain" strategy.

This is a classic counterinsurgency plan, in which U.S. forces would refrain from whack-a-mole search-and-destroy sweeps, like the overhyped helicopter assault north of Baghdad last week, and instead concentrate on providing a strong local police presence and economic development in the 14 out of 18 Iraqi provinces that are relatively stable.

If progress can be achieved in those areas, the argument goes, the "oil stain" of stability might spread through the rest of the country.

The problem is, this strategy will require far more troops and time—five years, at least—than most Americans seem prepared to support.

"We may have passed the tipping point," Pollack admits.

"We may no longer have the credibility with the Iraqis, or the American public, to make this succeed."

"But the only alternative is an ethnic bloodbath."

The top-down political solution is to impose with force a power-sharing deal, perhaps including a partition into Kurdish, Shi'ite and Sunni provinces.

In the current issue of Foreign Affairs, military historian Stephen Biddle argues that Iraq's internal strife is not a "Maoist people's war" like Vietnam's was: it is a communal civil war, and the Bush policy of rapidly building an Iraqi army "throws gasoline on the fire ..."

"Sunnis perceive the 'national' army as a Shi'ite-Kurdish militia on steroids."

Pollack agrees: "We have about 50 Iraqi battalions capable of fighting now, but not one of them is blended ethnically."

Biddle argues that U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad's efforts to broker a deal need to be strengthened by U.S. threats "to manipulate the military balance of power"—in other words, to support one of the ethnic factions, as the British colonial empire used to do.

It is true that an Iraqi solution is impossible without a grand political bargain (including a formula for distributing oil revenues), but the idea that the U.S. can manipulate such an outcome—by force, no less—seems fanciful at best.

The third potential course is retreat, which Bush will never countenance—but which is no longer unthinkable, given the evaporation of public support for the war.

Retreat would leave anarchy in Iraq and quite possibly lead to a regional war of Sunnis against Shi'ites.

The President won't admit it, but on the third anniversary of his war, the only plausible reason for remaining in Iraq is to prevent an even greater catastrophe.

That is realism, American style.