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

[Livyjr]

And since we are on the subject of the MIASMA OF DECAY that has been billowing forth from Washington, D.C. in ever increasing clouds ...

Since Richard Bruce Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld took charge of things here in OUR America .....

There is this, of course ....

That is directly attributable .....

To the DONALD .....

And perhaps the DICK ....

And so ....

"General denies urging use of dogs in Iraq"

By DAVID DISHNEAU, Associated Press
Last updated: 6:16 a.m., Thursday, May 25, 2006

FORT MEADE, Md. -- Military dog handlers at Abu Ghraib were supposed to help interrogators but not during actual interrogations, the two-star general who reviewed operations at the prison in Iraq testified.

Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller testified for the defense Wednesday at the court-martial of Sgt. Santos A. Cardona, an Army dog handler and military policeman accused of having his dog bite one detainee and harass another at Abu Ghraib in late 2003 and early 2004.

The offenses are not alleged to have happened during interrogations but defense lawyers contend the rules and command structure at Abu Ghraib were hopelessly muddled.

The court-martial is to continue Thursday.

Miller, testifying for the first time in a legal proceeding stemming from the Abu Ghraib scandal, said he never recommended using dogs during interrogations, despite his belief in a supposed Arab fear of canines.

Miller, who commanded the U.S. military prisons in Guantanamo Bay and later Iraq, told jurors he was sent from Guantanamo in late August 2003 with a team of 17 experts to review detention and interrogation operations that were not producing enough "strategic intelligence" about the Iraqi insurgency.

Miller's Sept. 9, 2003, report to Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, then commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, recommended a reorganization that included using military police to set conditions for interrogations by providing interrogators with what Miller called "passive intelligence" about the prison habits of detainees.

Five days later, a memo signed by Sanchez allowed soldiers to "exploit Arab fear of dogs" during interrogations.

The phrase was removed from interrogation rules that were later circulated at Abu Ghraib.

Questioned by defense attorney Harvey Volzer, Miller said that he was aware that there is a "fear of dogs in the Arab culture," but that he never recommended using dogs in interrogations.

"I found that military working dogs were effective in containing and controlling (detainees), and so I found they were very useful at Guantanamo Bay," he said.

A military investigation into FBI reports of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo recommended that Miller be reprimanded for failing to oversee an interrogation of a high-value detainee that was found to have been abusive.

A top general rejected the recommendation.

Prosecutors rested earlier Wednesday after calling 19 witnesses over three days.

Cardona, 32, of Fullerton, Calif., is charged with assault, dereliction of duty, maltreatment of detainees, conspiracy to maltreat detainees and lying to investigators.

He faces up to 16 1/2 years in prison if convicted on all nine counts.

Prosecutors say Cardona abused detainees for his own amusement and the enjoyment of other soldiers characterized by prosecutors as a small band of "corrupt cops."

[Livyjr]

And while the CONGRESS boys and girls down there in Washington. D.C. are all atwitter about the Federal Bureau of Investigation .....

Looking into the ABSOLUTE NAUSEATING STENCH OF CORRUPTION ...

That is wafting up out of the "HILL" down there in Washington, D.C. .....

A disgusting MIASMA OF DECAY that threatens to engulf the entire world in its grip .....

"Some lawmakers wary of fight over FBI raid"

By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press
Last updated: 7:45 a.m., Thursday, May 25, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Some lawmakers are warning of a voter backlash against members of Congress "trying to protect their own" if party leaders keep escalating a constitutional dispute over the FBI's raid of a representative's office.

Yet not long after House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi demanded on Wednesday the bureau return documents it took, White House aides were in talks with Hastert's staff about the possible transfer of the material, perhaps to the House ethics committee, according to several Republican officials.

The goals of any transfer, they said, would be to deny the documents both to prosecutors and to Rep. Willliam Jefferson, a Louisiana Democrat ensnared in a bribery investigation, until the legal issues surrounding the weekend search of his office are resolved.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the confidential nature of the discussions.

The confrontational approach by Hastert, R-Ill., and Pelosi, D-Calif., did not sit well with some colleagues.

"Criticizing the executive and judicial branches of our government for fully investigating a member of Congress suspected of criminal wrongdoing sends the wrong message and reflects poorly upon all of Congress," Rep. Barbara Cubin, R-Wyo., said in a statement.

"They should not expect their congressional offices to be treated as a safe haven."

A GOP colleague, Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana, said the public "will come to one conclusion: that congressional leaders are trying to protect their own from valid investigations."

While some lawmakers contended the executive branch overstepped its authority, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada has declined to condemn the search.

"I'm not going to beat up on the FBI," said Reid, a frequent critic of the White House's use of executive power.

Their voices were in the minority on Capitol Hill in the wake of the 15-hour search during which agents collected evidence against Jefferson, an eight-term Democrat.

Historians said it was the first such search of a congressman's quarters in the more than two centuries since the first Congress convened.

Assistant Attorney General Paul McNulty said the raid was lawful and necessary.

Justice Department officials have said Jefferson had refused to cooperate with the investigation.

In their rare joint statement, Hastert and Pelosi demanded that the FBI return the documents and that Jefferson then would have to cooperate with the investigation.

As evidence of Pelosi's lack of support for her fellow Democrat, she said he should step down from the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.

Jefferson filed a motion Wednesday asking the judge who signed the search warrant to force the FBI to return the seized items.

The congressman has refused to step down from the tax-writing committee and has acknowledged no wrongdoing.

The House Judiciary Committee chairman, GOP Rep. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, announced a hearing next week, "Reckless Justice: Did the Saturday Night Raid of Congress Trample the Constitution?"

But Vitter released a letter to his own GOP Senate leaders asking them to stop saying that the FBI raid violated the Constitution.

"For congressional leaders to make these self-serving arguments in the midst of serious scandals in Congress only further erodes the faith and confidence of the American people," Vitter wrote.

Meantime, the Justice Department twice denied ABC News reports that Hastert was under FBI investigation to determine any role he might have played in a public corruption probe centered around convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Hastert said he has not received any notice from the department that he was being investigated.

Late Wednesday, ABC said the department's response was intended to deny that Hastert was a formal "target" or "subject" of the investigation.

But ABC said federal officials confirmed that various members of Congress "including Hastert, are under investigation."

In another report early Thursday, ABC characterized its sources as saying the investigation "has widened" to "potentially include" Hastert.

It said Hastert is not a formal subject or target, but that the FBI soon will seek documents from him and other members of Congress in the early stages of an investigation that could wind up concluding there was nothing unlawful in their conduct.

Late Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty said in a statement:

"With regard to reports suggesting that the Speaker of the House is under investigation or 'in the mix,' as stated by ABC News, I reconfirm, as stated by the Department earlier this evening, that these reports are untrue."

The Associated Press reported last November that Hastert for two years did not disclose his use of Abramoff's restaurant for a fundraiser just two weeks before he asked the Interior Department in a letter to reject a Louisiana Indian tribe's application for a casino license.

At the time, Abramoff was representing another tribe that opposed the casino.

Hastert, who collected a total of $100,000 from Abramoff's and his tribal clients, blamed a paperwork oversight, filed the required disclosure and paid for the use of the restaurant.

------

AP Special Correspondent David Espo contributed to this report.

This article was accompanied by a close-up photo of that REPUBLICAN Hastert .....

And that old boy don't look like he is missing too many meals .....

Or after-dinner drinks ....

And so .....

Being a REPUBLICAN ...

And a good buddy of Jack Abramoff ...

Seems to have its "advantages" .....

If you are a "big eater" .....

Like this Hastert .....

And so ...

[Livyjr]

AND NOW .....

FOR AN UPDATE ......

ON THE EARTH'S WAR ......

AGAINST THE WORLD OF GEORGE W. BUSH AND HIS .....

And as the stench of corruption from down there in Washington. D.C. continues to billow forth ....

In great waves ....

Of corrosive and toxic fumes ....

That permeate throughout OUR world ....

Befouling everything that they touch ....

It seems that perhaps .....

NATURE has had enough ....

And so ....

"Deer attack three at Ill. university"

By JIM SUHR, Associated Press
Last updated: 8:25 a.m., Thursday, May 25, 2006

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- A year after the normally docile creatures attacked seven people on a university campus here, the deer have turned bullish again.

Three people were attacked by deer within minutes of each other Tuesday on a footpath at Southern Illinois University, police said Wednesday.

One doe probably was responsible for all three attacks, said Todd Sigler, the school's public safety chief.

One worker needed stitches for a gash on his forehead, another suffered cuts, bruises and a sprained wrist, and a student was left with a scratched jaw. '

Two of the victims sought medical treatment.

This week's incidents came earlier in fawning season than last year's attacks, which officials attributed to a combination of protective motherly instinct, squeezed habitat and, in some cases, people trying to approach fawns.

There was no indication that anyone hurt Tuesday had provoked the deer, Sigler said.

"It's bothersome," Sigler said.

"We certainly appreciate the deer, and we don't want to get rid of them."

"At the same time, we don't want people getting injured."

"It's a difficult situation."

SIU officials last week launched a public-awareness campaign to implore anyone on the 20,000-student campus to watch out for deer, to not approach the animals and, if a wild-eyed deer starts bounding their way, run.

"The options explained to us last year -- relocating the deer, tranquilizing them, thinning them out (through controlled hunts) -- all come with a downside," Sigler said.

"We're going to try this education approach first and see what happens."

The path where Tuesday's attacks occurred has been closed off; handwritten signs were posted reading "Caution: Deer attacks."

The path encircles a lake and is less than a mile from the thickly forested campus woods and paved trails where deer confronted many last June.

More than one deer was believed to be responsible for the 2005 run-ins, in which four people suffered mostly minor injuries and others were threatened.

Walking through the Thompson Woods on Wednesday, Jane Swanson talked of how people joked about the deer last summer, saying they were more worried about wildlife than muggers.

But the chair of the school's psychology department says it's no longer a laughing matter.

"It makes sense that these poor deer are trying to protect their newborns, but we've got to figure out something other then just avoiding the deer," she said.

end quotes

This sounds like something that George W. Bush should have his HOMELAND SECURITY boys and girls looking into, if you ask me ....

IT COULD BE THIS AL Q. AIDA guy is out there .....

Enlisting these deer ...

In some kind of plot ....

To take OUR WAY OF LIFE away from us .....

And so ...

How can we feel safe ...

Here in the HOMELAND ....

When we cannot even go outside ...

Without being TERRORIZED ....

By a deer .....

And so ...

Maybe what George should do ....

Is just NUKE the bejeesus out of this place ....

And turn it into glass ....

Just to teach these TAY-RIST DEER a thing or two ....

And so ...

[Livyjr]

And as the stench of corruption from down there in Washington. D.C. continues to billow forth ....

In great waves ....

Of corrosive and toxic fumes ....

That permeate throughout OUR world ....

Befouling everything that they touch ....

If you're going to the beach this summer ...

Here in George W. Bush's "PRO-BIDNESS" version of America .....

Perhaps you would be wise ...

To keep your mouth shut ....

If you are going anywhere near the water ....

Lest you get some "DICK CHENEY" in your mouth .....

And so .....

"Beachgoers at risk from polluted water: group"

By Jim Loney

Wed May 24, 5:21 PM ET

MIAMI (Reuters) - An environmental group said on Wednesday it would sue the U.S. government for failing to protect millions of beachgoers from contaminated water.

The Natural Resources Defense Council said the Environmental Protection Agency has moved too slowly to update beach water quality standards and protect people from diarrhea, skin rashes, earaches, pink eye, respiratory infections and other ailments from polluted water.

The agency missed an October 2005 deadline mandated by Congress to revise outdated water quality standards and says it will not be able to finish the job until 2011, the group said.

"A day at the beach is not worth a night at the hospital," Nancy Stoner, the director of group's clean water project, said during a telephone news conference five days before Memorial Day, the traditional beginning of the U.S. beach season.

The Natural Resources Defense Council said it had served the EPA with a notice of its intent to sue in 60 days.

The EPA issued a statement that did not address the NRDC's claim that it missed Congressional deadlines, but said the agency had developed a "strong beach program" and distributed more than $52 million to states for monitoring programs.

The EPA said the number of beaches monitored has more than tripled since 1997.

The lawsuit will seek to force the EPA to accelerate its timetable for setting new water quality standards and strengthen those standards to "fully protect the public" from bacteria, viruses and parasites in beach water, the group said.

The EPA also needs to set standards for facilities that discharge contaminated water, such as sewage treatment plants, it said.

In addition, the EPA should establish testing methods that allow public health officials to quickly decide whether to close beaches or advise people against swimming.

"A new beach test is undergoing development to provide information about water quality in two hours or less," the EPA said in its response.

Current outdated standards may not protect beachgoers from illnesses such as hepatitis and encephalitis as well as a host of common stomach ailments and infections, the NRDC said.

The EPA needs to put breakthrough technologies in microbiology -- the kind seen on TV crime shows -- to work detecting pollutants at beaches, said Dr. Joan Rose, director of Michigan State University's Center for Water Sciences.

"We are essentially using about 100-year-old methods, particularly when we monitor discharges that end up at our beaches," Rose said.

The elderly, children and people with weakened immune systems are particularly at risk from waterborne contaminants.

The NRDC said experts estimate some 7 million Americans are made ill by contaminated water, each year.

Studies have estimated anywhere from 2 percent to 14 percent of people who go into the water at beaches become infected and serious outbreaks can send people to hospitals for treatment, Rose said.

The council advised beachgoers to find out whether their beaches are regularly monitored for water quality and avoid those with visible discharge pipes.

Urban beaches can be a particular problem after heavy rain because rainwater can wash pollutants into oceans, lakes and rivers, the group said.

[Livyjr]

"U.S. Secretly Backing Warlords in Somalia"

By Emily Wax and Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, May 17, 2006; Page A01

More than a decade after U.S. troops withdrew from Somalia following a disastrous military intervention, officials of Somalia's interim government and some U.S. analysts of Africa policy say the United States has returned to the African country, secretly supporting secular warlords who have been waging fierce battles against Islamic groups for control of the capital, Mogadishu.

The latest clashes, last week and over the weekend, were some of the most violent in Mogadishu since the end of the American intervention in 1994, and left 150 dead and hundreds more wounded.

Leaders of the interim government blamed U.S. support of the militias for provoking the clashes.

U.S. officials have declined to directly address on the record the question of backing Somali warlords, who have styled themselves as a counterterrorism coalition in an open bid for American support.

Speaking to reporters recently, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States would "work with responsible individuals . . . in fighting terror."

"It's a real concern of ours -- terror taking root in the Horn of Africa."

"We don't want to see another safe haven for terrorists created."

"Our interest is purely in seeing Somalia achieve a better day."

And speaking of that "BETTER DAY" that George W. Bush is imposing on the people of Somalia .....

Through his warlords over there ....

That we were once against .....

But now are for .....

And so ....

Of course ....

That is not a FLIP-FLOP .....

But wise governance ...

A la George W. Bush ....

And so ....

"38 killed in renewed Somalia fighting"

6 minutes ago

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Fighting between rival militias intensified Thursday in the Somali capital, with battles spreading across the city and at least 38 people dead and 90 wounded, medical sources and a militia commander said.

The latest fighting comes despite a May 14 cease-fire between Islamic militias and a rival alliance of secular warlords, who have been vying for control of the city.

Witnesses say the fighting has spread from northern Mogadishu, which had been the scene of fierce battles in recent weeks, to the southern and eastern parts of the capital.

Reports from the Somali capital's main hospitals said at least 30 people were killed Thursday.

Ali Mohamed Siyad, leader of an Islamic militia, said his group had lost eight combatants.

In addition, Medina Hospital said it had received 60 injured people and Keysaney Hospital 30.

Witnesses said Islamic militiamen had also taken over a key hotel that is owned by a member of the rival Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counterterrorism.

The Islamic militiamen drove the warlords away from an area of southern Mogadishu, where the Sahafi Hotel is located, resident Saidia Mohamed said.

"The battle is continuing, I'm talking to you from under my bed and you can hear sounds of heavy gunfire and mortars," a panic-stricken Mohamed said, speaking on her mobile phone.

On Wednesday, the rival militiamen renewed fighting in northern Mogadishu for a few hours during which at least six people were killed and another six seriously wounded, witnesses and medical workers said.

More than 140 people — most noncombatants caught in the crossfire — were killed in eight days of fighting in Mogadishu earlier this month.

Somalia has been embroiled in some of the worst fighting in more than a decade in recent weeks.

The fundamentalists portray themselves as capable of bringing order to the country, which has been without a real government since largely clan-based warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

The Islamic militia's growth in popularity and strength, and the possibility that they have outside support, is reminiscent of the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan in the late 1990s.

The secular alliance, which includes members of a U.N.-backed interim government but acts independently of it, accuses the Islamic militiamen of having ties to al-Qaida.

The Islamic group accuses the secularists of being puppets of the United States.

Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, president of Somalia's near-powerless transitional national government, told The Associated Press earlier this month that he believes Washington is supporting the secular militia as a way of fighting several senior al-Qaida operatives who are protected by radical clerics in Somalia.

He called on Washington to instead work only with his government.

[Livyjr]

And this following story ...

Will probably surprise some ....

Here in OUR America ....

And it will likely sadden others ...

These VALIANT CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY .....

Being ill-used as they were ........

By these juries .....

Who were probably made up of ....

Common folks ...

Like you and me ....

Who are not the peers ....

Of these VALIANT CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY ....

Because we are common ...

And so ....

"Lay, Skilling convicted in Enron collapse"

By KRISTEN HAYS, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:26 p.m., Thursday, May 25, 2006

HOUSTON -- Former Enron Corp. chiefs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were convicted Thursday of conspiracy and securities and wire fraud in one of the biggest business scandals in U.S. history.

The verdict put the blame for the 2001 demise of the high-profile energy trader, once the nation's seventh-largest company, squarely on its top two executives.

It came in the sixth day of deliberations following a federal criminal trial that lasted nearly four months.

Lay was also convicted of bank fraud and making false statements to banks in a separate, non-jury trial before U.S. District Judge Sim Lake related to Lay's personal finances.

The conspiracy conviction was a major win for the government, serving almost as a bookend to an era that has seen prosecutors win convictions against executives from WorldCom Inc. to Adelphia Communications Corp. and homemaking maven Martha Stewart.

The public outrage over the string of corporate scandals led Congress to pass the Sarbanes-Oxley act, designed to make company executives more accountable.

Enron's collapse alone took with it more than $60 billion in market value, almost $2.1 billion in pension plans and 5,600 jobs.

"The jury's verdicts help to close a notorious chapter in the history of America's publicly traded companies" said Rep. Michael Oxley, R-Ohio, co-author of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation.

"Appeals aside, the end of the trial will mark the end of a dark era."

Enron founder Lay was convicted on all six counts against him in the corporate trial and all four in the personal banking trial.

Former Chief Executive Skilling was convicted on 19 of the 28 counts in the corporate trial, including one count of insider trading, and acquitted on the remaining nine.

Lake set sentencing for Sept. 11.

Lay's charges carry a maximum penalty in prison of 45 years for the corporate trial and 120 years in the personal banking trial.

Skilling's charges carry a maximum penalty of 185 years in prison.

As Lake read the verdict from the bench, Lay tossed his head at hearing the first "guilty" on the conspiracy count.

He clutched his wife's hand as he heard that word over and over again.

Lay sat with his wife, Linda; his daughter, Elizabeth Vittor, a member of his defense team; and Linda Lay's daughter, Robyn.

As Lay clutched Linda Lay's hand, the three women leaned forward and began to sob quietly.

After Lake left the courtroom, Lay's family and some friends gathered around him as the ex-chairman, red-faced and fighting back tears, hugged them and thanked them for their support.

Skilling, sitting with his brother, Mark, showed no emotion when the verdict was read.

The sentencing will come five years almost to the day after Skilling sold 500,000 shares of Enron stock for $15.5 million, for which he was convicted of insider trading.

"Obviously, I'm disappointed," Skilling told reporters outside the courthouse.

"But that's the way the system works."

"We're going to stand behind him," his lawyer, Daniel Petrocelli, said.

"As I told him, we've just begun to fight."

Skilling's $5 million bond, which restricts him to the continental U.S., remains in effect.

Lay, who surrendered his passport, posted a $5 million bond secured with family-owned properties at a hearing following the verdict.

The Enron founder was also ordered to stay in the Southern District of Texas or Colorado, avoid contact with any victim of the offense charged, report to pre-trial services regularly and must not own a gun or use alcohol excessively or drugs.

"I firmly believe I'm innocent of the charges against me," Lay said following the hearing.

"We believe that God in fact is in control and indeed he does work all things for good for those who love the lord."

Jurors found through their verdict that both men had repeatedly lied to cover a vast web of unsustainable accounting tricks and failing ventures at Enron.

Both men testified in their own defense.

But the panel rejected Skilling's insistence that no fraud occurred at Enron other than that committed by a few executives skimming millions in secret side deals, and that bad press and poor market confidence combined to sink the company.

"I wanted very, very badly to believe what they were saying, very much so, and there were pieces in the testimony where I felt their character was questioned," juror Wendy Vaughan said after the verdict was announced.

Lay was a campaign benefactor who President Bush nicknamed "Kenny Boy" when the two were up-and-comers in Texas.

The Center for Public Integrity, a Washington-based nonprofit group, said the Lays had given $139,500 to Bush's political campaigns over the years.

Those donations were part of $602,000 that Enron employees gave to Bush's various campaigns, making the company the leading political patron for Bush at the time of the company's bankruptcy in 2001.

Early in 2002, the White House disclosed that Lay sought help from two Cabinet members shortly before the company collapsed, but neither offered aid.

Speaking for the president on Thursday, White House press secretary Tony Snow congratulated the Justice Department on "successfully concluding a highly complex conviction."

The government's victory caps a 4 1/2 year investigation that garnered 16 guilty pleas from ex-Enron executives, including former Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow and former Chief Accounting Officer Richard Causey.

All are awaiting sentencing later this year except for two, who either finished or are still serving prison terms.

"You can't lie to shareholders, you can't put yourselves in front of your employees' interests."

"No matter how rich and powerful you are, you have to play by the rules," prosecutor Sean Berkowitz told reporters outside the courthouse.

He expressed sympathy for the Enron employees who lost their life savings when the company collapsed.

"Nothing that happened today is going to bring that back for them."

"... What we do hope is that today's verdict lets them know that the government will not let corporate leaders violate their trust and get away with it."

Former employee Sherri Saunders, who lost $1 million in retirement savings when the company collapsed, found a bit of closure.

"To me, God has spoken to him with this verdict," Saunders said.

"I guess it gives me a little comfort, but it doesn't put back my retirement money."

Prosecutor John Hueston, who sparred with Lay on the stand, said the founder had missed "a golden opportunity to save Enron."

"He made that choice to put his own interests ahead of that of the shareholders and investors."

"And he did that by choosing not to tell the unvarnished truth and he did it by choosing not to ask the hard questions."

Asked what was next, Berkowitz joked, "We're probably going to step aside and go get a well-deserved drink and an afternoon off."

The Enron case tested the government's ability to prove complicated corporate skullduggery.

Its implosion and the subsequent scandals scared off investors, increased regulatory scrutiny over publicly traded companies and prompted Congress to stiffen white collar penalties.

The vast federal investigation seemed to stall until Fastow pleaded guilty in January 2004 to two counts of conspiracy and paved the way for prosecutors to secure indictments against his bosses.

Fastow also led investigators to Causey, who was bound for trial alongside Lay and Skilling until he broke ranks with their unified defense and pleaded guilty to securities fraud just weeks before the trial began.

Philip Hilder, a former federal prosecutor who represents ex-Enron finance executive Sherron Watkins, said the convictions were "absolutely a comprehensive government victory," particularly given the speed of the jury's decision.

Watkins tried to warn Lay of financial problems in the fall of 2001.

Hilder said that both men likely face "north of 20 years" in prison.

"This verdict encourages us ... to continue to combat corruption wherever we find it," said Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, at the Justice Department in Washington.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was recused from the Enron case because he once was a partner at Houston law firm Vinson & Elkins LLP, which represented Enron.

------

Associated Press writers Mike Graczyk, Erin McClam and Angela K. Brown in Houston and Mark Sherman in Washington contributed to this report.

[Livyjr]

"Lay, Skilling convicted in Enron collapse" 
 
By KRISTEN HAYS, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:26 p.m., Thursday, May 25, 2006

HOUSTON -- Former Enron Corp. chiefs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were convicted Thursday of conspiracy and securities and wire fraud in one of the biggest business scandals in U.S. history.
 
The verdict put the blame for the 2001 demise of the high-profile energy trader, once the nation's seventh-largest company, squarely on its top two executives.

It came in the sixth day of deliberations following a federal criminal trial that lasted nearly four months.

Lay was a campaign benefactor who President Bush nicknamed "Kenny Boy" when the two were up-and-comers in Texas.

The Center for Public Integrity, a Washington-based nonprofit group, said the Lays had given $139,500 to Bush's political campaigns over the years.

Those donations were part of $602,000 that Enron employees gave to Bush's various campaigns, making the company the leading political patron for Bush at the time of the company's bankruptcy in 2001.

And speaking of George W. Bush ....

"Bush and Blair to discuss Iraq plans"

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer

Thu May 25, 11:38 AM ET

WASHINGTON - President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, with poll standings sagging under the weight of Iraq, are not expected to announce any troop withdrawal plans during discussions at the White House.

"They're not going to race out and say, 'We're all coming home,'" White House press secretary Tony Snow told reporters in advance of the leaders' meeting later Thursday.

"You know, there aren't going to be people kissing in Times Square tomorrow."

"But I do think what you will have is a very forward-leaning set of discussions about how to proceed forward," Bush's chief spokesman said.

A joint news conference was set for 7:30 p.m. EDT.

Blair, who visited Baghdad this week, also is expected to discuss with Bush Iraqi plans for an international conference to back its government and seek Bush's support for increased U.N. support for the wartorn nation.

Both Bush and Blair have seen their poll numbers drop sharply and are under pressure to bring home some of their soldiers.

Blair's visit follows his trip to Iraq, where he said coalition troops were in a position to begin handing over control of some Iraqi provinces to local security forces.

Iraq's new prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, said his forces are capable of taking control of security in all provinces within 18 months, but need more recruits, training and equipment.

"He (the Iraqi prime minister) is talking very assertively about what he wants to see on the ground," Snow said.

"I think he told one interviewer ... that he wants to have Iraqi troops in the lead by the end of 2007."

"Conditions on the ground are going to ultimately determine that."

There are about 132,000 U.S. troops in Iraq; officials have said they would like to have about 100,000 by year's end.

About 8,000 British troops are in Iraq.

Blair's spokesman said Thursday in London that he could not comment on claims that the deployment of British and U.S. troops could be completely reconfigured, with more resources concentrated in the country's most volatile regions.

Snow said Maliki is an "action-oriented guy" whom the United States can work with to get Iraqi forces trained as quickly as possible, and resolve other political and security issues.

"I think they're going to be talking in very practical terms about what Maliki's ascension to become prime minister actually means in terms of those things, and they're going to be talking about the readiness of Iraqi troops, how to continue the business of training Iraqi troops, professionalizing them, getting the government institutions in place," Snow said.
___

Associated Press Writer David Stringer in London contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

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

end quotes

Well, that's something, I guess ....

George W. Bush ....

And Tony Blair .....

Getting together one more time again ....

To talk about how to get out of IRAQINAM ....

And so .....

That Tony Snow ....

Sure does remind me ...

Of John Cleese ...

Playing Basil Fawlty ....

On Fawlty Towers .....

On TV ....

Where Tony Snow came from ....

And so ...

I wonder if he had to study John Cleese ....

To perfect his imitation ....

Or if it is completely natural ....

And so ...

[Livyjr]

That Tony Snow ....

Sure does remind me ...

Of John Cleese ...

Playing Basil Fawlty ....

On Fawlty Towers .....

On TV ....

Where Tony Snow came from ....

And so ...

I wonder if he had to study John Cleese ....

To perfect his imitation ....

Or if it is completely natural ....

And so ...

I wonder if Tony Snow is going to have a very forward-leaning set of discussions with the press about how to proceed forward with the economy ......

"New signs of cooling housing market"

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer

Thu May 25, 2:10 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Sales of existing homes fell in April, and the price posted the smallest increase in 4 1/2 years, new signals that the nation's once red-hot housing market has cooled.

The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that sales of previously owned single-family homes and condominiums dropped by 2 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted sales pace of 6.76 million units.

The median price of homes sold in April rose to $223,000, an increase of 4.2 percent from April 2005.

That represented the smallest year-over-year price gain since September 2001.

The price increase in April was far below the double-digit price gains that home sellers enjoyed last year.

Sales of both new and existing homes set new records for five straight years as the housing industry enjoyed a boom powered by the lowest mortgage rates in more than four decades.

However, rates have been rising this year, with 30-year mortgages climbing this week to a nearly four-year high of 6.62 percent, mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday.

David Lereah, chief economist for the Realtors, said he expected the 30-year mortgage would keep rising and would be near 7 percent by the end of the year.

He said that was consistent with his view that the country was heading for a soft landing in housing but not a crash.

However, other economists worry that with a large overhang of unsold homes and rising mortgage rates, the industry could be facing a more severe outcome.

For April, the total number of unsold homes hit a new record of 3.38 million units, which represented a six-month supply at the April sales pace.

The time period needed to exhaust the current supply was the highest since January 1998.

"Inventory levels are simply out of sight," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors, a private consulting firm.

"Something has got to give and that is likely to be prices."

By region, sales fell 3.7 percent in the Midwest, 1.9 percent in the South, 1.4 percent in the West and 0.8 percent in the Northeast.

Lereah said the data the Realtors are collecting indicate the housing industry is still experiencing a split personality with once hot markets in Florida, California and Arizona slowing down while some housing markets which had been lagging behind the front-runners are starting to take off.

He said the new hot markets were in Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Georgia, Utah and New Mexico.

"This is a tale of two markets."

"Half of the country is heating up and half the country is cooling off," Lereah said.

For now, analysts are forecasting that prices will rise by around 6 percent this year while sales will drop by around 10 percent.

For April, sales of single family homes dropped by 2 percent to an annual rate of 5.92 million units while sales of condominiums fell 2.7 percent to an annual rate of 839,000 units.

The sales price for condominiums fell by 0.2 percent, the first year-over-year price drop since the spring of 1995.
___

On the Net:

Existing home sales: http://www.realtor.org

[Livyjr]

And talk about the HACK-O-CRACY ...

Here in OUR America ....

"VA breach discovered through office gossip"

By HOPE YEN, Associated Press
Last updated: 7:35 p.m., Thursday, May 25, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The theft of personal data for 26.5 million veterans came to the attention of the Veterans Affairs inspector general only through office gossip, he told Congress Thursday.

In four hours of testimony, IG George Opfer said the department failed to heed years of warnings about lax security and noted that the employee who lost the data when his house was burglarized had been improperly taking the material home for three years.

"We were on borrowed time," Opfer told Senate and House panels investigating the breach.

Earlier, VA Secretary Jim Nicholson said he was "mad as hell" that he wasn't told about the burglary until May 16 -- nearly two weeks after it happened.

He then told the FBI on May 17, leading to a public announcement May 22.

Nicholson acknowledged that officials including Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Gordon Mansfield knew about the incident earlier, but would not say whether Mansfield should be punished, citing a need for a full investigation.

"As a veteran, I am outraged."

"Frankly I'm mad as hell," Nicholson said, pledging strong action against those responsible.

"I can't explain the lapses of judgment on the behalf of my people."

"We will stay focused on these problems until we get them fixed."

Lawmakers were unforgiving.

"I don't feel any of the personal pain or outrage of your action," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who chairs the Homeland Security Committee.

"This was a monumental breach."

"It was inconceivable that it involved such long delays."

At the House hearing, Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., called Nicholson's response unacceptable.

"In the last five years, a host of agencies have reported that the VA has had many problems with information security," he said.

"How did the VA react?"

"With indifference."

"You're not taking responsibility for this mismanagement debacle," he said.

"The most dramatic thing to take responsibility is to resign."

White House press secretary Tony Snow said Thursday that wasn't going to happen.

"He'll have his opportunity to testify on Capitol Hill today," Snow said of Nicholson.

"I'm sure they will have sharp questions for him."

"But he's not tendering his resignation."

During the hearing, Opfer pointed to the following missteps:

--The data analyst routinely took home disks containing Social Security numbers, birth dates and disability information, without telling supervisors.

--After the May 3 burglary, the data analyst informed supervisors.

But the IG's office was never told, delaying an investigation until May 10, when one of its employees informally heard about a burglary -- and that VA electronic records may have been stolen -- while attending a routine meeting.

Mansfield, the VA's deputy secretary, was informed of the burglary on May 10.

He then asked VA chief of staff Tom Bowman to look into the scope of the potential breach but did not tell the IG, according to a government official who insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter.

--In every year since 2001, the IG had pointed to the VA's information security as a "material weakness" that created a substantial risk, with little result from VA officials already grappling with budget shortfall and other accounting woes.

During the hearing Thursday, Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., chairman of the House veterans panel, pressed Nicholson to give the nation's veterans assurances that their information will not be used for identity theft, or that they would be "made whole" if the information is misused.

Nicholson said he could not, saying that the VA would have to get more funding to compensate veterans.

Nicholson has previously downplayed the potential danger, explaining that the May 3 theft appeared to be a random burglary.

"Before I can give you that assurance, I have to work with Congress ... if they suffer a loss," Nicholson said, who added that it would take about $25 million alone to improve security procedures at his agency.

"It will give peace of mind to veterans if they suffer a loss to have a system to compensate."

Meanwhile, the Montgomery County, Md., police department said Thursday it was offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the return of the stolen data in Aspen Hill, which was stored on a laptop computer and external hard drive.

The VA employee is on administrative leave while local and federal law enforcement continue their investigation.

------

On the Net:

Information for veterans suspecting identity theft:

http://www.firstgov.gov or 1-800-FED-INFO

[Livyjr]

And can this be?

Oh, no ...

I just don't think that I can accept this ...

I mean ...

Well ...

This next story seems to imply ...

THAT GEORGE W. BUSH ...

IS NOT REALLY INFALLIBLE .....

When we all know ...

FROM PROPAGANDA ...

THAT HE IS INFALLIBLE ....

And so ...

Whoever wrote this story ...

Implying that George W. Bush is not infallible ....

Should probably be immediately ....

And summarily .....

Locked up in a secure mental institution .....

For disparaging George W. Bush ....

IN A TIME OF WAR ....

WHEN OUR "WAY OF LIFE" ....

Is about to be stripped from us ...

BY THE REPUBLICAN PARTY ....

And so ....

"Bush, Blair acknowledge mistakes in Iraq"

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer

32 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - More than three years after sending their troops to invade Iraq, President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair cannot escape questions about their decision to go to war even as they acknowledge far-reaching mistakes.

Defensive when they would prefer to celebrate the recent political success in Baghdad, the trans-Atlantic allies reflected on the price of overthrowing Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

In a joint news conference Thursday night that had a somber tone, Bush acknowledged the bloodshed has been difficult for the world to understand.

Blair called the violence "ghastly."

But, Bush said at the White House, "Despite setbacks and missteps, I strongly believe we did and are doing the right thing."

Those missteps include the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, though Bush said those responsible have been jailed.

More personally, the president said, he learned not to use so much "tough talk" — saying Osama bin Laden was wanted "dead or alive" and challenging America's enemies to "bring it on."

"I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know," Bush said softly.

Blair said the leaders did not accurately predict immense challenges such as the strength of the insurgency.

"It should have been very obvious to us," the prime minister said.

The press conference came after Bush and Blair had a private meeting and ended when the two left for dinner upstairs in the president's residence.

Blair was continuing his Washington visit Friday with a speech at Georgetown University and a private lunch with Bush before heading home.

Blair briefed the president on his discussions in Baghdad on Monday with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who said his forces are capable of taking control of security in all provinces within 18 months.

Iraq's new government was installed last week.

"I think it's possible to happen in the way that Prime Minister Maliki said," Blair said.

"For that to happen, obviously, the first thing that we need is a strong government in Baghdad that is prepared to enforce its writ throughout the country."

"My very strong feeling, having talked to the leaders there, is that they intend theirs to be such a government."

Neither Bush nor Blair would give specifics on when soldiers from their countries can begin to go home.

"We're going to work with our partners in Iraq, the new government, to determine the way forward," Bush said.

He said the goal remains "an Iraq that can govern itself and sustain itself and defend itself."

He said one problem was the lack of an Iraqi defense minister, and he urged Maliki to fill the post soon.

Bush declined to discuss news reports that the Pentagon hoped that the U.S. force, now at 131,000 troops, could be reduced to about 100,000 by year's end.

"We'll keep the force level there necessary to win," Bush said.

Britain has about 8,000 troops in Iraq.

Blair said the goal remains that Iraqi security forces could "take control progressively of their own country."

On another topic high on the agenda, neither Bush nor Blair would reveal his thinking on possible incentives to draw Iran back to negotiations over its suspected nuclear weapons program.

"Of course, we'll look at all options."

"But it's their choice right now — they're the ones who walked away from the table," Bush said.

"I think we ought to be continuing to work on ways to make it clear to them that they will be isolated."

Bush was dismissive of recent back-channel overtures from Tehran, including a letter to him from Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Bush said he read the letter.

"I thought it was interesting," he said.

But, he added, the Iranian leader "didn't address the issues of whether or not they're going to continue to press for a nuclear weapon."

"That's the issue at hand."

[Livyjr]

And jumping right into the flow, here, this afternoon ....

With an update .....

Concerning America's SCOOTER .....

And DICK ....

Who was America's SCOOTER'S boss .....

And so ....

"Judge: Reporters must give Libby documents"

By TONI LOCY, Associated Press
Last updated: 5:06 p.m., Friday, May 26, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Time magazine must give I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby drafts of articles so the former White House aide can use them to defend himself against perjury and other charges in the CIA leak case, a federal judge ruled Friday.

U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton limited the scope of subpoenas that Libby's lawyers had aimed at Time, NBC News and The New York Times for e-mails, notes, drafts of articles and other information.

But in a 40-page ruling, Walton rejected the news organizations' argument that they have a broad right to refuse to provide such information in criminal cases.

Libby, 55, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, is charged with perjury and obstruction of justice.

He is accused of lying to the FBI and a federal grand jury about how he learned about CIA officer Valerie Plame and what he subsequently told reporters about her.

Walton said The New York Times might have to turn over drafts of articles and other information during Libby's trial if former Times reporter Judith Miller contradicts her previous statements about the case when she testifies as a government witness.

The judge ruled that Miller doesn't have to surrender two notebooks, her phone records or appointment calendars because the materials aren't relevant to Libby's defense.

NBC News also does not have to give Libby's defense team one page of undated notes taken by correspondent Andrea Mitchell because Walton said she is unlikely to testify at Libby's trial, which is set for January.

In granting in part and denying in part the media's challenges to Libby's subpoenas, Walton wrote, "The First Amendment does not protect a news reporter or that reporter's news organization from producing documents ... in a criminal case."

The news organizations indicated they are not likely to appeal the ruling.

Catherine Mathis, a spokeswoman for The Times, said the newspaper is "gratified" that Walton did not order it to give Libby editorial materials.

Walton said Time magazine must turn over drafts of first-person stories that reporter Matthew Cooper wrote about his conversations with Libby because the judge found inconsistencies between them.

All of the news organizations had asked Walton to review the materials sought by Libby's lawyers in hopes of convincing him that the information was not relevant and that the defense was on a "fishing expedition."

During that review, Walton said, he found "a slight alteration between the several drafts of the articles" Cooper wrote about his conversations with Libby and the reporter's first-person account of his testimony before a federal grand jury.

"This slight alteration between the drafts will permit the defendant to impeach Cooper, regardless of the substance of his trial testimony, because his trial testimony cannot be consistent with both versions," Walton wrote.

A person familiar with Cooper's drafts described the inconsistencies as "trivial."

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because Walton has warned the case's participants against talking to reporters.

Several news organizations wrote about Plame after syndicated columnist Robert Novak named her in a column on July 14, 2003.

Novak's column appeared eight days after Plame's husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, alleged in an opinion piece in The New York Times that the administration had twisted prewar intelligence on Iraq to justify going to war.

The CIA had sent Wilson to Niger in early 2002 to determine whether there was any truth to reports that Saddam Hussein's government had tried to buy yellowcake uranium from Niger to make a nuclear weapon.

Wilson discounted the reports.

But the allegation nevertheless wound up in President Bush's 2003 State of the Union address.

Libby's indictment grew out of conversations he had with Cooper, Miller and NBC's Tim Russert in June and July 2003, a two-month period in which the White House, according to Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, was mounting a campaign to undermine Wilson's allegations about the Iraq war.

The key to Libby's defense is whose memory of those conversations is correct -- Libby's or those of the three reporters.

Walton said Cooper, Miller and Russert are central to the government's case and challenging their recollections will be "critical to the defense."

------

On the Net:

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

Time magazine: http://www.time.com

The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com

NBC News: http://www.nbcnews.com

[Livyjr]

And while we are on the subject of the LOVE FEST between John McCain and REPUBLICAN New York State CONGRESSBOY John "HEY JACKIE BOY HEY JOHNNIE" Sweeney ......

HEY, Jackie boy ....

Hey, Johnnie ...

What's the haps?

"U.S. Rep. John Sweeney: Grand Old Partier"

Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, April 28, 2006

Students at the Union College paper, The Concordiensis, found themselves in a media maelstrom Thursday after they published a front-page story -- and a photo -- about U.S. Rep. John Sweeney's late-night visit to a fraternity party last weekend.

John Tomlin, 20, a Union sophomore who wrote the story, reported the Clifton Park Republican was "acting openly intoxicated" at an Alpha Delta Phi party that lasted from Friday night into early Saturday morning.

Sweeney showed up with his longtime friend Paulie Lichorat, who owns Geppetto's, a bar across from the frat that's popular with Union students.

Tomlin said Sweeney was "very loud, cursing and slurring his words."

One student spotted the congressman drinking a Keystone Light beer.

Lichorat insisted Sweeney was not drunk.

He said he and the congressman were at the fraternity party for roughly 15 minutes and spent most of that time standing outside on the porch.

The two were offered beer, Lichorat said, but did not accept.

"He had a stromboli and half a glass of wine at my place," Lichorat said.

"He didn't slur his words."

"He wasn't falling all over himself."

"He was fine."

Melissa Carlson, Sweeney's deputy chief of staff, refused to comment beyond what she told student paper: that the congressman "enjoyed the discussion" at the party and "was impressed with the energy and enthusiasm the students displayed."

Sweeney was in Schenectady last Friday to attend a friend's wake, Carlson told The Concordiensis.

Union College is in the 21st Congressional District, represented by U.S. Rep. Michael McNulty, D-Green Island.

The Concordiensis quoted Rebecca Winnick, a Union junior, who told Sweeney at the party that she worked for McNulty.

She characterized Sweeney's response to that piece of information as "very rude."

The photo printed in the paper was one of several taken via cellular phone by Kenneth Falcon, 19, a Union sophomore.

It shows Sweeney with his eyes half closed and his arms around three young men.

Behind him, another young man is smoking something he's holding between his thumb and forefinger.

Falcon said he took the photos at about 1 a.m. Saturday.

View all the snapshots at http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol.

The Alpha Delta party was formally registered with the Union College Dean of Students' office, Union spokesman Phil Wajda said.

That means the only alcohol allowed is beer.

Students with "specialized training" check the IDs of party-goers at the door.

Those over 21 get wristbands, allowing them access to booze.

Underage students can attend, but not drink.

Inside Politics asked Falcon and Tomlin whether students under 21 were consuming alcohol with the congressman.

Both professed not to know.

Inside Politics is compiled by staff writer Elizabeth Benjamin. Staff writer Carol DeMare contributed to this column.

end quotes

Old "Hey Jackie Boy Hey Johnnie" Sweeney is a real class act, alright ......

So it doesn't surprise anyone up here .....

That "Hey Jackie Boy Hey Johnnie" Sweeney ....

Runs with that REPUBLICAN crowd ...

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

And so ...

"Like to like", they say .....

And I guess it is so .....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

"U.S. Rep. John Sweeney: Grand Old Partier"

Albany, New York Times Union 

First published: Friday, April 28, 2006

Students at the Union College paper, The Concordiensis, found themselves in a media maelstrom Thursday after they published a front-page story -- and a photo -- about U.S. Rep. John Sweeney's late-night visit to a fraternity party last weekend.
 
John Tomlin, 20, a Union sophomore who wrote the story, reported the Clifton Park Republican was "acting openly intoxicated" at an Alpha Delta Phi party that lasted from Friday night into early Saturday morning.

Sweeney showed up with his longtime friend Paulie Lichorat, who owns Geppetto's, a bar across from the frat that's popular with Union students.

Tomlin said Sweeney was "very loud, cursing and slurring his words."

Union College is in the 21st Congressional District, represented by U.S. Rep. Michael McNulty, D-Green Island.

The Concordiensis quoted Rebecca Winnick, a Union junior, who told Sweeney at the party that she worked for McNulty.

She characterized Sweeney's response to that piece of information as "very rude."

"State leaders sagging in poll - In 18 of 20 issues, New Yorkers consider government is fair, poor"

Associated Press
First published: Friday, May 26, 2006

ALBANY -- Nearly three-quarters of New Yorkers said state government is doing only a fair or poor job on 18 of 20 issues residents consider most important, including taxes, education and jobs, according to a new poll.

New York Matters, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group, released a report Thursday aimed at focusing the governor's race on issues most important to voters.

"We are finding that voters are in a particularly grumpy mood right now," said Lee Miringoff of the Poughkeepsie-based Marist College's Institute for Public Opinion, who worked with New York Matters on the poll.

The group includes the Center for Governmental Research, a Rochester-based independent think tank.

The group plans to hold forums around the state to promote serious discussion of key issues, according to Gannett News Service.

Its starting point was the poll, which found 72 percent of those polled have a low opinion of the job state government is doing.

Marist and other polls have recently found three-term Republican Gov. George Pataki at his most unpopular since he took office in 1995, and continued low marks for the Legislature and its leaders.

"People are going to be looking for a fresh start regardless who takes the governor's office next January," Miringoff said.

"The dissatisfaction is running very high."

Those polled were split -- at 38 percent -- over whether the highest budget priority next year should be reducing state taxes or maintaining programs and services.

Twenty-three percent said the highest priority should be reducing the state debt.

"I don't think the message is simply to cut taxes at any cost," said Kent Gardner, president and chief economist of New York Matters.

The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Two areas where the report found New Yorkers like government's performance -- public safety and promoting fair and open elections -- was in part questioned by a separate report released Thursday.

An analysis by the New York Public Interest Research Group showed New York's laws governing the use of campaign funds to be among the weakest in the nation, placing almost no restrictions on their use for a lawmaker's expenses.

States such as Maryland limit the use of funds only to campaigning, but New York lawmakers routinely use the money for meals, cars and holiday parties.

It's one of the perks of incumbency in New York that contributes to a better than 90 percent re-election rate.

[Livyjr]

And while we are on the subject of George W. Bush's NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND program ....

As it functions up here ...

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

"Schools said to hush up violence - Hevesi probe finds districts underreport incidents; Albany High called one of the worst offenders"

By RICK KARLIN, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Tuesday, May 23, 2006

ALBANY -- School officials across the state have been covering up and seriously underreporting the level of violence in their hallways and classrooms, according to state Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who blamed both local school administrators and the state Department of Education for the mess.

Albany High School is among the worst offenders.

In releasing his study Monday, Hevesi painted a troubling picture of schools that either ignore violence, are too disorganized to keep track of incidents or simply lie about their problems for fear of public criticism.

"Here's what we found," Hevesi said.

"A really stunning failure of schools to adequately report" violence, including a "widespread cover-up" in which incidents are swept under the rug and the Education Department appears powerless to do anything about it.

At Albany High School, auditors found the school had reported to the state fewer than one-quarter of the serious assaults, muggings and incidents in which weapons were involved.

They even failed to report a bomb threat, said Hevesi.

While internal records at Albany High indicated 924 violent or disruptive incidents during the 2003-04 school year, school officials only reported 144 to the state.

As a result, state Education Department auditors plan to visit the school this month, and it may end up on the state's list of persistently dangerous schools.

Only five schools across New York, including Albany's Livingston Middle School, are on that list.

Hevesi's audit also found high schools in Schenectady and Hudson seriously underreported their violence, and Saratoga underreported by 9 percent.

Because officials at his office and the state Education Department had long suspected that schools are fudging their numbers, Hevesi had a crew of auditors last year look at 17 high schools in 15 districts across the state (they didn't do New York City although the city's comptroller plans a similar study).

They examined the 2003-04 school year.

Other findings: at least 10 schools failed to report incidents in which weapons were involved; schools were allowed to revise their reports with little documentation; and more than 2,300 schools submitted their reports late.

"This is very, very serious business, and the state Education Department is itself culpable," said Hevesi.

A few school officials said they were underreporting because they assumed that neighboring districts were doing the same and they didn't want to look bad, said Hevesi.

State Education Commissioner Richard Mills, who held a news conference two hours after Hevesi's, conceded that the violence reports have been beset with problems.

"The comptroller's audit confirms the concerns we have," Mills said.

He pointed out that the state Board of Regents has suspected for some time that the reports offered by the schools were misleading, and that they are in the midst of revamping the system.

Changes in the reporting rules, however, may have led to confusion with the audit, said officials from local districts, who essentially blamed part of the problem on Hevesi's auditors.

"There is confusion in the process," said Albany schools Superintendent Eva Joseph, who added:

"We reported our data in good faith."

Joseph said she believed auditors were learning about the various definitions of violent or disruptive incidents while they were doing their survey.

"They were not familiar with some of the definitions," Joseph said.

Joseph also noted that security at the high school has been beefed up since the 2003-04 school year.

"We believe we have a safe school," added Janice White, deputy superintendent at the Saratoga Springs district.

She explained that the definitions of reportable incidents changed during the 2003-04 school year, which may have some led to some misunderstanding by auditors.

Moreover, a memo from White to the comptroller's office alluded to confusion between suspension letters, which could involve several students, and recording of an incident.

"My sense would be they were double counting quite a bit of these," White said of the auditors.

Schenectady Superintendent Eric Ely agreed, adding he thought the audit was to assist the Education Department, not to expose problems in schools.

Hevesi spokesman Dan Weiller stressed that the audits were carefully reviewed for accuracy.

"There are many levels of quality control of our audits," he said.

For the past five years, schools have been required by the state to record and report a slew of incidents ranging from theft and threats to violent assaults and sexual attacks.

The state law conforms to the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which requires that states produce annual lists of their "persistently dangerous" schools.

Students in those schools are supposed to be able to transfer to alternative schools.

But in many districts, there is only one comprehensive high school, meaning they really have no options.

Karlin can be reached at 454-5758 or by e-mail at rkarlin@timesunion.com.

Kenneth C. Crowe II contributed to this report.

[Livyjr]

HEY, Jackie boy ....

Hey, Johnnie ...

What's the haps?

"U.S. Rep. John Sweeney: Grand Old Partier"

Albany, New York Times Union 

First published: Friday, April 28, 2006

Students at the Union College paper, The Concordiensis, found themselves in a media maelstrom Thursday after they published a front-page story -- and a photo -- about U.S. Rep. John Sweeney's late-night visit to a fraternity party last weekend.
 
John Tomlin, 20, a Union sophomore who wrote the story, reported the Clifton Park Republican was "acting openly intoxicated" at an Alpha Delta Phi party that lasted from Friday night into early Saturday morning.

Sweeney showed up with his longtime friend Paulie Lichorat, who owns Geppetto's, a bar across from the frat that's popular with Union students.

Tomlin said Sweeney was "very loud, cursing and slurring his words."

end quotes

Old "Hey Jackie Boy Hey Johnnie" Sweeney is a real class act, alright ......

So it doesn't surprise anyone up here .....

That "Hey Jackie Boy Hey Johnnie" Sweeney ....

Runs with that REPUBLICAN crowd ...

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

And so ...

"Like to like", they say .....

And I guess it is so .....

And so ....

"Gillibrand gets party boost - Dems see race against Sweeney as part of a larger national effort"

By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Monday, May 22, 2006

ALBANY -- The second-highest ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives pledged at least $14,000 Sunday to help Kirsten Gillibrand unseat Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. John Sweeney, part of a larger campaign that Democrats hope will propel them into the House majority for the first time in more than a decade.

U.S. Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, who would become the House majority leader if Democrats can pull off the 15-seat grab in November, admitted he did not know Gillibrand well when he spoke on her behalf Sunday evening at the Crowne Plaza.

But Hoyer, the House Democratic whip from Maryland, said he traveled to Albany because he believes the Republican control of the 20th Congressional District is vulnerable.

Gillibrand, he said, can help end the "culture of corruption, cronyism, cover-up and incompetence" in the nation's capital.

"This is one of the most important races in the United States of America," Hoyer declared, prompting raucous applause and whoops and hollers from the crowd that packed the small room on the first floor of the State Street hotel.

"You," Hoyer added later, "can make one-fifteenth of the difference in changing the course that America is on."

The fundraiser was held in Albany, which is not part of the district, and came a day after former presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., came to Saratoga Springs and Brunswick to stump for Sweeney.

The district includes all or parts of Warren, Washington, Essex, Saratoga, Rensselaer, Otsego, Columbia, Greene, Delaware and Dutchess counties.

Democrats currently hold 201 of the 435 House seats, with 231 Republicans, one independent and two vacancies.

Citing statistics ranging from median household income to job creation, Hoyer said the country has not done as well under current Republican leadership as it did under the previous Democratic administration.

Gillibrand then took the podium, outlining her positions on issues that ranged from promoting energy independence by cultivating domestic technological innovation to ending the U.S. presence in Iraq, which includes agreeing to keep no permanent military bases in the country and renouncing a stake in its oil supplies.

Hoyer, who was called in after U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Chicago, had to cancel his appearance because of what Gillibrand's campaign called a family emergency, delivered two $2,500 checks from Emanuel and himself, promising more aid as the race continues.

Earlier in the evening, bouncing from one embrace and handshake to another, U.S. Rep. Michael R. McNulty, D-Green Island, could be heard responding confidently to a indistinct question, as he slapped a red-white-and-blue Gillibrand sticker on his dark suit.

"It," McNulty said, "will be better in November."

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

[Livyjr]

And of course ...

Everyone will be surprised ...

At this news ....

Yeah, right ....

"Oil prices higher ahead of long weekend"

By MADLEN READ, AP Business Writer

2 hours, 41 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Oil prices edged higher Friday ahead of Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of the U.S. summer driving season.

Trading volumes were low and there was little news to guide the energy markets, but prices were supported by the prospect of higher demand for gasoline going into the summer months, refinery outages, and the possibility of further supply disruption if this year's hurricane season, which begins on June 1, is an active one.

Prices at the pump have been slipping, but are still above $3 a gallon for regular unleaded gasoline in some parts of the United States.

Light, sweet crude for July delivery rose 5 cents to settle at $71.37 a barrel Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The market in New York closed early on Friday, and will be shut Monday in observance of Memorial Day.

"This is basically the start of the driving season, and traders lately have been a little apprehensive about being too short on the weekends," said Tom Bentz, analyst at BNP Paribas.

Also keeping prices afloat is the damage caused by last year's hurricane season to key oil infrastructure in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

"Gasoline demand from week to week to week is remaining pretty steady ... and there's still some refining infrastructure offline from last year's storms," said Mike Fitzpatrick, vice president of energy risk management at Fimat USA.

"That's going to remain a problem going forward."

Bolstering the case for bullish sentiment in energy markets, a Fimat research report noted that there has been a recent steep slowdown in U.S. oil import growth, while product imports account for a fast-growing share of total oil imports, and the United States is becoming increasingly dependent on foreign refining capacity to meet product demand.

Gasoline futures rose 3.24 cents Friday to settle at $2.1368 a gallon, while heating oil prices slipped more than a cent to settle at $1.9805 a gallon.

The average U.S. retail price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $2.862, down from $2.921 a month ago, according to AAA's daily fuel gauge report.

Worries about summer supply shortages had been reignited by reports of refinery snags, offsetting U.S. government data that showed gasoline inventories rose for a fourth consecutive week.

Pasadena Refining Systems briefly shut a key gasoline-producing unit at its 100,000 barrel-a-day Pasadena, Texas, refinery following an operational error Wednesday, according to a state environmental report.

An outage at Valero Energy's Texas City refinery lasted about seven days longer than expected, taking a total of about 210,000 barrels of gasoline and 560,000 barrels of distillate out of the market, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

Meanwhile, total recovery from a fire at Valero's 48,000-barrels-a-day St. Charles refinery in Norco, La. will take four to six weeks, Dow Jones reported.

Also, Murphy Oil Corp.'s Meraux, Louisiana, refinery, shuttered since Hurricane Katrina, may not return to normal operations until the end of June — a month later than expected, according to a report published by JP Morgan late Wednesday.

Natural gas prices slipped 5 cents to settle at $5.925 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Data released Thursday by the U.S. Energy Department showed domestic natural gas inventories swelled by 83 billion cubic feet in the past week to 2.16 trillion cubic feet, or 50 percent above the five-year average for this time of year.

Natural gas futures are near a one-year low and some analysts say that if inventories continue to grow at this pace, the country could run out of natural-gas storage capacity before winter, a prospect which should exert downward pressure on prices.

Brent crude futures for July on London's ICE futures exchange fell 12 cents to settle at $70.59 a barrel.

[Livyjr]

"Bush, Blair acknowledge mistakes in Iraq"

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - More than three years after sending their troops to invade Iraq, President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair cannot escape questions about their decision to go to war even as they acknowledge far-reaching mistakes.

Defensive when they would prefer to celebrate the recent political success in Baghdad, the trans-Atlantic allies reflected on the price of overthrowing Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein

But, Bush said at the White House, "Despite setbacks and missteps, I strongly believe we did and are doing the right thing."

Those missteps include the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, though Bush said those responsible have been jailed.

More personally, the president said, he learned not to use so much "tough talk" — saying Osama bin Laden was wanted "dead or alive" and challenging America's enemies to "bring it on."

"I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know," Bush said softly.

"Bush and Blair to discuss Iraq plans"

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer

Thu May 25, 11:38 AM ET

WASHINGTON - President Bush and British Prime Minister    Tony Blair, with poll standings sagging under the weight of Iraq, are not expected to announce any troop withdrawal plans during discussions at the White House.

"They're not going to race out and say, 'We're all coming home,'" White House press secretary Tony Snow told reporters in advance of the leaders' meeting later Thursday.

"You know, there aren't going to be people kissing in Times Square tomorrow."

"But I do think what you will have is a very forward-leaning set of discussions about how to proceed forward," Bush's chief spokesman said.

Both Bush and Blair have seen their poll numbers drop sharply and are under pressure to bring home some of their soldiers.

end quotes

Well, that's something, I guess ....

George W. Bush ....

And Tony Blair .....

Getting together one more time again ....

To talk about how to get out of IRAQINAM ....

And so .....

That Tony Snow ....

Sure does remind me ...

Of John Cleese ...

Playing Basil Fawlty ....

On Fawlty Towers .....

On TV ....

Where Tony Snow came from ....

And so ...

I wonder if he had to study John Cleese ....

To perfect his imitation ....

Or if it is completely natural ....

And so ...

"Official: Iraq civilian deaths unjustified"

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer

1 hour, 1 minute ago

WASHINGTON - Military investigators probing the deaths last November of about two dozen Iraqi civilians have evidence that points toward unprovoked murders by Marines, a senior defense official said Friday.

The Marine Corps initially reported 15 deaths and said they were caused by a roadside bomb and an ensuing firefight with insurgents.

A separate investigation is aimed at determining if Marines lied to cover up the events, which included the deaths of women and children.

If confirmed as unjustified killings, the episode could be the most serious case of criminal misconduct by U.S. troops during three years of combat in Iraq.

Until now the most infamous occurrence was the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse involving Army soldiers, which came to light in April 2004 and which President Bush said Thursday he considered to be the worst U.S. mistake of the entire war.

The defense official discussed the matter Friday only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk publicly about the investigation.

He said the evidence found thus far strongly indicated the killings in the insurgent-plagued city of Haditha in the western province of Anbar were unjustified.

He cautioned that the probe was not finished.

Once the investigation is completed, perhaps in June, it will be up to a senior Marine commander in Iraq to decide whether to press charges of murder or other violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Three officers from the unit involved — 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. — have been relieved of duty, although officials have not explicitly linked them to the criminal investigation.

In an indication of how concerned the Marines are about the implications of the Haditha case, their top officer, Gen. Michael W. Hagee, flew to Iraq on Thursday.

He was to reinforce what the military said was a need to adhere to Marine values and standards of behavior and to avoid the use of excess force.

"Many of our Marines have been involved in life or death combat or have witnessed the loss of their fellow Marines, and the effects of these events can be numbing," Hagee said a statement announcing his trip.

"There is the risk of becoming indifferent to the loss of a human life, as well as bringing dishonor upon ourselves."

A spokesman at Marine Corps headquarters in the Pentagon, Lt. Col. Scott Fazekas, declined to comment on the status of the Haditha investigation.

He said no information would be provided until the probe was completed.

According to a congressional aide, lawmakers were told in a briefing Thursday that it appears as many as two dozen civilians were killed in the episode at Haditha.

And they were told that the investigation will find that "it will be clear that this was not the result of an accident or a normal combat situation."

Another congressional official said lawmakers were told it would be about 30 days before a report would be issued by the investigating agency, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

Both the House and Senate armed services committees plan to hold hearings on the matter.

The New York Times reported on Friday that the civilians killed at Haditha included five men who had been traveling in a taxi and others in two nearby houses.

The newspaper quoted an unidentified official as saying it was a sustained operation over as long as five hours.

Hagee met with top lawmakers from those panels this week to bring them up to date on the investigation.

"I can say that there are established facts that incidents of a very serious nature did take place," Sen. John Warner, chairman of the Senate panel, said Thursday.

He would not provide details or confirm reports that about 24 civilians were killed.

He told reporters he had "no basis to believe" the military engaged in a cover-up.

Separately, the Marines announced this week that a criminal investigation was under way in connection with an alleged killing on April 26 of an Iraqi civilian by Marines in Hamandiyah, west of Baghdad.

No details about that case have been made public.

In the Haditha case, videotape aired by an Arab television station showed images purportedly taken in the aftermath of the encounter: a bloody bedroom floor, walls with bullet holes and bodies of women and children.

An Iraqi human rights group called for an investigation of what it described as a deadly mistake that had harmed civilians.

On May 17, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., a former Marine, said Corps officials told him the toll in the Haditha attack was far worse than originally reported and that U.S. troops killed innocent women and children "in cold blood."

He said that nearly twice as many people were killed as first reported and maintained that U.S. forces were "overstretched and overstressed" by the war in Iraq.

Pentagon spokesman Eric Ruff said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was being kept apprised.

Ruff said he did not expect any announcements in the next few days.
___

Associated Press Writer Lolita Baldor contributed to this report.

[Livyjr]

And can this be?

Oh, no ...

I just don't think that I can accept this ...

I mean ...

Well ...

This next story seems to imply ...

THAT GEORGE W. BUSH ...

IS NOT REALLY INFALLIBLE .....

When we all know ...

FROM PROPAGANDA ...

THAT HE IS INFALLIBLE ....

And so ...

Whoever wrote this story ...

Implying that George W. Bush is not infallible ....

Should probably be immediately ....

And summarily .....

Locked up in a secure mental institution .....

For disparaging George W. Bush ....

IN A TIME OF WAR ....

WHEN OUR "WAY OF LIFE" ....

Is about to be stripped from us ...

BY THE REPUBLICAN PARTY ....

And so ....

"Bush, Blair acknowledge mistakes in Iraq"

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - More than three years after sending their troops to invade Iraq, President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair cannot escape questions about their decision to go to war even as they acknowledge far-reaching mistakes.

Defensive when they would prefer to celebrate the recent political success in Baghdad, the trans-Atlantic allies reflected on the price of overthrowing Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

More personally, the president said, he learned not to use so much "tough talk" — saying Osama bin Laden was wanted "dead or alive" and challenging America's enemies to "bring it on."

"I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know," Bush said softly.

"Fallen troops' families split on Bush talk"

By RUSS BYNUM, Associated Press Writer

2 hours, 1 minute ago

SAVANNAH, Ga. - It's been 10 months since a roadside bomb in Iraq killed Cathy Brunson's son and three fellow Georgia National Guardsmen — not long enough to heal, she says, and too late to take much comfort in President Bush's admission he's made mistakes in conducting the war.

"No matter what is said or done now, it's not going to bring back the 2,000-plus soldiers that were killed," Brunson of Sylvester, Ga., said Friday, a day after Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair offered sobering acknowledgments of missteps in their handling of Iraq.

Her son, 30-year-old Spc. Jacques "Gus" Brunson, a former prison guard, was among 11 Georgia citizen-soldiers killed over 11 days when the National Guard's 48th Infantry Brigade deployed to Iraq last year.

"For the families who have lost their sons, brothers, husbands, it is kind of late now to acknowledge that 'OK, we did make mistakes,'" said Brunson, who keeps a photo of her son on her desk at the tax assessor's office in south Georgia's rural Worth County.

The admissions by Bush and Blair drew strong, and divided, responses from families of soldiers killed in Iraq.

More than 2,460 U.S. service members have died in the war since it began in March 2003.

Blair, calling the violence in Iraq "ghastly," acknowledged underestimating the insurgency's determination.

Bush said he regretted some of his "tough talk" — such as saying Osama bin Laden was wanted "dead or alive" and challenging America's enemies to "bring it on."

Some family members criticized Bush for owning up to mistakes only after his poll numbers and public support for the war have reached all-time lows.

Others said they forgave the president and continue to support the goal of establishing a stable Iraqi democracy.

Eddie Mae Owens of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., lost her nephew, Sgt. 1st Class Brett Eugene Walden, 40, last August in Iraq when a civilian fuel truck crashed into his Army vehicle.

She says she still backs Bush's tough stance.

"I would rather have a president that's tough than trying to placate our enemy," Owens said.

"You can always do Monday morning quarterbacking."

"You can always say you would have done things different if you knew what the outcome would have been."

Arnold Tyrrell, a machine operator in Polo, Ill., said Bush and his allies "are doing the best they can, for better or for worse."

Tyrrell's 21-year-old son, Army Pvt. Scott Matthew Tyrrell, died in November 2003 from burns he suffered in Iraq.

"I feel the administration did the best they could with what information they had and they acted on it," Tyrrell said.

"They're saying, 'OK, so we're not perfect.'"

"You've got to jump sometimes and look back later."

John Adams of La Mesa, Calif., isn't as forgiving.

His 27-year-old son, Navy Lt. Thomas Mullen Adams, was killed in the war's opening days when two Navy helicopters collided.

"There has been a horrific mismanagement of the whole operation" in Iraq, Adams said.

"It might be a small step for someone who has demonstrated extreme arrogance to acknowledge there were miscues."

He added:

"It's sort of like trying to unring a bell."

"It can't really be done."

John Prazynski of Fairfield, Ohio, refuses to judge Bush a year after his son, 20-year-old Marine Lance Cpl. Taylor Prazynski, died from shrapnel flung by an exploding mortar shell.

Prazynski has stayed active in support-the-troops efforts since his son's death.

He joined Bush and two wounded soldiers on opening day of the Cincinnati Reds' baseball season for pregame ceremonies last month.

"I'm certainly not going to pass judgment," Prazynski said.

"If you say, 'Oh, gosh, now it's hard, let's quit,' that would make us losers."

Celeste Zappala of Philadelphia has become a peace activist since her 30-year-old son, Army Sgt. Sherwood Baker, was killed by an explosion in Baghdad while deployed with the Pennsylvania National Guard.

She said she was pleased to hear Bush sounding "somewhat contrite."

"But I can't help but remember all the arrogance that has come before this day," said Zappala, who attended another soldier's funeral this week at Arlington National Cemetery.

"I'm still really appalled that (Donald) Rumsfeld is still the secretary of defense."

"How many mistakes do you have to make before you step aside?"

The Rev. Marc Unger of Exeter Baptist Church in Exeter, Calif., mourned the second anniversary Thursday of the rocket attack that killed his son, 19-year-old Army Spec. Daniel Unger.

They had been exceptionally close, playing together on the church band, ministering to inmates at the local juvenile hall, and even practicing karate — both were black belts.

Despite his grief, Unger remains as supportive of the war, and of the president, as his son was when he died.

"Bush is a good president, a good man trying to do the right thing," Unger said.

"He really cares."

"He has our absolute support."

Carol McKeever of Buffalo, N.Y., supported the war early on, but now she says Bush made a huge error by not pulling out of Iraq after Saddam Hussein's capture.

It's a mistake, she says, that cost her 25-year-old son his life.

Army Sgt. David McKeever was weeks away from returning to his wife and baby son when he was killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Baghdad.

"If he (Bush) acknowledged that he made mistakes, well then that's a good thing."

"Better late than never, as long as they learn from it," McKeever said.

"I mean, everybody makes mistakes but these are costly ones."

"These are really costly ones."
___

Associated Press writers contributing to this story were Dan Sewell in Cincinnati; Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, N.Y.; Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia; Tara Burghart in Chicago; Greg Risling in Los Angeles; Melissa Nelson in Pensacola, Fla; and Juliana Barbassa in Fresno, Calif.

[Livyjr]

"Fallen troops' families split on Bush talk"

By RUSS BYNUM, Associated Press Writer

Bush said he regretted some of his "tough talk" — such as saying Osama bin Laden was wanted "dead or alive" and challenging America's enemies to "bring it on."

Some family members criticized Bush for owning up to mistakes only after his poll numbers and public support for the war have reached all-time lows.

"I'm still really appalled that (Donald) Rumsfeld is still the secretary of defense."

"How many mistakes do you have to make before you step aside?"

"Analysis: Iraq, Vietnam have parallels"

By CHARLES J. HANLEY, AP Special Correspondent

Fri May 26, 1:26 PM ET

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The silhouettes that roar through the Baghdad twilight are sleeker than the helicopters of an earlier time.

The wind brings dust, not drenching monsoons.

The river snaking seaward is called Tigris, not Mekong.

And this war's not fought to the wail of Jimi Hendrix's guitar.

But half a world away and half a lifetime later, a long shadow from a long-ago conflict hangs over the U.S. war in Iraq — in its "body counts" and "turning points," its Claymore mines and Kalashnikovs, its "hearts and minds" and "search and destroy," its antiwar voices rising back home.

Steve Budnick felt the "deja vu" when mortar rounds fell as he settled into a civilian job with the U.S. reconstruction agency here.

"That's what took me back, the mortars," the 60-year-old ex-infantryman said.

"But these Iraqis can't aim worth a damn!"

"These guys are nothing compared with the North Vietnamese," said Jack Holley, now a U.S. logistics chief, then a young Marine officer.

"The NVA would have had us marked and crosshaired."

Unlike the single-minded foe in Vietnam, the anti-U.S. resistance here is fragmented, without a political program.

That war was bigger — 543,000 U.S. troops in 1969, facing hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese fighters, compared with 130,000 Americans here, versus perhaps 20,000 insurgents.

It was a disgruntled, draftee U.S. Army then, unlike today's all-volunteer force.

And U.S. casualty rates were much higher: an average 19 Americans killed a day over eight years in Vietnam, compared with two a day here.

But for all the contrasts in scale, this U.S. military operation — far from American shores, bent on shaping the political future of another land, facing a resourceful resistance, trying to hand off the fight to local allies, and fast losing support at home — shows important parallels to Vietnam, the last counterinsurgency war fought by U.S. forces.

The parallels are obvious enough to prompt war veterans like the retired colonel Holley to look for lessons from Vietnam.

His: U.S. soldiers should fight shoulder to shoulder with Iraqi allies, something he said worked for Marines in Vietnam before all was lost.

Veteran scholars, too, find striking similarities between then and now.

Faulty intelligence helped to justify both wars — the 1964 Tonkin Gulf incident, during which two U.S. warships off Vietnam mistakenly reported that they'd been fired upon, and Iraq's nonexistent weapons of mass destruction.

Even a mirror image of the old "domino theory" is at work in Iraq.

In Vietnam, U.S. leaders warned that other Southeast Asian states would fall, one by one, to communism if Vietnam was lost.

The Bush administration now presents Iraq as the first in a series of Arab dominoes that will fall to democracy.

Specialists at the U.S. Army War College hear the echoes.

"The two aspects of Vietnam and Iraq that show the most similarities involve an effort at state-building in an alien culture that is poorly understood by the United States, and the attempt to sustain U.S. domestic support for a prolonged war against an irregular enemy," the war college's W. Andrew Terrill and Conrad C. Crane wrote in a study of the Iraq war.

As with Vietnam, approval for the Iraq operation has plunged as U.S. casualties mount.

"Casualty for casualty, support has declined far more quickly than it did during either the Korean War or the Vietnam War," says political scientist John Mueller of Ohio State University, an expert on wars and U.S. public opinion.

An ABC News-Washington Post poll in early May, three years after the Iraq invasion, found that 59 percent of Americans now view it as a mistake.

It took six years after the major U.S. troop commitment to Vietnam before a similar majority — 61 percent in 1971 — called that war a mistake.

"If history is any indication, there is little the Bush administration can do to reverse this decline," Mueller adds.

What the Americans are trying to do is "Iraqization," training a new Iraqi army to move into the front line against the largely Sunni Arab insurgents, so U.S. troops can pull back.

"As the Iraqi security forces stand up, coalition forces can stand down," Bush says.

It's an eerie refrain of another presidential voice.

"As South Vietnamese forces become stronger, the rate of American withdrawal can become greater," Richard M. Nixon said in announcing "Vietnamization" in 1969.

Four years later, the American withdrawal was complete, and two years after that, in 1975, so was the failure, as triumphant communist forces rolled into Saigon.

A dwindling number of upbeat observers see a potential turning point for Iraq, if the new, elected Iraqi government and growing Iraqi army begin pacifying the country.

But Stephen Biddle, a national security specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations, contends that "Iraqization" is one lesson that shouldn't be taken from Vietnam.

"In a communal civil war, it throws gasoline on the fire," he writes in the journal Foreign Affairs.

In the worsening civil conflict among Iraq's Sunni Arabs, Shiites and Kurds, the new army is viewed by Sunni Arabs as a Shiite and Kurdish force and its deployment deepens their hostility.

Biddle's solution: Maintain a strong U.S. military presence while Iraq's factions work out a balanced, durable constitutional agreement.

The United States, more and more, is in a Vietnam-like bind in Iraq, many commentators say.

It cannot stay; it cannot go.

"The most tragic comparison is becoming more real: In for a dime, in for a dollar," says Gordon Adams, a veteran defense scholar at George Washington University.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., who was wounded as an Army sergeant in Vietnam, once favored a further U.S. buildup here.

But last year he concluded:

"We're locked into a bogged-down problem not dissimilar to where we were in Vietnam."

"The longer we stay, the more problems we're going to have."

Veterans sense one difference, in the way the troops are viewed back home, and hope that doesn't change.

Bruce Oliver served three tours in Vietnam, a 20-year-old Marine when he landed there, now a 58-year-old Army National Guard sergeant who just returned home to Georgia after a year's duty in Iraq.

"It's not like Vietnam."

"When you came home from there people asked you, 'How many people did you kill?'" Oliver recalled.

"They treated you like second-class citizens."

For him and other soldiers, the shadow of war is a personal thing, whether old or new, Danang or Diyala, Fallujah or Phu Bai.

Budnick turns bitter at the memory.

"We were 'baby killers,' 'drug addicts,' et cetera," the Baghdad-based accountant told a reporter.

Now if things drag on in Iraq, if "negative press" persists, if "push comes to shove," then "it wouldn't take much to turn against the soldiers," he said.

"Like Vietnam."
___

EDITOR'S NOTE: Charles J. Hanley served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam.

[Livyjr]

"Fallen troops' families split on Bush talk"

By RUSS BYNUM, Associated Press Writer

SAVANNAH, Ga. - It's been 10 months since a roadside bomb in  Iraq killed Cathy Brunson's son and three fellow Georgia National Guardsmen — not long enough to heal, she says, and too late to take much comfort in    President Bush's admission he's made mistakes in conducting the war.

"No matter what is said or done now, it's not going to bring back the 2,000-plus soldiers that were killed," Brunson of Sylvester, Ga., said Friday, a day after Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair offered sobering acknowledgments of missteps in their handling of Iraq.

Bush said he regretted some of his "tough talk" — such as saying Osama bin Laden was wanted "dead or alive" and challenging America's enemies to "bring it on."

Celeste Zappala of Philadelphia has become a peace activist since her 30-year-old son, Army Sgt. Sherwood Baker, was killed by an explosion in Baghdad while deployed with the Pennsylvania National Guard.

She said she was pleased to hear Bush sounding "somewhat contrite."

"But I can't help but remember all the arrogance that has come before this day," said Zappala, who attended another soldier's funeral this week at Arlington National Cemetery.

"I'm still really appalled that (Donald) Rumsfeld is still the secretary of defense."

"How many mistakes do you have to make before you step aside?"

In the case of Donald Rumsfeld .....

He gets to make an infinite number of mistakes ...

Which makes him an AMERICAN PATRIOT ....

To people like ex-general Tommy Ray Franks, anyway ....

And Donald never has to step down ...

Despite his infinitude of mistakes ...

Because he is an AMERICAN PATRIOT ....

And so ....

December 23, 2003

"Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids"

By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS, NY Times

WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 — As a special envoy for the Reagan administration in 1984, Donald H. Rumsfeld, now the defense secretary, traveled to Iraq to persuade officials there that the United States was eager to improve ties with President Saddam Hussein despite his use of chemical weapons, newly declassified documents show.

Mr. Rumsfeld, who ran a pharmaceutical company at the time, was tapped by Secretary of State George P. Shultz to reinforce a message that a recent move to condemn Iraq's use of chemical weapons was strictly in principle and that America's priority was to prevent an Iranian victory in the Iran-Iraq war and to improve bilateral ties.

During that war, the United States secretly provided Iraq with combat planning assistance, even after Mr. Hussein's use of chemical weapons was widely known.

The highly classified program involved more than 60 officers of the Defense Intelligence Agency, who shared intelligence on Iranian deployments, bomb-damage assessments and other crucial information with Iraq.

The disclosures round out a picture of American outreach to the Iraqi government, even as the United States professed to be neutral in the eight-year war, and suggests a private nonchalance toward Mr. Hussein's use of chemicals in warfare.

Mr. Rumsfeld and other Bush administration officials have cited Iraq's use of poisonous gas as a main reason for ousting Mr. Hussein.

The documents, which were released as part of a declassification project by the National Security Archive, and are available on the Web at http://www.nsarchive.org , provide details of the instructions given to Mr. Rumsfeld on his second trip to Iraq in four months.

The notes of Mr. Rumsfeld's encounter with Tariq Aziz, the foreign minister, remain classified, but officials acknowledged that it would be unusual if Mr. Rumsfeld did not carry out the instructions.

Since the release of the documents, he has told members of his inner circle at the Pentagon that he does not recall whether he had read, or even had received, the State Department memo, Defense Department officials said.

One official noted that the documents reflected the State Department's thinking on Iraq, but did not indicate Mr. Rumsfeld's planning for his meeting with Mr. Hussein nor his comments on the meeting after its conclusion.

Mr. Rumsfeld's trip was his second visit to Iraq.

On his first visit, in late December 1983, he had a cordial meeting with Mr. Hussein, and photographs and a report of that encounter have been widely published.

In a follow-up memo, the chief of the American interests section reported that Mr. Aziz had conveyed Mr. Hussein's satisfaction with the meeting.

"The Iraqi leadership was extremely pleased with Amb. Rumsfeld's visit," the memo said.

"Tariq Aziz had gone out of his way to praise Rumsfeld as a person."

When news emerged last year of the December trip, Mr. Rumsfeld told CNN that he had "cautioned" Mr. Hussein to forgo chemical weapons.

But when presented with declassified notes of their meeting that made no mention of that, a spokesman for Mr. Rumsfeld said he had raised the issue in a meeting with Mr. Aziz.

Lawrence Di Rita, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said on Friday that there was no inconsistency between Mr. Rumsfeld's previous comments on his missions to Iraq and the State Department documents.

By early 1984, events threatened to upset the American-Iraqi relationship.

After pleading for a year for international action against the chemical warfare, Iran had finally persuaded the United Nations to criticize the use of chemical weapons, albeit in vague terms.

Pressure mounted on the Reagan administration, which had already verified Iraq's "almost daily" use of the weapons against Iran and against Kurdish rebels, documents show.

In February, Iraq warned Iranian "invaders" that "for every harmful insect there is an insecticide capable of annihilating it."

Within weeks, the American authorities intercepted precursor chemicals that were bound for Iraq.

Finally, on March 5, the United States issued a public condemnation of Iraq.

But days later, Mr. Shultz and his deputy met with an Iraqi diplomat, Ismet Kittani, to soften the blow.

The American relationship with Iraq was too important — involving business interests, Middle East diplomacy and a shared determination to thwart Iran — to sacrifice.

Mr. Kittani left the meeting "unpersuaded," documents show.

Mr. Shultz then turned to Mr. Rumsfeld.

In a March 24 briefing document, Mr. Rumsfeld was asked to present America's bottom line.

At first, the memo recapitulated Mr. Shultz's message to Mr. Kittani, saying it "clarified that our CW [chemical weapons] condemnation was made strictly out of our strong opposition to the use of lethal and incapacitating CW, wherever it occurs."

The American officials had "emphasized that our interests in 1) preventing an Iranian victory and 2) continuing to improve bilateral relations with Iraq, at a pace of Iraq's choosing, remain undiminished," it said.

Then came the instructions for Mr. Rumsfeld:

"This message bears reinforcing during your discussions."

The American relationship with Iraq during its crippling war with Iran was rife with such ambiguities.

Though the United States was outwardly neutral, it tilted toward Iraq and even monitored talks toward the sale of military equipment by private American contractors.

Tom Blanton, executive director of the National Security Archive, said:

"Saddam had chemical weapons in the 1980's, and it didn't make any difference to U.S. policy."

Mr. Blanton suggested that the United States was now paying the price for earlier indulgence.

"The embrace of Saddam in the 1980's and what it emboldened him to do should caution us as Americans that we have to look closely at all our murky alliances," he said.

"Shaking hands with dictators today can turn them into Saddams tomorrow."

Thom Shanker contributed reporting for this article.

end quotes

And America ...

Would be well advised ....

To not put little tin-pot dictators on its own throne, as well ...

ALTHOUGH THAT ADVICE .....

Is now six years too late to heed ...

And so ....

For a very nice picture ....

Of Donald Rumsfeld ....

Fawning all over Saddam Hussein ....

While shaking his hand ....

Click on this URL now:

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82