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

[Livyjr]

And talking about NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ....

This takes the cake ....

"Iraqi survivor wants U.S. troops executed"

By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writers

Sat Jun 3, 1:01 PM ET

BAGHDAD, Iraq - An Iraqi whose brother and other relatives were killed in a U.S. attack on a suspected terrorist hideout north of Baghdad condemned a military investigation Saturday that cleared forces of wrongdoing.

A 9-year-old survivor of an alleged massacre by U.S. forces in the western city of Haditha, meanwhile, demanded that those responsible be executed, as anger mounted over accusations that Iraqi civilians have been killed by Americans without provocation.

"We did not do anything to them," said Iman Walid Abdul-Hameed, who lost her parents, a brother, her grandparents and two uncles in the shootings.

She said only she, her brother and a sister survived.

"Because they hurt us, we want the Americans to be executed," said Abdul-Hameed, wearing a violet striped shirt and headband as she sat on a couch at a cousin's home, where she is now living.

She and her brother Abdul-Rahman were slightly injured during the shootings.

New footage shot by AP Television News in Haditha and broadcast Saturday showed walls pockmarked with bullet holes inside a stone house belonging to those killed.

A dusty TV with an apparent bullet hole in the corner sat on the floor as furniture was piled up to the side in the emptied house.

A lawyer representing relatives of some of the 24 Iraqis allegedly killed by U.S. Marines after a roadside bomb killed a colleague pointed to bullet holes in the white walls, which appeared to have been marked by American investigators with Roman letters and numbers.

The lawyer, Khaled Salem Rsayef, complained that compensation paid to the victims' families did not reflect "the magnitude of the disaster."

He also said U.S. officers accused him and other relatives of lying when they recounted the shootings in their first meeting with the military after the Nov. 19 killings.

He did not say when they met.

The AP Television News footage also included an interview with the director of Haditha General Hospital and images of the scattered rubble in the median where the roadside bomb apparently struck a military convoy, killing the U.S. Marine.

The Marine Corps had initially attributed 15 civilian deaths to the bombing and a firefight with insurgents, eight of whom the Marines reported had been killed.

Rep. John Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat and decorated war veteran who has been briefed by military officials, has said Marines shot and killed unarmed civilians in a taxi at the scene and went into two homes and shot others.

The hospital director, Walid Abdul-Khaleq al-Obeidi, said bodies of the 24 victims, including those of eight women and five children, were brought to the hospital by the Marines at 11 p.m., about 14 hours after witnesses said the last gunshot was heard at the scene of the shootings.

He said the bodies had gunshot wounds to the chest and head, and one body was burned.

The New York Times reported Saturday that commanders learned within two days that civilians in Haditha were killed by gunfire and not a roadside bomb, quoting a senior Marine officer it did not name.

The officer said officials had no information suggesting the civilians had been killed deliberately and saw no reason to investigate further.

The U.S. military in Baghdad declined to comment on the report Saturday because the investigation is ongoing.

In a separate investigation, the U.S. military said Friday it found no wrongdoing by American troops accused of intentionally killing civilians during a March 15 raid in Ishaqi, about 50 miles north of Baghdad.

As many as 13 Iraqis were killed.

The investigation concluded that U.S. troops followed normal procedures in raising the level of force after coming under fire while approaching a building where they believed an al-Qaida terrorist was hiding, said Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a U.S military spokesman.

Caldwell also acknowledged "possibly up to nine collateral deaths" occurred in addition to the four Iraqi deaths that the military announced at the time.

He said Saturday a great deal of attention had been paid to "coalition forces killing innocent Iraqi civilians."

"However, each case needs to be examined individually."

Issa Hrat Khalaf, whose brother was killed in the attack, demanded an independent investigation and said the U.S. forces responsible for the killings should be executed.

"Where are the terrorists?"

"Are they the old lady or the kids?" he said in a telephone interview, referring to the fact that women and children were among the victims.

"It looks like the lives of the Iraqis are worthless."

The bloody aftermath of the attack was captured at the time in the footage shot by an AP Television News cameraman.

The video became the focus of attention Friday when the British Broadcasting Corp. aired it in the wake of recent allegations of U.S. troops killing unarmed civilians.

The footage shows five slain children lying a row, wrapped in blankets, and at least one adult male and four of the children with deep wounds to the head.

One child has an entry wound to the side, and the inside of the walls left standing were pocked with bullet holes.

A voice on the tape said there were clear bullet wounds in two people.

The investigation of the attack in Ishaqi, near Samarra in the Sunni Arab heartland north of Baghdad, was one of three probes into possible misconduct by American troops in Iraq.

U.S. Marines also are accused of deliberately killing two dozen unarmed Iraqi civilians in the western town of Haditha on Nov. 19 after one of their own died in a roadside bombing.

Besides Haditha and Ishaqi, seven Marines and a Navy corpsman could face murder, kidnapping and conspiracy charges in the April shooting death of an Iraqi man west of Baghdad.

Robert Ford, the U.S. Embassy political counselor, promised during a briefing for Iraqi reporters that "all information about what happened in Haditha will be shared with the Iraqi people."

"What is happening in Haditha is being fully investigated and American soldiers will face military justice if wrongdoings are found," Ford said in Arabic.

Army Brig. Gen. Donald Campbell, the chief of staff for U.S. forces in Iraq, said Friday the military will cooperate with the Iraqi government in its own investigation of Haditha and other incidents of alleged wrongdoing by U.S. troops.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Thursday upbraided the U.S. military for "a horrible crime" in Haditha and accused U.S. troops of habitually attacking unarmed civilians.

His office had no immediate comment on the exoneration of the troops in the Ishaqi killings.
___

Associated Press reporters Robert Burns in Washington and Hamza Hendawi, Patrick Quinn and Qais al-Bashir in Baghdad contributed to this report.

I personally don't think that Iraqi lives are any more worthless ....

To George W. Bush ....

Than American lives are .....

Or at least NON-REPUBLICAN American lives, anyway ....

But since ours are indeed worthless to George W. Bush ........

Well .....

[cutecat]

In our America watch advertisers. Here in Nebraska the Republic challenger to Ben Nelson is Pete Ricketts! Who is Pete Rickets think very rich and started Ameritrade.
OK so he has his picture and adds come from small towns and farms...Ya right do you think he cares?
Advertising from Charles Swab and other wall street companies are all switching to personal investment accounts (private accounts key word get rid of employee investing, matched funds social security and medicare/medicaid).
Every action there is a reaction. If private accounts become the only thing people have to depend on in the future then they better talk to their grandparents who lose all savings to get medical care and who sign over all their assets and even their homes when the go into care facilities. If you save their will be a way it will be taken from you.
We do not need Pete Rickets voting in Washington for his self interest. Even though Chuck Hagel is a republican our Senate representative Ben Nelson and Chuck Hagel are doing a good job.
Our Nebraska representative in the House are a different story.
Do not forget to listen to the advertisers as Drug companies say they need money to do research on Drugs that will help people... Not true most drugs are invented with government and patents are sold to pharmaceutical companies. AZT for aids is the best example remember it was invented by government and sold to pharmaceutical company and it cost as much as a house.
Fight locally, stay constantly vigilant and choose wisely our America.
( As I read this stream I was impressed to note the stream remembered that Democracy was Greek and Roman and both are remembered by ancient monuments).
A good question is if government in our America is evolving what do we want it to look like?

[Livyjr]

A good question is if government in our America is evolving what do we want it to look like?

That is beyond a good question, cutecat ....

To me, an older American ...

Who took an oath to protect and defend the United States Constitution ...

From its domestic enemies ...

As well as any foreign enemies who might be foolish enough to try and alter OUR form of government by force ....

As an older America ...

Who still has a memory ....

Of another America ....

I would say that what you have presented us with ....

IS THE QUESTION ....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

And talking about NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ....

"Mom: Stress drove Marine to commit crimes"

Associated Press
Last updated: 5:55 a.m., Sunday, June 4, 2006

HANFORD, Calif. -- A Marine who followed orders to photograph corpses of Iraqis allegedly slain by members of his unit last fall claims post-traumatic stress drove him to commit felonies while on leave, his mother said.

Lance Cpl. Roel Ryan Briones, 21, is accused of stealing a truck and crashing it into a house in Hanford in April.

He was charged Friday with felony auto theft, hit-and-run and drunken driving, according to Kings County District Attorney Ronald Calhoun.

Briones' mother, Susie, told The Fresno Bee this week that her son hit his breaking point during the April incident.

His best friend was killed Nov. 19, the day of the attack in the western Iraqi city of Haditha, and he was still grieving when he was sent in to clean up the bodies of the Iraqi civilians.

Susie Briones said her son told her he saw the bodies of 23 dead Iraqis that day.

Twenty-four were slain.

U.S. authorities have launched two investigations -- one into the deadly encounter itself and another into whether it was the subject of a cover-up.

Ryan Briones is seeing a psychologist in San Diego to help deal with the stress, and military officials are aware of his deteriorating mental health, his mother said.

Calhoun said he was aware of Briones' situation, adding that the Marine has agreed to be evaluated by a psychiatrist to determine whether he has post-traumatic stress and whether it played a role in the alleged crime.

Briones, who has returned to Camp Pendleton, is scheduled to appear in court June 19.

The Fresno Bee said he could not be reached for comment Friday.

end quotes

PLEASE ...

Don't go blaming this guy's alleged criminal conduct ...

On PTSD .....

How about saying a lack of maturity and discipline caused him to commit these felonies?

And perhaps a lack of parental guidance as well, in his formative years ...

When it might have done some good .....

And clearly, being a Marine didn't do much for this guy, either, in terms of teaching him right from wrong ...

And so ...

Add that all up ...

And it probably gets you to some conclusion or other ...

And so ...

[Livyjr]

And jumping right in here this evening ....

With further news of George W. Bush's IRAQINAM debacle ....

Which has done nothing to make us "safe" .....

From anything at all ...

And which has given OUR nation ...

Nothing but a bunch of continued ugliness ....

And which has done nothing for OUR America .....

Except to sink OUR reputation as a nation of law ....

RIGHT ON DOWN INTO THE MUD .....

Which only serves to make us more "unsafe" than we might have been before George W. Bush came to power, here in OUR America ....

We have ...

"General vows full probe into Iraqi deaths"

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press
Last updated: 5:15 p.m., Sunday, June 4, 2006

SINGAPORE -- The top U.S. military officer pledged a thorough investigation into the alleged massacre of Iraqi citizens in Haditha by Marines, saying it is important to avoid a rush to judgment.

Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged that the allegations involving the deaths of about two dozen Iraqis have raised concerns among Iraqi officials and in the United States.

"But you don't want to have the emotions of the day weigh into the process," Pace told the Associated Press in an interview Sunday.

"We need to stick with our judicial process."

"We want to be sure that it moves forward without any influence."

Pace said it is not clear exactly what happened last November when as many as two dozen Iraqis were killed during a U.S. attack.

U.S. military investigators have evidence that points toward unprovoked murders by the Marines, a senior U.S. defense official said last week.

Iraq said last week it was undertaking its own investigation.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki sharply criticizing the conduct of U.S. troops in Iraq and said what occurred in Haditha "appears to be a horrible crime."

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in broadcast interviews Sunday in Washington, said "American forces are the solution here, not the problem" and promised that in the Haditha investigations, "We'll get to the bottom of it."

At the same time, she spoke of the difficulty in fighting insurgents "when they can hide among the civilian population."

Over the weekend, Pace joined U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld at a conference of defense leaders in Southeast Asia.

In some countries in the region with sizable Muslim populations, the war in Iraq has soured attitudes toward the U.S.

The killings in Haditha have contributed to that, leading the U.S. military on Thursday to order that the 150,000 coalition troops in Iraq, including 130,000 Americans, get special training in ethics and "the values that separate us from our enemies."

The additional instruction, Pace said, "should provide comfort to those looking to see if we are we a nation that stands on the values we hold dear."

U.S. troops should benefit from the additional training, particularly as they run through various battle scenarios, Pace said.

"Emotions on the battlefield are intense," Pace said.

"It's good to stop and check your moral compass."

Pace, the first Marine to serve as Joint Chiefs chairman, is no stranger to such combat emotions.

To this day he keeps a photo on his desk at the Pentagon of the first Marine killed under his command when he was a platoon leader in Vietnam.

According to Barney Barnes, one of the men who served with Pace, Pace's first inclination was to call in the artillery "and bomb the heck out of that village."

Barnes said that Pace kept his emotions in check and went ahead with a search of the village -- ultimately in vain -- for the sniper whose bullet had killed Cpl. Guido Farinaro.

Those serving in the military, Pace said in the AP interview, need to train for combat situations "and think about when you go in, 'Who do you want to be?'"

"If you do that, you are much better prepared for combat -- to know what you're going to do."

In addition to the renewed ethics training for coalition troops in Iraq, U.S. Marine Commandant Gen. Michael W. Hagee has been talking to Marines about proper conduct on the battlefield.

Hagee last week spoke to troops about the danger of becoming "indifferent to the loss of a human life."

To Pace, "It's a very good thing to take an operational pause and talk about what we do and what we do not do in combat."

Pace has declined to talk about the specifics of the two investigations into the Haditha killings.

He said Sunday he does not know when they will be completed.

Both he and Rumsfeld have said they do not want to make comments that might taint the probes.

The investigation that will be finished first is the one examining whether the Marines in Haditha or their commanders tried to cover up what happened, Pace said.

The second, a criminal investigation, will take longer.

The results of both investigations will be made public as soon as possible without interfering with the legal process, Pace pledged.

"Regardless of the outcome of these investigations, 99.9 percent of the servicemen and service women are doing what we expect them to do," he said.

Haditha, about 140 miles northwest of Baghdad, has been plagued by insurgents.

On Nov. 19, a bomb rocked a military convoy, killing a Marine.

Residents said Marines then went into nearby houses and shot members of two families, including a 3-year-old girl.

At first, the U.S. military described what happened as an ambush on a joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol, with a roadside bombing and subsequent firefight killing 15 civilians, eight insurgents and a Marine.

The statement said the 15 civilians were killed by the blast, a claim the residents strongly denied.

GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who was an Air Force lawyer and is in the Air Force Reserves today, termed the allegations "unnerving" but said Sunday that "if it is true that our Marines killed innocent civilians, noncombatants, out of revenge, they will be severely dealt with."

end quotes

It sounds like this BUSHCO Pace and the Iraqi leader are on quite different pages, here ...

If they are even in the same book, at all ....

And as to the U.S. military on Thursday ordering that the 150,000 coalition troops in Iraq, including 130,000 Americans, get special training in ethics and "the values that separate us from our enemies" ....

IF INDEED WE WERE ....

As he implies ....

"A nation that stands on the values we hold dear ......"

THERE WOULD BE NO NEED FOR THIS "SPECIAL TRAINING" ....

IN THE FIRST PLACE ....

IN ETHICS ....

AND "THE VALUES THAT SEPARATE US FROM OUR ENEMIES" ....

WHO WE ARE CLEARLY INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM, RIGHT NOW ...

According to this BUSHCO Pace ....

Since we now need SPECIAL TRAINING ....

TO RECTIFY THAT OBVIOUS PROBLEM ....

And all this perversion and other crap of the BUSHCOS that is going on in IRAQINAM ....

NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED ....

And so ...

Because if we really did have values that separate us from our alleged enemies ...

Those values would have prevented what has been going on in IRAQINAM .....

From having happened in the first place ...

And so .....

The admission of the need to have this special training .....

Is an admission of the underlying problem ...

Which is that as a nation ...

WE HAVE NO VALUES THAT SEPARATE US FROM ANYONE ....

And we clearly lack ethics ...

Since SPECIAL TRAINING is now needed to teach ethics to OUR military .....

Long after the fact .....

Since we have now been in IRAQINAM since 2003 ...

Based on George W. Bush's very unethical lies ....

And so ....

And as to "CON-JOB CONNIE'S" DRIVEL about how hard it is to fight a guerilla war .....

If she had known anything at all other than how to suck up to George W. Bush when she was the alleged NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR to the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ...

She would have known this about guerilla wars ....

Since the American REVOLUTION was fought that way ...

For that reason ...

And so ...

[Livyjr]

"Defying Spitzer juggernaut, Suozzi soldiers on" 
 
By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press
Last updated: 11:36 a.m., Monday, May 29, 2006

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- When Eliot Spitzer arrives here Tuesday to claim the endorsement of the state Democratic convention, it will be just one stop on what has so far been a glide path to the party's nomination for governor.
 
But for his primary opponent, Tom Suozzi, the Buffalo gathering will be just the latest repudiation in his effort to transform the Spitzer coronation into something resembling a real race.

Three months after announcing his underdog candidacy, Suozzi, the Nassau County executive, remains little more than a speed bump beneath the Spitzer juggernaut.

http://www.tomsuozzi.com

end quotes

For those of us who live upstate ...

It will be really, really bad ...

If Eliot Spitzer ...

WHO IS OH SO VERY SOFT ....

ON GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION ....

Wins ...

And so .....

And in the interests of fairness and balance in OUR American politics of today ....

For anyone out there who might be interested in aiding or assisting the candidacy of UNDERDOG Tom Suozzi to be the next governor of the State of New York ....

We have ....

From that CAMPAIGN ...

As follows .....

There are just 3 days left until our Summertime Volunteer and Supporter Rally on Tuesday, June 6th at 7:00pm, at the Cradle of Aviation Musuem in Garden City, Nassau County.

As you know, we have a big task in front of us, as we run full speed ahead for Governor to fight high property taxes, help troubled schools, and create more jobs across New York State.

On that evening, we will be giving you the materials and the information you need to get me on the ballot!

You will also meet the team of fantastic people who, like you, are ready to work to "Fix Albany."

Again, please join my team and me on Tuesday, June 6th at 7:00pm, at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, Nassau County.

To RSVP (please do) and for more information please call (516) 676-4043.

http://www.tomsuozzi.com

[Livyjr]

And since we are on the subject of politics ....

What with elections facing us this fall ....

"Third parties assign support - Democrats Spitzer, Clinton and Republican Pirro all gain key endorsements Saturday"

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

First published: Sunday, June 4, 2006

COLONIE -- Gubernatorial front-runner Eliot Spitzer and U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, both Democrats, and Republican Jeanine Pirro will all run on three ballot lines this fall after receiving the support of key third parties Saturday.

Spitzer, the state attorney general, and Clinton received the state Independence Party's nod and were then endorsed by the labor-backed Working Families Party.

For the two Democrats, who already enjoy big leads in public opinion polls, these lines could further increase their likely margins of victory come Election Day.

For Pirro, the state attorney general candidate many Republicans view as their best hope for a win in November, the Independence Party line could offer Democrats a place to support her that is more palatable than either the GOP or Conservative Party lines, which she received earlier this month.

Although both the Independence and Working Families parties selected their slates by majority votes Saturday, their respective conventions were not without drama.

A faction of Independence Party members abstained from voting to protest party leaders' efforts to sideline the organization's most controversial member -- Lenora Fulani -- whose past anti-Semitic statements led Spitzer and Clinton to threaten not to accept its line.

At the Working Families Party, there was a passionate debate over whether to back Jonathan Tasini, a Democrat running against Clinton on an anti-Iraq War platform, or forgo an endorsement altogether to protest the senator's "Yes" vote on the war and subsequent refusal to call for immediately withdrawing the troops.

In the end, both parties chose pragmatism over ideology -- a move that rankled some.

"You've just witnessed the disenfranchisement of the Independence Party," said Joe Ferris, an Independence member who lost his party's U.S. Senate endorsement to Clinton in a landslide vote at the Holiday Inn on Wolf Road.

"The party members will have no choice in November."

The Working Families Party gave Tasini 6.4 percent of its weighted vote to Clinton's 93.6 percent, but later approved a strong anti-war resolution by voice vote.

Working Families Party Executive Director Dan Cantor insisted the party was not being hypocritical.

"It's a complicated world," Cantor said.

"Our members are very unhappy about the war in Iraq, but we also have a lot of things our members are passionate about that Hillary Clinton is great on, like education."

Clinton was supposed to attend the Working Families Party convention at the Desmond hotel, but the inclement weather prevented her from flying, adviser Howard Wolfson said.

Tasini, who also did not receive enough support at the Democratic convention this past week to land a spot on the ballot, plans to petition his way into a primary with Clinton.

Tasini said he was unsurprised yet "sad" about the Working Families Party vote.

"This party is supposed to be an alternative to the Democratic Party," he said.

"Unfortunately, too many of the organizations that make up the Working Families Party are beholden to some of the very same powers that influence the Democratic Party in not good ways."

Both the Independence and Working Families parties endorsed Spitzer's running mate, Senate Minority Leader David Paterson, D-Harlem, for lieutenant governor and state Comptroller Alan Hevesi.

The Working Families Party also gave its line to Democratic attorney general front-runner Andrew Cuomo.

When it comes to the governor's race, at least, both parties acted with an eye toward self preservation by tapping a front-runner like Spitzer.

Their gubernatorial candidates need at least 50,000 votes for the parties to retain their ballot status for another four years.

A ballot line is power in New York, as it is one of the few states that allows parties to cross-endorse and lets candidates combine the votes they receive on each line -- a practice that can prove crucial in close elections.

This is the first time the Independence Party has cross-endorsed its entire slate of candidates since it was established in 1994.

Billionaire B. Thomas Golisano, a party co-founder who helped land its prominent ballot line -- Row C -- with his three gubernatorial runs, decided to forgo a fourth run this year.

Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, a Republican who is running for governor, also sought the Independence Party line Saturday, but was rebuffed, receiving only 3 percent of the party's weighted vote to Spitzer's 81 percent.

Clinton and Spitzer accepted the Independence Party nomination only after its leaders heeded their call to sideline Fulani because of anti-Semitic statements she made in 1989 but has repeatedly refused to repudiate.

Fulani and her supporters abstained from voting, and called the party's convention "undemocratic."

Spitzer ran into difficulty Saturday when he tried to explain why he ran for re-election for attorney general in 2002 with the Independence Party's support, despite the fact that Fulani was a significant presence in the organization, but would not so do this year unless her role was was diminished.

Spitzer maintained Fulani's anti-Semitic comments "had not come to everybody's attention" in 2002, despite the fact that Clinton had refused to seek the party's support when she first ran for the U.S. Senate in 2000 specifically because of Fulani's presence.

"I honestly don't remember what the dynamic was," Spitzer said.

"The party came to me and said they would be proud to have me on their line, and I accepted ..."

"This time, when we focused on the issue, I said: I will not do so unless she's been removed."

Clinton did not attend the Independence Party convention.

In prepared remarks read by Watertown Mayor Jeff Graham, who ran against Clinton for the U.S. Senate in 2000 on the Independence line, she praised the party for "taking real and decisive steps to reject anti-Semitism and extremism" within its ranks.

Some in Fulani's camp found Clinton's comment disingenuous, noting they believe she attacked Fulani in 2000 because she had little chance at landing the line over Graham and wanted to diminish him as an opponent.

Fulani on Saturday said she believed Spitzer and Clinton inappropriately intervened in the party's business.

She also maintained that her controversial statements made over a decade ago "has absolutely nothing whatsoever" to do with the party and its nominating process.

The uproar over Fulani is a result of her statement that Jews "function as mass murderers of people of color" and "had to sell their souls" to acquire Israel.

She has refused to disavow or clarify the comments she has denied being anti-Semitic and noted that several of her friends are Jewish.

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

[Livyjr]

And since we are on the subject of politics ....

What with elections facing us this fall ....

"For now, Pataki eyes midterm - Governor tells GOP crowd he has not decided on presidential run"

Associated Press
First published: Sunday, June 4, 2006

CONWAY, S.C. -- New York Gov. George Pataki told the partisan crowd at the annual GOP Elephant Stampede Bog-off just what they wanted to hear Friday night.

"We are two different parties with different points of view," the Republican Pataki said of Democrats.

"We think every day is the Fourth of July, and they think every day is April 15 tax day."

Pataki said he came to the event to encourage voters to cast ballots for Republicans.

But South Carolina also is trying to hold a first-in-the-South presidential primary in 2008 and has seen a number of possible Oval Office hopefuls from both parties hit chicken dinners and county conventions in the past year.

"Come November, I know I will sit down with my wife and our kids and talk about the future," Pataki said.

"I certainly haven't made any decisions at this point."

Instead, Pataki wants to concentrate on the midterm elections.

"There are a lot of people talking about 2008 and looking at 2008, but we have to focus on November of 2006."

"We can't just ignore very important elections."

"We have to make sure Republicans maintain control of the House and the Senate and do our best to see as many Republican governors elected as possible," he said.

Pataki also talked about his record in New York, saying he turned the state around after Democratic governors had brought it down.

He also talked about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"Where the towers stood we are going to have a very moving memorial," Pataki said.

"We will tell the story of 9/11, but right beside it we are going to build a new tower."

end quotes

George Pataki is a PURE POLITICIAN ....

Which means that he can slap himself on the back ...

Going 240 .....

As if he deserved the praise ....

But the truth of the matter ...

Is that thanks to George Pataki ....

New York State has a corrupt government ...

That is no better ...

And in a lot of ways is worse ...

Than anything DEMOCRAT Mario Cuomo gave us ....

And I am no fan of Mario Cuomo...

And so ....

But American politics is the art of throwing as much BULL **** as far as you can ...

As fast as you can ...

And in that aspect of American politics ...

Pataki excels ....

And so .....

[Livyjr]

"General vows full probe into Iraqi deaths" 
 
By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press
Last updated: 5:15 p.m., Sunday, June 4, 2006

In some countries in the region with sizable Muslim populations, the war in Iraq has soured attitudes toward the U.S.

The killings in Haditha have contributed to that, leading the U.S. military on Thursday to order that the 150,000 coalition troops in Iraq, including 130,000 Americans, get special training in ethics and "the values that separate us from our enemies."

The additional instruction, Pace said, "should provide comfort to those looking to see if we are we a nation that stands on the values we hold dear."

end quotes

And as to the U.S. military on Thursday ordering that the 150,000 coalition troops in Iraq, including 130,000 Americans, get special training in ethics and "the values that separate us from our enemies" ....

IF INDEED WE WERE ....

As he implies ....

"A nation that stands on the values we hold dear ......"

THERE WOULD BE NO NEED FOR THIS "SPECIAL TRAINING" ....

IN THE FIRST PLACE ....

IN ETHICS ....

AND "THE VALUES THAT SEPARATE US FROM OUR ENEMIES" ....

WHO WE ARE CLEARLY INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM, RIGHT NOW ...

According to this BUSHCO Pace ....

Since we now need SPECIAL TRAINING ....

TO RECTIFY THAT OBVIOUS PROBLEM ....

And all this perversion and other crap of the BUSHCOS that is going on in IRAQINAM ....

NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED ....

And so ...

Because if we really did have values that separate us from our alleged enemies ...

Those values would have prevented what has been going on in IRAQINAM .....

From having happened in the first place ...

And so .....

The admission of the need to have this special training .....

Is an admission of the underlying problem ...

Which is that as a nation ...

WE HAVE NO VALUES THAT SEPARATE US FROM ANYONE ....

And we clearly lack ethics ...

Since SPECIAL TRAINING is now needed to teach ethics to OUR military .....

Long after the fact .....

Since we have now been in IRAQINAM since 2003 ...

Based on George W. Bush's very unethical lies ....

And so ....

"Witnesses dispute Haditha report - No investigation followed alleged killings of 24 civilians by Marines"

By THOMAS E. RICKS, Washington Post
First published: Sunday, June 4, 2006

At 5 p.m. Nov. 19, near the end of one of the most violent days the Marine Corps had experienced in the Upper Euphrates Valley, a call went out for trucks to collect the bodies of 24 Iraqi civilians.

The unit that arrived in the farming town of Haditha found babies, women and children, shot in the head and chest.

An old man in a wheelchair had been shot nine times.

A group of girls, ages 1 to 14, lay dead.

Everyone had been killed by gunfire, according to death certificates issued later.

The next day, Capt. Jeffrey S. Pool, a Marine spokesman in Iraq, released a terse statement:

Fifteen Iraqis "were killed yesterday from the blast of a roadside bomb in Haditha."

"Immediately after the bombing, gunmen attacked the convoy with small-arms fire."

"Iraqi army soldiers and Marines returned fire, killing eight insurgents and wounding another."

Despite what Marine witnesses saw when they arrived, that official version has been allowed to stand for six months.

Who lied about the killings, who knew the truth and what, if anything, they did about it is at the core of one of the potentially most embarrassing and damaging events of the Iraq war, one that some say may surpass the detainee abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib prison.

The Marine Corps is saying only that it would be inappropriate to comment while investigations are under way.

But since that Saturday afternoon in November, evidence has been accumulating steadily that the official version was wrong and misleading, and several top officials suspect what happened in Haditha went beyond the usual daily violence in Iraq.

In January, a top military official arrived in Iraq who would play a key role in the case: Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, the new No. 2 military officer in the country.

He is an unusual general in today's Army, with none of the "good old boy" persona seen in many other top commanders.

He had praised an article by a British officer that was sharply critical of U.S. officers in Iraq for using tactics that alienated the population.

He wanted U.S. forces to operate differently than they had been doing.

Not long after Chiarelli arrived in Baghdad, an Iraqi journalism student gave an Iraqi human rights group a video he had taken in Haditha the day after the incident.

It showed the scene at the local morgue and the damage in the houses where the killings took place.

The video reached Time magazine, whose reporters began questioning U.S. military officials.

Pool, the Marine captain, sent the reporters a dismissive e-mail saying that they were falling for al-Qaida propaganda, the magazine said recently.

"I cannot believe you're buying any of this," he wrote.

Pool declined last week to comment on any aspect of the Haditha incident.

But Army Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a more senior spokesman in Baghdad, notified Chiarelli of the questions.

The general's response to his public affairs office was short:

Just brief the Time magazine reporter on the military investigation into the incident that Chiarelli assumed had been conducted.

The surprising word came back:

There had been no investigation.

Chiarelli told subordinates in early February he was amazed by that response, according to an Army officer in Iraq.

He directed that an inquiry commence as soon as possible.

He wanted to know what had happened in Haditha, and also why no investigation had begun.

Army Col. Gregory Watt was tapped to start an investigation and by March 9, he told Chiarelli that he had reached two conclusions, according to an Army officer in Iraq.

One was that death certificates showed that the 24 Iraqis who died that day -- the 15 the Marines said had died in the bomb blast and others they said were insurgents -- had been killed by gunshot rather than a bomb, as the official statement had said.

The other was that the Marine Corps had not investigated the deaths, as is the U.S. military's typical procedure in Iraq, particularly when so many civilians are involved.

Individually, either finding would have been disturbing.

Together, they were stunning.

On March 10, the findings were given to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Gen. Peter Pace, the first Marine ever to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Rumsfeld told aides that the case promised to be a major problem.

He called it "really, really bad -- as bad or worse than Abu Ghraib," recalled one Pentagon official.

On March 11, President Bush was informed, according to the White House.

At the Marine Corps headquarters, there was "genuine surprise at high levels," said an Army officer who has been working with the Marine Corps on the case.

"It caught a lot of people off guard."

The Marine Corps still has not corrected its Nov. 20 statement asserting that the Iraqi civilians were killed in a bomb blast.

[Livyjr]

And the economy ....

"Economy may be heading for less sunny days"

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer
Sun Jun 4, 12:37 PM ET

WASHINGTON - After years of talking about the Goldilocks economy — not too hot and not too cold — all of a sudden it appears the little rascal just got mugged by the three bears.

While the economy began the year growing at a strong pace, activity seems to have hit the skids in the spring.

Factory orders fell in April.

The five-year housing boom is cooling, with home sales falling and price gains slowing.

In the biggest shocker of all, the government reported Friday that businesses created just 75,000 new jobs in May — 100,000 fewer than expected.

If the onslaught of weaker economic data was not bad enough, there also are signs that long-dormant inflation may be starting to be a problem, and not just in the pain from $3 per gallon gasoline.

The relentless rise in crude oil to above $70 per barrel seems to be starting to trigger price problems outside of energy.

The core rate of inflation, excluding food and energy, is now above the 2 percent upper limit favored by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues.

Slowing economic growth and rising inflation raise the specter of stagflation.

This dreaded combination of economic stagnation and inflation had the country in its grips for more than a decade through the 1970s and early 1980s, bringing grief to the presidencies of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.

In perhaps the most ominous worry of all, some economists see parallels between May 2006 and May 2000.

Six years ago, an unexpectedly weak payroll number was dismissed as a fluke.

Yet in hindsight, it was the start of a slide that culminated in a recession the next year that ended the longest economic expansion in U.S. history.

While economists hope this year's slowdown will have a more benign ending, they are busily marking down their economic forecasts based on the recent weaker-than-expected numbers.

The overall economy grew at an annual rate of 5.3 percent in the January-March quarter.

Economists foresee a rate of about 2.5 percent in the current April-June quarter, down a full percentage point from estimates for these three months.

"We are starting to see evidence that the economy is slowing pretty abruptly," said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's in New York.

"The question is will there be enough strength in other areas to offset the slowdown in consumer spending and housing."

All of this comes at an inopportune time for President Bush, who last week nominated Goldman Sachs chief executive Henry Paulson Jr. to replace John Snow as treasury secretary.

The White House hopes the selection of a Wall Street superstar can help lift Republicans' sagging poll numbers before the November elections, a goal that a weakening economy could thwart.

Higher gasoline prices and weaker job growth already have affected consumer confidence, which fell in May by the steepest amount since last fall's hurricanes.

The worry is that overall consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of total economic activity, will slow.

U.S. automakers already are feeling the pinch, reporting big declines in May auto sales.

Many retail chains did post good sales in May.

But the largest retailer, Wal-Mart, had results that failed to meet expectations, reflecting the squeeze its lower-income customers are feeling from gas prices.

Still, analysts say they do not see the situation in such dire terms that it means the country is headed for a recession.

In some ways, the slower growth is just what the Fed has sought with its string of 16 interest rate increases over the past two years.

The higher borrowing costs were designed to slow economic activity enough to keep inflation under control.

With signs of the slowdown increasing, the Fed is likely to call a halt to further rate increases, especially if the recent jump in inflation proves temporary.

Many economists also dismiss worries the current slowdown could signal that Fed has overdone the credit tightening, raising prospects of a rougher outcome rather than the soft-landing aimed for.

"When the economy slows, it is not surprising that at points we feel like we are slowing too much," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com.

"It is very tricky to get the economy to throttle back in a smooth, clock-like way."

"The current situation is not unusual."
___

EDITOR'S NOTE — Martin Crutsinger has covered economic issues in Washington for The Associated Press since 1984.

[Livyjr]

And up from some subterranean lair ....

Where they have been keeping him hidden away from view ....

Comes Karl Rove ...

And Karl just might be on to something here ....

But then ...

Karl is .....

THE ARCHITECT .....

And so ....

He would be ....

Wouldn't he?

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

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

"People like this president," Rove said.

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

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

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

I think Karl is just having some sport with us, here ...

Telling us how good the economy is ...

As if we never went out and bought something twice in a row ...

And so, had a basis for comparison our own selves ....

"Stocks slide as oil climbs on Iran worries"

By CHRISTOPHER WANG, Associated Press
Last updated: 2:35 p.m., Monday, June 5, 2006

NEW YORK -- Oil supply jitters sent stocks skidding Monday after Iran's threat to cut its petroleum exports pushed crude prices to near $73 a barrel.

The Dow Jones industrial average slid 140 points as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's fresh warnings on inflation added to investors' worries.

Iran warned it would curtail distribution if Western nations punish or attack the country over its nuclear arms program, unnerving a market already concerned that severe hurricane activity could devastate Gulf Coast refineries again this summer.

A barrel of light crude gained 62 cents to $72.95 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Bernanke told an international monetary conference that while the economy is slowing down, due in part to energy costs, inflation remains a concern and the Fed would remain vigilant on rates.

That in turn has Wall Street worried about higher rates in a slowing economy -- which would clamp down on any chances for stocks to move higher.

"It looks like a very mixed market; even within sectors, everything is mixed," said Steve Neimeth, senior vice president and portfolio manager at AIG SunAmerica.

"With continued evidence that the economy is slowing and higher risk due to oil prices, the market has become increasingly skittish."

In midafternoon trading, the Dow plunged 140.87, or 1.25 percent, to 11,107.00.

The Dow is about 4 percent off its six-year high of 11,642.98, reached May 10.

Broader stock indicators also fell.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 14.97, or 1.16 percent, at 1,273.25; the Nasdaq composite index slumped 36.66, or 1.65 percent, to 2,182.75, falling into negative territory for 2006.

Bonds were flat after last week's rally, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note steady at 5 percent from late Friday.

The U.S. dollar was little changed against other major currencies; gold prices returned to about $645 an ounce.

Overseas stock markets saw persistent weakness from recent worries about slowing global demand.

Japan's Nikkei stock average slumped 0.77 percent; Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.04 percent, Germany's DAX index plunged 1.16 percent and France's CAC-40 was lower by 0.88 percent.

In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said its services index for May dropped 2.9 points to 60.1, nearly in line with estimates for a reading of 60.

However, the prices paid component surged 7 points to 77.5, stirring fears about inflation.

Although economists had predicted a dip in the ISM index, the slower growth built on concerns about whether the economy was moderating too quickly.

On Friday, a sharply larger-than-forecast slide in monthly job growth left investors wondering if the economy was headed for a steep dropoff.

Meanwhile, persistently high oil and gasoline prices put more strain on consumers as lending rates continue rising and home values stabilize, the combination of which is feared to trigger a downturn.

Consumer confidence readings later this month will be a critical aspect of the economic picture, said Scott Fullman, chief investment strategist for Hapoalim Securities USA.

"This concern over oil is really the driving force of the market," Fullman said.

"We're coming into vacation season."

"(Energy prices) are going to play an awful lot on how consumers will be spending their money this summer."

Oil-related stocks sold off earlier gains despite the boost in crude prices.

Chevron Corp. dropped $1.40 to $59.35, ConocoPhillips fell $1.97 to $62.54 and Dow Jones industrial Exxon Mobil Corp. fell $1.60 to $60.05.

Drilling services firm Halliburton Co. meanwhile declined $2.53 to $74.25.

Harrah's Entertainment Inc. stumbled after it last week lost a bid to build a new casino resort in Singapore to rival Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Harrah's fell $1.15 to $75.25, and Las Vegas Sands slid $1.35 to $69.25.

Declining issues outpaced advancers by almost 4 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume of 1.63 billion shares trailed the 1.69 billion shares changing hands at the same point Friday.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies tumbled 23.53, or 3.19 percent, to 713.92.

------

On the Net:

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

[Livyjr]

And from the economy ...

Let's go take a look at what "GOD'S OWN" are doing ....

Up here in REPUBLICAN George Pataki's corrupt EMPIRE ....

Of New York ....

"State GOP head asks Weld to step aside - Steve Minarik throws his support to John Faso in governor's race, urges Bill Weld to drop primary fight"

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

Last updated: 4:17 p.m., Monday, June 5, 2006

ALBANY -- State Republican Chairman Stephen Minarik confirmed Monday he has asked his one-time personal favorite in the governor's race, former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, to drop out of the GOP primary in the "name of party unity.''

Minarik said he will throw his support behind John Faso, who defeated Weld in a landslide at the Republican nominating convention last week to become the party's designated candidate for governor.

Minarik once questioned Faso's fund raising prowess, flatly declared the former Assembly minority leader "can't win'' the governor's race, and derided Faso as being in "la-la land'' for thinking otherwise.

Following Weld's big loss to Faso at the convention, where Faso took 61 percent of the vote despite behind-the-scenes efforts on Weld's behalf by Minarik and Gov. George Pataki, Minarik now says he'll do whatever is necessary to help Faso win.

"It's never hard to put the interests of the party first,'' Minarik said.

"I've always done that my entire existence."

"My feelings about primaries -- I've been straightforward about it -- I think it would be destructive and take away from raising money.''

"John worked very hard,'' Minarik continued.

"He deserves the opportunity to have a straight shot at Eliot Spitzer.''

Spitzer, the state attorney general, became the Democratic Party's designated candidate for governor at its convention last week in Buffalo.

He has a wide lead over all potential opponents in public opinion polls, including Faso, Weld and Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, a Democrat who is mounting a longshot primary challenge.

Faso issued a statement Monday thanking Minarik for his "encouragement.''

Minarik said he has informed Weld of his decision, as well as Pataki and state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, who had been holding out hope for a Weld/Faso fusion ticket -- a concept both candidates rejected.

Asked how Weld reacted to the call to end his campaign, Minarik replied:

"I would say he's taking it under consideration.''

There was no immediate response from the Weld camp on whether he would end his bid to be only the second man in history to be elected governor of two states (the first was Sam Houston, who governed Tennessee and Texas).

On Sunday, as the state GOP's eight regional vice chairmen planned a meeting to discuss asking Weld to leave the race, Weld's advisors insisted he would not heed such a call and said the latest developments might even reinforce his "outsider'' aura with voters.

Weld's backers recalled that he won his first term in Massachusetts without party support in 1990.

In fact, he lost the state party convention then, too, and refused to bow to the state GOP chair's request that he drop out of the race.

Ulster County GOP Chairman Peter Savago, who supported Weld at the convention last Thursday, said he talked to Weld Sunday and got the feeling that Weld was "inclined'' to quit the race in the interest of being a "team player.''

Savago said it was clear Faso worked hard in the weeks leading up the election, personally calling many of the GOP convention delegates who he knows well after 16 years in the Assembly and running for state comptroller in 2002.

As a newcomer to New York politics, Weld relied largely on intermediaries to work on delegates for him.

In his convention speech, Weld talked about climbing Mt. Marcy, the highest peak in the Adirondacks, one week before the convention -- an effort that kept him away from the political game for at least 9.5 hours.

But Savago didn't blame Weld alone for his poor showing at the GOP convention.

"I think a lot of people let him down,'' Savago said.

Savago didn't name names.

But Weld supporters were disappointed that Pataki never publicly endorsed Weld as his preferred successor.

Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a longtime friend and business associate of Weld's who encouraged him to run for governor in New York, also shied away from Weld as his party support waned.

Last December, Weld defeated Faso in a straw poll of county chairs, but a number of influential chairs either abstained or didn't show up to vote.

By mid-January, Weld has raised more money than Faso, with $1.8 million on hand to Faso's $932,739.

Weld backers argued that Faso is too conservative to be viable in Democrat-dominated New York.

But Weld also has the baggage of Decker College, a Kentucky trade school he once headed that is now bankrupt and under investigation by the FBI for fraud.

end quotes

"It's never hard to put the interests of the REPUBLIC and the CONSTITUTION first,'' Livyjr said.

"I've done that my entire life."

[Livyjr]

And if anyone is looking for a "fixer-upper" castle ....

"A majestic folly- Not your average abode, Helderberg Castle is in market for a new ruler"

By MARC PARRY, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Monday, June 5, 2006

NEW SCOTLAND -- The romance between a Manhattan lawyer and her lilac-ringed castle caught fire with a headline.

Castle Seeks Knight in Shining Armor.

When she bought it, Elizabeth Smith hoped to share the cliff-top Albany County estate with loved ones.

But her life over the last decade hasn't followed that script.

Now, the castle may be ready for a new knight.

If you're the right sort of person, willing to cut the right-size check, the keys to the castle could be yours.

"It's a little bit of Provence, and a little bit of Stonehenge and a little bit of 'The Hobbit,' " Smith said.

"All of which appeal to me."

History is the appeal of this complex near New Scotland's Thacher Park, as much as its crooked windowpanes, crumbling walls, or brittle pillars.

Its story begins with Bouck White.

White was a newspaperman, pastor of the "Church of the Social Revolution," radical flag burner, Harvard graduate, author and potter.

He was jailed in 1914 for interrupting services at Fifth Avenue Baptist Church -- John D. Rockefeller's church -- to hold what The New York Times called a joint debate with the pastor "as to the merits of Mr. Rockefeller."

He was also, by some accounts, a fraud.

His refined French wife accused him of posing as a wealthy American during their brief courtship.

He brought her to live in his "summer estate," which turned out to be a tumbledown shack outside Marlboro, north of Newburgh.

And she could forget children.

He told her intellectuals should make books, not kids.

Another headline, this from the front page of The New York Times in 1921, sums up the direction things took from there.

Bouck White Tarred and Feathered on Wife's Complaint.

The tarred-and-feathered anecdote was one of the first to come up on a recent tour of the castle with Willard Osterhout, president of the New Scotland Historical Association.

He ran through the highlights of a life almost as colorful as the panoramic view from the castle's tower.

Which is one of the few parts that still looks as it did in White's day, thanks to the changes of post-White owners and the cyclical freeze-and-thaw that splinters its rocks.

"Every winter, something else falls down," Osterhout said.

"When do you stop trying to maintain it?"

A fire in the 1940s didn't help.

That reduced what was White's home and workshop, known as the House of the Crooked Windows for its concrete-fastened panes of jagged glass, to Romelike ruins.

Now a stone staircase leads to a second floor that doesn't exist.

A sign anchored to the third step by two rocks warns visitors to stay off.

"Castle is crumbling," the sign says.

"Each footstep makes it worse."

White and two helpers built the limestone castle in the 1930s, his marriage a memory by then.

He called it Federalberg, a nod to "his belief in a society of cities instead of nations," according to a biographical write-up about White.

The Helderberg Castle is the name that's stuck, though.

Osterhout played there as a kid.

Now 66 and a gray-haired retiree, the place still befuddles him.

He pointed to a deep cleft between rocks where, the story goes, White slept his first year living on the cliff.

He stuck his hands in his pockets, shook his head, and let out a laugh.

"What would possess a man to come here and build something like this by hand?" said Osterhout, surveying the castle through mirrored shades.

"What normal person?"

"To me, that's a bit eccentric."

He moved on to the tower.

Its cement sign, like so much of this place, looks about to fall down.

Chapel of the American Dream, the writing says.

World League of Cities.

"That's what I think he was trying to do, have a city-state here," Osterhout said.

"But that never came to pass, naturally."

However you judge the man, what's left of his castle isn't worth much.

At least by castle standards.

Smith listed it for sale at $324,999 last year.

The now-expired posting described her Tudor-meets-"Lord-of-the-Rings"-style home, the only somewhat modern building on the grounds, as a "partially renovated old country cottage."

The town, meanwhile, valued the property at $203,600 in this year's reassessment.

The complex of buildings might have a tower on a cliff, and it might sit on Castle Road, but the castle name locals have called it for years "is almost a myth," Town Assessor Julie Nooney said.

Smith is more blunt: "There's no castle."

"And there never was a castle."

"... Bouck White was a radical socialist and would not have called the property a hierarchical name."

Taking care of the castle is pretty much like taking care of any house, Smith said.

Except for episodes like the "trespasser" incident, when she learned a guy had created a whole Web site about her castle, with pictures.

And except for accommodating all the the sightseers, some with memories of the castle's post-White period as a party hot spot.

"I meet a lot of people who tell me they have vomited at my property," said Smith, who is originally from Loudonville.

"That's exactly what they tell me."

Nooney told the Times Union that Smith's castle is a unique property, from an assessment standpoint.

"You don't have any standards or norms to really go by," she said, pulling out the castle's file in her office at New Scotland Town Hall.

"It's not like we have five or six castles being sold anywhere."

Smith isn't actively marketing the castle right now.

But if someone who would respect it -- an artist or historian, say -- came along with a good offer, she would sell.

She's also toying with the idea of posting it with other historic properties for sale on eBay.

She laughs when asked to name a price, though, saying only that the $324,999 listing was "on the low side."

As for White, he never did find another wife.

The "Hermit of the Helderbergs" ended up settling down to an austere life sustained by the income from his crude pottery.

"Present civilization," the biographical sketch quotes him as concluding, was "taking the guts out of its women."

A cerebral hemorrhage forced him to give up the castle in 1943.

He moved into the Home for Aged Men in Menands.

Eight years later, White died.

His ashes were buried in a rock fissure at the castle.

Marc Parry can be reached at 454-5057 or by e-mail at mparry@timesunion.com.

To learn more

The New Scotland Historical Association will present an exhibit about Bouck White and his castle in August at the Altamont Fair.

[Livyjr]

Amd from run-down castles .....

It's back to politics, we go ....

And let us hope ....

"Political shift in the wind if Democrats take House - Some of Bush's biggest foes could soon have a big say in his agenda"

By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press
First published: Sunday, June 4, 2006

WASHINGTON -- If the chips fall right for Democrats and their party seizes control of the House, President Bush's agenda on Capitol Hill would fall into the hands of some of his most dogged opponents.

It's not just would-be Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, but a boatload of Democrats newly running committees who would determine what legislation gets debated and which programs and agencies get scrutiny.

So who are the chairmen-to-be?

A Polish-American lawyer with a reputation for making witnesses quiver.

A die-hard liberal from New York's Harlem with 35 years in the House.

A free-spending progressive from Wausau, Wis.

One of the few remaining "Watergate babies" swept into Congress in 1974.

For that to happen, Democrats would need help from voters in November: Right now, Republicans hold 231 of the 435 seats in the House, with 201 Democrats and one independent.

Two seats are vacant.

As for those prospective Democratic chairmen, the group is overwhelmingly liberal-leaning.

Only two of 20 earned grades of less than 90 percent on last year's voting records from the liberal Americans for Democratic Action interest group.

Half had perfect scores of 100 from the ADA -- or would have had it not been for missed votes.

The lawyer is Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, the dean of the House and the once and maybe future chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

He is a staunch ally of the auto industry and a fearsome inquisitor of bureaucrats and CEOs alike.

Dingell, 79, has lost a step in recent years but is among the most respected Democrats.

The liberal with the distinct New York accent is Rep. Charles Rangel, poised to grab the helm of the Ways and Means Committee, which has a sweeping portfolio: taxes, trade, Social Security, Medicare and welfare.

He has battled Bush's tax cuts every step of the way, opposed the 1996 overhaul of welfare laws, opposed the North American and Central American free trade accords and pushed for a more generous Medicare prescription drug benefit.

Rep. David Obey, a liberal from Wisconsin, is eager to retake the gavel of the powerful Appropriations Committee, which holds the reins on government spending.

He briefly led the committee in 1994 before the GOP landslide that year awarded control of Congress to Republicans.

Obey came to Washington at the height of the Vietnam War; ever since, he has been an ardent opponent of GOP efforts to clamp down of domestic agency budgets that Congress approves each year.

Rep. George Miller of California is one of three still-serving members of the huge class of 1974 that swamped Congress after the Watergate scandal.

He is in line to head the Education and the Workforce Committee; he was chairman of the Resources Committee in the early 1990s when it was the Natural Resources Committee.

Miller also is an unalloyed liberal, but he proved able to work with Bush in writing the 2002 No Child Left Behind education bill that is up for renewal next year.

For Republicans, the prospect of the House being led by a San Franciscan and so many left-leaning chairmen has supporters in business and Washington's K Street lobbying shops aghast.

The switch could mark the demise of Bush's tax cut agenda and would usher into power union allies such as Rangel and Miller.

"The whole issue agenda would change," said GOP lobbyist Jack Howard.

"All the businesses and trade associations would find themselves on defense."

The prospect of some of Congress' biggest liberals running committees probably will not be much of an issue in GOP fall campaigns, which typically focus more on local issues, said Carl Forti, spokesman for the National Republican Campaign Committee.

Former conservative Democratic Rep. Charles Stenholm of Texas says that regardless of any chairman's personal ideology, he would have to produce legislation that was middle of the road.

Even if Democrats win control of the House, it would almost certainly be by a narrow margin in which the balance of power would rest with moderate Democrats.

"There will be very little if any legislation that passes that is to the left of center or very far to the left of center," Stenholm said.

The responsibility for determining the floor schedule probably would fall to Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, who could advance to the majority leader's post from his current job of minority whip.

Hoyer and Pelosi fought a sometimes bitter race five years ago for a leadership post, but seem to have patched up their relationship.

In a potential power switch between the parties, more than an unrelenting string of liberal Democrats are positioned to take over committees.

Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota, who would run the Agriculture Committee, is anti-abortion and as pro-gun as practically anyone in the House.

Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri is a longtime hawk in line to lead the Armed Services Committee.

Black lawmakers would run major committees.

Besides Rangel, there is Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, in line for the top spot on the Judiciary Committee; Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi on the Homeland Security Committee; and Rep. Alcee Hastings of Florida at the Intelligence Committee.

Conyers has been accused by former aides of misusing his office by turning them into baby sitters for his children.

He is the prime sponsor of a resolution that seeks to investigate grounds for possible impeachment of Bush over the war in Iraq.

Impeachment is hardly the message Democrats want to take to the swing voters expected to decide the outcome of the election.

"Democrats are not about impeachment," Pelosi said last month on NBC's "Meet The Press."

Hastings, a charismatic former federal judge, was impeached and removed from the bench in 1989 for fabricating evidence that secured his acquittal in 1983 on bribery charges.

Republicans award chairmanships based on the evaluation of a leadership committee that takes into account leadership fealty, fundraising prowess and other factors.

Democrats would award would-be chairmanships strictly by seniority.

[Livyjr]

And from politics ....

We go to George W. Bush's IRAQINAM fiasco ....

Which is really just an extension of the inept and incompetent "politics" of George W. Bush ....

And so ....

Here's some more "George" for everyone to ponder this evening ....

While we think back on all this pap and drivel that George W. Bush has been trying to sell us .....

About how safe he has made OUR America ....

Which is not safe at all ...

And so ....

"Possible hush-up probed in Iraq - Whether U.S. personnel tried to hide or missed signs that civilian deaths were not accidental is now a major part of general's investigation"

By DAVID S. CLOUD and ERIC SCHMITT, New York Times<
First published: Saturday, June 3, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Marine commanders in Iraq learned within two days of the killings in Haditha in November that Iraqi civilians had died from gunfire, not a roadside bomb as initially reported, but the officers involved saw no reason to investigate further, according to a senior Marine officer.

The commanders have told investigators they did not view as unusual, in a combat environment, the discrepancies that emerged almost immediately in accounts about how the two dozen Iraqis died, and that they had no information at the time suggesting that any civilians had been killed deliberately.

But the handling of the episode by the senior Marine commanders in Haditha, and whether officers and enlisted personnel tried to cover up what happened or missed signs suggesting that the civilian killings were not accidental, has become a major element of the investigation by an Army general into the entire episode.

Officials have said that the investigation, while not yet complete, is likely to conclude that a small group of Marines carried out the unprovoked killings of two dozen civilians in the hours after a makeshift bomb killed a Marine.

A senior Marine general familiar with the investigation, which is being led by Maj. Gen. Eldon Bargewell of the Army, said in an interview that it had not yet established how high up the chain of command any culpability for the killings extended.

But he said there are strong suspicions that some officers knew that the Marine squad's version of events had enough holes and discrepancies that it should have been looked into more thoroughly.

The Marine general was granted anonymity, along with others who described the investigation, because he was not authorized to publicly discuss it.

On another controversial front, the Chicago Tribune reported that the U.S. military issued a forceful and unusually detailed denial of revived allegations that American soldiers had also wantonly killed 11 Iraqi civilians during a March 15 raid north of Baghdad.

The military said the investigation cleared U.S. forces of wrongdoing.

But it found that as many as 12 civilians had died as a result of "collateral damage" during the raid, nine more than the military had reported in its original account of the raid on a suspected insurgent hideout in the village of Ishaqi, 60 miles north of Baghdad.

Maj. Gen. William Caldwell IV, spokesman for Multi-National Force-Iraq, said in a statement issued from Baghdad that U.S. forces killed one suspected terrorist and captured another during the March 15 raid in the village of Ishaqi, about 60 miles north of Baghdad.

Allegations that U.S. forces executed a family during the raid then covered it up by directing an airstrike on their house "are absolutely false," Caldwell said.

In yet another incident, however, a group of Marines could face murder charges in the death of a civilian in Hamandiya in April and other charges for possibly attempting to cover up the killing.

In an exclusive interview with Knight Ridder on Friday, Hashim Ibrahim Awad's family said U.S. Marines dragged Awad from his home on April 26, killed him and then planted an AK-47 assault rifle and a shovel next to him to make him look like a terrorist.

Awad's friends said he told them that U.S. Marines had approached him several times, asking him to help them find who was planting explosives in this small village outside Baghdad.

Every time, Awad, in his 50s with a lame leg and bad eyesight, refused.

His family considered the job shameful.

-Zarqawi blasts Shiites

The leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, railed against Shiites in a four-hour-long audiotape harangue posted on the Internet on Friday, saying militias are raping women and killing Sunnis and the community must fight back.

The tape's authenticity could not be independently confirmed, but it was posted on a Web forum often used by al-Qaida in Iraq for messages and the voice resembled al-Zarqawi's on other tapes.

The recording emerged amid a surge in violent attacks in Iraq.

At least 100 Iraqis were reported killed since Sunday.

The Iraqi Health Ministry reported Friday that 657 civilians were killed between April 30 and May 21.

-handler avoids jail

At Fort Meade, Md., Army Sgt. Santos Cardona, a dog-handler convicted of assaulting an Iraqi prisoner at Abu Ghraib prison, was sentenced to three months of hard labor without confinement, a reduction in rank and a $7,200 fine -- but no time in prison.

Cardona, 32, of Fullerton, Calif., was the 11th soldier to be convicted of abuse stemming from the prison scandal.

The reduction in rank means that Cardona will no longer be a sergeant and his monthly base pay will drop from $2,496.60 to $2018.40.

[Livyjr]

When you have a Commander-in-chief who is a liar ....

Then right on down the chain of command from him ....

You would have a bunch more liars ....

Because the "example" of leadership comes from the top down ....

And where the top man's example is that the harder right should always be sacrificed for the easier wrong ....

Well ...

Why should those further on down the chain-of-command buck the system?

And so ....

"Haditha inquiry cites scrutiny lapse"

By THOMAS E. RICKS, Washington Post
First published: Thursday, June 1, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. military investigation of how Marine commanders handled the reporting of events in the Iraqi town of Haditha last November, where troops allegedly killed 24 Iraqi civilians, will conclude that some officers gave false information to their superiors, who then failed to adequately scrutinize reports that should have caught their attention, an Army official said Wednesday.

The three-month probe, led by Army Maj. Gen. Eldon Bargewell, also is expected to call for changes in how U.S. troops are trained for duty in Iraq, the official said.

Even before the final report is delivered, Army Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, is expected to order today that all U.S. and allied troops in Iraq undergo new "core values" training in how to operate professionally and humanely.

In anticipation of the Bargewell report, the Marine Corps has placed on hold its plan to nominate Maj. Gen. Stephen Johnson, who was the top Marine in Iraq when the Haditha incident occurred, for promotion to lieutenant general, a senior Defense official said.

That decision reflects concern that the report may conclude that leadership failures occurred at senior levels in Iraq.

President Bush, in his first public comment on the Haditha incident, said Wednesday that if an investigation finds evidence of wrongdoing, those involved will be punished.

Bargewell has pursued two lines of investigation: not only whether falsehoods were passed up the chain of command, but also whether senior Marine commanders were derelict in their duty to monitor the actions of subordinates.

The inquiry is expected to conclude by the end of this week, the official added.

He said there were multiple failures but declined to say whether he would characterize it as a "cover-up" as alleged recently by Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., a former Marine.

Troops head to Basra

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered thousands of troops to Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, to disarm the Shiite Muslim militias that have taken control there.

Al-Maliki said Iraq's 10th Army Division would set up checkpoints and round up illegal weapons from militias, gangs and tribes that had seized control in Basra.

He said the state of emergency would last a month.

Regret for shootings

U.S. officials expressed regret that American troops shot two Iraqi women -- one pregnant -- whose car entered a restricted area north of Baghdad.

Troops shot the women, the Los Angeles Times reported, as their car drove into a prohibited area near an observation post.

According to a military statement, the area was clearly marked and troops attempted several auditory and visual warnings before shooting to disable their vehicle.

The military said it is investigating the shooting.

end quotes

If in fact there were leadership failures at senior levels in Iraq .....

And likely there were ....

It is because there are even worse leadership failures ....

Higher up the chain-of-command .....

Right on up into the White House in Washington, D.C. ....

Where the COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF sits ....

Not having a clue, of course ....

As to what he should do ...

To stop the mess he started ...

Over there in IRAQINAM ...

With his big mouth ...

And his puffed-up ego ....

And his lack of wits ......

And so ....

[Livyjr]

I think Karl Rove is just having some sport with us, here ...

Telling us how good the economy is ...

As if we never went out and bought something twice in a row ...

And so, had no basis for comparison our own selves ....

"Stocks slide as oil climbs on Iran worries" 
 
By CHRISTOPHER WANG, Associated Press
Last updated: 2:35 p.m., Monday, June 5, 2006

NEW YORK -- Oil supply jitters sent stocks skidding Monday after Iran's threat to cut its petroleum exports pushed crude prices to near $73 a barrel.

The Dow Jones industrial average slid 140 points as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's fresh warnings on inflation added to investors' worries.
 

"Economy dulls jobs growth - Rising costs leave companies cautious about hiring new workers"

By JEANNINE AVERSA, Associated Press
First published: Saturday, June 3, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Cautious employers added just 75,000 jobs in May, the fewest in seven months, in a fresh sign the national economy is losing momentum heading into summer.

Rising energy prices, higher borrowing costs and a cooling of the once red-hot housing market are the main forces shaping the slowdown in the country's overall economic activity.

Those factors, along with sagging consumer confidence, are making companies wary of bulking up payrolls in case the economy takes an unexpected turn for the worse, analysts said.

Taking a bit of the sting out of the sluggish job creation was the fact that the nation's unemployment rate dipped to 4.6 percent, the lowest in nearly five years.

Still, when the Labor Department's employment snapshot, released Friday, is viewed as a whole, it points to slower -- not faster -- economic speed ahead, analysts said.

Wage growth also slowed, a development that may be disheartening to workers but comforted economists who worry about inflation taking off.

"The May employment report was weak in almost all dimensions," said Nigel Gault, economist at Global Insight.

Economic growth in the April-to-June quarter will probably clock in around a 2.5 percent pace or slightly better.

That would mark a deceleration from the brisk 5.3 percent pace logged in the first quarter.

The count of new jobs generated last month was the smallest since October, when hiring practically stalled as the fallout from the Gulf Coast hurricanes jolted companies.

It fell far short of the 170,000 new jobs economists had predicted.

Manufacturers, retailers, home builders, trucking firms, hotels and motels were among those shedding jobs last month.

Financial firms, health care providers, educational services, accountants and bookkeepers, architects and engineers and computer designers all boosted employment.

Job growth, which has steadily weakened since February, was lower in March and April than previously reported.

Employers added 175,000 jobs in March and 126,000 in April -- 37,000 fewer positions for both months combined than estimated a month ago.

"Firms have grown more cautious of taking on additional workers," said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group.

In a brighter note, though, the unemployment rate dropped a notch from 4.7 percent in April to 4.6 percent in May, the lowest since July 2001.

The payrolls figure and the unemployment rate come from two different statistical surveys, which can provide -- as in Friday's case -- a somewhat conflicting picture of what is happening in the labor market.

The seasonally adjusted overall civilian unemployment rate -- 4.6 percent in May -- is based on a survey of 60,000 households.

It showed that 288,000 people said they found employment last month, outpacing the number of people who couldn't find work.

Economists tend to put more stock, however, in the much broader business survey of 400,000 work sites that is used to calculate the payroll figures.

[Livyjr]

When you have a Commander-in-chief who is a liar ....

Then right on down the chain of command from him ....

You would have a bunch more liars ....

Because the "example" of leadership comes from the top down ....

And where the top man's example is that the harder right should always be sacrificed for the easier wrong ....

Well ...

Why should those further on down the chain-of-command buck the system?

And so ....

"Haditha inquiry cites scrutiny lapse" 
 
By THOMAS E. RICKS, Washington Post
First published: Thursday, June 1, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. military investigation of how Marine commanders handled the reporting of events in the Iraqi town of Haditha last November, where troops allegedly killed 24 Iraqi civilians, will conclude that some officers gave false information to their superiors, who then failed to adequately scrutinize reports that should have caught their attention, an Army official said Wednesday.
 
In anticipation of the Bargewell report, the Marine Corps has placed on hold its plan to nominate Maj. Gen. Stephen Johnson, who was the top Marine in Iraq when the Haditha incident occurred, for promotion to lieutenant general, a senior Defense official said.

That decision reflects concern that the report may conclude that leadership failures occurred at senior levels in Iraq.

end quotes

If in fact there were leadership failures at senior levels in Iraq .....

And likely there were ....

It is because there are even worse leadership failures ....

Higher up the chain-of-command .....

Right on up into the White House in Washington, D.C. ....

Where the COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF sits ....

Not having a clue, of course ....

As to what he should do ...

To stop the mess he started ...

Over there in IRAQINAM ...

With his big mouth ...

And his puffed-up ego ....

And his lack of wits ......

And so ....

"Breakdown in morality, leadership"

Albany, New York Times Union
First published: Monday, June 5, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The saying that the cover-up is worse than the crime surely cannot be applied to war crimes.

The U.S. military is investigating whether Marines on patrol in the Iraqi town of Haditha committed an atrocity last November, killing up to 24 people, including women and small children, in house-to-house raids.

Part of the inquiry is meant to determine who among the higher-ups in charge of such things concocted the apparently false public account that civilians had been killed in the blast of a roadside bomb.

The alleged cover-up is to be one focus of Senate Armed Services Committee hearings, its chairman, Sen. John Warner, R-Va., says.

Rep. John Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat and ranking House Armed Services Committee member who has withdrawn his earlier support for this war, is particularly incensed.

"Who covered it up?" he wants to know.

"Why did they cover it up?"

But, it is fair to ask, why such surprise?

The American endeavor in Iraq always has been a deception built upon a foundation of fraud.

In the beginning were the false claims that Saddam Hussein possessed potent weapons of mass destruction, including a nuclear weapons program that could lead to the fearsome "mushroom cloud."

When Joseph Wilson wrote in The New York Times that his own CIA-sponsored trip to Africa essentially disproved evidence of an advancing nuclear program, the former ambassador and his wife, Valerie Plame, became targets of a leak-and-smear campaign orchestrated by Vice President Dick Cheney's office.

The criminal probe into the Plame leak centers on whether high-level administration officials lied to the grand jury about it.

The lie that Saddam had some unspecified connection to the 9/11 attacks, promoted indirectly in the President's own speeches and more directly by the vice president, was for a time so potent that a huge majority of Americans believed it.

More recently exposed falsehoods include President Bush's public claim on May 29, 2003.

"We have found the weapons of mass destruction," he declared, after two small trailers purported to be mobile biological weapons labs turned up.

In truth, according to The Washington Post, a secret Pentagon fact-finding mission to Iraq had already concluded that the trailers weren't weapons labs at all, and had reported this to Washington.

With the commander in chief apparently incapable of telling the truth about Iraq, who can be stunned at duplicity in the ranks?

This, too, started early on.

The early, iconic image of Saddam's statue being toppled in a Baghdad square was not a spontaneous act by joyous Iraqis.

It was an Army psychological warfare operation that began when a Marine colonel chose the statue for its symbolism and the psychological team encouraged Iraqis to participate.

In the end, a Marine vehicle dragged down the statue with a chain, but the evocative image was indelible -- because the military team filled the vehicle with cheering Iraqi children.

Soon after came the fable of Jessica Lynch, the Army private who was captured after her Humvee crashed -- but who supposedly was taken prisoner only after her own heroics, which officials said included emptying her weapon at her attackers.

A fuller fairy tale promoted Lynch's rescue from an Iraqi hospital, helpfully illustrated by the Pentagon with a dramatic night-vision video.

In truth, Lynch says she never fired her weapon and that the hospital already was in friendly hands when American soldiers retrieved her.

We still do not know the whole truth about Pat Tillman, for dead men tell no tales.

The former pro football player starred in a fictitious press release the Army put out after he was killed in action in Afghanistan.

The stirring script of Tillman's death had him storming a hill to take out the enemy when he was hit, a fabrication that the Pentagon let stand through a nationally televised memorial service that drew 3,500 people.

Though military officials knew early on that Tillman had been killed by friendly fire, it did not tell his family, or the public, this tale of negligence and official concealment.

The President himself is responsible for setting this standard.

The Marines at Haditha, and those who shielded them, may well have suffered a "total breakdown in morality and leadership," as one official told the Los Angeles Times.

But that is because our country is suffering the very same breakdown.

Marie Cocco's e-mail address is mariecocco@washpost.com

[Livyjr]

And for those of us with memories ...

Here is some real American history to ponder ....

As George W. bush ...

Turns OUR America ...

REAL UGLY ...

In his image ....

One more time again ....

First published on May 7, 1970.

"The Killings at Kent"

Albany, New York Times Union

The news from Kent State University in Ohio last Monday came as a stunning shock, immediately followed by a feeling of alarm.

So the campus disorder had finally come to this -- four students shot to death during a confrontation with National Guardsmen.

Nothing, of course, can diminish the tragedy of four young lives so needlessly lost.

On the other hand, responsible second thought suggests how much can be done to prevent a recurrence of similar tragedies.

The shootings at Kent, hopefully, could be the first and last of their kind.

We are not unduly hopeful.

The most unusual fact about the occurrence is that something of the sort had not happened before.

Young guardsmen, pelted by rocks in an all too familiar scene of anarchy, apparently panicked.

They could do so again elsewhere in the angry chain reaction of new student demonstrations already under way.

What is needed -- immediately and no doubt is being provided -- is a fresh crash course in mob control for guardsmen everywhere.

Also required immediately -- and already under way by the Justice Department -- is a series of the most thorough probes by all agencies with jurisdiction.

Guardsmen found guilty of breaking discipline at Kent must be punished.

And so must be the student radicals whose irresponsible leadership led to the tragedy.

What is needed most of all is a sober reassessment by student extremists of what they have been doing to colleges and their country.

At Kent they have experienced the inevitable result of what many thought was a kind of fun and games exercise.

It is a bitter lesson, but not half so bitter as what would have happened to them elsewhere in the world.

Hopefully -- and the word is stressed -- what happened at Kent may also instruct others in positions of authority.

Some college officials may have learned, at last, that permissiveness and compromise can literally be fatal.

And President Nixon may come to realize that all campus demonstrators are not necessarily "bums."

There are many lessons to be learned from the tragedy at the Kent State campus -- by many people.

If a sincere effort to learn them is made by all concerned, the needless deaths of four young Americans will not have been in vain.

[Livyjr]

"General vows full probe into Iraqi deaths" 
 
By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press
Last updated: 5:15 p.m., Sunday, June 4, 2006

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki sharply criticizing the conduct of U.S. troops in Iraq and said what occurred in Haditha "appears to be a horrible crime."

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in broadcast interviews Sunday in Washington, said "American forces are the solution here, not the problem" and promised that in the Haditha investigations, "We'll get to the bottom of it."

At the same time, she spoke of the difficulty in fighting insurgents "when they can hide among the civilian population."

end quotes

As to "CON-JOB CONNIE'S" DRIVEL about how hard it is to fight a guerilla war .....

If she had known anything at all other than how to suck up to George W. Bush when she was the alleged NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR to the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ...

She would have known this about guerilla wars ....

Since the American REVOLUTION was fought that way ...

For that reason ...

And so ...

And speaking about American history ....

Which "CON-JOB CONNIE" Rice appears to be totally ignorant of ...

And AMERICAN GUERILLA FIGHTERS ....

Or INSURGENTS, if you will, par excellance ....

Which again ....

"CON-JOB CONNIE" Rice seems to know nothing about ...

Which is not surprising ...

Since she is but a suck-up ....

To a boss who knows none of this stuff either ....

We have ....

"Burial site dig yields skeletons, controversy - Some want amateur archaeologists to halt work on Rogers Island, historic birthplace of Army Rangers"

By CHRIS CAROLA, Associated Press
First published: Tuesday, June 6, 2006

FORT EDWARD -- Two amateur archaeologists have unearthed human skeletons, believed to be about 250 years old, at a burial site on the Hudson River island that's considered the birthplace of today's U.S. Army Rangers.

Richard and JoAnne Fuller said it is very likely the remains found on private property date back to the French and Indian War, when Rogers' Rangers earned a place in American military lore while operating out of Fort Edward.

The couple said the skeletons appear to be buried in an unmarked cemetery that doesn't appear on any colonial or contemporary maps.

No other cemeteries are known to have existed on the island over the past 200 years.

"Everyone knows there's something on Rogers Island."

"Nobody knew where the cemetery was," said Richard Fuller.

He said buttons found among the bones could give clues to whether the remains are those of some of the 15,000 soldiers and civilians who lived there in the late 1750s, when Fort Edward was the largest British military outpost in North America.

It was also the base of operations for the guerrilla fighters known as Rogers' Rangers.

There are concerns that the Fullers' activities could jeopardize what one archaeologist called "quite a significant discovery."

"You don't just rush out there and start digging because you think it's interesting," said David Starbuck, who spent more than a decade conducting extensive excavations on Rogers Island and at nearby sites but didn't uncover any cemeteries.

"It's important to proceed very cautiously."

While he and his wife aren't professional archaeologists, Richard Fuller said they're "well-versed in archaeology techniques" from their previous work with an Albany-area archaeological firm.

There are no plans to give professional archaeologists access to the site, although Richard Fuller said he has talked with an anthropologist about having the skeletons analyzed and studied.

Their work at the site is being questioned by some local officials who have been at odds with the couple over development plans for the island.

"It's certainly a major concern," said Town of Fort Edward Supervisor Merrilyn Pulver, adding that "all digging should cease immediately."

Most of Rogers Island, named for French and Indian War hero Maj. Robert Rogers, is private land owned by Frank Nastasi, a retired Long Island construction executive.

He owns 33 acres on the 42-acre island, including the site where the skeletons were found.

Nastasi is a fellow French and Indian War buff and Rogers' Rangers aficionado, said Richard Fuller, who works for Nastasi as caretaker of the Rogers Island property.

Nastasi has abandoned plans to build a marina and hotel on the island and is instead considering building a park dedicated to Rogers and the Rangers, or selling the site to New York state.

It was on the island, in 1757, that Rogers wrote his "Rules of Ranging," a manual on guerrilla warfare that became a blueprint for modern Army Ranger fighting tactics[/u].

His original 28 rules have been boiled down over the years into the 19 "Standing Orders" taught to today's Army commandos.

Fuller said he discovered the first skeleton late last fall while looking for other artifacts, and reported the find to local police.

Village Police Chief Walter Sandford said the county coroner's office determined the remains were of a historical nature and not from a recent crime.

In one of the uncovered graves, a full skeleton lay on its back, its hands folded on its pelvis.

The skull, which contained a full set of teeth, was caved in on the left side.

Other partial skeletons were lined up in 18-inch-deep plots nearby, with another set off a few feet away.

JoAnne Fuller has given the remains names such as Caleb and Sammy, taken from the actual colonial militia rosters the Fullers have among the extensive French and Indian War collection that fills their nearby home in Washington County.