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

[Livyjr]

And while we are on the subject .....

Of MIND-CONTROL ....

And REPUBLICANS .....

And the mess that they have made .....

Out of the lives of people .....

Both here ...

And over there ...

In IRAQINAMISTAN ....

"Half of U.S. still believes Iraq had WMD"

By CHARLES J. HANLEY, Associated Press
Last updated: 5:26 p.m., Sunday, August 6, 2006

Do you believe in Iraqi "WMD"?

Did Saddam Hussein's government have weapons of mass destruction in 2003?

Half of America apparently still thinks so, a new poll finds, and experts see a raft of reasons why: a drumbeat of voices from talk radio to die-hard bloggers to the Oval Office, a surprise headline here or there, a rallying around a partisan flag, and a growing need for people, in their own minds, to justify the war in Iraq.

People tend to become "independent of reality" in these circumstances, says opinion analyst Steven Kull.

The reality in this case is that after a 16-month, $900-million-plus investigation, the U.S. weapons hunters known as the Iraq Survey Group declared that Iraq had dismantled its chemical, biological and nuclear arms programs in 1991 under U.N. oversight.

That finding in 2004 reaffirmed the work of U.N. inspectors who in 2002-03 found no trace of banned arsenals in Iraq.

Despite this, a Harris Poll released July 21 found that a full 50 percent of U.S. respondents -- up from 36 percent last year -- said they believe Iraq did have the forbidden arms when U.S. troops invaded in March 2003, an attack whose stated purpose was elimination of supposed WMD.

Other polls also have found an enduring American faith in the WMD story.

"I'm flabbergasted," said Michael Massing, a media critic whose writings dissected the largely unquestioning U.S. news reporting on the Bush administration's shaky WMD claims in 2002-03.

"This finding just has to cause despair among those of us who hope for an informed public able to draw reasonable conclusions based on evidence," Massing said.

Timing may explain some of the poll result.

Two weeks before the survey, two Republican lawmakers, Pennsylvania's Sen. Rick Santorum and Michigan's Rep. Peter Hoekstra, released an intelligence report in Washington saying 500 chemical munitions had been collected in Iraq since the 2003 invasion.

"I think the Harris Poll was measuring people's surprise at hearing this after being told for so long there were no WMD in the country," said Hoekstra spokesman Jamal Ware.

But the Pentagon and outside experts stressed that these abandoned shells, many found in ones and twos, were 15 years old or more, their chemical contents were degraded, and they were unusable as artillery ordnance.

Since the 1990s, such "orphan" munitions, from among 160,000 made by Iraq and destroyed, have turned up on old battlefields and elsewhere in Iraq, ex-inspectors say.

In other words, this was no surprise.

"These are not stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction," said Scott Ritter, the ex-Marine who was a U.N. inspector in the 1990s.

"They weren't deliberately withheld from inspectors by the Iraqis."

Conservative commentator Deroy Murdock, who trumpeted Hoekstra's announcement in his syndicated column, complained in an interview that the press "didn't give the story the play it deserved."

But in some quarters it was headlined.

"Our top story tonight, the nation abuzz today ..." was how Fox News led its report on the old, stray shells.

Talk-radio hosts and their callers seized on it.

Feedback to blogs grew intense.

"Americans are waking up from a distorted reality," read one posting.

Other claims about supposed WMD had preceded this, especially speculation since 2003 that Iraq had secretly shipped WMD abroad.

A former Iraqi general's book -- at best uncorroborated hearsay -- claimed "56 flights" by jetliners had borne such material to Syria.

But Kull, Massing and others see an influence on opinion that's more sustained than the odd headline.

"I think the Santorum-Hoekstra thing is the latest 'factoid,' but the basic dynamic is the insistent repetition by the Bush administration of the original argument," said John Prados, author of the 2004 book "Hoodwinked: The Documents That Reveal How Bush Sold Us a War."

Administration statements still describe Saddam's Iraq as a threat.

Despite the official findings, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has allowed only that "perhaps" WMD weren't in Iraq.

And Bush himself, since 2003, has repeatedly insisted on one plainly false point: that Saddam rebuffed the U.N. inspectors in 2002, that "he wouldn't let them in," as he said in 2003, and "he chose to deny inspectors," as he said this March.

The facts are that Iraq -- after a four-year hiatus in cooperating with inspections -- acceded to the U.N. Security Council's demand and allowed scores of experts to conduct more than 700 inspections of potential weapons sites from Nov. 27, 2002, to March 16, 2003.

The inspectors said they could wrap up their work within months.

Instead, the U.S. invasion aborted that work.

As recently as May 27, Bush told West Point graduates, "When the United Nations Security Council gave him one final chance to disclose and disarm, or face serious consequences, he refused to take that final opportunity."

"Which isn't true," observed Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a scholar of presidential rhetoric at the University of Pennsylvania.

But "it doesn't surprise me when presidents reconstruct reality to make their policies defensible."

This president may even have convinced himself it's true, she said.

Americans have heard it.

A poll by Kull's WorldPublicOpinion.org found that seven in 10 Americans perceive the administration as still saying Iraq had a WMD program.

Combine that rhetoric with simplistic headlines about WMD "finds," and people "assume the issue is still in play," Kull said.

"For some it almost becomes independent of reality and becomes very partisan."

The WMD believers are heavily Republican, polls show.

Beyond partisanship, however, people may also feel a need to believe in WMD, the analysts say.

"As perception grows of worsening conditions in Iraq, it may be that Americans are just hoping for more of a solid basis for being in Iraq to begin with," said the Harris Poll's David Krane.

Charles Duelfer, the lead U.S. inspector who announced the negative WMD findings two years ago, has watched uncertainly as TV sound bites, bloggers and politicians try to chip away at "the best factual account," his group's densely detailed, 1,000-page final report.

"It is easy to see what is accepted as truth rapidly morph from one representation to another," he said in an e-mail.

"It would be a shame if one effect of the power of the Internet was to undermine any commonly agreed set of facts."

The creative "morphing" goes on.

As Israeli troops and Hezbollah guerrillas battled in Lebanon on July 21, a Fox News segment suggested, with no evidence, yet another destination for the supposed doomsday arms.

"ARE SADDAM HUSSEIN'S WMDS NOW IN HEZBOLLAH'S HANDS?" asked the headline, lingering for long minutes on TV screens in a million American homes.

[Livyjr]

And then ....

There is "CON-JOB CONNIE" Rice .....

Who is simply full of beans ....

Yeah, Connie ...

Yeah, Connie ....

Ah-hah .....

Ah-hah ....

Yes ....

Yes ...

Yes ...

As if you even had a clue .....

"Rice: Iraq isn't sliding into civil war"

By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press
Last updated: 6:28 a.m., Monday, August 7, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration continues to insist Iraq is not heading toward a civil war, even as some senators and military leaders have expressed concerns that such a conflict may be inevitable.

"It would be, really, erroneous to say that the Iraqis are somehow making a choice for civil war, or, I think, even sliding into civil war," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

But Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., an influential member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sounded more pessimistic and questioned whether the U.S. should keep sending more troops to Iraq.

Hagel said this country cannot "ask them to do the things that we're asking them to do in the middle of a civil war, and that's where it's headed."

"We're ruining our United States Army."

"We are decimating our army."

"We can't continue with the tempo and the commitment that we are on right now," Hagel said on CBS "Face the Nation."

Early Monday, fighting erupted in a Shiite militia stronghold in Baghdad, and a suicide bomber blew himself up among mourners at a funeral in Saddam Hussein's hometown, killing 10 people and injuring 22.

Three U.S. soldiers were killed late Sunday in a roadside bombing southwest of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

No further details were released.

Also Sunday, scattered clashes broke out between Shiite militiamen and Iraqi soldiers near Hamza Square on the edge of Sadr City, police said.

The Bush administration has been reluctant to characterize the sectarian violence in Iraq as a civil war.

But on Thursday, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, told a Senate committee that it could lead to that.

Another senator was even more pessimistic Sunday.

"This is a civil war."

"I think the generals, the other day, were cautious in their language."

"But I think they were telling us something loud and clear to anyone who wanted to listen," Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., said on "Face the Nation."

"I frankly don't believe that U.S. military people can necessarily play referee in that kind of a situation."

Both Dodd and Hagel encouraged more involvement and discussions with other countries in the Middle East.

Hagel said President Bush should get his father and former President Clinton involved in a regional summit.

But he also acknowledged that the prospects for success would be unlikely.

"There are no good options here, no good options," said Hagel.

end quotes

Right now .....

The best use of "CON-JOB CONNIE'S" talents ....

Here in OUR America ...

AND IN THE WORLD ...

That I can think of ...

Would be to make her ....

Into a playground monitor ....

Somewhere where they have sandboxes .....

And "CON-JOB CONNIE" .....

Could keep the peace ....

Between rival factions ....

Of children ....

Using the sandboxes ....

And she could make treaties .....

Between those rival factions of children ....

To her heart''s content ....

And keep them ...

From waging a civil war ....

Over that sandbox .....

And although playground duty ....

Would quite likely tax ....

Her quite limited abilities ....

It would be character-building for her .....

Because the children would know when she was lying ....

And the honest ones would call her on that ...

Even though she is an adult ...

To them, anyway ...

AND MAYBE SHE WOULD FINALLY LEARN ....

THAT WE DON'T LIKE LIARS ....

IN OUR GOVERNMENT ....

ALWAYS LYING TO US ....

AND SOUNDING LIKE FOOLS ....

AS SHE SURE DOES, ANYWAY .......

IN HER PEDANTIC TONE OF VOICE ...

And so ....

[Livyjr]

Ah, yes ....

THE WAR ....

ON TERRORISM ....

AND WHAT A LOAD OF PURE **** THAT IS, NOW ...

AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN ....

"Rice: Iraq isn't becoming another Iran"

By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press
Last updated: 6:56 p.m., Sunday, August 6, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Iraq is not on track to become another Iran despite the disconcerting images last week of Iraqis burning U.S. flags and chanting "Death to America," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday.

"I have no doubt that this is an Iraqi government and an Iraq that is going to be a fierce fighter in the war against terrorism, because they themselves are experiencing the effects of terror on their population," Rice said.

"I have no doubt that this is going to be a government that is on the right side in the war on terror."

While Rice gave her positive view on the eventual outcome, Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska questioned whether the U.S. should keep sending more troops to Iraq.

Hagel said this country cannot "ask them to do the things that we're asking them to do in the middle of a civil war, and that's where it's headed."

"We're ruining our United States Army."

"We are decimating our army."

"We can't continue with the tempo and the commitment that we are on right now," Hagel said on CBS "Face the Nation."

The protests in Baghdad on Friday were organized by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in response to fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah.

Crowds of al-Sadr supporters from across Iraq's Shiite heartland chanted "Death to Israel, Death to America" in the one of the biggest pro-Hezbollah rallies since the conflict began July 12.

Rice, during an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," was asked whether the United States has helped create another fundamentalist Islamic regime in Iraq, such as the one in Iran.

Rice said she did not like what the protesters said, but she believes that Iraq today is better off than when sectarian differences were oppressed through the iron rule of Saddam Hussein.

"That people would go out and demonstrate and say what they feel is the one sign that perhaps Iraq is one place in the Middle East where people are exercising their right to free speech," she said.

"No."

"I don't like what they said."

She said she thinks that as Iraq becomes more stable and democratic "you won't have demonstrations of that kind."

"The notion that somehow Iraq under Prime Minister (Nouri al-Maliki) and his government is something akin to Iran is just not right."

"It's just erroneous," Rice said.

Rice also disputed suggestions that civil war is more likely than democracy.

Another senator on CBS's Face the Nation also gave a more pessimistic assessment.

"This is a civil war."

"I think the generals, the other day, were cautious in their language."

"But I think they were telling us something loud and clear to anyone who wanted to listen," said Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn.

"I frankly don't believe that U.S. military people can necessarily play referee in that kind of a situation."

Both Dodd and Hagel encouraged more involvement and discussions with other countries in the Middle East.

Hagel said President Bush should get his father and former President Clinton involved in a regional summit.

But he also acknowledged that the prospects for success would be unlikely.

"There are no good options here, no good options," said Hagel, a possible presidential candidate in 2008.

end quotes

"Let One Hundred Flowers Bloom, One Hundred Schools Contend" .....

You should have learned some history, "CON-JOB" ......

And some human psychology ....

Before you decided to tout yourself as some kind of an expert ....

On NATION-BUILDING .....

When you don't even know day from night ....

Or east L.A. ....

From the San Fernando Valley .....

And so .....

When people have freedom of speech .....

Perhaps you ought to listen ...

To what they are saying ....

When they use it ...

Freely ...

To express their thoughts ...

And so ......

Me ...

I don't think they like America much over there ....

And with all of the violence that America has brought to those people ....

And the disruption to their lives ....

FOR THE EGOS ....

OF GEORGE W. BUSH ...

AND "CON-JOB CONNIE" RICE ....

Who can be surprised ....

And when George W. Bush ...

And "CON-JOB CONNIE" Rice .....

Start killing these people ...

For expressing how they feel .....

I for one ...

Won't be surprised at all ....

And so ...

[Livyjr]

If someone told me ...

That there was enough air .....

Inside the head ....

Of "CON-JOB CONNIE" Rice .....

To float the Hindenburg dirigible ....

As well as room to manuver it around ....

In there ....

Without fear .....

Of its gasbag ....

Snagging on something sharp in there .....

To tear it .....

I would find that plausible ....

Or I wouldn't doubt it, anyway .....

And so .....

In the meantime ....

Another alleged CORRUPT REPUBLICAN .....

Bites the dust ....

And so .....

That is good for OUR America ....

And so ....

"Rep. Bob Ney drops re-election bid"

By JOHN McCARTHY, Associated Press
Last updated: 6:16 p.m., Monday, August 7, 2006

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Republican Rep. Bob Ney abruptly abandoned his bid for re-election Monday, becoming the latest Capitol Hill figure to fall victim to the Jack Abramoff scandal.

The six-term congressman insisted in a statement that he was innocent and said he was acting for the sake of his family.

"I must think of them first, and I can no longer put them through this ordeal," he said.

He is the second congressman to announce his retirement in the fallout from the probe.

Former Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas resigned from Congress earlier this year after being indicted on unrelated charges he illegally funneled corporate contributions to GOP candidates.

He has also come under suspicion for links to Abramoff.

Other victims of the scandal include Ralph Reed, the former Christian Coalition leader with ties to Abramoff who lost his bid last month for the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor in Georgia.

Until his announcement, Ney had insisted that even if he were indicted he would run for a new term in the 18th Congressional District, a conservative region of farms, mines, Appalachian hills and Rust Belt cities in eastern and southern Ohio.

Ney has not been charged with any crimes, but court papers released from Abramoff's guilty plea to fraud and corruption charges detailed lavish gifts and contributions that Abramoff says he gave to an unnamed House member in return for official acts, including support of Abramoff's American Indian tribe clients in Texas.

Officials have confirmed that congressman is Ney.

Ney and some of his aides, including Chief of Staff William Heaton, have been subpoenaed.

Neil Volz, who was Ney's previous chief of staff, pleaded guilty in Washington in May, admitting he participated in a conspiracy to corrupt Ney, his staff and other members of Congress.

State Sen. Joy Padgett said she was prepared to run in a Republican primary to replace Ney.

She told The Associated Press that Ney called her Saturday and asked her to run in his place.

Ohio GOP Chairman Bob Bennett said Padgett would be a formidable candidate and that he knew of no other Republicans interested in running.

Ohio law requires a primary if a candidate withdraws or dies more than 80 days before a general election.

However, the county where Ney would file his official notice of withdrawal, Tuscarawas, had not received Ney's filing Monday.

If Ney were to wait until after the 80-day cutoff -- which would be Aug. 21 -- there is a four-day window in which county party officials could appoint a replacement, said James Lee, spokesman for Secretary of State Ken Blackwell.

Ney spokeswoman Katie Harbath said the congressman was not available for comment.

Ney faced a tough general election challenge from Democrat Zack Space, municipal law director for the city of Dover, who had made the legal scrutiny of Ney a focus of his campaign.

Space's campaign did not return a call seeking comment Monday.

Democrats must gain 15 seats this fall to take control of the House, and Republicans had long considered Ney to be one of their most vulnerable incumbents.

Several Republican officials said Ney had been prodded to quit the race by Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, the current majority leader, as well as other officials.

They spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss the details.

Ney had won at least 60 percent of the vote in the last four general elections, enjoying support from Republicans and Democrats.

By accident or design, the timing of Ney's announcement works to his financial benefit.

Under federal law, he is allowed to use any leftover campaign funds to pay his rising legal bills.

As of June 30, he had roughly $417,000 in the bank.

------

AP Special Correspondent David Espo in Washington and Associated Press Writer Matt Reed in Heath, Ohio, contributed to this report.

------

On the Net:

Ney: http://ney.house.gov/

[Livyjr]

And since we are talking about "GOD'S OWN PARTY" .....

And corruption .....

As well as how much air ....

There really is ....

Inside the empty head ....

Of "CON-JOB CONNIE" Rice .....

We have ...

"Analysis: GOP on defensive"

By DAVID ESPO, Associated Press
Last updated: 6:16 p.m., Monday, August 7, 2006

WASHINGTON -- First gradually, now quickly, the war in Iraq and a congressional corruption scandal are shaping the midterm elections, with Democrats working to harness both as campaign issues for the fall.

That leaves Republicans on the defensive, not defeated.

In Ohio, they succeeded Monday in talking scandal-scarred Rep. Bob Ney off the fall ballot.

In the process, they likely improved their chances of retaining his seat, previously considered one of the two or three most likely to fall to the Democrats.

No matter the outcome of the primary between Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and anti-war challenger Ned Lamont on Tuesday, the unpopular conflict in Iraq is emboldening and even unifying normally fractious Democrats.

"In the interests of American national security, our troops, and our taxpayers, the open-ended commitment in Iraq that you have embraced cannot and should not be sustained," the party's leading lawmakers wrote President Bush recently.

"... We believe that a phased redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq should begin before the end of 2006."

Politically, the letter brought together lawmakers of varying views on the issue.

On the eve of the fall campaign, it also sought a middle course between the Bush administration's refusal to set a withdrawal timetable and the demand from Democratic activists for a swift pullout of U.S. forces.

Republicans responded dismissively.

"Waving a white flag in Iraq may appeal to the net roots," said Republican Party chairman Ken Mehlman, referring to Internet activists, "but it will embolden the enemy, encourage more terrorism and make America less secure."

At the same time, Republican lawmakers are increasingly outspoken about the political impact of an unpopular conflict.

"The first thing I'd do is acknowledge that there have been mistakes made," Sen. John Thune of South Dakota said recently.

"Our candidates have to draw and point out differences in how they would approach and win the war in Iraq and how their opponents would," said Thune, who is not on the ballot this fall.

"The biggest thing we have going for us on that issue is that Democrats are very divided."

Not so much any longer.

For Democrats, the letter brought praise from the leader of one group that supports Lamont and has frequently challenged the party to be more vocal against the war.

"The unity of Democrats on Iraq is good news for America," said Tom Matzzie of MoveOn.org.

Even Lieberman seemed to be changing his tone, if not his position.

In what he termed a closing campaign argument on Sunday, he outlined several disagreements with Bush over Iraq and other issues.

"As someone who voted for the war, I feel a heavy responsibility to try to end it as quickly and successfully as possible," he said.

"... I want to get our troops home as fast as anyone, probably more than most, and as I have repeatedly said, I am against an open-ended commitment."

At the same time, "if we simply give up and pull out now, like my opponent wants to do, then it would be a disaster to Iraq and to us."

The same anti-war sentiment that threatens to swamp Lieberman may wind up saving a less well-known senior senator thousands of miles away.

Unlike Lieberman, Hawaii Sen. Daniel Akaka voted against authorizing the war in Iraq in 2002.

Akaka, 81, has used the vote in television advertising to accentuate his differences with primary challenger Rep. Ed Case, who is 53.

One commercial showed Akaka speaking to a state convention, saying, "It is highly appropriate to ask, even in hindsight, whether this war was just and warranted.'

"It is highly appropriate to demand of this administration a strategy and timetable for peace and how we intend to ensure a stable and Democratic government in Iraq."

More broadly, Akaka hopes the issue will undercut Case's call for a new generation of leadership.

"The counterpoint to change is certainly experience and wisdom," says Andy Winer, Akaka's campaign manager.

In a June vote, Case opposed setting a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

One recent poll shows Akaka ahead, but not comfortably so, in advance of a Sept. 23 primary.

Nearly all incumbent Republicans have at least one or two Iraq-related votes on their record, making it a ready-made national issue.

Democrats allege a Republican "culture of corruption."

But apart from a few races -- Ney, former Rep. Tom DeLay in Texas or Sen. Conrad Burns in Montana -- the GOP leadership shows little concern about fallout from the Jack Abramoff-spawned scandal and Congress has yet to pass legislation reining in lobbyists.

The war is different.

So much so that a quiet internal debate is unfolding among GOP strategists watching the Connecticut primary from a distance.

Some argue the GOP would be better off if Lieberman wins, on the theory that anti-war activists would become discouraged and stay home in November.

Others argue that Republicans will be better off if Lamont prevails.

That way, the argument goes, they can try and win over voters by telling them the Democrats have been taken over by an anti-war fringe and can't be trusted to protect the nation's security.

--------

EDITOR'S NOTE: David Espo is The Associated Press' chief congressional correspondent.

end quotes

HUH?

What's this REPUBLICAN Mehlman on about here?

Waving a white flag in Iraq?

Who on earth is for waving a white flag in Iraq?

Is this Mehlman gone daft with the stress of being intimately involved with some of the most corrupt polticians on the face of this earth of OURS?

Sounds like maybe the heat got to him, or something ....

Making him talk out of his head like that ....

Making daft statements ....

About waving a white flag .....

In Iraq ....

What a kick ....

[Livyjr]

And still on the subject ....

Of REPUBLICANS ....

And local politics ....

AND LAND DEVELOPMENT .....

If anyone out there ....

Is looking for some prime residential land ....

Here in Rensselaer county ....

With its corrupt Department of Health .....

Which will approve a septic system ....

Anywhere you want to put one ....

Including right in a swamp ....

"Sunken trackhoe raises concerns - Town, county fear toxins are leaking into wetlands area via a stuck machine"

By KATE PERRY, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Wednesday, August 2, 2006

NORTH GREENBUSH -- In a town wetland teeming with vegetation and insects, an earth mover was sunk so deeply in the muck Tuesday that only its bucketed arm and a small portion of its cab were visible.

Fredrick Meisner, who owns 20 acres on Peck Road where the trackhoe is stuck, said it sunk overnight two or three weeks ago.

He was removing a 150-foot driveway, by order of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, when the machine went under.

Kim Chupa, a DEC spokeswoman, said the machine is stuck in a state-regulated wetland that Meisner, 77, illegally built on last year.

Local officials reported the sunken machine to the DEC earlier this week because they feared it could harm the environment.

"Our concern is the fact that there's probably fuel in the fuel tank in that thing, and it's pretty well sunk into the water," said Dan Wilson, North Greenbush fire marshal and code enforcement officer.

A path of coarsely crushed stone leads into the wooded parcel off Peck Road, but it stops abruptly at a barrier formed by large wooden girders studded with rusty bolts and cable.

Across some open water beyond the barrier, the machine's rusty bucket hung over the still filmy water Tuesday.

Dragonflies hovered above the muck, and just yards from the road, algae-topped water bordered the rudimentary driveway.

Meisner, an East Greenbush resident, said he's trying to get the machine out, but it keeps sinking deeper into the muck.

He said he's confident relief valves on the machine, which he owns, prevent it from leaking toxins into the water.

Chupa had no comment on the toxin concerns.

In 2005, the DEC cited Meisner for building on the wetlands and ordered him to remove the driveway and return it to its previous condition.

The work has been supervised by the agency, Chupa said, and the trackhoe got stuck during heavy rain a few weeks ago.

Chupa said a crane will be needed to remove the machine, but she didn't know when that would happen.

Meisner said he planned to build on the Peck Road acreage and thought he only needed permission from the Army Corps of Engineers to build the driveway.

Meisner's plans also met the county's guidelines for connecting a driveway to a county road, said Chris Meyer, a county spokesperson.

"I was going to build there, a home for my grandson, but I'm running into so much trouble there I don't know what I'm going to do with it," Meisner said.

Kate Perry can be reached at 454-5420 or by e-mail at kperry@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

Ah, yes ....

Local politics .....

Here in this puffed-up, bloated carcass ....

That calls itself the WORLD'S ONLY SUPERPOWER ......

If America took a look at itself .....

Through the eyes of children ...

It might see ....

That the only thing SUPER about it ...

Is its massive puffed-up ego ....

And not much else ....

BESIDES THE CORRUPT NATURE OF ITS GOVERNMENT ....

Which is called SCAM CITY .....

Up here where I am ....

With its North Greenbush's ...

"Developing" their swamp land .....

As prime residential land .....

For suckers from outside the area to buy ....

Which is a good BID-NESS for the SCAM ARTISTS ....

Since we got a lot of swamp land up here to sell them ...

And so ....

With that said ...

Let's look in .....

On "SLAMMIN' JOE" Lieberman .....

Over there in Connecticut ....

Who went to Washington ....

As a Democrat .....

And got hisself .....

All mixed up ....

Down there in Babylon ....

With the REPUBLICAN JEZEBEL .....

Crooning sweet nothings in "SLAMMIN' JOE'S" ear .....

Turning "SLAMMIN' JOE" ....

Away from his roots ....

And getting him all painted up ....

Like a TEXAS REPUBLICAN Doxy .....

Making "SLAMMIN'JOE" .....

Into one of George W. Bush's crowd ....

A kind of hand-maiden to George ....

Which don't fly well in the more staid and conservative Connecticut ....

And so ....

"Lieberman re-election bid tops primaries"

By SUSAN HAIGH, Associated Press
Last updated: 6:47 a.m., Tuesday, August 8, 2006

HARTFORD, Conn. -- With a new poll showing the race tightening between Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman and his anti-war opponent, both sides made their final pitches to voters in the nation's most closely watched primary election.

Lieberman planned to vote in his hometown of New Haven Tuesday morning and make six stops across the state before settling in at a Hartford hotel after polls close at 8 p.m.

Challenger Ned Lamont, a millionaire owner of a cable television company, held a slight lead of 51 percent to 45 percent over Lieberman among likely Democratic voters, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Monday.

The telephone poll of 784 likely Democratic primary voters, conducted from July 31 to Aug. 6, has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

The race tightened in recent days, with Lamont's lead cut from 13 points.

Primaries are also being held Tuesday in Colorado, Missouri, Michigan and Georgia.

In Georgia, Rep. Cynthia McKinney, who made headlines this year for a scuffle with a U.S. Capitol Police officer, faced a runoff for her district's Democratic nomination.

If defeated, Lieberman would be only the fourth incumbent senator since 1980 to lose a primary election.

Some Democrats object to the three-term senator and 2000 vice presidential candidate's support for the Iraq war, saying he is too close to Republicans and President Bush.

He has said he will run as an independent in the fall if defeated in the primary, though some backers would pressure him not to.

Lieberman said he believes voters are coming back to him.

"I feel they were flirting with the other guy for a while, wanting to send me a message," he said Monday during a stop at a restaurant in Hartford.

"I got their message."

"I think they want to send me back to Washington to continue working with them, fighting for them, and delivering for Connecticut."

Lieberman acknowledged he was still behind.

"I'm not kidding myself."

"But the momentum is our direction."

"I just hope and pray for a big turnout," he said.

Quinnipiac Poll Director Douglas Schwartz said people may be having second thoughts about Lamont, whose only political experience is two years as a Greenwich selectman and six years on the town's Board of Estimate and Taxation.

Many of Lamont's supporters see the race as a chance to assume a bigger role in the Democratic party.

"People want change and people like what they hear from Ned," said Liz Dupont-Diehl, Lamont's campaign spokeswoman.

Should he lose Tuesday, supporters would have until Wednesday afternoon to submit petitions to put Lieberman's name on the ballot as an independent.

McKinney, meanwhile, is trying to counter her opponent's charge that the six-term congresswoman is "the candidate of polarization and divisiveness."

McKinney, the state's first black woman in Congress, once claimed the Bush administration had advance knowledge of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

In March, she struck a Capitol Police officer who did not recognize her and tried to stop McKinney from entering a House office building.

A grand jury in Washington declined to indict her, but she was forced to apologize in the full House.

She drew less than 50 percent of the vote in last month's primary and faces off against Hank Johnson, the black former commissioner of DeKalb County, which encompasses much of Atlanta.

In a radio ad, McKinney acknowledges that she's "not perfect."

"But I've worked hard, told you the truth and I'm not afraid to speak truth to power," she said.

In other primaries Tuesday:

-- In Colorado's heavily conservative 5th District, voters will choose among six GOP candidates to succeed retiring Republican Rep. Joel Hefley, a 10-year veteran.

The winner will face Democratic Air Force veteran Jay Fawcett.

In another race, three Democrats are competing to replace U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez, the Republican nominee for governor.

-- In Michigan, Republican Rep. Joe Schwarz faces a serious challenge from former state lawmaker Tim Walberg.

Schwarz, a moderate Republican, is backed by President Bush, Arizona Sen. John McCain and the National Rifle Association.

But the race has been dominated by a struggle over GOP principles.

Outside groups have spent more than $1 million on the race.

-- Missouri Republican Sen. Jim Talent and Democratic challenger Claire McCaskill, the state auditor, are expected to win their party's primaries.

Voters will also decide whether to renew a 22-year-old sales tax to fund state parks and other conservation initiatives.

end quotes

Most people up here also believe that George W. Bush and his crowd knew of 9-11 well in advance .....

And clearly .....

Since the REPUBLICANS were the only ones to really get any benefit from 9-11 ....

Outside of some corporations who were under investigation ...

For fraud ...

Which records were destroyed when the towers went down ....

That belief seems to have some basis ....

And so ...

[Livyjr]

And as YOUNG ALEXANDER THE GREAT ....

Er, George W. Bush .....

Continues ....

On his quest .....

To conquer .....

All the known world .....

And then some ....

"U.S. forces push further into Afghanistan"

By PAUL GARWOOD, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:22 a.m., Tuesday, August 8, 2006

NARAY, Afghanistan -- Hundreds of U.S. soldiers have established their northernmost base in Afghanistan, pushing further up the border with Pakistan to block militants crossing jagged mountains, train fledgling local forces and build support among wary tribesmen.

In doing so, they have put themselves further into harm's way, drawing rocket fire from enemies on surrounding mountain peaks and losing at least seven soldiers since February, including their previous commanding officer in a May 5 helicopter crash in bad weather.

With NATO taking charge of security in southern provinces wracked by a Taliban resurgence, the U.S. is increasingly able to focus on stabilizing the dangerous east, extending the Afghan government's authority there and hunting for fugitives like Osama bin Laden.

More than 600 U.S. soldiers have deployed to Naray, a clutch of mud-brick and stone villages inhabited by 30,000 Pashtun tribespeople in Kunar province -- a virtually forgotten corner of Afghanistan at the northern end of the belt of eastern provinces patrolled by U.S. forces.

Bin Laden is familiar with Kunar's mountainous terrain from the days of the war against the 1979-89 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

The province was once a stronghold of Afghan warlord, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whose Hezb-e-Islami faction has long held ties with bin Laden and now fights the government of President Hamid Karzai.

American officials say heavily armed remnants of Hekmatyar's group are still active in Kunar and receive aid from militants crossing into Afghanistan from lawless tribal regions in Pakistan.

They are also supported by holdouts from the Taliban regime, which was toppled in late 2001 by U.S.-led forces for harboring bin Laden.

But Lt. Col. Michael Howard, commanding officer of Forward Operating Base Naray, said the main challenge facing his American forces is not the virtually impossible task of sealing the frontier from militant incursions but winning the trust of villagers from five local tribes.

"You have a group of people who for years have had one option, and that was to cower to, or be a part of the likes of the Taliban, Hezb-e-Islami or al-Qaida."

"That was their only choice," said Howard, who runs the 3rd Battalion, 71st Cavalry Regiment of the 10th Mountain Division, based in Fort Drum, N.Y.

"The greatest challenge is making folks realize that things have changed."

Some soldiers in Naray have recently arrived from southern Helmand and Kandahar provinces, where NATO has deployed thousands of forces in recent months -- mostly British and Canadian -- and last week took over command from the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition.

More U.S. soldiers are expected to be shifted to the east in the months ahead.

In recent weeks, U.S. soldiers broke ground further north in Kunar's neighboring province of Nuristan, establishing a tiny outpost and trying to launch road, water and power projects in Kamdesh, an isolated village surrounded by sheer cliffs and often shrouded by low clouds.

Poor weather regularly closes Kamdesh to Chinooks and other U.S. supply helicopters, cutting it off from vital supply routes for several weeks at a time.

On Monday, about 100 U.S. and Afghan forces launched an operation in Nuristan province to destroy a suspected anti-craft gun operated by militants and threatening American helicopters flying between Kamdesh and Naray, said Capt. Dan Walker of the 4th Battalion, 25th Artillery Unit of the 10th Mountain Division.

Soldiers were setting up howitzers and mortars, and infantry were preparing to move on foot into mountains to locate the high-powered weapon.

Few foreigners have ventured into this isolated region of Afghanistan.

Even in Naray, the only foreigners villagers had previously seen were hashish-smoking Soviet troops, who were based here briefly during the Russian occupation, and U.S.-funded Arab, Chechen and Pakistani mujahedeen who would cross from Pakistan to fight against them.

"The Russians would come knocking on our doors with guns looking for hashish whenever they ran out," said Naray's most prominent tribal elder, white-bearded Rahmat Noor, in his fortified home built on the eastern bank of the roaring Kunar River.

"We all made jihad (holy war) against the Russians because we didn't like them."

"They were occupiers," Noor said.

"But we like the Americans."

"They came to help."

"They built a mosque on their base for our soldiers."

Following the Sept. 11 attacks and subsequent hunt for bin Laden, a U.S. Special Forces contingent established a small outpost in Naray.

The 10th Mountain Division base has grown around it and has employed more than 1,000 local people.

About 160 Afghan soldiers live side-by-side with U.S. forces at the base, training to use American weapons, like Howitzer cannons.

A medical facility run by the 758th Forward Surgical Team out of Fort Lewis, Wash., and medics from the 3-71 Cavalry's reconnaissance unit have treated dozens of Afghans.

They include a 12-year-old Kamdesh girl, Aleema, whose right foot and bottom half of her shin were blown off by a land mine planted by tribesmen along a tribal border.

"These people first understood that we were here to kill them and the kids would stand off, but now we treat them, give them teddy bears and soccer balls," said cavalry medic Sgt. Michael La Clair, 38, of San Diego.

"They know now that we are here to help."

end quotes

George W. Bush ...

Is renting out OUR American military ...

To these tin-pot dictators ......

Around the world ....

Like the Hessians .....

Used to rent out their troops .....

To despots and tyrants .....

Like George III .....

Of England .....

So that George III ....

Could use those foreign troops .....

To crush insurgents .....

Hiding in the mountains ....

Here in OUR America ....

Under the leadership ....

Of the rebel George Washington ....

And so ...

[Livyjr]

And while YOUNG ALEXANDER THE GREAT Bush .....

Continues ....

With his quest ....

To outdo Julius Caesar before him .....

By conquering everything that there is .....

Or even could be ....

Unlike Caesar ....

Who only really conquered Gaul .....

Which wasn't really much ....

According to George ...

And Dick Cheney ....

Since they were just French ...

With a different name ....

We have ....

From here in OUR own neglected part of the world ....

"Loss of oil field puts pressure on price"

By MARY PEMBERTON, Associated Press
Last updated: 6:47 a.m., Tuesday, August 8, 2006

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- BP's decision to shut down the nation's biggest oil field roiled oil markets, putting pressure on prices at the pump during the peak summer driving season and prompting the government to consider dipping into its emergency stockpile.

Crude oil prices fell 28 cents in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange early Tuesday, likely a result of profit-taking a day after prices jumped more than $2 a barrel in response to news of the loss of 400,000 barrels a day.

BP said it will have to replace most of the 22 miles of so-called transit pipeline at Prudhoe Bay, which produces about 2.6 percent of the nation's daily supply including imports.

Most of the crude oil produced out of Alaska's North Slope each day goes to refineries in Washington, California and Hawaii, said Joe Sparano, president of the Western States Petroleum Association, a trade group based in Sacramento, Calif.

Sparano said it's too soon to tell how the shutdown will ultimately affect consumers.

"Until we know the full extent of any necessary repairs and how long they might take, it's impossible to predict what the impact might be," he said.

The average U.S. retail price of a gallon of unleaded, regular gasoline was $3.036 on Monday -- near its all-time high of $3.057, reached Sept. 5 after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.

Gasoline futures also rose, indicating the market expects further increases.

The Energy Department said it is prepared to provide oil from the government's emergency supplies if a refinery requests it.

"If there is a request for oil we'll certainly take a serious look at that," spokesman Craig Stevens said.

The government has about 700 million barrels in storage on the Gulf Coast to be used in case of a serious supply disruption.

The Energy Department in the past has lent some of the oil to refineries when there were disruptions.

Bob Malone, chairman of BP America, said that in a worst-case scenario, it could take weeks or months to replace the pipelines.

But the company said it will try to put portions of the network back into operation as they are repaired.

"We estimate it could take between 2-3 months to get it back on line," Bruce Lanni, an industry analyst with A.G. Edwards, wrote in a research note.

"However, there are no assurances that it will return to current capacity, given the complexities and age of the reservoirs."

Washington state's largest refinery has enough oil stockpiles to keep the shutdown from becoming a major problem in the next two or three weeks, said Mike Abendhoff, spokesman for BP's Cherry Point refinery in northwest Washington.

"If it prolongs and goes six weeks, eight weeks, three months or four months, then it's going to require us to be more creative in where we get our crude from," he said.

BP operates the Prudhoe Bay oil field for itself and for other oil companies, including ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil.

Prudhoe Bay and other oil fields on Alaska's North Slope feed oil into the 800-mile trans-Alaska pipeline.

The North Slope produces approximately 800,000 barrels a day; Prudhoe Bay accounts for half of that.

BP discovered corrosion in the transit lines only after the U.S. Transportation Department ordered their inspection following a spill of up to 270,000 gallons in March.

It was the biggest spill in North Slope history, and has become part of a criminal investigation into the company's Alaskan operations.

The loss may hit Alaska hardest.

Eighty-nine percent of the state's income is from oil revenue, and central to that cash flow is Prudhoe Bay.

The expected loss of 400,000 barrels per day at today's oil prices means $6.4 million lost daily in royalties and taxes, Revenue Commissioner Bill Corbus said.

------

AP Writers Matt Volz in Juneau, Alaska, and Jane Wardell in London contributed to this report.

------

On the Net:

BP: http://usresponse.bp.com/go/site/1249

[Livyjr]

And while YOUNG ALEXANDER THE GREAT Bush ...

Continues his WAR OF TERROR ....

On everything he can ...

Everywhere that he can .....

So that even in the remotest parts of the Hindu Kush ....

Or the Pamirs ....

The people ....

Will have pictures of GEORGE THE GREATEST ....

On their walls .....

Inscribed with the slogan ...

In their local dialect, of course ...

So that it can be understood by all the world ....

"FEAR THIS" .....

We have from George's conquered province of IRAQINAMISTAN ....

This news UPDATE ....

As follows .....

"Iraqi leader slams U.S.-aided attack"

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer

5 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's prime minister sharply criticized a U.S.-Iraqi attack on a Shiite militia stronghold in Baghdad, exposing a rift with his American partners on security tactics, as 24 people were killed Tuesday in a series of bombings and a shooting.

An American soldier also died of wounds sustained in fighting in western Anbar province, the U.S. military said Tuesday.

The latest violence — in addition to the 10 killed in a suicide bombing in Samarra on Monday — occurred amid a major U.S. operation to secure Baghdad in order to control Shiite-Sunni sectarian bloodshed that many fear will lead to civil war.

The U.S.-Iraqi air and ground attack was launched before dawn Monday in Sadr City, which is controlled by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army militia.

Police said three people, including a woman and a child, were killed in the raid, which the U.S. command said was aimed at "individuals involved in punishment and torture cell activities."

Three people were captured, the U.S. military said.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, said he was "very angered and pained" by the operation, warning that it could undermine his efforts toward national reconciliation.

"Reconciliation cannot go hand-in-hand with operations that violate the rights of citizens this way," al-Maliki said in a statement on government television.

"This operation used weapons that are unreasonable to detain someone — like using planes."

He apologized to the Iraqi people for the operation and said "this won't happen again."

Hours after he spoke, central Baghdad was shaken early Tuesday by three near-simultaneous bomb explosions near the Interior Ministry building in the Al-Nahda neighborhood.

Ten civilians were killed and eight people were injured, said police Lt. Bilal Ali Majid.

A few hours later, two roadside bombs exploded within minutes of each other in the main Shurja market in central Baghdad, killing 10 people and injuring 50, said police Lt. Mohammed Kheyoun.

At about the same time, gunmen stormed a bank in Baghdad and killed two guards and a customer.

They drove away with an unknown amount of money, said police Sgt. Zakariya Hassan.

Also Tuesday, two roadside bombs in Tikrit north of Baghdad killed a policeman, said police Capt. Laith Hamid.

Overnight, nine bullet-riddled bodies were found in Kut south of Baghdad, and four Shiites were shot dead by gunmen in Baqouba, northeast of the capital.

On Monday, President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, met with the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., to discuss security operations in Baghdad.

Talabani said he told Casey "it is in no one's interest to have a confrontation" with al-Sadr's movement.

The public positions taken by al-Maliki and Talabani signal serious differences between Iraqi politicians and both U.S. and Iraqi military officials on how to restore order and deal with armed groups, many of which have links to political parties.

Speaking to reporters Monday, Casey made no mention of al-Sadr but said he had discussed plans with Talabani to bring "fundamental change to the security situation in Baghdad" before Ramadan, which begins in late September.

Al-Sadr has risen to become a major figure in the Shiite community and a pillar of support for al-Maliki.

The prime minister's apology and criticism of the U.S. forces may have helped placate al-Sadr, who on Monday urged his followers to show restraint.

In a statement read at all Mahdi Army offices, al-Sadr urged his militiamen to be "calm and patient, and avoid being drawn into civil war," said the cleric's aide, Mohammed al-Fartousi.

He said al-Sadr urged the militiamen to purge all those who bring the Mahdi Army into disrepute.

They should also "denounce the kidnapping of Iraqis, denounce destruction of mosques and denounce killing of innocent people," said his aide, Mohammed al-Fartousi.
___

Associated Press correspondents Rawya Rageh, Qais al-Bashir and Bushra Juhi contributed to this report.

end quotes

HEY ...

al-Maliki .....

There is something you ought to learn .....

And learn it quickly .....

If your people aren't dues-paying REPUBLICANS ...

With their PROTECTION up to date ...

THEY HAVE NO RIGHTS .....

PERIOD ....

And especially the women and children ....

And so .....

You get in bed with the devil, al-Maliki .....

Don't cry ....

About being jabbed in *** ....

By a pitchfork every now and then ....

Because that just goes with that particular territory ....

When you are in bed ....

With a real world conqueror ....

Like George W. Bush ....

And if you think it is not going to happen again, al-Maliki .....

You're just pipe-dreaming .....

And you can't stop it .....

Not when you are dealing with a man .....

Who is bent ....

On world conquest ....

Like George W. Bush is ....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

And here's Tommy .....

You know ....

Tommy DeLay .....

One of the MOST POWERFUL REPUBLICANS that there is .....

Here in OUR America ....

Or in the world .....

For that matter ....

Since the REPUBLICANS ....

Are not just here in America anymore ....

They are in the whole world ....

EVERYWHERE ....

Or anywhere that there is money, anyway ....

And someone to lord it over ....

Which is most places ....

And so ...

"DeLay vows to take name off Texas ballot"

By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent

13 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Dogged by scandal, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said Tuesday he will do whatever is necessary to remove his name from the ballot, a step that will allow the party to field a write-in candidate in hopes of holding his seat in Texas.

DeLay acted one day after Texas Republicans lost a court battle in their bid to name a replacement candidate for him on the November ballot.

"I will take the actions necessary to remove my name from the Texas ballot."

"To do anything else would be hypocrisy," DeLay said in a statement.

"I strongly encourage the Republican Party to take any and all actions necessary to give Texas voters an up-or-down choice this fall between two major party candidates."

There was every sign they were trying.

Several Republicans said local party officials hoped to unite behind a write-in candidate, possibly David Wallace, mayor of DeLay's home town of Sugar Land.

DeLay resigned his Houston-area seat in June and said he was switching his legal residence to Virginia.

He had already won a primary in Texas, and Republican officials there moved to name a replacement candidate.

Democrats went to court to block the switch, and prevailed.

The maneuvering underscored the intensity of the battle between the two national parties as they vie for control of Congress in the midterm elections.

DeLay had held the House seat for more than two decades, but yielded his power — first surrendering his post as majority leader, then resigning his seat — at the urging of party leaders who said he risked defeat this fall and that his presence on the ballot could hamper other incumbents.

He is awaiting trial in Texas state court on money laundering charges alleging that illegal corporate cash helped pay for legislative campaigns in 2002.

DeLay also had close ties to Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist at the center of a congressional corruption investigation.

DeLay has not been charged in that investigation, although two former aides who later developed ties to Abramoff have entered into plea bargains.

Former Rep. Nick Lampson is the Democratic candidate in the race, and had amassed more than $2 million in his campaign treasury as of June 30 in preparation for a race against DeLay.

Wallace, too, has been raising money, initially expecting to be named the replacement for DeLay.

He had slightly more than $157,000 in his campaign bank account on June 30.

Texas Republicans on Monday abandoned their court fight to replace DeLay on the November ballot, conceding defeat after Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia ruled against them.

"I think all our legal avenues are exhausted in terms of affecting the ruling prior to the election," said Jim Bopp Jr., the attorney who argued the Republican Party's case to allow party officials to substitute another candidate for DeLay.
____

Associated Press Writer Suzanne Gamboa contributed to this report.

[Livyjr]

And then ...

There is REFORM ....

Here in the CORRUPT EMPIRE ....

Of New York ....

Which state ....

Thanks to the POWER ...

That this FORUM gives ....

To plain, ordinary citizens like me ....

To speak out on these issues of OUR times ....

Someday ...

Just might have integrity ....

In its government ....

AS OUR CONSTITUTION INTENDS ....

And so ....

From New York State ....

We have ....

"Judicial candidates must disclose finances - Before ruling, only executive and legislative candidates had to submit financial statements"

By MICHELE MORGAN BOLTON, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 12:23 p.m., Tuesday, August 8, 2006

ALBANY -- An order issued today requires statewide candidates for judicial office to file financial disclosure statements with the Unified Court System's Ethics Commission.

The move by Jonathan Lippman, who is the chief administrative judge for New York's Office of Court Administration, closes a loophole that exempted only these candidates from such disclosures.

Effective Sept. 1., financial information must be filed 20 days following the date of candidacy.

Once received, it must be open to public examination.

Financial disclosures are currently required of public officials in the judicial, legislative and executive branches of government.

Candidates for executive and legislative posts are also required to file but, to date, judicial hopefuls, who are not incumbents, didn't have to comply.

The rule was made with the approval of the Court of Appeals, New York's highest court.

Michele Morgan Bolton can be reached at 434-2403 or by e-mail at mbolton@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

And speaking of .....

CORPORATE WELFARE .....

At taxpayer expense, of course ....

And George Pataki's .....

CORRUPT ....

REPUBLICAN EMPIRE ....

Of New York ....

"Risky business - State's $1.2B deal with AMD is fraught with uncertainties" 
 
By MICHAEL D. MARVIN
First published: Sunday, July 16, 2006

So we are going to build a chip fab plant.

Some say it will put us on the map.

Others say it will create 10,000 jobs.

People seem to be jumping in front of each other to try to take credit for this accomplishment.

This even though Advanced Micro Devices signed a nonbinding agreement with the state, which means they could still pull out.

This even though taxpayers have to cough up $1.2 billion to help build a facility that could house up to 1,200 people.

Amazing.

We are trying to buy 1,200 AMD jobs for about $1 million a job.

That's about 1 percent of the state budget.

If we use the most optimistic projection for job creation of 10,000 jobs, and those jobs paid an average salary of $50,000, New York would recoup $25 million a year through taxes.

However, if the cost of providing that money is 5 percent per year, it will cost $60 million in interest on the $1.2 billion.

Not only wouldn't New Yorkers get their investment back, but the cost would continue to grow each year.

We are not getting a corporate headquarters that would provide leadership and growth.

We are getting a factory.

We are not getting revolutionary technology.

We are getting the latest in incremental changes to a process that has been going on for decades.

Why, then, are we spending $1.2 billion?

Another issue that must be considered is how long this plant will be in use.

Some chip fab plants are used for only three years, though 10 to 20 years is more typical.

I doubt AMD is making any commitments on the length of use of the facilities or the number of employees that would remain at the plant for 20 years.

AMD would certainly not make commitments that would result in the repayment of our tax dollars.

When the plant is no longer in use because of obsolesce or changing business climate, there will be one very large concrete tombstone in our region with no other possible use.

It is a special purpose building, and it will have contained many chemicals.

All of the decision-makers, of course, no longer will be in office when this occurs.

All of AMD's senior officers live outside New York.

They may express regret for the unfortunate result of the plant's closing.

Somehow this will not make me feel better.

What I would really like to know is what other uses were considered by our leaders for our $1.2 billion.

Did they consider reducing our taxes so that we would not be the highest taxed state in the country?

Did they consider building a light rail system for the region that would attract many businesses, reduce reliance on the nonrenewable energy sources (i.e., oil), and improve the quality of life of all of its residents?

Was the possibility of a high-speed rail service to New York City that would better unite our state's work force ruled out?

How about an investment fund for renewable energy companies headquartered here?

How about turning the Harriman Campus in uptown Albany into such an energy efficient workplace that visitors flocked from all over to see it?

Is the contribution of $1.2 billion to help AMD build a chip fab the best use of our tax dollars?

I will say that we have gotten a tremendous amount of press and recognition.

But I still wonder if it is worth $1.2 billion.

Michael D. Marvin is co-founder and chairman emirtus of MapInfo, the Troy-based software developer.

end quotes

Well. Mr. Marvin .....

From the perspective ....

Of New York State's .....

Corrupt politicians .....

WHO ARE "IN IT FOR THEIR POCKETS" .....

The GRAFT ....

And the SKIM ......

Off that 1.2 BILLION ....

Is going to do ....

VERY WELL ...

For them .....

And so ...

They thought ....

That another opportunity ....

TO LINE THEIR POCKETS ....

WITH OUR TAX MONEY ....

WAS THE VERY BEST ...

USE ....

OF THAT TAX MONEY ....

THAT THERE COULD BE .....

And so ...

And speaking about the "CHIP FAB" boondoggle .....

Up here in "HEY, JACKIE BOY, HEY, JOHNNIE" Sweeney territory ....

Where CORPORATE WELFARE ....

In huge amounts ....

Is felt ....

To be in the NATIONAL INTEREST ....

BECAUSE CORPORATIONS ....

ARE AMERICA ....

And so ....

"County leader douses pipe plan - Chairman of Saratoga Board of Supervisors says Albany's hopes to sell water to chip plant 'too late'"

By BRIAN NEARING, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Saturday, August 5, 2006

ALBANY -- An idea to build a 20-mile aqueduct to bring water from Albany to a planned computer chip manufacturing plant in Saratoga County may just be a multimillion-dollar pipe dream.

The chairman of the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors was cool Friday to reports that Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings is eyeing a pipeline plan for the 1 million gallons of water or more needed each day by the Advanced Micro Devices plant in the Luther Forest Technology Campus.

"These types of conversations should have started years ago if they were interested," said board Chairman Harry Guthiel.

"It is too late at this point."

"They are way, way behind."

In May, a report to the city by consulting engineers Malcolm Pirnie found that a pipeline could be built at the city's Loudonville Reservoir on Albany Shaker Road, run either through the Northway median or along Route 9, and end at the plant off Route 9 in Malta.

The estimated price tag: between $65.8 million and $120.4 million, depending on whether state health rules would require covering the reservoir basin.

The report found the city could provide up to 7.4 million gallons a day, well beyond what the chip plant would need.

On Friday, Jennings said that he hadn't approached Saratoga County officials with the idea, but he felt there was still time for it to be considered.

"It's never too late if you are going to spend $80 million on a water system," said Jennings, referring to the county's plans to build its own $76 million water system to service the AMD plant.

"I still hope to have some meetings with them."

Albany, with an abundant supply from its Alcove and Basic Creek reservoirs in the Helderbergs in Coeymans and Westerlo, sells water to Guilderland and Bethlehem and is looking for more customers.

A pipeline would "benefit everyone up and down the Northway," said Jennings.

Under Saratoga County's plan, it would pump water from the Hudson River in Moreau, process it in a water treatment plant and pipe it 27 miles to the technology park.

Guthiel said the county is well along with its engineering and environmental reviews.

"These kinds of things take a lot of time."

"I don't think that the (Albany) plan could be ready in time for when the water was needed."

He said any pipeline from Albany would have to cross the Mohawk River, which would require extensive engineering and environmental review.

Under the Saratoga County plan, AMD is expected to buy up to 3 million gallons of water daily.

In May, the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors agreed to supply $15 million needed to guarantee the water supply to AMD plant.

The board agreed to use 50 percent of the county budget surplus as an interest-free loan to a revitalized Saratoga County Water Authority, which will pay back the money within 32 years.

Brian Nearing can be reached at 454-5094 or by e-mail at bnearing@timesunion.com.

end quotes

Of course ....

The water in the Hudson River ....

Has already been allocated .....

As to "taking" .....

A long time ago now ....

Because the Hudson River ....

Is a tidal estuary ....

And salt water comes up the river, as a result ....

So that taking 3 MILLION GALLONS ....

Out of the river .....

Up in Moreau ....

Is going to have an adverse impact ....

On already established communities ....

Further down the river ....

Who already rely upon the Hudson River .....

For their drinking water .....

And so .....

IN TYPICAL CORRUPT NEW YORK STATE FASHION ....

These "PLAYERS" .....

Up here in SWEENEY COUNTRY ....

Have already committed OUR tax money ....

To this CORPORATE WELFARE SCHEME ....

Without bothering .....

To see ....

If there is capacity ....

In the Hudson River .....

That would allow them ...

To take out 3 MILLION GALLONS .....

And it is our bet up here .....

That the SWEENEY CROWD ....

Involved in this CORPORATE WELFARE SCHEME ....

Will try to sell out the downstate communities ...

By simply taking that water ...

And screw all of them down there ....

If the salt water moves further up the river ...

As a result ....

And so ....

POWER POLITICS ....

At its finest ....

Here in REPUBLICAN George Pataki's ....

CORRUPT EMPIRE ....

Of New York ....

And so ...

[Livyjr]

If you really do think about it .....

Well ....

These REPUBLICANS up here in the corrupt EMPIRE of New York .....

Are probably right .....

I mean ....

Well ....

Let's look at it logically .....

They have POWER over us ....

We have none ....

If GOD did not like that .....

Well ....

He ...

Or She ......

Would never have let that happen ....

I mean ....

Well ...

Let's face that fact, too ....

Who knows more about DEMOCRACY .....

Than GOD .....

And if GOD really did want for us to have a DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC ....

IF GOD THOUGHT THAT WE COULD ACTUALLY HANDLE THAT RESPONSIBILITY ....

GOD WOULD HAVE GIVEN US A DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC ....

WHERE ALL WOULD BE EQUAL ....

But since we are not ....

All equal, I mean .....

There being REPUBLICANS ....

On the one hand ....

And those of us ....

Who are not REPUBLICANS, on the other .....

Well ...

You can see where I am going ....

I think, anyway .....

SINCE THERE ARE REPUBLICANS ....

IN POWER ....

OVER ALL OF US ....

AND EVERYTHING ....

LOGICALLY ....

OR AT LEAST, SO I AM TOLD ....

GOD HAS TO LOVE THE REPUBLICANS ....

Elsewise .....

He ...

Or She .....

Would not have created them ....

To be OUR OVERLORDS ....

Down here on this earth of OURS ...

TO PROTECT GOD'S BELOVED CORPORATIONS ....

AND THEIR GREED ....

FROM US ....

THE UNDERCLASS ....

THAT GOD CREATED ....

HERE IN OUR AMERICA ....

TO BE LORDED OVER ....

BY GOD'S CHERISHED REPUBLICAN PARTY ....

HERE ON THIS EARTH OF OURS ....

And so ....

That was really pretty easy .....

To cypher out .....

When you think on it ....

NOW .....

All we have to do up here ....

IN THE CORRUPT REPUBLICAN EMPIRE OF NEW YORK ...

Is to get this SUBSERVIENCE schtick down just right ....

The proper KOW-TOW .....

Tugging on the forelock, just so ....

When the shadow of a REPUBLICAN is passing by ...

The correct method of groveling ....

To show ....

That we except ....

Our DOMINATION ....

By them ...

And so .....

WOW ....

This thing of being an American citizen .....

Is really pretty easy when you think about it .....

Just get your face ...

Down into the dirt ...

And then keep it there ....

Saying not a word to anyone ....

Thinking no thoughts ....

Keeping the eyes averted ....

Lest their gaze .....

Touch the hem .....

Of a REPUBLICAN'S ROBE ....

And so .....

[Livyjr]

And as the REPUBLICANS attempt to teach ....

SUBSERVIENCE ....

To the rest .....

Of the benighted peoples of the world .....

"U.S. copter crashes in Iraq; 2 missing"

By VIJAY JOSHI, Associated Press
Last updated: 7:57 a.m., Wednesday, August 9, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A U.S. Army helicopter crashed in Iraq's western Anbar province, leaving two crew members missing and four injured, the U.S. military said Wednesday, as Iraqi and U.S. reinforcements move into the capital in a bid to stem sectarian violence that threatens civil war.

In Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, four people were killed and 16 wounded in a U.S. airstrike late Tuesday, police said.

There was no immediate comment from U.S. officials, but a Shiite mosque and nearby houses in the city were heavily damaged in the blast.

Four U.S. service members were injured when the UH60 Blackhawk helicopter crashed Tuesday with six people on board during a routine flight to survey the area, the U.S. command said in a statement Wednesday.

The four injured troops were in stable condition, and it did not appear the crash was due to hostile fire, the U.S. said.

The ongoing violence in Baghdad has prompted U.S. commanders to reinforce troop strength in the city.

Over the past weeks, a force expected to number nearly 12,000 has been assembling here to try to take the streets back from Sunni and Shiite extremists.

A U.S. statement Tuesday said about 6,000 additional Iraqi troops were being sent to the Baghdad area, along with 3,500 soldiers of 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team and 2,000 troops from the U.S. 1st Armored Division, which has served as a reserve force since November.

"We must dramatically reduce the level of violence in Baghdad that is fueling sectarianism," said Maj. Gen. J.D. Thurman, commander of the coalition forces in Baghdad, where strife between Shiites and Sunnis runs the highest.

"Iraqi and U.S. forces will help the citizens of Baghdad by reducing the violence that has plagued this city since the Samarra bombing," Thurman said.

"Iraqi and Multinational Division-Baghdad soldiers will not fail the Iraqi people."

Much of the violence has been blamed on sectarian militias that have stepped up a campaign of tit-for-tat killings since the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite shrine in the northern city of Samarra.

Some of the reinforcements have already been seen patrolling a mostly Sunni neighborhood in western Baghdad, scene of armed confrontations between Sunni and Shiite gunmen.

Many of the militias responsible for sectarian violence are linked to political parties that are part of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's national unity government, and they are reluctant to disband their armed wings unless others do the same.

The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said there were talks under way between various Sunni and Shiite groups to reach agreements and sign pledges to end sectarian fighting.

Also Wednesday, Romanian President Traian Basescu arrived in Baghdad to meet Iraqi and U.S. officials and visit some of the country's 890 troops stationed there.

Basescu was received by President Jalal Talabani and will meet other key U.S. and Iraqi officials.

In June, Romanian Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu proposed withdrawing Romania's troops from Iraq, but Basescu and the country's top security body said the next day they would remain.

In Basra, the city council said it has decided not to cooperate with a committee sent by the prime minister to supervise an emergency plan for the city, according to councilman Aqil Talib.

He said the council wanted to meet first with al-Maliki to determine the committee's role.

The decision shows the tension between the central government and the religious Shiite political leadership in Basra.

In other violence Wednesday, gunmen on two motorcycles assassinated Col. Qassim Abdel-Qadir, administrative head of an Iraqi army division in the southern city of Basra, said a police official who did not want to be named for security reasons.

A roadside bomb exploded near a U.S. patrol in eastern Baghdad's Shiite neighborhood of Habibiya, killing one bystander and injuring one U.S. soldier, said police Lt. Bilal Ali.

Police also found the bodies of three men who were shot in the head and dumped in two locations in southwestern Baghdad, said police Lt. Maitham Abdul-Razzaq said.

A policeman was killed and another wounded when they were trying to defuse a roadside bomb late Tuesday in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, police Capt. Laith Mohammed said.

In New Zealand, the Foreign Ministry said a Cook Islands national working as a driver in Iraq was killed in a bomb attack late Tuesday.

------

Associated Press correspondents Rawya Rageh, Qais al-Bashir, Qassim Abdul-Zahra, Sameer N. Yacoub and Bushra Juhi contributed to this report.

end quotes

"Iraqi and Multinational Division-Baghdad soldiers will not fail the Iraqi people ......"

Okay .....

DA YADA DA YADA DA YADA DA ............

[Livyjr]

And as the REPUBLICANS attempt to teach ....

SUBSERVIENCE ....

To the rest .....

Of the benighted peoples of the world .....

"U.S. copter crashes in Iraq; 2 missing" 
 
By VIJAY JOSHI, Associated Press
Last updated: 7:57 a.m., Wednesday, August 9, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- "We must dramatically reduce the level of violence in Baghdad that is fueling sectarianism," said Maj. Gen. J.D. Thurman, commander of the coalition forces in Baghdad, where strife between Shiites and Sunnis runs the highest.

"Iraqi and U.S. forces will help the citizens of Baghdad by reducing the violence that has plagued this city since the Samarra bombing," Thurman said.

"Iraqi and Multinational Division-Baghdad soldiers will not fail the Iraqi people."

But they already have, of course ....

Let the people of Iraq down ....

And most of them, permanently .....

Into the ground ....

And so ....

"Prosecutors shun excuses for accused GIs"

By RYAN LENZ, Associated Press
Last updated: 8:05 p.m., Tuesday, August 8, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A U.S. Army private on Tuesday described the ever-present fear of death gripping his unit, whose members stand accused of raping and murdering a 14-year-old girl and killing her family in Iraq's infamous "Triangle of Death."

"You're just walking a death walk," Pfc. Justin Cross told a hearing to determine whether five fellow soldiers must stand trial in the March 12 attack near Mahmoudiya.

But prosecutors argued that the threats of war, arduous missions and frequent loss of life were no excuse for rape and murder.

"Murder not war."

"Rape not war."

"That's what were here talking about today," prosecutor Capt. Alex Pickands said in his closing argument before the three-day hearing concluded.

"Cold food didn't kill that family."

"Personnel assignments didn't rape and murder that 14-year-old little girl."

Pickands said the suspects "gathered together over cards and booze and came up with a plan to rape and murder that little girl."

The hearing officer must forward a recommendation to the brigade commander, Col. Todd Ebel, who must decide whether to order a trial.

Spc. James P. Barker, Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman and Pfc. Bryan L. Howard are accused of raping and murdering the girl and killing her parents and 5-year-old sister.

Another soldier, Sgt. Anthony W. Yribe, is accused of failing to report the attack but is not alleged to have participated.

Testimony during the Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a grand jury, has painted a picture of a demoralized unit, drained emotionally after the deaths of comrades and exhausted after the frequent attacks in the mostly Sunni Arab area, a stronghold of al-Qaida in Iraq and other religious extremists.

"It drives you nuts."

"You feel like every step you might get blown up," Cross told the hearing.

"You just hit a point where you're like, 'If I die today, I die.'"

Cross said the unit was "full of despair," and he feared dying at his post before he could go home.

"I couldn't sleep mainly for fear we would be attacked," Cross said.

He said the deaths of two soldiers at a checkpoint "pretty much crushed the platoon."

To cope with the stress, he said, soldiers turned to whiskey -- a violation of U.S. regulations in Iraq -- and painkillers to ease their fears.

Much of the testimony has centered on former Pfc. Steven D. Green, who was discharged due to a "personality disorder."

Green was arrested in June shortly after the command learned U.S. soldiers may have been involved in the attack.

He has pleaded not guilty to rape and murder charges and is being held in the United States.

On Tuesday, Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Fenlason, the accused soldiers' platoon sergeant, said he was sent to the unit to restore discipline after several soldiers, including Green, began suffering emotionally after losing comrades.

"I recall a conversation with him (Green) regarding his lack of concern or caring for Iraqi life versus American soldiers' life," Fenlason said.

Another witness, Sgt. Daniel Carrick, told the hearing that harsh conditions affected everyone, but especially Green.

"Green had hatred for a lot of people in general," Carrick said.

The final witness, company commander Capt. John Goodwin, testified by secure telephone after his base at Youssifiyah had come under rocket and mortar attack Tuesday.

Goodwin told the hearing that morale had slumped as casualties rose.

Asked whether soldiers in his unit hated Iraqis, Goodwin replied: "There's more of a frustration than a hatred."

"I can understand why because of events that happened over the last three months," he added.

But it was Cross' testimony that was the most riveting.

His comments were in stark contrast with the image of a professional military force, highly trained and committed to the mission regardless of the dangers.

Premeditated murder carries the death penalty under U.S. military law and the testimony could be an attempt to persuade the command to seek a lesser penalty if a court martial is ordered.

In Washington, lawyer Eugene Fidell, president of the National Institute of Military Justice, said combat stress as a defense was a long shot "unless it rose to the level of an insanity defense or negated some element of the crime."

"It might influence whether it's sent to trial as a capital case," he told The Associated Press.

"That may be what the defense considers the main event here ..."

"They may be hoping to have the nature of the charges modified, have the case go to trial as something other than premeditated murder."

The Mahmoudiya area, about 20 miles south of Baghdad, became known as the "Triangle of Death" because of the large number of Iraqi Shiites who were waylaid and murdered along the roads between Baghdad and Shiite areas of the south.

On Monday, Army criminal investigator Benjamin Bierce testified about a sworn statement by Barker in which he said the soldiers drank whiskey and played cards while plotting the assault.

Bierce said Barker confessed that he, Cortez and Green took turns raping Abeer Qassim al-Janabi and that Green shot the teen as well as her relatives.

On Tuesday, Pfc. Justin Watt said he didn't believe Green "could have done this all by himself."

His comments were made during questioning by Yribe's lawyers, who argued in their final summation that there was insufficient evidence to try their client.

Yribe is accused of failing to disclose that he had found a shotgun shell at the victims' house.

Shotguns are rarely used by Iraqis, prosecutors alleged.

Lawyers for the other four on Tuesday also submitted a written request for a new hearing, accusing Yribe's counsel of deliberately asking incriminating questions.

The decision on the motion rests with the soldiers' brigade commander, who is expected to rule within a week.

Sgt. Anthony Hernandez, a soldier in the same unit, testified Tuesday on behalf of Yribe, recalling that he was recommended for a Silver Star for bravery during an attack on a convoy.

"He always put his life on the line," Hernandez said.

The rape and murders have bolstered allegations of misconduct by soldiers, including illegal killings, beatings and inhuman treatment.

The allegations have increased the mistrust and resentment among Iraqis of the American military and increased calls for their withdrawal.

The case has already increased demands for changes in an agreement that exempts U.S. soldiers from prosecution in Iraqi courts.

And Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has demanded an independent investigation into the Mahmoudiya allegations.

------

Associated Press writer Charles J. Hanley contributed to this report from New York.

end quotes

SO ...

Okay ...

Help me out here, Private First Class Cross .....

YOU ARE ENLISTED .....

IN A VOLUNTEER ARMY ....

WHOSE JOB IT IS .....

TO FIGHT GEORGE W. BUSH'S WARS ....

WHICH IS WHAT YOU ARE IN IRAQ FOR ....

AS ADVERTISED ....

AND IN A WAR ....

THE JOB ....

IN FACT, THE DUTY ...

OF THOSE ON THE "OTHER SIDE" ....

THE "SIDE" THAT GEORGE W. BUSH HAS DECLARED WAR ON ....

WELL ....

AS I UNDERSTAND WAR ....

WHICH HAS NOT CHANGED .....

ONE WHIT ....

SINCE VIET NAM ....

THEIR JOB IS TO KILL PEOPLE LIKE YOU ....

BEFORE YOU CAN KILL THEM ...

WHICH IS PRETTY MUCH ...

WHAT WAR HAS BEEN ABOUT ...

SINCE ...

WELL ...

YOU WOULD KNOW ...

AS A SOLDIER ....

LIKE FOREVER ...

OR EVER SINCE THERE HAS BEEN WAR, ANYWAY .....

And so .....

How come those guys raped and killed that little girl?

For the sport of it?

For the fun?

BECAUSE GEORGE W. BUSH ....

AND "CON-JOB CONNIE" RICE ....

AND DONALD RUMSFELD ....

ALL GAVE YOU ....

THE DISTINCT IMPRESSION ....

THAT YOU WOULD BE HEROS ....

TO THEM, AT LEAST .....

IF YOU DID?

Because it sure as hell was not because of the "war" ....

Since raping little girls in something that animals do ....

NOT AMERICAN SOLDIERS .....

And so ...

[Livyjr]

George W. Bush has let the genie out of the bottle .....

And Pandora out of her box .....

And now ....

Well .....

George was already out of his league ....

When he started this mess ....

By running his mouth .....

And puffing up his ego ....

And so ....

A day late ......

And a dollar short ....

Is OUR George now ....

And so ....

"U.S. directs criticism at Israel"

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:26 p.m., Wednesday, August 9, 2006

CRAWFORD, Texas -- The White House said Wednesday neither Israel nor Hezbollah should escalate their month-old war, a pointed comment after Israel decided to widen its ground invasion of southern Lebanon.

Although White House press secretary Tony Snow said the message was for both sides, his remarks came as Israel's Security Cabinet voted to expand the war effort in an attempt to deal further blows to Hezbollah.

The criticism was among the administration's strongest concerning longtime ally Israel since the fighting began.

"We are working hard now to bridge differences between the United States position and some of the positions of our allies," Snow told reporters in Texas, where President Bush was vacationing.

"We want an end to violence and we do not want escalations."

Meanwhile, rifts over a plan to stop the fighting delayed approval of a resolution at the U.N. Security Council.

The U.S. and France were offering competing versions.

France proposed new language on a total cease-fire and Israeli pullout, but the Americans rejected it out of concern that the Lebanese could not assert control over Hezbollah strongholds in the south without help from a robust international force.

"The Lebanese army, while an absolutely essential part of any solution, is not itself independently capable of dealing with the problem, at least not yet," Snow said.

He said the United States was working on another draft resolution, but he would not estimate when a vote might be possible.

"I think at this point it's beyond any of us to come up with a firm prediction about when you get a resolution," he said.

end quote

ANY FOOL CAN START A FIGHT, TONY .....

AND ONE HAS ....

AS WE ALL KNOW ....

AND NOW ...

WELL .....

IT TAKES A LOT MORE ....

THAN A FOOL ....

AND HIS FRIENDS ......

TO STOP ONE ....

And so ....

Given the situation that we are now in ....

With plenty of fools ....

And war-mongers ....

And hate-mongers ....

And racists ....

Crowding the stage .....

And no real statesmen in sight ....

Or stateswomen ....

Because "CON-JOB CONNIE" Rice sure is not one ....

What with her mouth always running ....

Spewing more hatred .....

And divisiveness into the world ....

You're right in your forecast ....

About no progress ....

In stopping this mess ....

And so .....

[Livyjr]

And then ...

There is "SLAMMIN' JOE" Lieberman .....

Who is not a Democratic candidate no more ....

Over there in Connecticut .....

Where they have a different set of values .....

About life ....

And liberty .....

Than they do ....

Down there in that REPUBLICAN BABYLON .....

On the Potomac River ....

In Washington. D.C. .....

Hey, "SLAMMIN' JOE" .....

You gotta go ....

You got too close to the REPUBLICAN JEZEBEL ....

Down there in Washington. D.C. ......

And you let George W. Bush ....

Give you a kiss on the cheek ....

And now ....

You got the TAINT OF TEXAS .....

Upon you ...

And that stuff stinks worse than you-know-what ....

And so ....

"Democrats abandon Lieberman, back Lamont"

By STEPHANIE REITZ, Associated Press
Last updated: 7:07 p.m., Wednesday, August 9, 2006

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Top Democrats on Capitol Hill abandoned Sen. Joe Lieberman one by one Wednesday and threw their support to Ned Lamont, the anti-war challenger who defeated him in the primary.

But Lieberman said his conscience demands that he run as an independent in November.

"I think it would be irresponsible and inconsistent with my principles if I were to just walk off the field," Lieberman said in an interview with The Associated Press a day after his loss to the political newcomer in a race that was considered an early referendum on the Iraq war.

Top Senate Democrats, including John Kerry and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, Harry Reid of Nevada, Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey and Chuck Schumer of New York, said they supported Lamont as the duly elected choice of Connecticut's Democratic voters.

Reid and Schumer -- the party's Senate leader, and the head of the Democratic Senate campaign committee -- said: "The perception was that (Lieberman) was too close to George Bush and this was, in many respects, a referendum on the president more than anything else."

"The results bode well for Democratic victories in November and our efforts to take the country in a new direction."

Kennedy called Lamont's victory "a clarion call for change," and a spokeswoman said Kennedy planned to campaign for the nominee.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton reiterated her pledge to back the winner of the primary.

She stopped short of calling on Lieberman to quit the race but urged the senator to "search his conscience and decide what is best for Connecticut and for the Democratic Party."

Lamont raised no public complaint about Lieberman's plan to run as an independent, and predicted he would win in November even with Lieberman on the ballot.

"He'll end up splitting the Republican vote," Lamont told CNN.

"He gets a lot more support from Republicans than he does from Democrats."

Lieberman showed no signs of backing down, even though the Democrats' withdrawal of support also means he will be starved of money from party sources to again take on the millionaire Lamont.

"The bottom line is that I'm definitely in," said the 64-year-old three-term senator and former vice presidential nominee.

"While I consider myself a devoted Democrat, I am even more devoted to my state and my country."

The final returns from Tuesday's primary showed Lamont defeating Lieberman 52 percent to 48 percent.

On Wednesday, as expected, the Lieberman campaign delivered two boxes of petitions to the Connecticut secretary of state's office, and aides said they contained more than enough signatures to qualify him for the November ballot.

The move would set up a three-way race this fall among Lamont, Lieberman and Republican Alan Schlesinger, who has trailed far behind both Democrats in recent polls.

Lieberman said he was not bothered by losing the support of his Democratic colleagues, noting he lost the primary even with their backing.

"In the end, the people make up their own minds, and this is going to be a people's campaign," he said.

The defeat put Lieberman in the familiar role of a go-it-alone politician.

He was the first prominent Democrat to openly criticize President Clinton's conduct with Monica Lewinsky.

His support for the Iraq war and his defense of President Bush also have made him unpopular with members of his own party and gave Lamont a powerful platform on which to run.

Lieberman's name recognition and moderate politics will draw strong support from independents and Republicans in November, according to Kenneth Dautrich, a public policy professor at the University of Connecticut.

"I think Lieberman is now in the driver's seat," Dautrich said, adding that the senator could have "a fairly handy lead" as the campaign begins.

One of the biggest challenges will be fundraising, Dautrich noted.

Lamont is a cable TV entrepreneur who put $4 million of his own fortune into the primary.

As the Democrats' nominee, he also will get donations from traditional Democratic sources that might otherwise have contributed to Lieberman.

One strategist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Lieberman had about $2 million remaining after the primary race against Lamont.

At a Democratic unity rally Wednesday morning, Lamont grinned broadly as he took his place with his new Democratic colleagues -- most of whom had originally endorsed Lieberman and campaigned for him.

"Nancy, I got to tell you," he told party chairwoman Nancy DiNardo, "I like being on your team."

Lieberman said he fired his campaign manager and spokesman, and asked for the resignations of his campaign staff.

He planned to hire a longtime aide as manager for the fall and began the search for a new pollster and media consultant.

"We did not answer, adequately answer, the distortions of my record on Iraq and my relationship with George Bush, that the Lamont campaign put out," the senator said, though he insisted he was not blaming campaign workers.

Republicans seized on the results to paint Democrats as careless with the country's security.

Vice President Dick Cheney said the race showed there is a significant segment of the Democratic Party that wants to return to "a pre-9/11 mind-set."

"It's an unfortunate development, I think, from the standpoint of the Democratic Party to see a man like Lieberman pushed aside because of his willingness to support an aggressive posture in terms of our national security strategy," Cheney said from Jackson, Wyo.

"When we see the Democratic Party reject one of its own -- a man they selected to be their vice presidential nominee just a few short years ago -- that would seem to say a lot about the state the party's in today," he said.

Lieberman's 10,000-vote loss sent shock waves through the local and national Democratic party.

It was Lieberman's first loss in a Connecticut campaign since 1980, and he has long been one of Connecticut's most popular Democrats.

He became just the fourth Senate incumbent since 1980 to lose a primary.

Lamont won by hammering away at Lieberman's support for the Iraq war and accusing him of being too close to Bush, as evidenced by an incident in which Bush appeared to plant a kiss on the senator's cheek after his 2005 State of the Union address.

Lamont's campaign also was embraced by liberal bloggers, who saw it as a chance to take down an incumbent and play a bigger role in the Democratic Party.

A Quinnipiac University poll released in July showed that 51 percent of likely voters would support Lieberman in a three-way race, versus 27 percent for Lamont and 9 percent for Schlesinger, a lawyer who was formerly a legislator and mayor.

However, a CBS News/New York Times exit poll of nearly 2,700 voters on Tuesday found that 61 percent said Lieberman should not run as an independent.

Though having both Lieberman and Lamont on the ballot could split the Democratic vote, Schlesinger is not considered a major threat.

His campaign stumbled in July after it was learned that he used a fake name to gamble at a Connecticut casino and had been sued over gambling debts at two New Jersey casinos.

Republican Gov. M Jodi Rell urged him to drop out of the Senate race, but Schlesinger called the gambling a "non-issue" and vowed to stay in.

------

Associated Press Special Correspondent David Espo contributed to this report from Washington.

[jeffmoskin]

Did Saddam Hussein's government have weapons of mass destruction in 2003
 
Half of America apparently still thinks so, a new poll finds, and experts see a raft of reasons why: a drumbeat of voices from talk radio to die-hard bloggers to the Oval Office, a surprise headline here or there, a rallying around a partisan flag, and a growing need for people, in their own minds, to justify the war in Iraq.

Iraq's WMD was the EURO.

Saddam agreed in Sept 2000 to take EUROs instead of DOLLARS for his oil.

After BushCo invaded Iraq,

a) They secured the oilfields.

b) they went back to the DOLLAR for payments, (no EUROS, please)

c) they cancelled the contracts Saddam had given to 17 countries (none beginning with the word "United" as in States or Kingdom) and rebid them to the 7 sisters.

[Livyjr]

Iraq's WMD was the EURO.

Saddam agreed in Sept 2000 to take EUROs instead of DOLLARS for his oil.

After BushCo invaded Iraq,

a) They secured the oilfields.

b) they went back to the DOLLAR for payments, (no EUROS, please)

c) they cancelled the contracts Saddam had given to 17 countries (none beginning with the word "United" as in States or Kingdom) and rebid them to the 7 sisters.

Good morning, jeffmoskin .....

And you are right about the Euro being Saddam's "weapons of mass destruction" .....

And now .....

Here we are .....

And there we are ....

And the both of them .....

Are destroying ....

Or let us more properly say ....

Re-configuring our economy over here .....

Since economies simply are ....

Despite the mind-sets of all these gurus out there .....

And MBA's .....

Like George W. Bush is .....

Who believe that they can actually create and control an "economy" .....

What a hoot that is ....

Up here where I am ...

Albany County on one side of the Hudson River deleted its sales tax on a gallon of gas when it went above a certain dollar amount ....

And Rensselaer County on the other side of the river did not ....

And this morning ....

They had on the radio the comptroller of Albany County who was complaining that the cut in sales tax did not reduce gas prices at all in Albany County, as compared with Rensselaer County .....

To the contrary, prices in Albany County were higher, with that few cents that would have gone into the Albany County treasury as tax, now going into the pockets of the oil dealers, instead ......

What a game this all is .....

What a game, indeed .....

Human life isn't worth anything at all .....

And oil is dear ....

And that is the way it goes ....

And so ....