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

[Livyjr]

And here is something interesting .....

"British Bankers May Be Extradited to U.S."

By JANE WARDELL, Associated Press Writer

Tue Feb 21, 12:30 PM ET

LONDON - Three British bankers may be extradited to the United States to face Enron-related fraud charges, the High Court ruled Tuesday in a judgment marking the first test case of controversial laws introduced to speed up the transfer of suspected terrorists.

David Bermingham, Gary Mulgrew and Giles Darby, former executives at Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC unit Greenwich NatWest, had argued that because the majority of the alleged offenses took place in Britain any trial should be held here and that their deportation to the United States would contravene European human rights laws.

However, the High Court ruled that it would be "unduly simplistic to treat the case as a domestic English affair" and dismissed the trio's application for a full hearing of the case.

The three had already appealed to a lower court, seeking to overturn a British government decision to grant the request from the U.S. government for their extradition in May.

Outside the court, Mulgrew said he was "shocked and bewildered" by the verdict.

"It's an historical verdict, but historical for all the wrong reasons," he said, flanked by Bermingham and Darby.

Shami Chakrabarti, a spokeswoman for the civil rights group Liberty, said the case highlighted the misuse of the 2003 extradition act, which drastically reduced the evidence required from U.S. officials seeking to extradite suspected felons.

"This is a sovereign government trading away the rights and freedoms of its people as another supine step in this so-called special relationship," she said.

"It smacks of politics rather than justice."

The judges did agree to the trio's request to certify that the case raised issues of general public importance — the first step toward seeking leave to appeal to the House of Lords, Britain's highest avenue of appeal.

Lawyers for the trio must lodge an appeal within 14 days.

The three men, all British citizens, were charged in the United States in 2002 with bilking National Westminster Bank of $7.3 million and each face seven counts of wire fraud.

They allegedly advised NatWest in 2000 to sell part of an Enron business it owned for less than the stake was worth, in a scheme allegedly devised with Andrew Fastow, former finance chief of the collapsed energy-trading company Enron Corp., and his colleague, managing director Michael Kopper.

The three men then left NatWest, bought into the firm themselves and sold it off for a much higher fee, each pocketing about $2.6 million in the process, according to prosecutors.

Enron filed for bankruptcy in 2001 after revealing that it inflated its profits and filed false accounts to hide debts.

In their appeal, the three claimed that Britain's Serious Fraud Office, not the American authorities, should investigate the case and that any subsequent trial should take place in Britain.

Being forced to stand trial in Enron's home state of Texas would be unjust and incompatible with European human rights law, the men argued.

They also argued that the extradition order was legally flawed because the lower British District Court had wrongly accepted the argument by U.S. authorities that, once it had decided to prosecute in America, the British authorities should give way.

Lord Justice John Laws and Justice Duncan Ouseley, however, dismissed that argument.

"The fact that the defendants could be prosecuted here — and that there would be consequential advantages and disadvantages from the prosecution and defense perspectives — does not amount to an exceptional circumstance," they said in their judgment.

The three men were also ordered to pay legal costs, including about $76,800 to the U.S. government.

Other costs to the Serious Fraud Office and the British government have yet to be assessed.

When Britain signed an extradition treaty with the United States in 2003, the government said it was all about speeding up the process of bringing terrorists to justice.

Few expected to see senior executives in the dock as well as the likes of Abu Hamza al-Masri, the radical preacher convicted on domestic terrorism charges and who United States authorities still want to extradite on similar charges.

The Institute of Directors, a business group, said Tuesday's ruling set a worrisome precedent for trans-Atlantic business.

"The problem that arises out of this and the extradition treaty is that U.K. executives may be deterred from investing or operating in the U.S.," it said.

"It threatens trans-Atlantic agreements if you can be extradited without prima facie evidence."

Legal experts also cried foul because the treaty is not reciprocal.

The United States has signed it, but the Senate has not yet ratified it while groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union lobby against it.

"This is a wake-up call for anyone doing business in the States — especially in financial services," said Clare Canning, head of commercial litigation at law firm Barlow Lyde & Gilbert.

"A trial in the States can mean huge costs and damage to reputation, even for an innocent defendant."

[Livyjr]

And then, of course, there are all these new economic opportunities that George W. Bush's version of the WHITE HOUSE is telling us will accrue to us as a result of GLOBAL WARMING ...

Which the Bush boys and girls .....

The SPINNERS down there in the White House .....

Will soon be telling us .....

Was invented by George W. Bush .....

As an economic BOON ...

For OUR America .....

And here is some of that ECOMONOMIC BOON in action ...

Right here in OUR America ...

As I write these words ....

"Power slow to come back - Widespread damage challenges 1,500 workers from throughout Northeast and Canada to restore the grid"

By LARRY RULISON and KENNETH C. CROWE II, Staff writers
Albany, New York Times Union
First published: Tuesday, February 21, 2006

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- National Grid said Monday it was doing all it could to restore power to the 11,000 area homes and businesses that remained without power for a fourth consecutive day following the massive windstorm that blew through the region Friday.

The storm, which National Grid said was the worst in five years in New York, ripped through the state, hitting much of the utility's service territory from the southwest portion of the state to the northeast.

Northern Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties were among the hardest-hit.

The company said it had to pull employees from sister companies in New England and from neighboring utilities such as Consolidated Edison Inc. to restore electric service to its customers across the state, especially those hardest-hit in Saratoga and Warren counties.

Company spokesman Alberto Bianchetti said Monday that about half the 1,500 workers deployed to repair damaged poles and wires across the state were not National Grid employees but were contractors, including some from Canada, and employees from other utilities with which it has agreements to provide workers after storms.

Despite frustrations voiced in the business community that power in some communities had not been fully restored, National Grid said a lot of the repairs being done first were to high-voltage transmission lines away from commercial and residential areas.

"We had more than adequate staff to respond to the storm," Bianchetti said.

"We're doing a lot of work that is not visible to the public."

D. Joy Faber, a Con Ed spokeswoman, said pulling workers from other utilities is common in the power industry, especially after weather-related emergencies.

"It's a reciprocal agreement that many utilities participate in," she said.

Saratoga Springs Mayor Valerie Keehn said she knew that some business owners were angry that National Grid had not yet fully restored power downtown, but she believed the company was doing all it could given the severity of the storm.

"I know there are some frustrations," she said.

"I just have no reason to think they weren't doing everything they could."

From a high of about 210,000 customers without electricity, repair crews had restored power to about 195,000, with fewer than 11,000 still in the dark, according to National Grid.

Some 1,300 of those customers were in the town of Greenfield in Saratoga County.

More than 328,000 customers lost service statewide.

The crews were raising more than 200 downed utility poles and hundreds of wires.

"We're making good progress."

"Most of the work will be done by Tuesday, but we will be working on Wednesday," Bianchetti said.

Up north, the Adirondacks were slowly lighting up Monday.

About 100 bucket trucks were assigned to repair duty there.

"Things are looking better."

" It looks like a lot of the areas that were off are coming back," said Johnsburg Supervisor Bill Thomas, who also is chairman of the Warren County Board of Supervisors.

The American Red Cross Adirondack Saratoga Chapter will continue to have shelters open at the Johnsburg Central School in Johnsburg and at its offices at 74 Warren St. in Glens Falls.

Saratoga Springs was among the hardest-hit municipalities.

Neighborhoods around Eureka Avenue, Walnut Street and Washington Avenue and Pine Road still were without electrical service Monday afternoon.

The Saratoga Spa State Park remained closed Monday.

Officials with the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation will meet this morning to evaluate the damage in the park and what cleanup has to be undertaken.

The park was closed Friday afternoon shortly after George Green, a 53-year-old state Department of Transportation employee, was killed by a falling pine tree while driving down the Avenue of the Pines.

At least 30 trees in the park were knocked down by the windstorm, during which gusts measured as high as 77 mph.

"They're going to have to come in with a lot of tree-cutting equipment and access the damage," said Catherine Jimenez, a State Parks spokeswoman.

The tree that crashed down on Green's pickup truck was inspected last June and November and was determined not to be hazardous, Jimenez said.

State Parks inspects the pine trees along the Avenue of the Pines as part of a maintenance program to protect the historic boulevard.

The Saratoga Automobile Museum, which is in the park, announced it would reopen Wednesday.

The Hall of Springs, Home Made Theater and the Gideon Putnam Hotel were accessible from the park's Route 50 entrance for people to attend events.

The city's Public Works Department is anticipating it will take up to two weeks to clean up after the storm.

"There's a lot of debris out there."

"We probably had 60 trees down throughout the city."

"Lots of pines," said Public Works Commissioner Thomas McTygue.

Like many property owners, the city also is dealing with frozen pipes that resulted from below-freezing temperatures and no heat.

The Canfield Casino in Congress Park and the Saratoga County Arts Council building at Springs Street and Broadway have frozen pipes.

The storm's arrival at the start of the Presidents Day holiday weekend hurt businesses.

"We're recovering."

"It's a slow-moving process," said Dawn Oesch, president of the Downtown Business Association and owner of the Candy Gram of Saratoga.

"Everyone had a problem losing patrons."

"Then people getting in extra product."

"They lost that because of the power outage."

Officials are starting to review the response to the storm.

They want to see what can be improved to protect residents in the future.

"We're going to be reflecting on it for awhile," Mayor Keehn said.

"We're going to have lots of opportunities to talk about what went right and what went wrong."

Friday's high winds also knocked out power to nearly 60 Stewart's Shops in Saratoga County and surrounding areas.

Company President Gary Dake said most of the stores had power restored by Saturday morning, but others took longer.

A number of the stores were forced to throw out ice cream and milk due to lack of refrigeration.

In addition, some front doors were damaged when 60 mph winds ripped them off the hinges.

But the biggest problem from the storm was damage to gas pumps, registers and refrigerators caused by fluctuating power.

On Monday, the company's Route 9N warehouse and packaging plant was operating on half-power provided by generators.

"We're hoping to be back up this afternoon," said Gary Warren, vice president of manufacturing.

Maureen Murphy, consumer services manager at Price Chopper supermarkets, said five stores were closed for a few hours due to lack of power, including the downtown market on Church Street in Saratoga Springs.

There was minimal product loss, she said.

"We were lucky," she added.

In Ballston Spa, a Quiznos sandwich shop was closed for nearly 24 hours by the outage.

Most perishable food was saved, but the store lost about $1,700 in potential sales that day, said owner Stephen Baker.

The shop has been open five months.

The power went off at noon Friday, he said.

"There was a crack of thunder and a couple of minutes later everything went out," he said.

Rulison can be reached at 454-5504 or by e-mail at lrulison@timesunion.com.

Business writer Alan Wechsler contributed to this story.

[Livyjr]

"Bush: Arab Co. Port Deal Should Proceed"

By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Tuesday that a deal allowing an Arab company to take over six major U.S. seaports should go forward and that he would veto any congressional effort to stop it.

The Senate's Republican leader had promised just such an effort a few hours earlier.

"After careful review by our government, I believe the transaction ought to go forward," Bush told reporters who had traveled with him on Air Force One to Washington.

"I want those who are questioning it to step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a Great British company."

"I am trying to conduct foreign policy now by saying to the people of the world, 'We'll treat you fairly.'"

Poor curious George .....

Victimized by a corollary of the PETER PRINCIPLE .....

Which has to do with rising to the level of your incompetence ...

And boy oh boy ...

Has George W. Bush ever achieved that dubious distinction ....

And in spades, to boot .....

First, George had a "foreign policy" of God only knows what .....

And actually, that may be placing an unfair burden on God .....

Assuming that even God could fathom what is going on in George's head ...

When he likely does not know, himself ...

George's original foreign policy was to walk around doing the TEXICAN STRUT ...

And stick guns in everybody's faces ...

And to tell them that George W. Bush was DA MAN .....

And all people did was to laugh at him ...

And shoot right back ...

And so ...

The TEXICAN STRUT apparently went back into the closet again, where it really belongs .....

Now, George says that his foreign policy has shifted to one of "We'll treat you fairly ...."

But what in God's name is that supposed to mean?

"We'll treat you fairly ....."

Well ...

HHHhhhmmmm .....

WHO EXACTLY ARE YOU SPEAKING TO HERE, GEORGE?

WHAT SPECIAL INTERESTS ARE YOU SELLING US OUT TO HERE, GEORGE?

AND WHY?

"Lawmakers Undeterred by Bush Veto Threat"

By TED BRIDIS, Associated Press Writer

19 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Lawmakers determined to capsize the pending sale of shipping operations at six major U.S. seaports to a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates said President Bush's surprise veto threat won't deter them.

Bush on Tuesday brushed aside objections by leaders in the Senate and House that the $6.8 billion sale could raise risks of terrorism at American ports.

In a forceful defense of his administration's earlier approval of the deal, he pledged to veto any bill Congress might approve to block the agreement.

The sale's harshest critics were not appeased.

"I will fight harder than ever for this legislation, and if it is vetoed I will fight as hard as I can to override it," said Rep. Pete King, R-N.Y., chairman of the Homeland Security Committee.

King and Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York said they will introduce emergency legislation to suspend the ports deal.

Another Democrat, Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, urged his colleagues to force Bush to wield his veto, which Bush — in his sixth year in office — has never done.

"We should really test the resolve of the president on this one because what we're really doing is securing the safety of our people."

White House counselor Dan Bartlett said Wednesday the UAE company, Dubai Ports, "is a reputable firm that went through a congressionally approved vetting process."

He said the U.S. has "the necessary safeguards to make sure that the security of our country is in place" and that rejecting the deal would send "a dangerous signal to people overseas that America plays favorites."

"The president wants this deal to go forward because it was followed by the book and he wants Congress to understand that," Bartlett said on CBS' "The Early Show."

He told Fox News Channel that Bush felt strongly that "we need to be adding strategic partners" in the Mideast.

But Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., said the bipartisan opposition to the deal indicated "a lack of confidence in the administration" on both sides.

"Sure, we have to link up with our Arab friends but ... we want to see and those in Congress want to know what ... safeguards are built in," Biden said on ABC's "Good Morning America."

The first-ever sale involving U.S. port operations to a foreign, state-owned company is set to be completed in early March.

It would put Dubai Ports in charge of major shipping operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia.

"If there was any chance that this transaction would jeopardize the security of the United States, it would not go forward," Bush said.

Defending his decision, Bush responded to a chorus of objections this week in Congress over potential security concerns in the sale of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co.

Bush's veto threat sought to quiet a political storm that has united Republican governors and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee with liberal Democrats, including New York Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Schumer.

To assuage concerns, the administration disclosed some assurances it negotiated with Dubai Ports.

It required mandatory participation in U.S. security programs to stop smuggling and detect illegal shipments of nuclear materials; roughly 33 other port companies participate in these voluntarily.

The Coast Guard also said it was nearly finished inspecting Dubai Ports' facilities in the United States.

Frist said Tuesday, before Bush's comments, that he would introduce legislation to put the sale on hold if the White House did not delay the takeover.

He said the deal raised "serious questions regarding the safety and security of our homeland.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., asked the president for a moratorium on the sale until it could be studied further.

"We must not allow the possibility of compromising our national security due to lack of review or oversight by the federal government," Hastert said.

Bush took the rare step of calling reporters to his conference room on Air Force One after returning from a speech in Colorado.

He also stopped to talk before television cameras after he returned to the White House.

"I can understand why some in Congress have raised questions about whether or not our country will be less secure as a result of this transaction," the president said.

"But they need to know that our government has looked at this issue and looked at it carefully."

A senior executive from Dubai Ports World pledged the company would agree to whatever security precautions the U.S. government demanded to salvage the deal.

Chief operating officer Edward "Ted" H. Bilkey promised Dubai Ports "will fully cooperate in putting into place whatever is necessary to protect the terminals."

Bush said protesting lawmakers should understand that if "they pass a law, I'll deal with it with a veto."

Lawmakers from both parties have noted that some of the Sept. 11 hijackers used the United Arab Emirates as an operational and financial base.

In addition, critics contend the UAE was an important transfer point for shipments of smuggled nuclear components sent to Iran, North Korea and Libya by a Pakistani scientist.
___

Associated Press writers Ben Feller, Will Lester, Terence Hunt, and Devlin Barrett in Washington, Matthew Verrinder in Newark, N.J., and Tom Stuckey in Annapolis, Md., contributed to this report.

end quotes

"I can understand why some in Congress have raised questions about whether or not our country will be less secure as a result of this transaction," the president said.

"But they need to know that our government has looked at this issue and looked at it carefully."

NOW ....

Look at those two statements above, coming from the lips of George W. Bush .....

"THE CONGRESS NEEDS TO KNOW THAT OUR GOVERNMENT ...."

OUR GOVERNMENT?

The Congress needs to know?

I actually must be confused here, me .....

Because I actually thought that OUR government included OUR United States Congress .....

Section 1 of Article I of what used to be the United States Constitution, anyway .....

SO ...

Ah, George ...

WHO THEN IS OUR GOVERNMENT ....

IN YOUR SCHEME OF THINGS, HERE?

EH?

[Livyjr]

"I can understand why some in Congress have raised questions about whether or not our country will be less secure as a result of this transaction," the president said.

"But they need to know that our government has looked at this issue and looked at it carefully."

NOW ....

Look at those two statements above, coming from the lips of George W. Bush .....

"THE CONGRESS NEEDS TO KNOW THAT OUR GOVERNMENT ...."

OUR GOVERNMENT?

The Congress needs to know?

I actually must be confused here, me .....

Because I actually thought that OUR government included OUR United States Congress .....

Section 1 of Article I of what used to be the United States Constitution, anyway .....

SO ...

Ah, George ...

WHO THEN IS OUR GOVERNMENT ....

IN YOUR SCHEME OF THINGS, HERE?

EH?

And that brings us to our next story in here this morning .....

Which must be one about OUR GOVERNMENT ...

Since this guy Bernacke is one of George's crew ....

And George's CREW really is OUR GOVERNMENT ...

Despite some empty words on a flimsy sheet of paper entitled Constitution of the United States of America ....

"What's Complicating Bernanke's Balancing Act"

By James C. Cooper

Tue Feb 21, 9:38 AM ET

Ben Bernanke just passed his first test as Federal Reserve Board chairman[/u].

On Feb. 15-16, he held his own during a Capitol Hill grilling by both houses of Congress.

But that challenge pales in comparison with those that await him.

The toughest will be shaping monetary policy in a global economy.

Globalization makes it harder than ever to find the right level of interest rates to foster solid economic growth while keeping inflation at bay.

That complication increases the chances the Fed could make a policy mistake by pushing rates too high or leaving them too low.

Correcting the error could cost the economy dearly later on.

Globalization and its impact on monetary policy is not just about how worldwide competition suppresses prices of U.S. products.

More and more, prices of everything from steel to corporate bonds to even labor are determined by market forces overseas, not just those in the U.S.

Bernanke stressed the importance of flexibility in policy decisions, saying that policymakers must keep "an open mind about the many factors, including myriad global influences, at play" in the economy.

Against this global backdrop, measures of labor market tightness or constraints on output capacity traditionally used by the Fed to gauge wage and price pressures have become increasingly less reliable.

That is, in a global economy, the inflation potential of, say, January's 4.7% jobless rate or last month's nearly 81% utilization rate for industrial capacity is much harder to interpret.

Moreover, an increasingly pervasive international capital market complicates the Fed's search for a neutral interest rate that neither stimulates nor restricts economic growth.

Some economists even argue that, because of a lack of investment opportunities outside the U.S., the neutral rate might even be lower than the current policy stance.

Bernanke himself has explored this view, but that interpretation would imply that the Fed already may have overtightened.

Right now, that seems unlikely.

If anything, strong economic data for January, especially the powerful 2.3% rise in retail sales and a hefty 0.7% gain in manufacturing output, imply that rates may be too low.

THE GROWING SCOPE OF GLOBALIZATION is evident in the government's December report on international trade.

The full-year tally for the volume of U.S. trade -- shown as the sum of foreign-made goods and services bought in the U.S. and American-made products purchased overseas -- stood at $3.3 trillion for all of 2005.

That volume has doubled in only 10 years.

Heading into 2006, trade volume accelerated.

Both exports and imports posted strong advances in December -- 2.1% and 1.9%, respectively -- and the growth rates of both sped up in the final three months of the year.

During the past two years, the sum of U.S. exports and imports grew at an annual rate of 13.2%, the fastest two-year increase since 1988, when the dollar's plunge fueled an explosion of exports.

Given the resilience of U.S. demand, the continued strength in China and emerging Asia, and the gathering momentum in Japan and the euro zone, trade volumes will swell further this year.

Clearly, one alarming symbol of the new globalization is the growing imbalance in world trade, illustrated by the ever-widening U.S. trade deficit.

The gap for goods and services hit a record $725.8 billion in 2005, based on preliminary data.

The gap has ballooned to 5.8% of GDP in only the past eight years.

THAT DRAMATIC WIDENING illustrates how economies are becoming increasingly dependent on one another for rising living standards.

For example, China looks to foreign markets, especially in the U.S., to generate funds to develop its economy.

Cheap imports boost the purchasing power of U.S. consumers, and emerging Asian nations benefit as China outsources some of its production of materials and parts.

Most important, the U.S. and other nations get China's surplus savings to help finance their investment and growth.

One result is that the Fed has less control over the cost of capital, its primary tool in keeping the economy running smoothly.

With the world outside the U.S. awash in excess savings looking for a place to be invested, heavy global demand for U.S. securities is at least one of the factors holding down long-term interest rates.

More broadly, overall financial conditions are no tighter now than when the Fed began lifting rates in June, 2004, despite the Fed's hikes in short-term rates, totaling 3 1/2 percentage points.

Not only do long-term rates remain low enough to support both housing and corporate borrowing, but the credit markets see less risk in lending now than when the Fed first started tightening.

That's implied by the interest rate spread between corporate bonds and riskless Treasury bonds, which is narrower now than it was then.

And banks continue to be aggressive in seeking out new borrowers.

The Fed's January survey of bank senior loan officers shows that banks continue to ease the terms and conditions on commercial and industrial loans to businesses.

Also, the survey indicated that banks are still not toughening up their lending standards on mortgage loans, despite reports of the Fed urging them to do so.

RELATIVELY EASY FINANCIAL CONDITIONS are one factor stoking U.S. demand in early 2006.

Consumers got off to an explosive start this year, taking advantage of January's balmy weather and the redemption of all those holiday gift cards.

The 2.3% jump in retail sales from December to January was the largest monthly gain since October, 2001, when sales were boosted by generous incentives by carmakers right after September 11.

The data mean that consumer spending and overall economic growth are rebounding with gusto this quarter, after the fourth quarter's weak showing.

In fact, the strong start suggests that the Fed's latest forecasts for growth and inflation in 2006 might be too low.

Those numbers also imply that a lot of that demand will be going abroad, placing additional pressure on the trade deficit and the need for foreign capital to finance it.

Two other globalization issues might also create problems for the Bernanke Fed.

One is the growing threat of protectionism.

Congress seems likely to consider the bill by Senators Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-N.C.) to impose a 27.5% tariff on all Chinese imports, perhaps within the next month or two.

That would effectively raise import prices and nudge up overall inflation.

The other is the likelihood of a renewed decline in the dollar.

The economic fortunes of both Japan and the euro zone are turning up.

More Japanese and euro zone savings will be staying at home, even as both economies attract more foreign investment.

That leaves fewer global funds going to U.S. assets, which would cause the dollar to weaken.

Given the new global interdependency across economies, a full-blown dollar crisis seems unlikely, but a renewed dollar decline would generate some additional inflation pressures in the U.S. via higher import prices, giving the Fed yet another global issue to work around.

[Livyjr]

And then ...

There is IRAQINAM ....

The real jewel in the crown of George W. Bush's former foreign policy scheme ...

Where he was out there on the world stage doing the TEXICAN STRUT ....

As if that would impress anyone ...

AT ALL ....

"Shrine attack brings reprisals and fear"

By ZIAD KHALAF, Associated Press
Last updated: 8:15 a.m., Wednesday, February 22, 2006

SAMARRA, Iraq -- A large explosion Wednesday heavily damaged the golden dome of one of Iraq's most famous Shiite shrines, sending protesters into the streets and triggering reprisal attacks against Sunni mosques.

It was the third major attack against Shiite targets in as many days.

Shiite leaders called for calm, but militants attacked Sunni mosques and a gunfight broke out between Shiite militiamen and guards at a Sunni political party in Basra.

Army Capt. Jassim al-Wahash said about 500 soldiers were sent to Sunni neighborhoods in Baghdad to prevent clashes between Shiites and Sunnis.

A leading Sunni politician, Tariq al-Hashimi, told reporters 29 Sunni mosques had been attacked nationwide.

He urged clerics and politicians to calm the situation "before it spins out of control."

No group claimed responsibility for the early morning attack on the Askariya shrine in this city 60 miles north of Baghdad.

But suspicion fell on Sunni extremist groups such as al-Qaida in Iraq of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The Interior Ministry said four men, one wearing military uniform and three in black, entered the mosque early Wednesday and detonated two bombs, one of which collapsed the dome and damaged part of the northern wall of the shrine.

A government statement said "several suspects" had been detained and some of them "might have had been involved in carrying out the crime."

Police believed some people might be buried under the debris after the 6:55 a.m. explosion but by late afternoon no casualties had been found.

The shrine contains the tombs of two revered Shiite imams, both descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, and is among Iraq's most sacred sites for Shiite Muslims.

The attack on such a major religious shrine threatened to enflame sectarian passions at a time when talks among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds on a new government have bogged down.

Major Sunni groups also joined in the condemning th attack.

The Sunni clerical Muslim Scholars called the bombing a "criminal act," and a Sunni political alliance blamed "evil people" for trying to divide Iraq.

In Baghdad, National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie pointed to religious zealots such as al-Qaida terror network and Ansar al-Sunnah, telling Al Arabiya television that the attack was an attempt "to pull Iraq toward civil war."

The country's most revered Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, sent instructions to his followers forbidding attacks on Sunni mosques, especially the major ones in Baghdad.

He called seven days of mourning, his aides said.

U.S. and Iraqi forces sealed off all streets leading to the main Sunni mosque in Baghdad, Abu Hanifa, in the mostly Sunni Azamiyah neighborhood.

The Sunni Endowment, a government organization that cares for Sunni mosques and shrines, condemned the blast and said it was sending a delegation to Samarra to investigate what happened.

Shiite leaders in surrounding countries, including Iran's most influential cleric body, the Qom Shiite Seminary, were also quick to respond.

"Ayatollahs in Qom have condemned the explosion and announced one day of public mourning," Hashem Hosseini, head of the seminary, told the state-run television.

Following the blast, U.S. and Iraqi forces surrounded the shrine and began searching houses in the area.

Five police officers responsible for protecting the mosque were taken into custody, said Col. Bashar Abdullah, chief of police commandoes in Samarra.

Large protests erupted in Shiite parts of Baghdad and in cities throughout the Shiite heartland to the south.

In Basra, Shiite militants traded rifle and rocket-propelled grenade fire with guards at the office of the Sunni-led Iraqi Islamic Party.

Smoke billowed from the building.

Merchants in the holy city of Najaf closed their shops, and about 1,000 people marched through the streets waving Iraqi flags and shouting religious slogans.

In Baghdad's Sadr City, thousands of Shiites, some brandishing Kalashnikov rifles, marched through the streets shouting anti-American slogans.

All mosques in the Shiite city of Diwaniyah, 80 miles south of Baghdad began broadcasting "Allahu akbar," or "God is Great" from loudspeakers and urged people to turn out in the streets.

All markets, shops and stores closed, police Maj. Muhammad Ali said.

About 3,000 people marched the Shiite city of Kut, chanting anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans and burning U.S. and Israeli flags.

Crowds hurled stones at two Sunni mosques in Basra.

In the capital, the biggest attack against a Sunni mosque occurred in the Baladiyat area of eastern Baghdad, where about 40 Shiite militiamen sprayed the building with automatic fire.

One street vendor was killed in another mosque attack.

Radical Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr cut short a visit to Lebanon and left by road for Syria, where he was expected to travel back to Iraq, Lebanese officials said.

In Samarra, thousands of demonstrators gathered near the shrine, waving Iraqi flags, Shiite religious banners and copies of the Muslim holy book, Quran.

"This criminal act aims at igniting civil strife," said Mahmoud al-Samarie, a 28-year-old builder who was among the crowd.

"We demand an investigation so that the criminals who did this be punished."

"If the government fails to do so, then we will take arm and chase the people behind this attack."

Religious leaders at other mosques and shrines throughout the city denounced the attack in statements read over loudspeakers from minarets.

President Jalal Talabani condemned the attack and called for restraint, saying the attack was designed to sabotage talks on a government of national unity following the Dec. 15 parliamentary election.

Talabani urged religious and political leaders to speak out strongly against the attack.

Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari urged all Iraqis to condemn the attack and urged both Muslim and Christian leaders abroad "to redouble their efforts to help the Iraqi government stop these saboteurs."

The shrine attack followed a devastating car bomb late Tuesday in a Shiite corner of Baghdad, killing 22 people, according to police.

The day before, 12 died in a suicide attack on a bus in the capital's heavily Shiite district of Kazimiyah.

Sunni Arabs have also accused the Shiite-led Interior Ministry of targeting Sunni civilians under the pretext of fighting the mostly Sunni insurgents.

Extremists from both communities have staged tit-for-tat kidnappings and assassinations.

Tradition says the Askariya shrine, which draws Shiite pilgrims from throughout the Islamic world, is near the place where the last of the 12 Shiite imams, Mohammed al-Mahdi, disappeared.

Al-Mahdi, known as the "hidden imam," was the son and grandson of the two imams buried in the Askariya shrine.

Shiites believe he is still alive and will return to restore justice to humanity.

An attack at such an important religious shrine would constitute a grave assault on Shiite Islam at a time of rising sectarian tensions in Iraq.

The shrine contains the tombs of the 10th and 11th imams, Ali al-Hadi who died in 868 A.D. and his son Hassan al-Askari who died in 874 A.D and was the father of the hidden imam.

The golden dome was completed in 1905.

Samarra has been among the most difficult cities to pacify in the Sunni heartland.

In 2004, the city fell under the control of extremists, and al-Qaida flags could be seen flying over some buildings in the city.

U.S. forces regained control but the city remains tense.

Last April, an explosion blew away part of a wall on top of another Samarra landmark, the spiral minaret from a 9th-century mosque.

Witnesses said two men climbed the 170 foot tall minaret, then returned to the ground before the blast scattered rubble on the stairs that spiral up the outside of the structure.

[Livyjr]

"Lawmakers Undeterred by Bush Veto Threat"

By TED BRIDIS, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Lawmakers determined to capsize the pending sale of shipping operations at six major U.S. seaports to a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates said President Bush's surprise veto threat won't deter them.

Bush on Tuesday brushed aside objections by leaders in the Senate and House that the $6.8 billion sale could raise risks of terrorism at American ports.

In a forceful defense of his administration's earlier approval of the deal, he pledged to veto any bill Congress might approve to block the agreement.

The sale's harshest critics were not appeased.

Another Democrat, Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, urged his colleagues to force Bush to wield his veto, which Bush — in his sixth year in office — has never done.

"We should really test the resolve of the president on this one because what we're really doing is securing the safety of our people."

Well ...

It looks like the BUSHCO PRIME is out to make a fight of it, here ....

And it looks like OUR Congress is ready to tell him to "BRING IT ON, GEORGE, BRING IT ON" .....

And bring a lunch, George, because you just might need it ....

"Bush Port Defiance Fuels Bipartisan Anger"

By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer

2 hours, 44 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Bush's marquee issue, the war on terror, is being turned against him by Democrats and rebelling members of his own party in an election-year dustup over a deal that allows an Arab company to manage major U.S. ports.

People in both parties are suggesting it's another case of Bush seeming to be tone deaf to controversy — on top of government eavesdropping, Katrina recovery and Vice President Dick Cheney's hunting accident.

The storm is forcing the president to choose between losing face with the Arab world and embarking on what would be his first veto battle with the GOP-led Congress.

And it has enabled Democrats to seemingly outflank him on a key GOP issue: national security.

Has Bush lost his way politically — or at least his touch?

"In regards to selling American ports to the United Arab Emirates, not just NO — but HELL NO," conservative Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., wrote Bush in a terse letter on Wednesday that she also posted on her Web site.

No matter that no American port is actually being sold, Bush faces a spreading rebellion among Republicans, Democrats and port-state governors.

"I think somebody dropped the ball."

"Information should have flowed more freely and more quickly up into the White House."

"I think it has been mishandled in terms of coming forward with adequate information," said Rep. Vito Fossella, R-N.Y.

At issue: Bush's strong defense of an arrangement that would put a government-owned United Arab Emirates company in charge of major shipping operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia.

The deal transferring port management from a British firm to Dubai Ports World has already been approved by both companies and an administration review panel.

Despite Bush's assertion that UAE has been one of the most helpful Arab countries in the war on terror, both Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee and House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois threatened legislation to put the deal on hold.

Bush, in turn, vowed to cast his first veto — if necessary — to stop any such attempt.

"It's a strange thing for Bush to have slipped into, given the savvy you expected from this administration, with a vice president who spent over a decade on Capitol Hill," said Princeton University political scientist Fred Greenstein.

"It seems as if his people would have seen that there was potential for trouble, and at least done their homework on the Hill."

Although a veto showdown could still be avoided, port-deal opponents were optimistic they could muster the two-thirds majorities needed to override one.

"This deal doesn't pass the national security test."

"I think it is a mistake," said Rep. Jim Saxton, R-N.J., chairman of a House subcommittee on terrorism threats.

Bush learned about the arrangement himself only in recent days amid increasing news coverage, said presidential spokesman Scott McClellan.

While Bush had struck a defiant tone on Tuesday in back-to-back sessions with reporters on Air Force One and outside the White House, McClellan on Wednesday acknowledged Congress should have been briefed earlier "given all the attention that has been focused on this and given the fact that it has been mischaracterized."

The phrase "tone deaf" to describe Bush's interaction with Congress was uttered by lawmakers as politically different as Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Joseph Biden, D-Del.

The Dubai Ports deal "is not a national security issue," suggested GOP consultant Rich Galen.

"It is an issue of this administration having a continuing problem with understanding how these things will play in the public's mind and not taking steps to set the stage so these things don't come as a shock and are presented in their worst possible light."

With Bush's ratings stuck at about 40 percent, the incident is one more major distraction to his efforts to focus on his second-term domestic agenda.

Syndicated radio host Laura Ingraham was among the conservatives criticizing the deal, asking on her Wednesday program, "How do we know people they're hiring are passing background checks?"

The dispute brought to mind a 1999 flap when conservatives admonished the Clinton administration for acquiescing on Panama's awarding of a contract to a China company, Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., to run ports at both ends of the Panama Canal.

But then, almost all the criticism was from Republicans.

Now, it's bipartisan.

"I think there are certain things you have to be really worried about."

"And one of them is port safety," said Robert O. Boorstein, a senior national security aide in the Clinton White House.

"You have to call it an incredible tin ear that this administration could do that, with nobody stopping and saying, 'excuse me?'," said Boorstein, now with the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.
___

EDITOR'S NOTE — Tom Raum has covered national and international affairs for The Associated Press since 1973.

[Livyjr]

Well ...

It looks like the BUSHCO PRIME is out to make a fight of it, here ....

And it looks like OUR Congress is ready to tell him to "BRING IT ON, GEORGE, BRING IT ON" .....

And bring a lunch, George, because you just might need it ....

"Bush Port Defiance Fuels Bipartisan Anger"

By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - President Bush's marquee issue, the war on terror, is being turned against him by Democrats and rebelling members of his own party in an election-year dustup over a deal that allows an Arab company to manage major U.S. ports.

People in both parties are suggesting it's another case of Bush seeming to be tone deaf to controversy — on top of government eavesdropping, Katrina recovery and Vice President Dick Cheney's hunting accident.

The storm is forcing the president to choose between losing face with the Arab world and embarking on what would be his first veto battle with the GOP-led Congress.

And it has enabled Democrats to seemingly outflank him on a key GOP issue: national security.

Has Bush lost his way politically — or at least his touch?

Well .....

Has the BUSHCO PRIME indeed lost his way politically?

I would say yes to that, myself .......

And outside of possessing a real good "SMOKE AND MIRRORS CREW" to do illusions for him, which is the essence of American politics today, I don't think the PRIME himself ever had a real good grasp of reality ...

Since he was the one believing his own "SMOKE AND MIRRORS" crap ...

As though that somehow could force "OBJECTIVE REALITY", the "reality" that does shoot back, to bend to the PRIME's will ....

Oh, well ....

History is full of such leaders ....

And the now-defunct nations that they took into obscurity with them ...

"Secret pact on ports detailed - Documents show Dubai company at center of uproar agreed to security, but Congress readies hearings"

By TED BRIDIS, Associated Press
First published: Thursday, February 23, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration secretly required a company in the United Arab Emirates to cooperate with future U.S. investigations before approving its takeover of operations at six American ports, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

It chose not to impose other, routine restrictions.

As part of the $6.8 billion purchase, state-owned Dubai Ports World agreed to reveal records on demand about "foreign operational direction" of its business at U.S. ports, the documents said.

Those records broadly include details about the design, maintenance or operation of ports and equipment.

The administration did not require Dubai Ports to keep copies of business records on U.S. soil, where they would be subject to court orders.

It also did not require the company to designate an American citizen to accommodate U.S. government requests.

Outside legal experts said such obligations are routinely attached to U.S. approvals of foreign sales in other industries.

"They're not lax but they're not draconian," said James Lewis, a former U.S. official who worked on such agreements.

If officials had predicted the firestorm of criticism over the deal, Lewis said, "they might have made them sound harder."

The conditions involving the sale of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. were detailed in U.S. documents marked "confidential."

Such records are regularly guarded as trade secrets, and it is highly unusual for them to be made public.

The concessions -- described previously by the Homeland Security Department as unprecedented among maritime companies -- reflect the close relationship between the United States and the United Arab Emirates.

The revelations about the negotiated conditions came as the White House acknowledged Wednesday that President Bush was unaware of the pending sale until the deal had already been approved by his administration.

Bush on Tuesday brushed aside objections by leaders in the Senate and House.

He pledged to veto any bill Congress might approve to block the agreement, but some lawmakers said they still were determined to capsize it.

Dubai Port's top American executive, chief operating officer Edward H. Bilkey, said the company will do whatever the Bush administration asks to enhance shipping security and ensure the sale goes through.

Bilkey said Wednesday he will work in Washington to persuade skeptical lawmakers they should endorse the deal; Senate oversight hearings already are scheduled.

"We're disappointed," Bilkey told the AP.

"We're going to do our best to persuade them that they jumped the gun."

"The UAE is a very solid friend, as President Bush has said."

Under the deal, the government asked Dubai Ports to operate American seaports with existing U.S. managers "to the extent possible."

It promised to take "all reasonable steps" to assist the Homeland Security Department, and it pledged to continue participating in security programs to stop smuggling and detect illegal shipments of nuclear materials.

The administration required Dubai Ports to designate an executive to handle requests from the U.S. government, but it did not specify the person's citizenship.

It said Dubai Ports must retain paperwork "in the normal course of business" but did not specify a time period or require corporate records to be housed in the United States.

Outside experts familiar with such agreements said such provisions are routine in other cases.

Bush faces a potential rebellion from leaders of his own party, as well as a fight from Democrats, over the sale.

It puts Dubai Ports in charge of major terminal operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia.

Senate and House leaders urged the President to delay the takeover, which is set to be completed in early March.

Bush personally defended the agreement on Tuesday, but the White House said he did not know about it until recently.

The AP first reported the U.S. approval of the sale to Dubai Ports on Feb. 11.

At the White House, spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush learned about the deal "over the last several days," as congressional criticism escalated.

McClellan said it did not rise to the presidential level, but went through a government review and was determined not to pose a threat.

McClellan said Bush afterward asked the head of every U.S. department involved in approving the sale whether there were security concerns.

"Each and every one expressed that they were comfortable with this transaction going forward," he said.

In a rare admission of error, McClellan also said, "We probably should have briefed Congress about it sooner."

According to The New York Times, the Bush administration decided last month that the deal did not involve national security and so did not require a more lengthy review.

The decision was made by an interagency committee led by Deputy Treasury Secretary Robert M. Kimmitt.

On Wednesday, Kimmitt said the company, Dubai Ports World, had been thoroughly investigated and that on Jan. 17, the committee members unanimously approved the transfer.

end quotes

Well, America ...

It looks like more RAMPANT CHENEY-ISM is going on here with this deal ....

LOAD UP YOUR CANNONS, BOYS, AND JUST START BLAZING AWAY ...

AT WHATEVER ....

AND THEN, WE'LL SEE IF WE HIT SOMETHING ...

AND THEN ...

WE'LL COME UP WITH SOME KIND OF STORY ...

THAT WILL JUSTIFY WHY WE PULLED THE TRIGGER IN THE FIRST PLACE .....

[Livyjr]

Well, America ...

It looks like more RAMPANT CHENEY-ISM is going on here with this deal ....

LOAD UP YOUR CANNONS, BOYS, AND JUST START BLAZING AWAY ...

AT WHATEVER ....

AND THEN, WE'LL SEE IF WE HIT SOMETHING ...

AND THEN ...

WE'LL COME UP WITH SOME KIND OF STORY ...

THAT WILL JUSTIFY WHY WE PULLED THE TRIGGER IN THE FIRST PLACE .....

"Senator Challenges Ports Deal Procedure"

By TED BRIDIS, Associated Press Writer

2 hours, 31 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The senior Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee angrily accused the Bush administration Thursday of ignoring the law by refusing to extend an investigation of a United Arab Emirates company's takeover of significant U.S. port operations.

Bush, talking to reporters at the conclusion of a Cabinet meeting earlier Thursday, said that "people don't need to worry about security."

"The more people learn about the transaction that has been scrutinized and approved by my government," Bush said, "the more they'll be comforted that our ports will be secure."

Clashing with a Treasury Department official on a mission to calm a political uproar, Sen. Carl Levin said the law has language specifically requiring a longer review than the one that an interagency committee conducted, if a business deal could affect national security.

"Is there not one agency in this government that believes this takeover could affect the national security of the United States?" the Michigan Democrat asked at a committee briefing.

Chairman John Warner, R-Va., in a very unusual procedure on Capitol Hill, allowed reporters to question the administration witnesses.

The Treasury official, Deputy Secretary Robert Kimmitt, and officials from other agencies said a multiagency group spent three months reviewing the port deal and said that all concerns about security were satisfied.

"We're not aware of a single national security concern raised recently that was not part of" the three-month review, Kimmitt said.

Levin insisted that the law that established the multiagency panel specifically said that any such review should be lengthened by 45 days if it could have an impact on national security.

Levin, raising his voice at the briefing, told Kimmitt, "If you want the law changed, come to Congress and change it but don't ignore it."

Kimmitt responded, "We didn't ignore the law."

"Concerns were raised."

"They were resolved."

Warner then jumped in to assure Levin that he would ask Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to prepare a memorandum on the administration's interpretation of the law.

Levin also questioned the UAE's past record on terrorism matters, saying the country backed the Taliban and allowed financial support for al-Qaida.

He said the UAE has an "uneven history" as "one of only a handful of countries in the world to recognize the Taliban regime in Afghanistan."

He added that millions of dollars in al-Qaida funds went through UAE financial institutions.

Levin at one point noted that a special commission that investigated the terror attacks against the United States on Sept. 11, 2001 concluded that "there's a persistent counterterrorism problem represented by the United Arab Emirates."

"Just raise your hand if anybody (at the witness table) talked to the 9-11 commission," commanded Levin.

There was no response among the handful of administration representatives.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., also was critical, calling the approval process "a failure of judgment" because officials "did not alert the president, the secretary of the treasury and the secretary of defense" that several of our critical ports would be turned over to foreign country.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., and chairman of the committee, emphasized UAE's cooperation in the war on terrorism, noting that it allows a large number of port calls by U.S. military and commercial ships and that it had made its airfields available to the U.S. military.

But when a round of questioning began, Warner sharply asked Kimmitt whether the reviewing agencies considered UAE's role's in the transfer of money to al-Qaida and of nuclear components to rogue nations.

Kimmitt said those factors were taken into account.

Under secret conditions of the agreement with the administration, the Dubai company promised to cooperate with U.S. investigations as a condition of the $6.8 billion deal, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The U.S. government chose not to impose other, routine restrictions.

The president said he was struck by the fact that people were not concerned about port security when a British company was running the port operation, but they felt differently about an Arab company at the helm.

He said the United Arab Emirates was a valuable partner in the war in terror.

Critics in Congress, even before Thursday's hearing, had noted that the London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., which previously operated at those ports, is a publicly traded company while Dubai Ports World is effectively controlled by the government there.

Sens. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and Clinton have said they will introduce legislation to prohibit companies owned or controlled by foreign governments from running port operations in the United States.

Bush said his administration would continue talks with members of Congress — Republicans and Democrats alike — who have rebelled against the takeover.

He said the briefings were "bringing a sense of calm to this issue."

"This wouldn't be going forward if we weren't certain our ports would be secure," Bush said.

In approving the purchase, the administration chose not to require Dubai Ports to keep copies of its business records on U.S. soil, where they would be subject to orders by American courts.

It also did not require the company to designate an American citizen to accommodate requests by the government.

Outside legal experts said such obligations are routinely attached to U.S. approvals of foreign sales in other industries.

Dubai Ports agreed to give up records on demand about "foreign operational direction" of its business at the U.S. ports, according to the documents.

Those records broadly include details about the design, maintenance or operation of ports and equipment.

It also pledged to continue participating in programs to stop smuggling and detect illegal shipments of nuclear materials.

"They're not lax but they're not draconian," said James Lewis, a former U.S. official who worked on such agreements.

If White House officials negotiating the deal had predicted the firestorm of criticism over it, "they might have made them sound harder."

The conditions over the sale were detailed in U.S. documents marked "confidential."

Such records are regularly guarded as trade secrets, and it is highly unusual for them to be made public.

Rep. Peter King of New York, the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the conditions are evidence the administration was concerned about security.

"There is a very serious question as to why the records are not going to be maintained on American soil subject to American jurisdiction," King said.

Another critic, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., added:

"These new revelations ask more questions than they answer."

In Lebanon, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that the agreement was thoroughly vetted in a review process that took approximately three months.

"This is supposed to be a process that raises security concerns, if they are there, but does not presume that a country in the Middle East should not be capable of doing a deal like this."

She described the United Arab Emirates as "a very good ally" and said "if more details need to be made available then I'm sure they will be."

end quotes

"The more people learn about the transaction ....."

"That has been scrutinized and approved by my government,"

Bush said, "the more they'll be comforted that our ports will be secure."

Well, America ....

There we have it once again ...

This statement about HIS GOVERNMENT .......

IT IS OUR GOVERNMENT, GEORGE ....

NOT YOURS .....

You are merely its chief executive officer ...

SUBJECT TO ITS LAWS .....

Just like the rest of us ....

And so ......

[Livyjr]

And speaking of the British ...

One of George W. Bush's valuable allies in HIS WAR ON TAY-RIZM ....

"Far-right UK party to print Muslim cartoon"

By Chris Johnson and Kate Holton Wed Feb 22, 12:38 PM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - The far-right British National Party (BNP) said on Wednesday it would distribute leaflets showing a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad, a move Muslim groups said would provoke protests and was "playing with fire."

A spokesman for the tiny fringe party, which has no seats in parliament but a handful on local councils, said its use of the image was not intended to cause offence, but illustrated how Islam and Western values did not mix.

The party says it is not racist, but its leader Nick Griffin and another activist are due in court on race-hate charges in October.

The cartoon is one of 12 which first appeared in a Danish newspaper and were later reprinted in other European countries, sparking violent protests across the Islamic world.

Many Muslims believe it is blasphemous to depict the Prophet.

At least 50 people have been killed during demonstrations around the world, and a Pakistani Muslim cleric last week offered rewards amounting to more than $1 million to anyone who killed any of the Danish cartoonists.

The cartoons have not been published by the mainstream press in Britain.

The content of the leaflets can already be seen on the BNP's Web site and the leaflets will be circulated ahead of local elections in May.

The leaflet asks "Which Do You Find Offensive?"

"A cartoon of Mohammad with a bomb for a turban or Muslim demonstrators calling for terrorist attacks on Europe and the 'extermination' of non-Muslims?"

"PLAYING WITH FIRE"

"By showing you just how mild and inoffensive the cartoon is, we're giving you the chance to see for yourself the huge gulf that exists between the democratic values that we share, and the medieval views that dominate Islam, even supposedly 'moderate' versions," the leaflet said.

The party spokesman said the BNP wanted the cartoon to provoke debate.

"We published the cartoon not to offend individual Muslims -- that's most important -- but to make a stand for freedom," he said.

The move drew immediate condemnation.

"The BNP are playing with fire and there can be no doubt they are doing this in order to try to raise tensions and provoke conflict," the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said.

"We would urge all British Muslims to not fall into the trap laid by the far right," added MCB spokesman Inayat Bunglawala.

"British Muslims should refuse to be provoked and continue to keep all protests peaceful and firmly within the law."

Around 15,000 Muslims staged a peaceful protest against the drawings in London last week.

A demonstration earlier in the month provoked outrage after masked men held up placards calling for the beheading of those who insult Islam, and praised the London bombings last July which killed 52 people.

Ian McCartney, chairman of the ruling Labor Party, condemned the leaflets as "straight out of the Nazi textbook."

The BNP commands a fraction of the support of far-right parties elsewhere in Europe but has several seats on local councils, mainly in poorer areas with large ethnic populations.

[Livyjr]

And jumping from the British ....

To Saudi Arabia .....

One of George W. Bush's valuable allies in HIS WAR ON TAY-RIZM ....

We have from them .....

"Saudis Reject U.S. Plan to Isolate Hamas"

By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer

2 hours, 22 minutes ago

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia on Wednesday became the second Arab ally in as many days to reject the U.S. strategy of financially isolating Hamas if the militant group does not moderate its policies as leader of the Palestinians.

As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sat nearby, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said through a translator, "We wish not to link financial assistance to the Palestinian people to issues other than their dire humanitarian needs."

A day earlier, Rice had stood by as Saud's Egyptian counterpart said it was premature to cut off aid to a Hamas-led government.

Saud and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said the world should not "prejudge" Hamas, whose sweep in Palestinian elections last month stunned Washington and threw the Israeli-Palestinian peace process into new turmoil.

Earlier Wednesday, Rice pledged to a group of Egyptian democracy activists in Cairo that the United States would continue applying pressure on Egypt's government to meet its promises of reform.

"One good thing about having the president stand for election and ask for the consent of the governed is that there is a program," Rice told a group of dissidents, editors and professors.

The session followed a breakfast with President Hosni Mubarak, who according to his spokesman reiterated to Rice that Egypt will not bow to U.S. efforts to cut off international aid to the Palestinian government.

Mubarak "emphasized the importance of giving Hamas enough time to assess the current situation and define its positions according to the demands of President Mahmoud Abbas," said presidential spokesman Suleiman Awad.

Awad said U.S.-Egyptian ties were "strategic and deep," but added, "Egypt's decisions are made inside Egypt, not in any other capital or place, despite its interest in advice from its friends."

Rice did not give any details of what she and Mubarak discussed.

Mubarak has pledged a variety of domestic reforms that have yet to come to pass.

Several of the activists told Rice that Mubarak is setting up a false choice between his autocratic rule and the leader of Egypt's Islamic political movement, the Muslim Brotherhood.

The activists did not agree, however, on how Rice should react to the Brotherhood, which is banned in Egypt.

Rice has refused to meet with and Muslim Brotherhood members and they were not represented at Wednesday's meeting.

"Eliminating the Muslim Brothers is totally non-democratic," said Tarek Heggy, a writer and former petroleum executive.

"The issue is how can we compete with them."

Rice made a point of telling the group that she found at least one of the cartoon images of the Prophet Muhammad that have inflamed the Muslim world to be "offensive personally."

But she said the violent reaction to publication of the cartoons was "wrong and in some cases manufactured."

A sometimes heated press conference with Gheit in Cairo illustrated the difficulties the Bush administration is meeting in seeding political freedom in the Middle East.

Rice was asked whether the United States intended to impose a "democracy of torture" and human rights abuses.

That, the reporter suggested, is what the United States has wrought in Iraq.

Others wanted to know why the United States is focused only on Iran's nuclear ambitions instead of on the nuclear weapons held by Israel, and whether the Bush administration might bomb Iran.

"Our aspiration is not that people will have an American-style democracy."

"American-style democracy is for Americans," Rice said.

"But that there will be a democracy that is for Egypt or for Iraq or for any other people on this Earth, because democracy is the only form of government in which human beings truly get to express themselves."

[Livyjr]

"Saudis Reject U.S. Plan to Isolate Hamas"

By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer

22 February 2006

A sometimes heated press conference with Gheit in Cairo illustrated the difficulties the Bush administration is meeting in seeding political freedom in the Middle East.

Rice was asked whether the United States intended to impose a "democracy of torture" and human rights abuses.

That, the reporter suggested, is what the United States has wrought in Iraq.

"Our aspiration is not that people will have an American-style democracy."

"American-style democracy is for Americans," Rice said.

"But that there will be a democracy that is for Egypt or for Iraq or for any other people on this Earth, because democracy is the only form of government in which human beings truly get to express themselves."

And continuing to leap through time and space in here as if it were nothing at all, which it is not, here in CYBERSPACE ....

We leap from Saudi Arabia to IRAQINAM ....

Which is one of George W. Bush's valuable allies in HIS WAR ON TAY-RIZM ....

Where they have a DEMOCRACY FOR IRAQINAM, thanks to "CON-JOB CONNIE" and George W. Bush ....

Which certainly allows those folks over there to truly get to express themselves, BIG TIME ....

And with guns and Rocket Propelled Grenades, to boot ...

And here is some of their "FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION" in action, right now .....

Boy ....

Isn't democracy as spread throughout the world by "CON-JOB CONNIE" Rice and George W. Bush just the most wonderful and splendid thing the world has ever seen ....

"Mosque Attack Pushes Iraq Toward Civil War"

By ZIAD KHALAF, Associated Press Writer

22 February 2006

SAMARRA, Iraq - Insurgents posing as police destroyed the golden dome of one of Iraq's holiest Shiite shrines Wednesday, setting off an unprecendented spasm of sectarian violence.

Angry crowds thronged the streets, militiamen attacked Sunni mosques, and at least 19 people were killed.

With the gleaming dome of the 1,200-year-old Askariya shrine reduced to rubble, some Shiites lashed out at the United States as partly to blame.

The violence — many of the 90 attacks on Sunni mosques were carried out by Shiite militias — seemed to push Iraq closer to all-out civil war than at any point in the three years since the U.S.-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

Many leaders called for calm.

"We are facing a major conspiracy that is targeting Iraq's unity," said President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd.

"We should all stand hand in hand to prevent the danger of a civil war."

President Bush pledged American help to restore the mosque after the bombing north of Baghdad, which dealt a severe blow to U.S. efforts to keep Iraq from falling deeper into sectarian violence.

"The terrorists in Iraq have again proven that they are enemies of all faiths and of all humanity," Bush said.

"The world must stand united against them, and steadfast behind the people of Iraq."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair also condemned the bombing and pledged funds toward the shrine's reconstruction.

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and the top American commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, called the attack a deliberate attempt to foment sectarian strife and warned it was a "critical moment for Iraq."

No one was reported injured in the bombing of the shrine in Samarra.

But at least 19 people, including three Sunni clerics, were killed in the reprisal attacks that followed, mainly in Baghdad and predominantly Shiite provinces to the south, according to the Iraqi Islamic Party, the country's largest Sunni political group.

Many of the attacks appeared to have been carried out by Shiite militias that the United States wants to see disbanded.

In predominantly Shiite Basra, police said militiamen broke into a prison, hauled out 12 inmates, including two Egyptians, two Tunisians, a Libyan, a Saudi and a Turk, and shot them dead in reprisal for the shrine attack.

Major Sunni groups joined in condemning the attack, and a leading Sunni politician, Tariq al-Hashimi, urged clerics and politicians to calm the situation "before it spins out of control."

The country's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, sent instructions to his followers forbidding attacks on Sunni mosques, and called for seven days of mourning.

But he hinted, as did Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi, that religious militias could be given a bigger security role if the government cannot protecting holy shrines — an ominous sign of the Shiite reaction ahead.

Both Sunnis and the United States fear the rise of such militias, which the disaffected minority views as little more than death squads.

American commanders believe they undercut efforts to create a professional Iraqi army and police force — a key step toward the eventual drawdown of U.S. forces.

Some Shiite political leaders already were angry with the United States because it has urged them to form a government in which nonsectarian figures control the army and police.

Khalilzad warned this week — in a statement clearly aimed at Shiite hard-liners — that America would not continue to support institutions run by sectarian groups with links to armed militias.

One top Shiite political leader accused Khalilzad of sharing blame for the attack on the shrine in Samarra.

"These statements ... gave green lights to terrorist groups."

"And, therefore, he shares in part of the responsibility," said Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and the former commander of its militia.

The interior minister, who controls the security forces that Sunnis accuse of widepsread abuses, is a member of al-Hakim's party.

The new tensions came as Iraq's various factions have been struggling to assemble a government after the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections.

The Shiite fury sparked by Wednesday's bombings — the third major attack against Shiite targets in as many days — raised the likelihood that Shiite religious parties will reject U.S. demands to curb militias.

The Askariya shrine, also known as the Golden Mosque, contains the tombs of two revered Shiite imams, who are considered by Shiites to be among the successors of the Prophet Muhammad.

No group claimed responsibility for the 6:55 a.m. assault on the shrine in Samarra, a mostly Sunni Arab city 60 miles north of Baghdad, carried out by four insurgents disguised as police.

But suspicion fell on Sunni extremist groups.

The top of the dome, which was completed in 1905, collapsed into a crumbly mess, leaving just traces of gold showing through the rubble.

Part of the shrine's tiled northern wall also was damaged.

Thousands of demonstrators crowded near the wrecked shrine, and Iraqis picked through the debris, pulling out artifacts and copies of the Muslim holy book, the Quran, which they waved, along with Iraqi flags.

"This criminal act aims at igniting civil strife," said Mahmoud al-Samarie, a 28-year-old builder.

"We demand an investigation so that the criminals who did this be punished."

"If the government fails to do so, then we will take up arms and chase the people behind this attack."

U.S. and Iraqi forces surrounded the Samarra shrine and searched nearby houses.

About 500 soldiers were sent to Sunni neighborhoods in Baghdad to prevent clashes.

On Al-Jazeera television, Sunni politician Adnan al-Dulaimi pledged that the violence would not discourage Sunnis from working to form a new government and claimed the Samarra attack was not planned by Sunni insurgents but "a foreign hand aiming to create differences among Iraqis."

National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie said 10 people were detained for questioning about the bombing.

The Interior Ministry put the number at nine and said they included five guards.

In the hours after the attack, more than 90 Sunni mosques were attacked with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, burned or taken over by Shiites, the Iraqi Islamic Party said.

Large protests erupted in Shiite parts of Baghdad and in cities throughout the Shiite heartland to the south.

In Basra, Shiite militants traded rifle and rocket-propelled grenade fire with guards at the office of the Iraqi Islamic Party.

Smoke billowed from the building.

Shiite protesters later set fire to a Sunni shrine containing the seventh century tomb of Talha bin Obeid-Allah, a companion of Muhammad, on the outskirts of Basra.

Protesters in Najaf, Kut and Baghdad's Shiite slum of Sadr City also marched through the streets by the thousands, many shouting anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans and burning those nations' flags.

Tradition says the Askariya shrine, which draws Shiite pilgrims from throughout the Islamic world, is near the place where the last of the 12 Shiite imams, Mohammed al-Mahdi, disappeared.

Al-Mahdi was the son and grandson of the two imams buried in the Askariya shrine.

Shiites believe he is still alive and will return to restore justice to humanity.

[Livyjr]

And this following is just one of those interesting things that comes down the pike in here, every now and then ....

"Gladiators fought by the rules: forensic research"

22 February 2006

LONDON (Reuters) - Gladiators may have fought and died to entertain others in the brutality of the Roman arena but they appear to have abided by a strict code of conduct which avoided savage violence, forensic scientists say.

Tests on the remains of 67 gladiators found in tombs at Ephesus in Turkey, center of power for ancient Rome's eastern empire, show they stuck to well defined rules of combat and avoided gory free-for-alls.

Injuries to the front of each skull suggested that each opponent used just one type of weapon per bout of face-to-face contact, two Austrian researchers report in a paper to be published in Forensic Science International.

Savage violence and mutilation, typical of battlefields 2,000 years ago, were out of order.

And the losers appear to have died quickly.

Despite the fact that most gladiators wore helmets, 10 of the remains showed the fighters had died of squarish hammer-like blows to the side of the head, possibly the work of a backstage executioner who finished off wounded losers after the fight.

The report confirms the picture given of battles in the arena by Roman artwork, which suggests gladiators were well matched and followed rules enforced by two referees.

Kathleen Coleman of Harvard University, who was historical consultant for Ridley Scott's film "Gladiator," agreed with the findings of the report.

"The fact that none of the gladiators' skulls was subjected to a repeated battering does seem to confirm that discipline was exercised in gladiatorial combat and its aftermath," she was quoted by New Scientist magazine as saying.

The scientists, Karl Grosschmidt of the Medical University of Vienna and Fabian Kanz of the Austrian Archaeological Institute, used special X-ray scans and microscopic analysis to investigate the gladiators' deaths.

The bones were uncovered in 1993 and are thought to date from the second century AD.

[Livyjr]

And from ancient Rome ..

Where the gladiators apparently had some ethics ...

We jump forward in time to now ...

To where our policiticans have none at all ....

"EPA seeks shroud on pollution data - Federal agency's proposal to scale back reporting requirements for companies that produce toxic materials sparks opposition"

By MATT PACENZA, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, February 17, 2006

When Susan Falzon of Friends of Hudson talks to residents who live near cement plants or paper factories, they often ask her how they can learn more about the pollutants facilities emit.

Falzon always directs them to the federal government's Toxics Release Inventory.

The TRI is a searchable database of the chemicals industrial and commercial facilities release into the air, water or landfills.

Her advice soon may be different.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency last month proposed a big change in how companies report pollution data.

If the Bush administration gets its way, companies will tell the public a lot less about pollution by reporting less often on fewer chemicals.

In the Capital Region, 16 facilities would no longer have to report anything to the EPA about the toxic substances they emit, according to analysis from OMB Watch, a Washington D.C.-based open government group.

Environmentalists and elected officials, including Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, are urging the feds to back off.

They say the TRI has helped communities and researchers investigate threats to local health and safety while encouraging companies to cut pollution.

"We're learning every day about the relationship between toxic chemicals and all kinds of illness," said Falzon.

"Now is not the time to restrict information."

The proposal is designed to reduce the paperwork burden on companies and would save 165,000 work hours each year, according to the EPA.

The agency points out that most information would still be public, except for relatively small amounts of chemicals from certain facilities.

Advocates aren't buying the burden argument.

They point out that the EPA's own data shows it costs companies just $430 to $790 for each chemical they report on.

Congress passed the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act in 1987, in the wake of the release of the deadly chemical methyl isocyanate in Bhopal, India, which killed nearly 3,000 people.

The TRI data, available at http://www.epa.gov/triexplorer, is heavily used by researchers, community groups, journalists and even state and local officials.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation on Tuesday urged the EPA to maintain the current system.

"The DEC believes that changing the reporting requirements under TRI undermines its effectiveness as a tool for trend analysis, making it less useful for the public," the department said in a written statement.

For most chemicals, the EPA wants to raise the minimum amount that would have to be reported from 500 pounds to 5,000 pounds.

That would mean no public accounting at all for 26 chemicals that are only released at those smaller amounts.

The agency also recommends reducing how often companies have to report pollution, switching from an annual system to every other year.

The proposed change even applies to a category of the most troubling chemicals --categorized by the ungainly name of "persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic" compounds -- including lead and mercury.

About 2,700 pounds of mercury pollution would no longer be made public under the proposal, according to an analysis from OMB Watch.

Dr. David Carpenter, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany, is using the TRI data in a project that investigates whether people who live near industrial facilities are more likely to develop certain illnesses.

He was flabbergasted to learn about the proposal this week.

"The idea that you would reduce the reporting threshold, in particular with lead and mercury, is absolutely asinine," Carpenter said.

Those who oppose the TRI change argue that making such data public has reduced pollution, because companies have worked to not be identified as dirty.

Between 1988 and 1994, the amount of pollutants released dropped 44 percent, according to one study.

"No one wants to be on the top 10 polluter list," said Judith Enck, an environmental policy adviser to the attorney general.

"Public awareness can drive better environmental polices, and that has been case here."

Last month, Spitzer was one of 12 attorneys general, from California to New Hampshire, who sent comments to the EPA urging the agency to keep TRI as is.

The agency reported Wednesday it has received 65,000 comments on the proposal.

If TRI is changed, Enck said the attorney general's office will strongly consider suing to overturn the new rule.

Matt Pacenza can be reached at 454-5533 or by e-mail at mpacenza@timesunion.com.

TOXIC LIST

The following area companies would no longer have to report the toxic chemicals they release under a pending Bush administration proposal:

Rensselaer Cogen; Rensselaer

Allied Healthcare Products; Stuyvesant Falls

Clemente Latham Troy Plant; Troy

Passonno Paints; Watervliet

Surpass Chemical Co.; Albany

Crowley Foods Inc.; Albany

Saratoga Spa & Bath; Latham

Emsig Manufacturing Corp.; Hudson

Peckham Materials Corp.; Athens

North East Treaters of New York; Athens

Hussmann Corp. ;Gloversville

Nu-Gro Technologies ;Gloversville

Hudson Inds. Corp.; Johnstown

RH Crown Co.; Johnstown

Simco Leather Corp.; Johnstown

Source: OMB Watch

[jeffmoskin]

And jumping from the British ....

To Saudi Arabia .....

One of George W. Bush's valuable allies in HIS WAR ON TAY-RIZM ....

We have from them .....

"Saudis Reject U.S. Plan to Isolate Hamas"

Our GOOD, LOYAL, friends, the Saudis.

[Livyjr]

Our GOOD, LOYAL, friends, the Saudis.

Boy, jeffmoskin ....

Talk about "Candid Camera" .....

And a picture worth a thousand words .....

[Livyjr]

And talking about a picture of "UNRAVELING POLICIES" .....

"Troubles in Mideast stir hatred for U.S. - America feels wrath amid recent events, a sign of unraveling policies"

By SALLY BUZBEE, Associated Press
First published: Friday, February 24, 2006

CAIRO, Egypt -- It may seem bewildering to Americans who see themselves as helping Iraq.

The rush to blame the United States for the shrine bombing is a sign not only of the deteriorating situation in Iraq, but the tense state of West-Mideast relations overall.

From riots over the prophet drawings to the United Arab Emirates ports dispute to Hamas' election win, little is going right for the United States in the Arab world.

Even a supposed friend -- a top Iraqi Shiite leader, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, who President Bush once praised at the White House -- took a poke after Wednesday's attack on the Askariya shrine in Samarra, saying the U.S. ambassador "gave a green light to terrorist groups."

The outcry, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was on a troubled visit to the region, is a sign of just how much America's Mideast policy has unraveled in recent months.

Some of that was predictable and even positive in an odd way: the Bush administration has achieved some success at promoting democracy here.

It could have expected that determined foes like Iran and Syria would fight back hard -- as they are.

But other, unforeseen problems have cropped up.

One is the widespread Mideast belief that the Iraq war is going badly, and that the United States -- having invaded against Arab wishes -- is now responsible for the growing sectarian violence.

With Iraq veering closer to civil war, many feel like Dr. Nabil Salim, a political science professor at Baghdad University who says U.S.-led forces share blame for the shrine bombing "because they are in charge of security in the country."

"... And they are not doing a good job of improving internal security or controlling borders."

Beyond Iraq, there have been other controversies undermining U.S. stature here that no one could have foreseen.

First was the "culture war" fight over the drawings of the Prophet Muhammad, and the serious misunderstandings it exposed on each side.

Countries like Iran and Syria found the perfect chance to kick back at America -- the symbol of the West -- allowing violent riots that accused Europe and the United States of seeking to destroy Islam.

Those protests then spread.

Then there was the Islamic militant group Hamas' victory in the Palestinian elections, leading to more tension over American support for Israel.

Old friends Egypt and Saudi Arabia told Rice this week they won't go along with U.S. hopes for a total aid ban to a Hamas-led government.

Next -- almost incredibly to many in the region -- there was the dispute over the United Arab Emirates and whether it can be trusted to keep U.S. ports safe.

It may have stemmed from understandable American fears about security after Sept. 11.

But many here see the UAE as the model of Arab modernity -- the one country actually doing things right.

They saw American fears as simple anti-Arab bias.

That dispute won't be simply or cleanly resolved, either, because America needs places like the UAE:

Who else will allow the United States to base spy planes on its territory, or keep freighters to Iran from carrying the building blocks of nuclear weapons?

Even Abu Ghraib still causes a stir here.

When new pictures of Iraqi prison abuse emerged this month, Egyptian critics promptly used them to accuse Rice of hypocrisy for citing Egyptian human rights woes.

The problem is that the Middle East is in fact deeply troubled -- torn among authoritarian governments, a genuine thirst for democracy and feelings of powerlessness and rage toward the West that lead people toward extremism.

Complicating it all are sectarian tensions, mostly Shiite-Sunni, that are easily exploited by the likes of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The leader of al-Qaida in Iraq is seemingly determined to cause not just civil war in that country, but internal Muslim divisions across the region.

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah -- no friend of the United States -- hinted at just that Thursday when he told huge Shiite crowds in Lebanon:

"Let's not blame each other."

"We shouldn't give them that opportunity."

"We should limit the accusations to the American occupation, its agents and the "takfiri" (Sunni extremist) murderers."

"Toward those our rage should be directed."

In the end, it may never be known who actually blew up the shrine:

Many Shiites did immediately blame "takfiri" -- Sunnis so extreme, like al-Zarqawi, that they believe Shiites are infidels.

Many Sunnis in turn immediately blamed extremist Shiites, saying they blew up the shrine to appear more like victims and strengthen their political hand.

end quotes

Are ALL of George W. Bush's mercenary forces over there in IRAQINAM present and accounted for, I wonder?

And all of the explosives, too?

CUI BONO from all this on-going violence?

Besides the stockholders of these mercenary companies that George W. Bush and his crowd have in the field over there in IRAQINAM?

And the American "economy", of course ....

[Livyjr]

CUI BONO from all this on-going violence?

Besides the stockholders of these mercenary companies that George W. Bush and his crowd have in the field over there in IRAQINAM?

And the American "economy", of course ....

And the REPUBLICAN PARTY, of course ......

The REPUBLICAN PARTY benefits big-time from all this on-going and escalating violence ....

Which means money in the bank ...

For them and theirs .....

And for a look at the REPUBLICAN PARTY's latest "RECRUITMENT EFFORTS" ...

Now that the 2006 mid-term Congressional elections are looming large on the horizon ....

Click on this URL now:

http://www.thefrown.com/frowners/becomerepublican.swf

[jeffmoskin]

The curious thing is that the stock of Exxon/Mobil, who just declared $36 BILLION in profits, has been pretty stagnant for a year.

Go figure.

Or maybe the "insiders" anticipated the big jump in oil prices as soon as it was clear that BushCo was going to invade Iraq.

[Livyjr]

The curious thing is that the stock of Exxon/Mobil, who just declared $36 BILLION in profits, has been pretty stagnant for a year.

Go figure.

Or maybe the "insiders" anticipated the big jump in oil prices as soon as it was clear that BushCo was going to invade Iraq.

Years ago now, I worked on a project for a large California engineering company that was in cahoots with an oil company and a railroad company ......

The project itself was related to getting more oil out of fields where the overburden pressure was depleted .....

And so ...

The oil left in them was difficult to recover ....

And at that time, it was economically unfeasible .....

The cost of a barrel of oil had to go up quite a bit ....

And there was no doubt back then, circa 1980 or so, that it was going to do so ....

And these were very patient people .....

Make a buck today ...

And tomarrow will take care of itself ....

And it has ...

In spades ...

For someone, anyway ...

Now, why the stock of this huge oil company with record profits is stagnant is an interesting thing to consider .....

And it is something that most of us are likely unaware of .....

And so ....

Thanks for making mention of it in here, jeffmoskin .....

Strange times we live in ....

Strange times, indeed ...

And so ....

[Livyjr]

And speaking of strange times ...

And BIG TALKERS ....

And REAL HIGH ROLLERS ....

In the REPUBLICAN-controlled State of New York .....

Who George W. Bush and his WATER CARRIER George Pataki would have us believe are good for OUR economy .....

We have ......

"Developer piles up unpaid bills - Troy business owners cite thousands in bad debt; property taxes overdue"

By TIM O'BRIEN, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, February 24, 2006

TROY -- Sandy Horowitz, the developer who bought five downtown buildings with grand plans to remake Troy, is establishing a pattern of unpaid bills and upset businesses.

"He owes me money."

"Thousands," said Dean Osterhout, co-owner of American Seal Decorating Center.

"He has pretty much walked away from me."

"He won't respond to me."

Osterhout said he was thrilled when Horowitz came to the city in 2003 and was hailed as a Hollywood producer who would turn Troy into a blockbuster.

"In the end, I got burned," Osterhout said.

He is far from alone.

Horowitz owes money for everything from paint to property management, business owners said this week.

The developer could not be reached for comment Wednesday and Thursday despite repeated messages left for him at his Troy office, his Long Island office and on his cell phone.

Fred Peters, owner of Interstate Cleaning and Maintenance, said Horowitz owes his firm $13,000.

"Apparently the gentleman owes a lot of people a lot of money," Peters said.

"He owes me a lot of money, and he is totally jerking me around."

Peters' firm cleaned the Hendrick Hudson, Keenan and Cannon buildings, all owned by Horowitz.

"I'm in the midst of putting mechanic's liens on the properties," he said.

Rick LaJoy, general manager of Mercer Property Management, said his firm also severed its relationship with Horowitz and is owed money.

"It was high enough; I believe we have litigation started," he said.

Bill Mooradian, owner of Mooradian's Furniture, declined to discuss the specifics of what Horowitz owes him.

"He has had dreams bigger than his wallet," Mooradian said.

"You'll get enough of the story without me."

"I'm not sure where legally we're allowed to comment on his payment records."

Kevin Aubin of Northeast Management Group of Albany filed a lawsuit in state Supreme Court last year, claiming Horowitz owes his company nearly $70,000 for janitorial work, general construction and labor costs.

Horowitz has countersued.

Aubin said he loaned Horowitz $55,000.

"No one feels dumber than I," he said.

"The damage he's going to do to downtown Troy when he falls apart, it's going to be big."

Ed Martin, chief executive of Lusco Paper Co., said he had to battle to get Horowitz to pay for $1,500 worth of office products.

"We had difficulties collecting our money."

"He did finally pay us," Martin said.

It took 392 days and a trip to small claims court, Martin said.

"That's the indication I got also when we had problems, that he owed everybody," Martin said.

Chuck Campbell, vice president of Albany Elevator Inc., said Horowitz was in arrears but has paid.

He said the developer, initially known for his hands-on involvement in every detail of his buildings, has been less personally involved lately.

"He got a little too big in the area, and he lost his personal hand control," Campbell said.

"He purchased a lot of buildings."

City Comptroller Deborah Witkowski said the developer owes the city $170,877.28 in unpaid taxes on four of five properties he owns.

"He's got so many things open, it's not even funny," Witkowski said.

The state Department of Taxation and Finance issued a tax warrant January 23 for unpaid sales tax for the Troy Coffee Company, Horowitz's firm which owns the Ilium Cafe inside the Cannon Building.

The company owes $4,259.74 for nonpayment of sales tax, spokesman Tom Bergin said.

Upon arriving in the city, Horowitz bought the Cannon Building, the Hendrick Hudson Hotel, the Keenan Building, a brownstone that was the former home of the Rensselaer County Chamber of Commerce on Second Street and another brownstone on River Street.

They are among the city's biggest landmarks, and Horowitz said at the time he was thrilled by Troy and its potential.

"I thought it was an incredible opportunity," he told the Times Union at the time.

"I was like a kid in the candy store."

end quotes

And it was something to behold ...

This guy had politicians twining all around his legs like cats looking for a bowl of cream .....

And newspaper editors were fawning all over him ....

And it was going to be a MIRACLE for Troy, New York .....

Well ...

Maybe it still is ...

A MIRACLE if they survive this debacle .....

BUT ...

They say suckers are born every minute ...

And this was Troy's hour for that, anyway ....

And so .....