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

[Livyjr]

I was told that the AK-47 could be dropped in a mud puddle and still work fine, whereas the M-16 would jam.

Any truth to this?

During the monsoon in Viet Nam ....

Where it would rain 24 hours a day ...

For days on end .....

Viet Nam WAS a mud puddle ...

And so ....

And when it was not wet ....

It was dry and dusty ....

And for the M-16 ...

That was just as bad ....

I would have preferred .....

An AK-47 myself ....

To the M-16 that I carried ....

In a firefight .....

Where noise counts as much as anything else ...

I could hear the sounds of the AK-47's over my own M-16 .....

And that can tweak your mind a little .....

If you are prone to getting upset or carried away by small things like that .....

Too much technology on the battlefield ....

Like the M-16 ....

Which is a fancy Mattel toy, in essence .....

Is really a detriment ...

And so .....

But that is just a grunt talking .....

I never was a major general myself .....

Nor a secretary of defense ....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

It is an ancient thought ....

Which many men have taught ....

That he who over-reaches .....

AND TRIES TO LIVE BY FORCE ....

Shall die thereby, of course ....

And ....

Is what my own heart teaches .....

- Lao Tze, Tao Te Ching, written some 2500 years ago .....

[Livyjr]

It is an ancient thought ....

Which many men have taught ....

That he who over-reaches .....

AND TRIES TO LIVE BY FORCE ....

Shall die thereby, of course ....

And ....

Is what my own heart teaches .....

- Lao Tze, Tao Te Ching, written some 2500 years ago .....

"Coalition Probes Afghan 'Friendly Fire'"

By PAUL GARWOOD, Associated Press Writer

1 hour, 4 minutes ago

KABUL, Afghanistan - Military officials are probing two clashes in which Afghan civilians and police may have been killed by U.S.-led coalition forces, authorities said Monday.

The U.S. military has begun an inquiry into Saturday's deaths of seven Afghan civilians after American forces using aircraft and artillery battled militants in a house and a cave complex in Afghanistan's Kunar province, which borders Pakistan.

The Canadian-led military in the southern Kandahar province also said it was investigating whether "friendly fire" was responsible for casualties sustained by Afghan police during fierce fighting there Friday against Taliban forces.

Afghan authorities said 41 Taliban militants and six Afghan police were killed during the fighting in Sangisar, a former Taliban stronghold near Kandahar city.

It was the bloodiest battle in a surge in rebel attacks that threatens the government's shaky grip on the country more than four years after the fall of the Taliban.

The government has previously complained about heavy-handed tactics by U.S.-led forces, and the swift announcement of probes into the deaths appears to reflect greater openness on the part of the coalition, which says its forces go to extreme lengths to avoid innocent casualties.

Saturday's clash in Kunar province came during an ongoing operation involving 2,500 Afghan and coalition forces to flush out Taliban-led militants, one of the biggest offensives since the Taliban's ouster for hosting Osama bin Laden.

The U.S. military said about eight to 10 militants opened fire on U.S. forces, who returned fire and called in support from warplanes and artillery.

It said several Taliban forces were killed and others took shelter in a house and nearby cave where civilians were living.

U.S. military spokesman Maj. Matt Hackathorn said they stopped firing once they realized civilians were in the area.

After the firefight ended, local village elders said seven people had been killed and three wounded.

"Whether our direct fire was responsible (for the casualties) or close-air support or if the victims were caught in the crossfire we just don't know right now," he said.

"We are profoundly sorry about the loss of life."

Maj. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, coalition commander, has ordered an investigation.

On the Pakistani side of the border, troops deployed to block any Taliban militants fleeing the Kunar offensive into Pakistan, a Pakistani army official said on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.

Coalition forces have also opened an investigation into Friday's battle near Sangisar, where up to 60 Taliban members had been hiding.

Afghan soldiers and police, backed by Canadian forces and coalition gunships, attacked the rebels after learning that they were planning to raid Kandahar city.

A coalition statement said that during the fighting, Afghan police "reported casualties, some possibly caused by friendly forces."

"We are investigating the incident and we will work jointly with the government of Afghanistan to determine the events that took place during this fight," said Canadian Brig. Gen. David Fraser.

Separately, Authorities have banned unregistered motorcycles in the central Afghan province of Ghazni because Taliban militants use bikes to carry out bombings and shootings.

Gunmen on motorcycles killed a former governor last month.

Police said militants have also been using motorcycles when planting roadside bombs or in suicide attacks.

Taliban militants responded by warning villagers against going to the capital of the province, about 75 miles southwest of the capital Kabul, said Ali Ahmed, director of the province's criminal department.
___

Associated Press writers Sadaqat Jan in Islamabad, Pakistan, and Amir Shah in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.

[Livyjr]

And while we are on the subject of REPUBLICAN VALUES in here this morning ....

Which is to say ....

CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION and INORDINATE GREED here in OUR America .....

And PRICE-GOUGING ...

And PROFITEERING .....

And pure LUST, of course ....

All of which caused the REPUBLICANS .....

Under the execrable leadership of the incompetent George W. Bush .....

To invade Afghanistan ...

And IRAQINAM .....

Because such invasions ....

And more especially ...

The following OCCUPATIONS of those countrys as REPUBLICAN satellites .....

Puts a LOT OF MONEY into the pockets of those who comprise the REPUBLICAN PARTY .....

We have ....

"Ex-Exxon CEO's Massive Pension Draws Fire"

By STEVE QUINN, AP Business Writer

Sun Apr 16, 9:20 AM ET

DALLAS - A $69.7 million compensation package and $98 million pension payout to Exxon Mobil Corp.'s former chief executive and chairman Lee R. Raymond has some shareholders and economists asking, "how much is enough?"

"Some folks will ask the question, 'Is this more evidence of big oil taking an enormous windfall and retaining all the riches?'" said Mel Fugate, assistant professor for Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business.

The Irving company has drawn criticism from politicians and economists for becoming the most profitable company in history — at consumers' expense, they say.

Exxon benefited from high oil and natural gas prices and solid demand for refined products en route to earning $36 billion last year.

The company has defended its profits, saying that other industries have larger profit margins but oil companies' bottom lines stand out because they operate on a much larger scale.

Recent news of Raymond's payout and pension is stoking embers Fugate said had been starting to die out.

But with gasoline prices again reaching $3 a gallon at the pump in some areas and big oil companies about to report first-quarter earnings in coming weeks, expect more fallout, economists say.

On Wednesday, Exxon reported executive compensation in a regulatory filing that showed Raymond receiving $48.5 million in salary, bonuses, incentive payments and stock awards.

His compensation package also included $21.2 million from exercising stock options, which the company stopped awarding in 2001.

His $98 million pension payout reflects 43 years of service.

But he would have received nearly $17 million less had he retired just last year, according to the company's 2005 proxy statement.

In this year's proxy statement, Exxon defended the package by saying it rewards Raymond's "outstanding leadership of the business, continued strengthening of our worldwide competitive position, and continuing progress toward achieving long-range strategic goals."

Raymond had been CEO since 1993 before stepping down at the end of last year.

Exxon added that Raymond's compensation is "appropriately positioned relative to CEOs of U.S.-based, integrated oil companies and other major U.S.-based corporations, particluarly in view of the long-term performance of the company and the substantial experience and expertise that Mr. Raymond has brought to the job."

Last year, Chevron Corp. Chairman and CEO David O'Reilly received a $1.55 million salary, $3.5 million bonus and $3.57 million in long-term compensation.

He did not exercise any options, but owns options valued at just over $34 million, including exercisable options worth $28 million, according to Chevron's proxy.

Fugate, who specializes in executive compensation and management, said Exxon is sending a "very, very bad signal" by allowing Raymond to select the lump-sum payout.

"They are in very, very rich times, so on one hand they say, 'we can afford it,' but on the other hand they are taking an awful lot of heat because they've made too much at the expense of consumers."

"I'm surprised they are not being asked to justify that."

They will be at the company's shareholders meeting in Dallas on May 31.

Several shareholders have placed resolutions on the agenda that, if passed, would put the clamps on some executive pay.

Shareholder Emil Rossi, author of one of the resolutions, says that although he's done well as a longtime owner of Exxon stock, he believes the executives are keeping too much for themselves.

"(Raymond) took over a good company," said Rossi, of Boonville, Calif.

"He didn't bring it out from being a bad company, so his pay is clean out of reason."

"It's not because of his smartness."

Twice since November, big oil executives, including Raymond before his retirement, sat in Senate hearings defending their profits and deflecting accusations of gouging.

end quotes

Of course, old Billy Frist and Tommy DeLay can see where these oil boys are coming from ....

I mean ...

Well ...

Let's be forthright here ....

It is a lot of work to be a multi-millionaire .....

And so .....

They should get a lot more money than those of us who are not multi-millionaires ....

Because we have simpler lives ...

And so ...

We don't need all that extra money .....

And so ...

[Livyjr]

And then ....

There is this ....

"Justices to Discuss 'Adverse' Work Changes"

By TONI LOCY, Associated Press Writer

13 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - U.S. businesses are confronting how to maintain control in an office after an employee complains of sex or race discrimination without drawing a more damning charge of retaliation.

Retaliation claims have risen dramatically, and the Supreme Court considers Monday what legal standard should be used to evaluate the seriousness of changes in employment made by supervisors who may be angry over an employee's discrimination complaint.

A decision by the court could affect the balance of power in government and private workplaces nationwide.

The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co. wants justices to overturn a decision by the Cincinnati-based 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that found that suspending a female forklift operator for 37 days without pay and transferring her to a more physically demanding job were "materially adverse" changes in her employment.

Businesses warn they will be hamstrung if justices side with workers and create a "superprotected class" of employees who can't be disciplined or transferred once they file a discrimination complaint.

Lawyers for the railroad predicted that a ruling in favor of forklift operator Sheila White could lead to more lawsuits.

From 1992 to 2004, they said, employees filed nearly twice as many complaints with the government alleging retaliation by employers, making it the fastest-growing category of complaints in job discrimination-related cases.

Labor unions and women's groups disagree.

In friend-of-the-court filings, the groups said businesses must not be allowed to use seemingly innocuous schedule changes or transfers to send not-so-subtle messages to pressure workers "to remain silent rather than rock the boat."

White, the only woman working at a railroad yard in Memphis, Tenn., complained that her foreman was sexually harassing her and that other workers disparaged her by saying a rail yard was no place for a woman.

A company investigation led to the foreman's suspension and enrollment in sensitivity classes.

But the railroad also transferred White to work as a regular track worker, a more physically difficult job than operating a forklift.

After she filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, White was suspended without pay for 37 days around the Christmas holidays in 1997.

The railroad eventually rescinded its decision — clearing her of insubordination charges — and compensated her for back pay.

A jury hearing her lawsuit rejected the discrimination charge but found in her favor on the retaliation claim, awarding her $43,000.

"What happened to (White) in this case is emblematic of a continuing widespread problem of sex discrimination against women, particularly in nontraditional settings, and of the nearly limitless methods some employers use to punish and deter employees from seeking to enforce their ... rights," The National Women's Law Center said in a court filing.

But the Equal Employment Advisory Council, a nationwide association of employers, said in a filing that businesses must keep order in workplaces, often by suspending disruptive workers.

If White wins, the council said, employers will face "a Hobson's choice" of allowing disruptions in the workplace or suspending workers pending investigations at the risk of a lawsuit for retaliation.

The case is Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway v. White, 05-259.
___

On the Net:

Supreme Court: http://www.supremecourtus.gov

[Livyjr]

And here ...

We have some breaking news from ...

BUSHCO CENTRAL ....

I wonder if this guy is thinking of getting rid of George and Dick and Rumsfeld and "CON-JOB CONNIE" in this much-needed CLEAN OUT and SHAKE-UP of this most incompetent REGIME to rule on the face of this earth of OURS ....

Perhaps ever ....

"Bush's new chief of staff signals shake-up"

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press
Last updated: 6:17 p.m., Monday, April 17, 2006

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's new chief of staff said Monday it was time to "refresh and re-energize the team," and he told senior White House aides who might be thinking about quitting this year to go ahead and leave now.

Taking charge in a time of crisis, with Bush's poll ratings at their lowest point ever and Republicans anxious about the November elections, Bolten laid down his pointed directive at his first meeting with top presidential aides.

He did not ask for anyone's resignation, and none of the senior aides stepped forward to say they would go, White House press secretary Scott McClellan reported later.

But Bolten has Bush's full authority to make changes to the president's staff, and McClellan said he would expect announcements soon.

One of the first jobs to be filled is that of budget director -- the position that Bolten left to become chief of staff.

The job of domestic policy adviser at the White House is open as well.

Further changes are clearly on the horizon, and Bolten gave top aides the option of leaving first.

"He wanted to make sure he had the team in place that is going to be here for a minimum of the remainder of the year," McClellan said.

"And he said if people are thinking about leaving, that now is the time to come to such a decision."

Bolten told the staff that he was assuming his new job at a challenging time when the United States was engaged in a war on terrorism.

With U.S. casualties rising in Iraq, Bush faces sagging public support, Republican angst about the midterm election and struggles with a Congress that has been resistant to some of his top priorities.

"Josh talked about how this is a time to refresh and re-energize the team and for all of us to renew our commitment as we go forward," McClellan said.

Republicans outside the White House say they expect changes in Bush's lobbying staff and perhaps in the communications office, as well as in the Cabinet.

McClellan said Bolten's invitation was specifically for the White House staff, but that the president will "be looking to Josh for his advice and counsel" when it comes to possible changes in the broader administration.

To quell speculation about Donald Rumsfeld, Bush issued a strong statement of support for the embattled Pentagon chief last Friday.

On Monday, Bolten was on hand as Bush toured Europa Stone Distributors in Sterling, Va., to promote his tax plans with another Cabinet member who is the focus of shake-up rumors -- Treasury Secretary John Snow.

Bush did not say anything publicly about Snow's future, but waved the secretary to his side during the photo op so they would be in pictures together.

Bolten already has had closed door meetings with some top presidential advisers and plans more, McClellan said.

"There are a number of people that have served this president for a long period of time, and so you have to balance change with continuity," McClellan said.

Bolten also was examining the numerous meetings that consume hours of staff time at the White House.

Staffers often complain that they are tied up in meetings throughout the day that keep them from doing other work.

"Any time you have a new chief of staff coming in, you can expect that there will be some changes in some of the structure and personnel and other issues," McClellan said.

Bolten is only Bush's second chief of staff.

Andy Card left Friday after serving Bush for more than five years.

McClellan would not comment on his own future at the White House.

"I never speculate about personnel measures," McClellan said, repeating his standard reply to questions about staff changes with a smile.

------

On the Net:

http://www.whitehouse.gov

[Livyjr]

It is an ancient thought ....

Which many men have taught ....

That he who over-reaches .....

AND TRIES TO LIVE BY FORCE ....

Shall die thereby, of course ....

And ....

Is what my own heart teaches .....

- Lao Tze, Tao Te Ching, written some 2500 years ago .....

"Bush's new chief of staff signals shake-up" 
 
By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press
Last updated: 6:17 p.m., Monday, April 17, 2006

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's new chief of staff said Monday it was time to "refresh and re-energize the team," and he told senior White House aides who might be thinking about quitting this year to go ahead and leave now.

Taking charge in a time of crisis, with Bush's poll ratings at their lowest point ever and Republicans anxious about the November elections, Bolten laid down his pointed directive at his first meeting with top presidential aides.

Bolten told the staff that he was assuming his new job at a challenging time when the United States was engaged in a war on terrorism.

With U.S. casualties rising in Iraq, Bush faces sagging public support, Republican angst about the midterm election and struggles with a Congress that has been resistant to some of his top priorities.

And speaking of George's misbegotten "WAR OF TERROR" in IRAQINAM .....

Where George thought he could beat democracy into the IRAQINAMIS ....

With a club ...

Comprised of ......

Bayonets ....

Bullets ....

And tanks ....

Because "CON-JOB CONNIE" Rice told him that is how it was done ....

We have .....

What looks like a combat operation .....

Against George ....

Who has to be the most execrable COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF of military forces ....

On the face of this earth ....

In the last four or five thousand years ....

Which is why George is getting attacked in IRAQINAM .....

Where he now has America pinned down ...

And without tactics ...

Or a strategy .....

To extricate OUR troops with ....

To their detriment ...

And OURS ...

As a nation ...

As well ....

Put a stupid man into high office ...

And then ...

Don't be surprised ...

When the holder of that high office ..

Begins to do real stupid things ...

Like invading another soveriegn nation ....

Thousands of miles away ...

Across an ocean ....

AS A PUBLICITY STUNT ....

To win re-election ...

To a second term as American president ....

To beat his father's ....

Dismal one-term record ....

And so ....

"U.S. Marines Repel Coordinated Assault"

By TODD PITMAN, Associated Press Writer

57 minutes ago

RAMADI, Iraq - U.S. troops repelled an attack Monday by Sunni Arab insurgents who used suicide car bombs, rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons in a coordinated assault against this city's main government building and two U.S. observation posts.

The fighting in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, provided fresh evidence that the insurgency is thriving in Sunni Arab-dominated areas despite last month's decline in U.S. deaths.

In Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi forces fought an hours-long gunbattle with about 50 insurgents in the Sunni Arab district of Azamiyah, the U.S. military said.

Five insurgents were killed and two Iraqi troops were wounded, the U.S. said.

There were no reports of U.S. casualties in the 90-minute attack in Ramadi, the second in the past 10 days against the government headquarters for Anbar.

The latest attack began when two suicide car bombers sped toward the government building, known here as Government Center, using a road closed to civilian traffic, Marine Capt. Andrew Del Gaudio said.

U.S. Marines fired flares to warn the vehicles to stop.

When they refused, the Americans opened fire with .50 caliber machine guns from the building's sandbagged rooftop.

The vehicles turned and sped away but exploded on a main road, sending a huge fireball into the sky and triggering a shock wave that damaged the U.S. post, Del Gaudio said.

As part of the assault, other insurgents fired mortars and rocket-propelled grenades at Marine positions at the roof of the Government Center, which includes the office of the Anbar governor, and at another observation post, Del Gaudio said.

A U.S. Army tank fired a 120 mm shell at a small white mosque where about 15 insurgents were shooting at the Government Center, Del Gaudio said.

The round damaged part of the minaret and the firing ceased, he said.

Lt. Col. Stephen M. Neary, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, said it was the fourth time in the past 3 1/2 weeks that insurgents had used the mosque to fire on the government building.

The total number of insurgent casualties was unknown.

But Lt. Carlos Goetz said Marines killed at least three insurgents firing mortar rounds toward the Government Center.

In Baghdad, fighting erupted in Azamiyah before dawn when an Iraqi army patrol came under fire, a U.S. statement said.

Four hours later, gunmen attacked a U.S.-Iraqi checkpoint in the area, prompting the command to send American and Iraqi reinforcements.

The U.S. statement said clashes continued until early afternoon.

The attack in Ramadi was the biggest since April 8, when insurgents besieged the Government Center until U.S. jets blasted several buildings used by gunmen to fire on the Marines.

U.S. officials had been encouraged by what they described as a relative lull in Anbar, suggesting it was a result of weariness among ordinary Sunni Arabs who were turning against al-Qaida-led insurgent groups.

Last week, Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch told reporters in Baghdad that insurgent attacks in Anbar were down to an average of 18 a day — compared to a daily average of 27 last October.

At the same time, U.S. deaths for March numbered 31 — the lowest monthly figure since February 2004.

However, U.S. deaths have been rising this month.

Of the 47 American service members reported killed in Iraq so far in April, at least 28 have died in Anbar.

Anbar was largely spared the wave of sectarian violence that has swept much of Iraq since the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra — largely because the province is overwhelmingly Sunni.

Most of the sectarian violence has occurred in Baghdad and other religiously mixed areas.

A Shiite cleric was killed Monday night in southwest Baghdad during a drive-by shooting, police said.

In order to quell sectarian unrest, U.S. officials have been urging the Iraqis to speed up formation of a national unity government of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.

The process has stalled because of Sunni and Kurdish objections to the Shiite candidate to head the new government, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.

Prospects for a quick end to the stalemate were in doubt Tuesday as al-Jaafari's Dawa party pledged to support him for another term as long as he wants the job.

Al-Jaafari has refused to give up the nomination, which he won in a Shiite caucus last February.

Parliament had been set to meet Monday to try to break the deadlock, but the session was postponed after Shiite politicians gave assurances they could reach a decision on al-Jaafari themselves without a bruising parliamentary fight.

One option floated called for replacing al-Jaafari with another candidate from Dawa, one of the seven parties in the Shiite alliance.

But Ali al-Adeeb, a top Dawa official whose name has been mentioned as a possible replacement, said Monday that the party would not put forward a new candidate unless al-Jaafari decided to step aside, suggesting further delays.

"Dawa cannot present any candidate unless al-Jaafari decides to step aside," al-Adeeb told The Associated Press.

"So far his position has not changed."

Shiite officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the issue is sensitive, said some Dawa figures were willing to see al-Jaafari go in favor of either al-Adeeb or Jawad al-Maliki.

But the party resented outside pressure from Shiites representing other parties as well as from the Americans and British.

The Shiites won 130 of the 275 parliament seats — not enough to govern without the Sunnis and Kurds.

Those groups oppose al-Jaafari, saying he has failed to stop the recent surge in sectarian bloodshed, and neither side has enough votes to force a decision.

Another 17 bodies of people believed victims of sectarian reprisal killings were found Monday, including one in Basra and the rest in Baghdad.

They included the body of Taha al-Mutlaq, brother of leading Sunni Arab politician Saleh al-Mutlaq, who was found in a Shiite area of west Baghdad.
___

Associated Press writers Sameer N. Yacoub and Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed to this report.

This post has been edited by Livyjr: Apr 17 2006, 05:01 PM

[Livyjr]

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sh...campaign/withus

U.S. policymakers and world leaders discuss their efforts to build a worldwide coalition to fight terrorism, and the necessity of convincing the Muslim world that this was not a fight against Islam.

[Livyjr]

And from the corrupt REPUBLICAN EMPIRE of New York ....

"Interests pony up for GOP"

Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Monday, April 17, 2006

Donald Trump's oceanside spread in Florida was the place to be a few weeks ago, at least for Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno and representatives of gambling interests who gathered for a campaign fundraiser.

The Feb. 24 crowd paid $3,000 a couple and $2,000 a person.

Bruno's office wouldn't say how much was raised for the state Senate GOP war chest.

The guests included many New Yorkers with some kind of interest in the franchise to run races at the Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga tracks, or in building casinos in the Catskills.

The host and honorary chairman, Trump, has publicly criticized the state for trying to open Indian casinos just a short drive from his New Jersey gambling emporiums.

Among those at Trump's Mar-A-Lago were Jared Abbruzzese, a Loudonville businessman who is an investor and board member of Empire Racing Associates, which upset the New York Racing Association recently by partnering with horsemen's associations on a plan to bid on the racing franchise.

Abbruzzese is a big donor to national and statewide Republican campaigns.

Also there: Long Islander and NYRA Trustee Chester Broman and his wife; Dennis Brida, executive director of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders Association, who has been supportive of the Empire group; Jerry Bilinski, formerly of head of the New York Racing & Wagering Board; lobbyist John Cordo, who represents Churchill Downs, and whose firm lobbies for the St. Regis Mohawks; Albany lobbyist James Crane, who with Dennis Vacco represents Delaware North and Empire Racing.

And: Jeff Perlee, the new executive director of Empire Racing; Friends of New York Racing's president, Tim Smith; Tim Rooney and Robert Galterio, the heads of Yonkers Raceway, which is building a video lottery terminal casino; David Cornstein, chairman of New York City OTB; Republican donor Earle Mack; and Saratoga socialite Marylou Whitney.

Interestingly, Sen. Bill Larkin, head of the Senate Racing & Wagering Committee, was in town, too.

Democratic bigwig Terry McAuliffe popped in at the Trump fundraiser, saying he was in Palm Beach helping Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton raise cash nearby.

Contributors: State Editor Jay Jochnowitz, Capitol bureau reporter James M. Odato.

Got a tip?

Call 454-5424 or e-mail jjochnowitz@timesunion.com.

For more Capitol Confidential items on-line, visit blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/

[Livyjr]

"Modern industries are handling the forces of nature on a stupendous scale ..."

"Woe to the people who trust these powers to the hands of fools ..."

Words of then-Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, Major John Wesley Powell in an August 1889 article entitled "The Lesson of Conemaugh" in North American Review on the disaster in Johnstown, Pennsylvania caused by the rupture of the South Fork Dam on Memorial Day in 1889 .......

[jeffmoskin]

"Woe to the people who trust these powers to the hands of fools ..."

Or any powers.

Like the power to make WAR.

"An illigitimate war, started by an illigitimate President" - bumpersticker wisdom

[Livyjr]

Or any powers ....

Like the power to make WAR ....

What a mouthfull you have just spoken here, jeffmoskin ...

And in so few words ...

What can be said for a nation, any nation ......

That rejects wisdom ....

And instead puts the biggest fool that it can find ...

Into the most important position in that nation's government ....

Because the fool has a short name ....

Only four letters ....

And one syllable ....

Which is apparently all that those who put the fool into power can remember ....

Or comprehend ....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

And how about this?

Didn't somebody else out there with a real short name in only one syllable ....

Who deems himself to be the LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD ....

Do something just like this?

Except that guy can get away with it ...

Because he is not only the LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD ....

But GRAND POOBAH ...

And HIGH POTENTATE ....

Of the SUN, MOON and STARS ....

As well ....

"Director pleads guilty in wiretap case"

By LINDA DEUTSCH, Associated Press
Last updated: 6:25 a.m., Tuesday, April 18, 2006

LOS ANGELES -- A somber "Die Hard" director John McTiernan stood before a federal judge and said he made "knowingly false" statements to an FBI agent about Anthony Pellicano, the celebrity private eye he admitted hiring to wiretap a business associate.

McTiernan, who pleaded guilty Monday to making false statements, faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced July 31.

He is the highest-profile figure yet to plead guilty in the investigation of Pellicano, who is accused of bugging phones and bribing police to get information on celebrities and others.

Pellicano has pleaded not guilty.

Asked by U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer on Monday if the statements he made to the FBI agent were false, McTiernan replied:

"They were knowingly false, your honor."

McTiernan, director of "The Thomas Crown Affair," "The Last Action Hero" and other films, sketched out a scenario that began with a phone call to his home on Feb. 13 from a person identifying himself as an FBI agent.

He said he told the agent the only time he used Pellicano's services was in his divorce.

"He asked me if I had hired him in any other area, and I said, `No, I didn't,'" McTiernan told the judge.

Actually, McTiernan added, "I had hired Anthony Pellicano to wiretap Charles Roven in the summer of 2000."

"... But I never received a report or specific information."

Roven worked with McTiernan on the 2002 box-office flop "Rollerball."

Roven was a credited producer and McTiernan directed and produced the film.

McTiernan said he paid Pellicano $50,000 for the illegal wiretap, and in the end, "I paid him off and fired him."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Saunders asked the judge to seal the plea agreement documents, and he refused to answer questions outside court about whether the government had agreed to make a recommendation for leniency in sentencing.

Fischer allowed McTiernan to remain free on bond until sentencing.

The speed with which McTiernan entered his guilty plea came as a surprise after an arraignment earlier in the day in which his attorney told another judge there was a plea agreement.

No details were announced and another hearing was scheduled for next week.

But McTiernan's lawyers sought a speedy resolution, and Fischer, who is presiding over other Pellicano-related cases, agreed to take the case.

Allegations against Pellicano, 62, include tapping the phone of actor Sylvester Stallone and having police run the names of comedians Garry Shandling and Kevin Nealon through a government database.

end quotes

Ah, yes ....

America ....

Where nothing is free ....

And EVERYTHING is for sale ....

Starting right at the very top ...

And working its way down from there ....

To the very bottom of the heap ....

Which then takes us right on back to the top ....

And so .....

[Livyjr]

And then ...

There is this ....

Oil is rapidly becoming a LUXURY ITEM up here where I am ....

Which means that more and more people are going to be "SHUT OUT" of the marketplace for that LUXURY ITEM .....

Which is going to have some real interesting implications ...

For this nebulous imaginary thing called the "economy" .....

Which is based upon this LUXURY ITEM ....

Being universally available .....

To all alike ...

At an inexpensive cost ....

Which it no longer is ...

OR EVER WILL BE AGAIN ....

And so ...

Apparently ....

There is a belief among the fools who tout the economy ....

That regardless of what something like oil costs ...

People will still somehow have all of this money from God alone knows where to pay for it ....

And so ....

Let the fools drive the cost of a barrel of oil up to the point of where only an OIL SHEIK can afford to buy some ...

Or the BLOATED HEAD of a GREEDY PROFITEERING AMERICAN CORPORATION ....

And let's all see what happens to this thing called the "economy" then .....

And so ...

"Oil prices climb to new intraday high"

By JANE WARDELL, Associated Press
Last updated: 7:46 a.m., Tuesday, April 18, 2006

LONDON -- Oil prices hit a new intraday high of $70.88 a barrel Tuesday amid international tension over Iran's nuclear program and worries about supply disruptions in Nigeria.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery surpassed the previous record of $70.85 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, before easing back to $70.75.

That's up 35 cents from Monday, when the contract settled at $70.40 a barrel, a record close.

In London, Brent crude for June delivery at the ICE Futures exchange also hit an all-time high of $72.20 a barrel, before easing back to $71.51 -- a 5 cent increase on Monday's close.

"We have broken new ground today," said Victor Shum, energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.

"The market sentiment is bullish, with yesterday's record closing, momentum has been built up to cause a wave of buying."

The previous intraday high was set Aug. 30, when Hurricane Katrina lashed at the U.S. Gulf Coast and wreaked havoc on the region's oil industry.

Analysts said oil prices were likely to climb further as long as geopolitical risks in Iran and Nigeria posed threats to supply at a time when global demand remains strong and supplies remain tight.

Crude oil production is only barely keeping up with rising global demand, leaving a slim margin for error if there is a prolonged supply interruption, experts say.

Traders are anxious that U.S.-led efforts to stop Iran, OPEC's second-largest member, from pursuing a suspected nuclear weapons program would lead to a disruption in Persian Gulf supplies.

ABN Amro broker Lee Fader said the trigger for the latest rally was "heightened fear about military action" against Iran.

"If somehow this got resolved diplomatically that would definitely take a few dollars off," Fader said.

And in Nigeria, militant attacks have led to the stoppage of more than 25 percent of the country's crude oil production.

Also underpinning a sustained oil price rise is booming demand for oil in emerging economies such as China and India at a time when supplies are becoming tighter and the expectation of strong demand for gasoline over summer in the United States, the world's largest energy consumer.

"The market sentiment now is much more nervous," said Tetsu Emori, chief commodities strategist at Mitsui Bussan Futures in Tokyo.

"Things haven't changed so much but as we approach the summer driving season we'll need more crude to make gasoline and we know also that U.S. gasoline production has its limitations because of the tight refining capacity."

U.S. gasoline inventories are expected to have slipped below the psychologically important 200-million-barrel mark in the week to April 14, according to a Dow Jones Newswires survey of 10 analysts.

The data will be released Wednesday.

Gasoline futures Tuesday fell 0.6 cent to 2.1725 a gallon while heating oil prices gained 0.6 cent to $2.0223 a gallon.

Natural gas futures rose 6.2 cents to $7.639 per 1,000 cubic feet.

[Livyjr]

And while we are on that subject ....

Of HUGE SUV's becoming extinct .....

Along with fat-*** bloated oil executives ....

Of the GREEDY, REPUBLICAN-PROTECTED PROFITEERING OIL COMPANIES ....

Who will only be able to sell their products to themselves ....

Or to the PERSIAN GULF OIL SHEIKS that they bought it from ....

In the first place ....

We have ....

What looks like a story about their forebears ....

Especially the part about hunting in packs ...

And so ....

The "wheel of time" turns ...

And so ....

"Details revealed about huge dinosaurs"

By MALCOLM RITTER, Associated Press
Last updated: 10:57 p.m., Monday, April 17, 2006

NEW YORK -- Scientists are learning more about what appears to be one of the biggest meat-eating dinosaurs known, a two-legged beast whose bones were found several years ago in the fossil-rich Patagonia region of Argentina.

One expert called the discovery the first substantial evidence of group living by large meat-eaters other than tyrannosaurs like T. rex.

The creature, which apparently measured more than 40 feet long, is called Mapusaurus roseae.

The discovery of Mapusaurus included bones from at least seven to nine of the beasts, suggesting the previously unknown animal may have lived and hunted in groups.

That hunting strategy might have allowed it to attack even bigger beasts, huge plant-eating dinosaurs.

The find was reported in 2000 by The Associated Press.

It is described in the latest issue of the journal Geodiversitas by paleontologists Rodolfo Coria of the Carmen Funes Museum in Plaza Huincul, Argentina, and Philip Currie of the University of Alberta in Canada.

They oversaw the excavation of the dinosaur's remains about 15 miles south of Plaza Huincul from 1997 to 2001.

Mapusaurus is estimated to have lived about 100 million years ago.

Currie, in an e-mail, said it's hard to say how long the biggest specimen was because no complete skeleton was found.

He estimated it may have measured about 41 feet from the snout to the tip of the tail.

It may have been about a foot longer than Giganotosaurus, also found in Patagonia, but without a complete skeleton "you will never know," he wrote.

The Field Museum in Chicago says its T. rex skeleton, Sue, is 42 feet long.

Thomas Holtz Jr., a University of Maryland dinosaur expert, said that Mapusaurus clearly joins Giganotosaurus, T. rex and a huge African beast called Spinosaurus as among the biggest carnivorous dinosaurs.

But he said it's impossible to know exactly how they rank in overall size.

The fossil record is too fragmentary, and unlikely to capture the biggest individual of each species, he said.

Spinosaurus was probably the longest species, but length is a poor indicator of overall size because tails can be shorter or longer without affecting a creature's weight very much, he said.

Still, Spinosaurus was probably the biggest in overall bulk as well, he said.

Coria noted the dig showed evidence of social behavior in Mapusaurus.

The excavation found hundreds of bones from several Mapusaurus individuals but none from any other creature.

That suggests the animals were together before they died, Coria said.

Perhaps they hunted in packs, though there is no direct evidence for that, he said in an e-mail.

Currie, in a statement from his university, speculated that pack hunting may have allowed Mapusaurus to prey on the biggest known dinosaur, Argentinosaurus, a 125-foot-long plant-eater.

Holtz called the finding the first substantive evidence of group living by giant two-legged carnivores other than tyrannosaurs.

It's not clear whether the animals cooperated in hunting, as wolves or lions do, or simply mobbed their prey or just gathered around after one of them made a kill, he said.

"Mapusaurus" comes from the word for "Earth" in the language of the Mapuche tribe of western Patagonia, while "roseae" refers both to the rose-colored rock that yielded the specimens and to the name of a sponsor of the excavations.

[Livyjr]

And since we are on the subject of LOOTERS and PROFITEERS in here this morning ....

Let's wing our way up to the corrupt REPUBLICAN-controlled EMPIRE of New York ....

Where the LOOTERS are not only having a field day ....

But are protected by .....

You know what .....

GUMMINT SECRECY .....

While they go about LOOTING OUR treasury ....

For their pockets ....

And so ....

"Secrecy cloaks budget pork - Pact among state finance officials keeps confidential how $200 million of discretionary funds will be spent"

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

First published: Sunday, April 16, 2006

ALBANY -- When the finance czars of the Senate, Assembly and Gov. George Pataki's budget division divvy up $200 million for pet projects each year, they sign a confidentiality pact barring them from telling the public how the money is going to be spent, according to a document obtained by the Times Union.

The arrangement wraps a shroud of secrecy around a process of choosing who will get taxpayer money from the Legislature's so-called "member item'' account --discretionary spending privately arranged to suit politicians.

This pork barrel plan is established with a "Memorandum of Understanding,'' a copy of which was obtained by the newspaper last week for member items in 2005.

Last year's "Memorandum of Understanding'' specifies $85 million for each chamber and $30 million for the governor.

It also reveals that the parties agree to share ideas for spending the funds only among themselves.

"Each party will treat information regarding any proposed project as confidential and will not share it with any individual or entity,'' says the agreement public officials have signed for years.

Mum is the word "except that it may be shared on a confidential basis with the agency or authority proposed to administer the project,'' the document says.

John F. Cape, Pataki's budget director; Mary Louise Mallick, secretary of the Senate Finance Committee; and Dean A. Fuleihan, secretary of the Assembly Ways & Means Committee, signed the May 3, 2005, document.

Down the road, taxpayers may find out how that year's member-item pot -- formally known as the Community Projects Fund -- is going to be used.

Typically, that happens when a member of the Legislature or the governor conducts a ribbon-cutting, issues a news release or gives a speech.

Legislative leaders say they come up with their priority projects from members who submit wish lists to the Democrats who lead the Assembly and the Republicans who lead the Senate.

The governor uses his own staff to come up with projects.

The projects, government reform advocates say, range from worthy to suspect.

The secrecy, they say, is galling.

"It's indefensible,'' said Blair Horner, lobbyist for the New York Public Interest Research Group, a government watchdog organization.

"It's the people's money."

"They should know how it's spent."

"They find out after the fact, but that's hardly the transparency the public should expect and deserves.''

Assemblyman Robert Reilly, D-Cohoes, said he is upset Fuleihan is signing a privacy deal in the name of the Assembly.

"To have a staff member, in this case Dean, sign something of that nature on my behalf I think is wrong and something I'm absolutely opposed to,'' said Reilly.

"I'm the elected official."

"I should know about this and the public should know about this.''

Charles Carrier, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, said he believes the confidentiality only lasts during a five-day period that the three parties are negotiating projects.

However, the MOU lists no expiration date for the secrecy pact, and it is unclear whether the other parties have the same interpretation.

"This is just a matter of finalizing projects,'' Carrier said.

"It's ridiculous to say we are depriving people information."

"It's only for five days."

"It's an internal situation."

"We make everything available ... once we have a budget in place and these projects are moving forward.''

Yet, asked for the list of projects of the Assembly, Senate and governor, now that the confidentiality agreement has apparently lapsed, according to the Assembly's interpretation, Carrier was unable to supply the information on Thursday and Friday.

Spokesmen for Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno would not discuss the matter or did not return calls.

Scott Reif, a spokesman for the Division of the Budget, had no explanation for the confidentiality time frame or how it is honored.

He said member-item data are available upon request and subject to the state's Freedom of Information Law.

"DOB routinely distributes them to members of the media and other citizens who request these documents,'' he said.

However, learning how member-item money is spent is not so simple.

In January, Pataki pitched budget reform legislation that would require the information be electronically available on state Web pages.

But no sponsor in the Assembly or Senate has taken up the cause.

Some people familiar with the privacy pact say it was inserted into the standard member-item MOU several years ago and no one has bothered to rewrite terms that took a lot of effort to create.

The reason for the secrecy deal, they say, is because of distrust among the parties.

One party did not want its project disclosed -- and the credit for it stolen -- by one of the other parties.

The distrust may stem from a case in which Charles Gargano, chairman of Empire State Development Corp., which Pataki controls, announced a project sponsored by Silver, some sources said.

Another reason for the secrecy, legislative sources say, is because of competition and envy among potential recipients and members over funds.

The use of the pork pot has long been an Albany debate, criticized sharply by fiscal conservatives and questioned by budget watchdogs.

It came under the spotlight in recent months after Senate Democrats blasted legislative leaders for constructing a budget full of "slush funds.''

Silver and Bruno would not spell out how the $200 million from the member-item pot, as well as hundreds of millions in other lump sum economic development pools, would be used.

Silver responded that he refuses to itemize because he needs to protect Assembly programs from being targeted by Pataki's veto ax.

Pataki, a Republican, disproportionately attacked Assembly Democrats' items in 1998 during a veto spree, and spared items for his traditional allies in the Senate, Silver says.

Pataki denies the assertion, saying he weighed the affordability and need.

Assembly members stress their items frequently pay for things that should be funded in the budget such as aid for the arts, charities and legal services for the poor.

When asked about the matter recently, Bruno bristled and said people can file a Freedom of Information Law request for details from the budget division.

People who do so got long lists without details on which lawmakers were responsible for which projects, and no explanation for the proposed expenditure.

Member-item funding will become even more prominent during the ongoing budget fight.

If lawmakers want the money this year, they will be forced to override Pataki's veto of the entire $200 million pot, as well as $150 million in other unspecified lump sums that were to be dispensed at Bruno's and Silver's discretion.

"This is such a game,'' said E.J. McMahon, director of the Manhattan Institute's Empire Center, a conservative think tank.

"It's time this game came to an end.''

Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, R-Schenectady, suggests an open process in which each member's requests are discussed publicly, and evaluated and ranked by an independent, nonpartisan panel of people from 10 regions of the state.

The panel's recommendations could then be discussed in a public hearing.

The Legislature would set the member item list openly with the goal of getting the best value for the dollar, he said.

"I want to take this process from politics to piety,'' Tedisco said.

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

[Livyjr]

And since we are on the subject of LOOTERS and PROFITEERS in here this morning ....

Let's wing our way up to the corrupt REPUBLICAN-controlled EMPIRE of New York ....

Where the LOOTERS are not only having a field day ....

But are protected by .....

You know what .....

GUMMINT SECRECY .....

While they go about LOOTING OUR treasury ....

For their pockets ....

And so ....

And ......

Here is a man who would be the NEXT REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT ....

And it appears ...

That his "pocket" .....

Has done quite well for itself ....

During his tenure as REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR up here in the corrupt REPUBLICAN-controlled EMPIRE of New York ...

And so ...

I would guess that that would qualify him ...

To be a REPUBLICAN candidate for PRESIDENT ....

And so ....

"He'll go out in the money - Pataki's wealth has grown steadily during his 12 years running the state, trail of tax returns shows"

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

First published: Tuesday, April 18, 2006

ALBANY -- During his tenure as governor of New York, George Pataki has become a wealthy man.

When he first ran for statewide office in 1994, Pataki and his wife, Libby, were land rich but cash poor.

That year, Pataki reported earning $105,652 as a state senator and attorney.

Libby Pataki wasn't working.

She listed her occupation on tax documents as "housewife."

The couple reported losses on three in-state rental properties, as well as his family's Westchester County farm.

As soon as Pataki took office in January 1995, his family's fortunes began to change.

His income jumped by about $100,000 that first year, and continued to climb fairly steadily.

Last year, the governor and the first lady earned $889,123, and their adjusted gross income was $775,169, according to their 2005 tax returns, which were made public Monday.

It was the Patakis' most lucrative year to date -- far better than their last best year, 2004, when they pulled in $528,023.

The increase in the Patakis' income was largely due to the sale last year of an out-of-state rental property they owned for 17 months and stayed in for only two nights.

The Patakis bought the 1,400-square-foot, three-bedroom house in North Palm Beach, Fla. for $360,000 in May 2004 and sold it for $675,000 last October.

The sale was handled by Chip Lubeck, a Florida real estate agent.

The buyer was Peter Clarke, of Fairfax Station, Va., who has never met the Patakis and has no ties to New York, according to the governor's spokesman David Catalfamo.

"It was an arm's length transaction," Catalfamo said, adding that the Patakis "got lucky, they bought into a hot market."

Clarke, an investment executive with the Wachovia financial services giant, called himself "the sucker who bought the house" in an interview Monday with The Associated Press.

He said the property was "definitely not worth it," but he bought it because it is close to both the ocean and the Intercoastal Waterway.

The Patakis paid $162,949 in federal taxes, $49,753 in state taxes and $31,633 in property taxes.

They gave $6,636 to charity, including $4,871 in used clothes and household goods, which they donated to the Salvation Army and Albany's Capital City Rescue Mission.

Pataki, 60, earned more than his wife in 2005 for the first time since 2003.

His state salary was $178,749.

He brought in $144,210 for making 10 paid speeches: in Las Vegas; Newport Beach, Huntington Beach and Los Angeles, Ca.; Montreal; Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; and Miami.

The groups he addressed included The New Majority, a California Republican group, the University of Southern California Law School, and the Greater Miami Jewish Federation.

All the groups were vetted by the state Ethics Commission and none have business with the state, according to Catalfamo.

Libby Pataki, 55, who listed her profession as "marketing consultant/advisor," was paid $80,000 by Ron Lauder, one of the governor's longtime financial backers.

Lauder has had the first lady on the payroll since 1995.

She also earned $70,000 from the Wheelchair Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose officials founded VSP Books, which published the children's book, "Madison In New York," which Libby Pataki co-wrote with a former aide.

Catalfamo said the foundation is "wrapping up operations" and the first lady no longer works there.

She was paid $97,500 by the foundation in 2002 and 2003 for consulting services.

Libby Pataki was paid $55,000 by FFD Trust II, which was established in 2003 when marketing giant Cendant Corp. took over time-share condo seller Fairfield Resorts.

Her job is to attend bimonthly meetings and help make decisions about the properties.

Libby Pataki has been on the trust's payroll since its inception.

The first lady made two paid speeches in 2005 -- both in California -- for which she earned $17,000.

She spoke to the Orange County Conference of Women and Inland Energy, located in Newport Beach.

The Patakis still own quite a bit of property, including their main residence in Garrison, Putnam County; land in Salem, Washington County; the governor's childhood home in Peekskill, Westchester County; and a 377-acre farm in Essex County, which they bought for $1.2 million several years ago.

In addition, Libby Pataki is an investor in two real estate trusts -- Old Blue LLC and Ling Randolph Building LLC -- with Richard Hayden, a longtime friend of the governor's (the two roomed together at Yale University).

She earned $8,016 in 2005 from Old Blue, which owns property in an Atlanta office complex, and $6,453 from Ling Randolph, which owns an office building in Albuquerque, NM.

[Livyjr]

Many times ...

I have posted letters from Senator John Kerry to myself in here ...

Letters that I think people should consider ...

As I do myself ...

And many times ...

What Senator Kerry is looking for ....

Is a show of support ...

For this idea ...

Or that .....

And I applaud that effort ....

Because to me ...

That is democracy in action ....

And so ....

But this following letter that John Kerry asked me to consider signing off on .....

I have not yet done ...

BECAUSE ....

Right now ...

In my own mind ...

I do not believe that it is a sound approch to what has become a very serious problem here in OUR America ...

That being this IRAQINAM debacle that George W. Bush and the REPUBLICAN PARTY have so foolishly gotten us embroiled in ....

And so .....

Having been asked to sign off on this letter several times ...

And having hesitated each time .....

Because I personally don't agree ...

Still ...

I am going to post this request letter in here ...

So that others can consider it as well ....

And so .....

While I may not agree with this particular approach .....

That is no excuse to stifle this letter ....

And so ....

Dear Livyjr,

One general after another demanding Rumsfeld's resignation.

More citizens every day joining in support of our May 15 deadline for Iraqi leaders to stop their squabbling and form a government.

In these and many other ways, because of citizens like you, the wheel is slowly, but surely, turning on the question of Iraq.

Over the next ten days, we're going to give it another huge push.

But, before I tell you more, please take a moment right now to sign in support of the Kerry Iraq plan:

Sign our Out of Iraq in 2006 petition now.

It's time for Iraq's leaders to seize the opportunity for democracy in Iraq that our troops are sacrificing every day to create.

If Iraq's leaders can't move past their infighting and endless delays to form a new government by May 15, we should immediately withdraw all of our troops.

If they meet the May 15 deadline, we'll bring America's combat troops home by the end of the year and put the future of democracy in Iraq where it belongs -- in the hands of the Iraqi people.

The clarity and precision of our plan stand in sharp contrast to the aimless approach of the architects of this war -- Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld.

All across America, people are strongly dissenting from the Bush administration's "stay for as long as it takes" policy -- and, just as important, standing up to the administration's attempts to vilify and question the patriotism of those who dare to speak out.

Decades ago I stood up to the Nixon administration and spoke out for a change of course in Vietnam.

Four days from now, I will be delivering a speech at Boston's Faneuil Hall on the critically important topic of war and dissent.

It's time to remind America that, when a stubborn president has America headed profoundly in the wrong direction, only citizen action can change our country's course.

The fight is just beginning.

I recognize the importance of the United States Senate as an institution that can help change America's course.

And I know that we can't force George W. Bush to confront reality in Iraq until we force the Senate to do the same.

Sign our Out of Iraq in 2006 petition now.

I will be acting in the Senate to bring change beginning when the current congressional recess ends on Monday.

And I will be needing your help to move the Senate to action.

Working together, we can make the next 10 days an important turning point on Iraq -- and we can build momentum as our May 15 deadline approaches.

You can help right now in three important ways.

First, sign the Out of Iraq in 2006 petition.

Second, forward this email to as many people as possible.

And third, pay special attention to your email over the next 10 days.

Events could move quickly -- and you may need to act in a matter of hours.

Sincerely,

John Kerry

P.S. Some of America's most respected retired generals have called on Donald Rumsfeld to resign.

We've long ago demanded the Secretary of Defense's resignation.

Clearly, if President Bush acted with the decisiveness this moment demands, America could have a new Secretary of Defense in place by our May 15 deadline.

And that would add much-needed impetus to the drive to successfully end America's military engagement in Iraq.

Out of Iraq in 2006

I support John Kerry’s Senate resolution for a timely withdrawal from Iraq.

I believe that American combat troops should come home from Iraq in 2006 - not the distant future as President Bush does.

Furthermore, I believe we must set a May 15th deadline for the Iraqis to form an effective unity government.

And, if the Iraqi politicians choose to ignore that deadline, then I believe things will only get worse and we will have no choice but to withdraw immediately.

We want democracy in Iraq, but it’s now the job of Iraqis to build it.

Our troops have performed gallantly and heroically.

The best way to keep faith with them is to set deadlines for bringing our troops home and getting Iraq on its own two feet.

That’s the only way to give their sacrifice its best chance of resulting in success.

Signed,

Your name here

[Livyjr]

And with that said ....

We go ...

Back to the economy .....

Which just might start to tank in a hurry up here where I am ....

Where the weather gets cold ....

And you have to drive everywhere you go ...

Just to get the smallest thing ....

And so ...

Interesting times ahead, as I see it ...

And so ...

"Many Ask Where Housing Market Will End Up"

By ADRIAN SAINZ, Associated Press Writer

2 hours, 19 minutes ago

MIAMI - Al Fernandez moved from Tampa to Miami two years ago, and acquaintances kept telling him to take advantage of the booming housing market before prices became too high.

But he held off until recently, uneasy about a "frenzy" in the market, where prices were rising too quickly.

He decided to temporarily rent an apartment until the market cooled and he could research his purchase — likely a condo in the $400,000 range.

"It was just so crazy, the housing market then."

"People were saying, `Get in on this condo because in three months it's going to go up $100,000,'" Fernandez said.

"I've been looking for the last year."

"I really wanted to take my time."

"I wanted the ability not to be stressed out and rushed into anything."

Fernandez is becoming a buyer while the market slows down, a trend reflected by Freddie Mac's prediction that total home sales this year will be down by about 7 percent from 2005's record levels.

Many experts believe that the market will level off but remain steady, reaching what the National Association of Realtors calls a "high plateau" as speculators leave the market and interest rates remain reasonable for buyers.

Statistically, the leveling off of the housing market is apparent.

Sales of existing homes rose in February by 5.2 percent from the previous month, but that came after five months of decline and was still 0.3 percent below a year ago, according to the realtor's association's most recent figures.

In new home sales, the U.S. Commerce Department reported construction dropped by 7.8 percent in March, the fourth decline in the past six months.

The national median existing home price for all housing types was $209,000 in February, up 10.6 percent from $189,000 in February 2005, but down from a high of $220,000 in August, the realtors' association reported.

In a conference call announcing first quarter earnings, Lennar Corp. president and chief executive Stuart Miller acknowledged the Miami-based homebuilder had seen some softening in the new home market in pockets of the West, including Tucson, Ariz., but had seen steady sales in Florida and the Carolinas.

"Even the currently cooling housing conditions will give us an opportunity to perform well into 2007," Miller said.

"We've already seen some recovery in the traffic patterns in our major markets."

Dave Denslow, a University of Florida economist, said data from the spring and summer months will likely give a better estimation of the housing market, but said he doubts that the much-discussed "housing bubble" will burst.

"People traditionally move in the spring and summer," Denslow said.

"The market is simply thinner in the winter ..."

"If in the spring, if you see data with housing still selling slowly, then you can say (the boom) is over."

Some observers point out several unknowns, such as a possible rise in interest rates, which would offset other factors that would help builders in places such as Florida, where hundreds of thousand of people move each year.

Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported that rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.49 percent for the week ending April 13.

That was up from 6.43 percent last week and the highest since mid-July of 2002.

"Demand will weaken despite the demographics if interest rates go up enough," Denslow said.

Albert Saiz, an assistant real estate professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said that prospective buyers could think twice should interest rates rise.

He also noted that the influence of speculators "flipping" homes for a quick profit may be declining, as they leave the market because of the perceived slowdown and fear over interest rates.

"I do have a sense that speculators are very, very mindful of the general economic situation, and they may actually be contributing somewhat to that sort of deceleration in the market," Saiz said.

"It's the best thing that could happen to us because we were competing with the lunatic fringe," said Brian Street of Boca Developers, a luxury condo builder.

"We would like to compete with the rationale of the marketplace, not the frenzy of the marketplace."

Another potential problem is the rising cost of necessary construction materials such as concrete and steel, and a lack of labor to work on homes.

Some Miami-area contractors have lamented that what once cost $90 per square foot to build now costs $130, and the pool of project superintendents is lacking and expensive.

A higher cost of building homes and condos means higher prices for buyers.

Charles Kibert, a construction professor at the University of Florida, says nations such as China have such a demand for concrete and steel that it's taking supplies from American builders and making materials more expensive and less accessible.

Damage from the past two active hurricane seasons also have drained supplies, and Kibert pointed out that the reconstruction of New Orleans will require massive amounts of building materials.

And then there's a shortage of workers, a major problem for builders.

"It's hard for them to find not only enough people, but competent people," Kibert said.

"Companies are having a hard time shifting gears to cope with the twin horns of this dilemma."

When analyzing the housing market, it's hard to ignore Florida, one of the hottest areas in terms of demand and growing supply.

Last year, Florida saw the second-highest percent increase in house prices at 26.83 percent, behind only Arizona (34.9 percent) and way ahead of the national average of 12.95 percent, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.

Florida's weather, relatively cheap land, lack of a state income tax and its scenic coasts are attractive to buyers.

Mike Hughes, vice president of Downing-Frye Realty in Naples, said those factors led the agency to a record year of about $3.2 billion in sales in southwest Florida last year.

But this year's projections are near $2 billion, still a healthy number, but clearly not as lucrative as 2005.

He says the smart buyers are taking a more cautious approach.

"I see a number of buyers I feel will still buy this year," Hughes said.

"They're kind of waiting to see."

"It could work against them if interest rates go up."

[Livyjr]

And here is a real "blast from the past", alright .....

"Report: Chernobyl Toll May Top 90,000"

By MARA D. BELLABY, Associated Press Writer

Tue Apr 18, 11:50 AM ET

KIEV, Ukraine - Greenpeace said Tuesday in a new report that more than 90,000 people were likely to die of cancers caused by radiation from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, countering a United Nations report that predicted the death toll would be around 4,000.

The differing conclusions underline the contentious uncertainty that remains about the health effects of the world's worst nuclear accident as its 20th anniversary approaches.

A reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine exploded on April 26, 1986, spewing radioactive clouds over much of Europe.

The fallout was particularly severe in northern reaches of Ukraine, western Russia and Belarus.

Areas immediately around the now-inoperative plant remain off limits, but people in other areas that received significant fallout are anxious about their health.

A report by the Chernobyl Forum — a group comprising the International Atomic Energy Agency and several other U.N. groups — last year said only 56 deaths thus far could be connected to Chernobyl and about 4,000 deaths total would ultimately be linked to the accident.

But Greenpeace, in a report citing data from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, harshly disagreed and suggested the Chernobyl Forum report was deliberately misleading.

"It is appalling that the IAEA is whitewashing the impacts of the most serious nuclear accident in human history," Ivan Blokov of the environmental group's Russia office said in a statement.

"Denying the real implications is not only insulting to the thousands of victims but it also leads to dangerous recommendations and the relocation of people in contaminated areas."

The Chernobyl Forum report had suggested that many of the health problems and complaints in the regions around Chernobyl were connected with unhealthy lifestyles, including heavy drinking and smoking, and with a culture of victimization.

Greenpeace countered that statistics from Belarus indicate there will be 270,000 cases of cancer attributable to Chernobyl radiation throughout the region and that 93,000 of those are likely to be fatal.

Greenpeace also cited a report by the Center for Independent Environmental Assessment of the Russian Academy of Sciences that found a sharply increased mortality in western Russia over the past 15 years, suggesting the rise was due to Chernobyl radiation.

"On the basis of demographic data, during the last 15 years, 60,000 people have died additionally in Russia because of the Chernobyl accident and estimates of the total death toll for Ukraine and Belarus could be another 140,000," Greenpeace's international office said in a statement.

The report also finds that "radiation from the disaster has had a devastating effect on survivors" other than cancer cases — "damaging immune and endocrine systems, leading to accelerated aging, cardiovascular and blood illnesses, psychological illnesses, chromosome aberrations and an increase of deformities in fetuses and children."
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On the Net:

Greenpeace International: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/

Chernobyl Forum:

http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/News/2004/consequences.html