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

[Livyjr]

History ...

And then ...

What else, these days ....

What with elections looming larger and larger on the horizon ....

But politics ....

And the UNDEMOCRATIC AUTOCRATIC THUGS up here in REPUBLICAN George Pataki's CORRUPT EMPIRE of New York who are in "CONTROL OF THINGS" ....

Or is that POWER?

"Elbow to elbow in 108th - Bruno backs county legislator in crowded race to replace Casale"

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

First published: Tuesday, June 6, 2006

ALBANY -- State Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno and a battery of Republican officials lined up behind a Rensselaer County legislator Monday who's being tabbed to succeed outgoing Assemblyman Pat Casale in the 108th District.

Bruno and Casale joined about 40 supporters on the steps of the state Capitol as Sand Lake-reared Martin Reid formally entered the increasingly crowded Assembly race.

Peter Santiago, Reid's Republican rival across the river in Albany County, quickly denounced what he called the closed-door selection.

Bruno has forgotten about democracy and the open process of a primary, he said.

Reid, 42, won election to the County Legislature in 1995.

He represents the towns of Sand Lake, Schodack and Nassau.

He previously served as an aide to then-Assemblyman John Faso and as director of government relations for the State University of New York.

"It's a background that was made for the state Legislature," Bruno said as he introduced Reid during Monday's news conference.

"And I'm glad that he's running for the Assembly and not the Senate, because he's in my district."

Casale, R-Speigletown, said last month he would not seek re-election after 14 years in the Assembly.

The 71-year-old former Troy mayor and liquor store operator will be absent from the ballot for the first time in 32 years.

The 108th Assembly District spans four counties.

In Rensselaer County, it encompasses parts of Troy plus the towns of Schaghticoke, Brunswick, Poestenkill, Sand Lake, Schodack and Nassau; in Albany County, Bethlehem and Coeymans; in Columbia County, Stuyvesant, Chatham, Kinderhook and New Lebanon; and in Greene County, New Baltimore and Coxsackie.

Reid is taking a leave of absence from his job in the state Department of Transportation's Office of External Relations to run.

If elected, he would resign from the County Legislature.

In his announcement speech Monday, Reid railed against unfunded state mandates, declared he's dedicated to improving air quality and pledged to work on cutting the property tax burden.

"Do not underestimate the power of one assemblyman to make changes that are needed," Reid said.

The Rensselaer County Republican Committee threw its support behind Reid on Saturday.

Albany County GOP Chairman Peter Kermani said he's supporting Reid over Santiago -- a Bethlehem resident -- because Reid's "a better candidate, stronger on Republican principles."

But Santiago, 37, said he's already raised $125,000 and plans to pursue a primary.

The technology consultant and former Pataki appointee attacked Reid for tax increases and voting to raise his pay.

Asked if he'd been urged to quit the race, Santiago said, "I've been offered jobs if I would be willing to step aside to avoid a primary."

Beyond saying the offers were political jobs from Republican leaders, he declined to be more specific.

Elsewhere in the race, Bethlehem Town Board and Independence Party member Tim Gordon wants the Democratic line.

Conservative Party member Bill Reinhardt, an Averill Park school board member, also is seeking Democratic support.

So is Bethlehem's Ken Preston.

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

end quotes

Bruno has forgotten about democracy and the open process of a primary, he said?

NO .....

I don't think that is true, actually ....

Based upon my own experiences with "BIG JOE" ....

I don't think "BIG JOE THE HAMMER" Bruno knows doodly-squat about DEMOCRACY ....

And if he does ...

Which is doubtful ....

He sure don't give a TINKER'S DAMN about it ....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

And from George Pataki's corrupt REPUBLICAN EMPIRE of New York ...

Where George Pataki is fashioning himself out to be one of these UNITARY EXECUTIVES a la George W. Bush ....

Which is really just another name for "TIN-POT DICTATOR" ....

Let's see what is going on ...

With George W. Bush's BOTCH JOB ...

Over there in IRAQINAM ....

Where we have ....

"Rumsfeld pressed to disclose findings of Haditha probe"

2 hours, 21 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The top US senator on military affairs pressed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to quickly make public the findings of a probe into the alleged killing of Iraqi civilians by US Marines.

Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Warner, in a letter to the defense secretary, also vowed to hold a "series of hearings" on the alleged atrocities in the Iraqi town of Haditha on November 19.

"Congress and the American people are entitled to a timely disclosure of the official findings and recommendations of these inquiries," the influential Republican wrote in the June 6 letter.

"Delays in getting out the official findings of fact due to a protracted review process will mean a mixture of information, misinformation and unconfirmed facts will continue to spiral in the public domain," he said.

"Given the alleged seriousness of these events ... these hearings are the first priority of our committee," the senator wrote.

The Pentagon is investigating whether US Marines killed 24 civilians in Haditha, a town northwest of Baghdad, after a marine was killed by a roadside bomb.

A separate inquiry is looking into whether there was a military coverup of the killings.

Pentagon officials have said the investigations are nearing completion but not given an indication when findings will be released.

[Livyjr]

"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.

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

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

"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.

Let's see what is going on ...

With George W. Bush's BOTCH JOB ...

Over there in IRAQINAM ....

Where we have ....

"U.S. commander to review Haditha report"

By FREDERIC J. FROMMER, Associated Press
Last updated: 1:25 p.m., Monday, June 5, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The No. 2 American general in Iraq will soon review a preliminary criminal report into the alleged massacre by Marines of Iraqi citizens in Haditha, a congressman just back from Iraq said Monday.

Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., one of four House members who traveled to Iraq over the weekend, said the lawmakers discussed the investigations with Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the second-ranking U.S. general in Iraq.

Kline said it was unclear when the report would be released.

"General Chiarelli expressed some concern in that he did not want to sign off an investigation until he felt like he had all of the information that he needed" from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, said Kline, a former Marine.

The investigative service is probing whether crimes were committed in the killing of two dozen Iraqis last November.

A senior defense official told the Associated Press last month that evidence points to unprovoked killings by the Marines involved.

A separate probe is examining whether there has been a coverup of the incident by the U.S. military.

The four House members who visited Iraq took issue with comments made by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who complained that coalition forces have shown "no respect for citizens, smashing civilian cars and killing on a suspicion or a hunch."

"The prime minister has a platform and a pulpit now that he may not have had in the past," said Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas.

Conaway said with that platform comes "responsibility to be very careful and to choose your words very carefully."

Kline said his group was told that U.S. military officials and embassy staff had told al-Maliki that his comments were not helpful.

Kline also said Iraqi generals told the U.S. lawmakers that they were frustrated about the slow pace in filling the new Iraqi government's security posts, saying it was hindering the training of the Iraqi military.

"The generals were very candid with us," he said.

"There's no question that they understand that until you get a functioning ministry of defense, until you get a functioning Pentagon -- Iraqi Pentagon -- they're not going to be able to reach their full potential."

On Sunday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed confidence that Iraqi leaders will be able to fill key security posts in the next few days while downplaying recent sectarian violence.

Rice, who appeared on three television news shows, said of the vacant security posts, "Of course, they need to get this settled, but they will get it settled."

"When they get it right, and they will get it right, everybody will forget how long it took them."

An Iraqi parliament session was postponed earlier Sunday after al-Maliki again failed to reach consensus on candidates to head ministries that run Iraq's military and police.

Also Sunday, the top U.S. military officer pledged a thorough investigation in the alleged massacre at Haditha, acknowledging that the charges have raised concerns among Iraqi officials and in the United States.

Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it is not clear exactly what happened last November when as many as two dozen Iraqis were killed during a U.S. attack in Haditha.

Still, he said it was important not to rush to judgment.

"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."

Rice appeared on "Fox News Sunday," CBS's "Face the Nation" and CNN's "Late Edition."

------

Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor and Hope Yen contributed to this report.

end quotes

Well, General Pace ....

You say that you want the "judicial process" to move along without any influence ....

And supposedly ...

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

And so ...

As an American citizen ...

And as a disabled veteran ...

I would say that was a good thing ...

But then ...

I would say ...

That as CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS ....

YOU ARE CERTAINLY EXERTING CONSIDERABLE INFLUENCE ON THE ALLEGED "JUDICIAL PROCESS" ....

And you appear to be doing your damndest ....

To taint the probes ...

By making what are obvious and blatant political speeches ...

Wherein you state ....

Or assert ...

Or certainly imply ...

That as CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS ...

You are possessed of some kind of HARD EVIDENCE ......

WHICH WOULD PROVE ....

TO US, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ....

That 99.9 percent of the servicemen and service women are doing what we expect them to do ....

And so ...

What you have done with your words, here, General Pace ...

In your capacity as CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS ....

IS TO HAVE SET A QUOTA ....

As to how many bad apples there can possibly be in OUR military ........

And the MAXIMUM NUMBER, therefore ....

Of bad apples ....

THAT YOU WILL ACCEPT .....

OR ALLOW YOUR SUBORDINATES DOING THE INVESTIGATION ....

TO PRESENT YOU WITH ....

And so ...

General ...

Do us a favor ...

AND STOW THE BULL **** .....

About not wanting to influence this investigation ...

Because you already have ...

And so ...

[Livyjr]

"U.S. commander to review Haditha report" 
 
By FREDERIC J. FROMMER, Associated Press
Last updated: 1:25 p.m., Monday, June 5, 2006


The four House members who visited Iraq took issue with comments made by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who complained that coalition forces have shown "no respect for citizens, smashing civilian cars and killing on a suspicion or a hunch."

"The prime minister has a platform and a pulpit now that he may not have had in the past," said Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas.

Conaway said with that platform comes "responsibility to be very careful and to choose your words very carefully."

Kline said his group was told that U.S. military officials and embassy staff had told al-Maliki that his comments were not helpful.

"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."

Yeah, right, "CONNIE CON-JOB" .....

American forces are the solution in IRAQINAM ....

If the original problem was how to turn all of the world against the United States ...

Because the United States has turned into the biggest THUG nation on the face of the earth ....

Thanks to you and yours ....

And all your lies, "CON-JOB CONNIE" .....

All your lies ...

Posted on: Mar 8 2005, 08:15 AM

"Friendly fire's terrible toll in Iraq - Troops make snap decisions amid constant threat, and sometimes the consequences are horrific"

By RAWYA RAGEH and TODD PITMAN, Associated Press
First published: Tuesday, March 8, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- They're told every day across Iraq -- tragic stories of people dying amid gunfire, shattered windshields and car seats covered in blood.

Friendly fire -- often at U.S. military checkpoints -- is taking a toll on the United States and its allies, as the shooting deaths of an Italian intelligence agent and a Bulgarian soldier highlight the terrifying reality of Iraqi roads.

But Iraqi civilians are getting tangled up in the violence as well, at an alarming rate.

[size=4]"They're just cowboys," Abdullah Mohammed said Monday of U.S. troops who killed his brother Feb. 28 in Ramadi.

Mohammed said his brother edged too close to an American patrol.

"They killed him without any reason, they suddenly shot at his car."

In a country where insurgents strike daily, there's no doubt some of the force is justified.

Weary of suicide car bombers, U.S. military vehicles in Iraq carry signs in Arabic warning civilians to keep a distance or risk "deadly force."

Similar warnings are affixed to fortified, tank-manned U.S. checkpoints around the capital.

But despite such warnings, Yarmouk hospital -- just one of several large medical facilities in Baghdad -- receives several casualties a day from these types of shootings, said Dr. Mohamed Salaheddin.

On Saturday, American soldiers fired on a civilian vehicle in Baghdad, killing a woman and wounding her husband, said Iqbal Sabban, a police officer.

But both sides are often to blame, she said.

"Soldiers carry signs asking people to stay away, but people are sometimes careless," Sabban said.

"The Americans are sometimes jittery and open fire at civilians just like that."

While shooting deaths of Iraqi civilians are so common they're rarely reported in the media, deaths of foreigners can grab headlines and increase pressure on America's allies to pull out.

On Friday night, U.S. troops raked a car with gunfire that was carrying Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena to Baghdad's international airport, wounding her and killing an Italian intelligence officer who'd just negotiated her release from insurgents.

The Bush administration described the shooting as a "horrific accident" that came after soldiers at a particularly dangerous checkpoint tried to motion to the speeding car to stop, thinking it may have been carrying suicide attackers.

The White House rejected Sgrena's claim that American soldiers gave no warning before they opened fire and that soldiers may have targeted her car because the United States opposes Italy's policy of negotiating with kidnappers.

"It's absurd to make any such suggestion that our men and women in uniform would deliberately target innocent civilians," countered spokesman Scott McClellan.

He said the airport road "has been a place where suicide car bombers have launched attacks."

"It's been a place where (former Saddam Hussein) regime elements have fired upon coalition forces."

"It is a dangerous road, and it is a combat zone that our coalition forces are in."

"Oftentimes, they have to make split-second decisions to protect their own security."

Italian military officials said two other intelligence agents were wounded in the shooting; U.S. officials said it was only one.

Sgrena rejected the U.S. military's account of the shooting, claiming that American soldiers gave no warning before they opened fire.

That same day, a Bulgarian soldier was shot to death with a machine gun.

Bulgarian Defense Minister Nikolai Svinarov said Monday that coalition forces likely shot the soldier by accident.

Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov summoned the American ambassador, James Pardew, and complained about the lack of coordination among coalition troops.

And Svinarov insisted "the coalition partners undertake emergency measures to improve coordination."

In both Bulgaria and Italy, the deaths sparked debate over keeping troops in Iraq.

Bulgaria has a 460-member infantry battalion in Iraq; Italy has deployed about 3,000 soldiers.

A U.S. spokesman, Marine Sgt. Salju Thomas, said every incident in which there is a loss of life or injury would be investigated, at least those involving U.S. troops and civilians.

Lt. Col. Barry Venable, a Pentagon spokesman, said the rules of engagement at checkpoints in Iraq are built around the concept of "escalation of force."

Soldiers are taught to warn a potentially threatening vehicle before shooting at it.

Soldiers who shoot at vehicles are told to try to disable it by hitting the engine block, he said.

But routine guard duty can turn into deadly combat with lightning speed, and soldiers often must make split-second decisions.

Venable said the rules are "a guide to help our soldiers bear the responsibility of pulling the trigger or not."

Asked if rules of engagement changed after the Italian agent was killed, Thomas said:

"I can't discuss rules of engagement for operational security."

"But we're constantly evaluating our procedures."

In Rome, Italy paid homage Monday to the intelligence officer killed while escorting Sgrena to freedom, with a state funeral in a Rome basilica drawing as many as 20,000 mourners -- some bringing flowers, some waving flags -- and all of the country's top officials.

The killing of Nicola Calipari, 50, fueled anti-American sentiment in a country that was strongly opposed to war in Iraq, and prompted Premier Silvio Berlusconi, a staunch supporter of the U.S.-led military campaign, to demand that Washington provide a full explanation of the shooting in Baghdad.

The Santa Maria degli Angeli basilica -- originally designed by Michelangelo on the ruins of the Baths of Diocletian -- and the surrounding piazza were packed with mourners.

Berlusconi and U.S. Ambassador Mel Sembler were among dignitaries at the service.

[Livyjr]

Well, General Pace ....

You say that you want the "judicial process" to move along without any influence ....

And supposedly ...

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

And so ...

As an American citizen ...

And as a disabled veteran ...

I would say that was a good thing ...

But then ...

I would say ...

That as CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS ....

YOU ARE CERTAINLY EXERTING CONSIDERABLE INFLUENCE ON THE ALLEGED "JUDICIAL PROCESS" ....

And you appear to be doing your damndest ....

To taint the probes ...

By making what are obvious and blatant political speeches ...

Wherein you state ....

Or assert ...

Or certainly imply ...

That as CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS ...

You are possessed of some kind of HARD EVIDENCE ......

WHICH WOULD PROVE ....

TO US, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ....

That 99.9 percent of the servicemen and service women are doing what we expect them to do ....

And so ...

What you have done with your words, here, General Pace ...

In your capacity as CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS ....

IS TO HAVE SET A QUOTA ....

As to how many bad apples there can possibly be in OUR military ........

And the MAXIMUM NUMBER, therefore ....

Of bad apples ....

THAT YOU WILL ACCEPT .....

OR ALLOW YOUR SUBORDINATES DOING THE INVESTIGATION ....

TO PRESENT YOU WITH ....

And so ...

General ...

Do us a favor ...

AND STOW THE BULL **** .....

About not wanting to influence this investigation ...

Because you already have ...

And so ...

Yeah, right, "CONNIE CON-JOB" .....

American forces are the solution in IRAQINAM ....

If the original problem was how to turn all of the world against the United States ...

Because the United States has turned into the biggest THUG nation on the face of the earth ....

Thanks to you and yours ....

And all your lies, "CON-JOB CONNIE" .....

All your lies ...

On September 28, 1920, a Mr. Macready writes to a Mr. Wilson outlining a plan for official reprisals saying that "Where reprisals have taken place, the whole atmosphere of the surrounding district has changed from one of hostility to one of cringing submission." 

The attitude of the British Establishment was then satirised by Lord Hugh Cecil as "It seems to be agreed that there is no such thing as reprisals, but they are having a good effect."

end quotes

But they were wrong, of course, just as we were dead wrong about human nature in Viet Nam, and now in the middle east, where the cycle has started all over again, and is going to stay cooking for some time to come!

ORIGINALLY POSTED Jul 29 2005, 06:53 PM

"Shots to the Heart of Iraq - Iraqi civilian deaths fueling hatred of U.S."

By Richard C. Paddock, LA Times Staff Writer

Mon Jul 25, 7:55 AM ET

BAGHDAD — Three men in an unmarked sedan pulled up near the headquarters of the national police major crimes unit.

The two passengers, wearing traditional Arab dishdasha gowns, stepped from the car.

At the same moment, a U.S. military convoy emerged from an underpass.

Apparently believing the men were staging an ambush, the Americans fired, killing one passenger and wounding the other.

The sedan's driver was hit in the head by two bullet fragments.

The soldiers drove on without stopping.

This kind of shooting is far from rare in Baghdad, but the driver of the car was no ordinary casualty.

He was Iraqi police Brig. Gen. Majeed Farraji, chief of the major crimes unit.

His passengers were unarmed hitchhikers whom he was dropping off on his way to work.

"The reason they shot us is just because the Americans are reckless," the general said from his hospital bed hours after the July 6 shooting, his head wrapped in a white bandage.

"Nobody punishes them or blames them."

Angered by the growing number of unarmed civilians killed by American troops in recent weeks, the Iraqi government criticized the shootings and called on U.S. troops to exercise greater care.

U.S. officials have repeatedly declined requests to disclose the number of civilians killed in such incidents.

Police in Baghdad say they have received reports that U.S. forces killed 33 unarmed civilians and injured 45 in the capital between May 1 and July 12 — an average of nearly one fatality every two days.

This does not include incidents that occurred elsewhere in the country or were not reported to the police.

The continued shooting of civilians is fueling a growing dislike of the United States and undermining efforts to convince the public that American soldiers are here to help.

The victims have included doctors, journalists, a professor — the kind of people the U.S. is counting on to help build an open and democratic society.

"Of course the shootings will increase support for the opposition," said Farraji, 49, who was named a police general with U.S. approval.

"The hatred of the Americans has increased."

"I myself hate them."

Among the biggest threats U.S. forces face are suicide attacks.

Soldiers are exposed as they stand watch at checkpoints or ride on patrol in the turrets of their Humvees.

The willingness of the assailants to die makes the attacks difficult to guard against.

By their nature, the bombings erode the troops' trust of the public; every civilian becomes suspect.

U.S. military officials say the troops must protect themselves by shooting the driver of any suspicious vehicle before it reaches them.

Heavily armed private security contractors, who number in the tens of thousands, also are authorized by the U.S. government to use deadly force to protect themselves.

One contractor who works for the U.S. government and saw a colleague killed in a suicide bombing said it was better to shoot an innocent person than to risk being killed.

"I'd rather be tried by 12 than carried by six," said the contractor, who insisted that he not be identified by name because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The U.S. military says it investigates all shootings by American personnel that result in death.

But U.S. Brig. Gen. Don Alston, spokesman for the multinational force in Iraq, said he was unaware of any soldier disciplined for shooting a civilian at a checkpoint or in traffic.

Findings are seldom made public.

A senior U.S. military official in Baghdad, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said "making no new enemies" was one of the military's priorities.

At the same time, he said, "it's still a combat zone."

"There are going to be times when what the soldier needs to do and what the civilian feels he should be able to do come into conflict."

On June 27, the day he turned 49, Salah Jmor arrived in Baghdad to visit his family.

His father, Abdul-Rihman Jmor, is the chief of a Kurdish clan that numbers more than 20,000.

Salah had left Iraq 25 years ago for Switzerland, where he earned a doctorate in international relations and eventually became a Swiss citizen.

For a decade, he represented Iraqi Kurds at the United Nations Office at Geneva.

In 1988, he helped call the world's attention to Saddam Hussein's use of chemical weapons on Kurds in the northern Iraqi town of Halabja and the massacre of at least 100,000 Kurds in what is known as the Anfal campaign.

After the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Salah Jmor was offered a post in the new Iraqi government.

But he turned it down, preferring to remain in Geneva, where he was an associate professor at the Center for International and Comparative Programs of Kent State University of Ohio.

The morning after he arrived in Baghdad, he decided to go with his younger brother, architect Abdul-Jabbar Jmor, to his office.

Abdul-Jabbar, 38, drove his Opel hatchback down the eight-lane Mohammed Qasim highway through central Baghdad.

It was 9:30 a.m. and many vehicles were on the road.

The Opel hatchback is a model favored by insurgents.

The brothers were in the fast lane as a U.S. military convoy of three Humvees was entering the highway from the Gailani onramp.

Neither of them saw the soldiers, Abdul-Jabbar said.

Abruptly, Salah slumped over into his brother's lap.

Abdul-Jabbar asked what was wrong and then saw blood pouring from Salah's head.

There was a single bullet hole in the windshield.

He saw the convoy moving ahead as he pulled over to the side of the road.

He said he had seen no signal to slow down and heard no warning shot.

The soldiers turned around and came back a few minutes later.

One said he was sorry, Abdul-Jabbar said.

Together they waited more than an hour for an ambulance to arrive.

"I asked them, 'Why didn't you shoot me?"

"I am the driver,'" Abdul-Jabbar recalled.

"But they didn't answer me."

Abdul-Jabbar said he and his family had supported the U.S. troops when they first invaded Iraq, but no longer.

"This kind of incident makes people hate the Americans more and more," he said.

"They don't care about the lives of the people."

"Each day they make new enemies."

Switzerland has requested an explanation of Jmor's killing.

In Washington, the State Department said the United States had sent its condolences to the Swiss government and Jmor's family and that the Pentagon had begun an investigation.

In Baghdad, Abdul-Jabbar said the family had met with the Swiss ambassador but had received no expression of condolences from the U.S. government.

No U.S. investigator has contacted the family, he added.

There is a strong tradition of revenge in Iraq's tribal culture.

The killing of such a prominent clan member could have triggered a bloodbath that would claim 200 lives, said the patriarch, Abdul-Rihman.

But the Jmors, a well-educated family of doctors and engineers, say they want the judicial process to hold Salah's killer accountable.

"People say if they kill my brother, I have to kill one of them," Abdul-Jabbar said.

"But I believe in justice."

"I can't just go kill them."

"The United States says it is the leader of justice in the world."

"Let us see that."

In Iraq, the U.S. military has redefined the rules of the road.

Military checkpoints — elaborate affairs with mazes of concrete barriers, razor wire and snipers' nests — have been set up at intersections all over Baghdad.

Signs are posted in English and Arabic saying "Deadly Force Authorized."

Cars that approach too quickly risk being fired upon by troops who shoot to kill.

At times, troops set up temporary checkpoints during raids or other military operations.

These can be even more dangerous for civilians because they can appear on city streets without warning.

Military convoys, usually made up of three Humvees, patrol the streets.

In each vehicle, a gunner stands with his upper body partially exposed and ready to operate a machine gun mounted on the roof.

For troops, it is among the most hazardous places to be in Iraq.

The military expects all vehicles to stay at least 100 yards from a convoy.

When cars come too close, troops signal them to move back, sometimes by waving a little stop sign and sometimes by holding up a clenched fist.

Some Iraqis say the fist can be easy to miss.

It also can be confusing for motorists in Iraq, where the normal signal for stop is an upraised open hand, as it is in the United States.

On the highway, traffic normally bunches up well behind the American Hummers.

But keeping the required distance from a convoy can be difficult when the military vehicles unexpectedly change course or merge onto a highway.

The U.S. rules of engagement call for "escalation of force" when a vehicle comes too close.

Soldiers are trained to give hand and arm signals first, then fire warning shots and ultimately shoot to kill, the senior U.S. official said.

"Nothing in the rules of engagement takes away the right of self-defense for him and his buddies if the soldier feels threatened," he said.

More than 1,770 U.S. troops have died in the Iraq theater since the March 2003 invasion.

Despite the rising number of civilian deaths, the official said escalation-of-force incidents had fallen by half in the past four months.

He declined to provide specific figures.

According to one European diplomat, the American military's emphasis on protecting its troops has made U.S. soldiers more likely to kill and injure civilians than are other members of the coalition, such as the British, who are stationed in southern Iraq.

"The U.S. has force protection as their No. 1 priority," said the diplomat, who asked not to be identified because his remarks did not have his government's prior approval.

"The British have it as a priority, but not by any stretch the absolute priority."

"I think that makes the U.S. soldiers more jumpy."

Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish member of the transitional National Assembly, said he personally knew three people, including Salah Jmor, who had been shot and killed by U.S. troops during traffic incidents.

Of the other two, one was an athlete, the other a doctor who had been called to her hospital to handle an emergency.

"I understand American soldiers are nervous."

"It's very dangerous," said Othman, who was a member of the U.S.-appointed Governing Council that helped run Iraq after the invasion.

"But the killings are undermining support for the U.S. government."

"It has helped people who call themselves the opposition."

"It has helped terrorism."

A recent case highlighted by the Iraqi government in its criticism of the U.S. was the June 24 killing of Yasser Salihee, 30, an Iraqi special correspondent for Knight-Ridder newspapers.

Salihee, a physician, had taken a rare day off and planned to take his wife and daughter swimming.

He went to get gasoline and was returning home at midmorning.

By then, U.S. troops were conducting a military operation in his neighborhood.

It appears he did not see them until it was too late.

The route he chose was not blocked off and there was no sign warning motorists to halt, witnesses say.

As he neared the scene of the military operation, a U.S. Army sniper fired at his car.

One bullet hit a tire.

The other hit Salihee in the forehead.

That bullet also severed fingers on his right hand, indicating he was holding up at least one of his hands at the time he was killed.

U.S. officials are investigating the shooting.

Salihee's widow, Raghad al Wazzan, said she accepted the American soldiers' presence when they first arrived in Iraq because "they came and liberated us."

She sometimes helped them at the hospital where she works as a doctor.

But not anymore.

"Now, after they killed my husband, I hate them," she said.

"I want to blow them all up."

Times staff writers Borzou Daragahi and Raheem Salman in Baghdad and Paul Richter in Washington and special correspondent Asmaa Waguih in Baghdad contributed to this report.

end quotes

I wonder if George W. Bush and "CON-JOB CONNIE" Rice will have her killed too .....

As part of their "FINAL SOLUTION" for IRAQINAM .....

Where these soldiers killing these civilians ....

Including women and children ....

Are doing just what CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS General Peter Pace wants them to do ....

And so .....

[Livyjr]

"Shots to the Heart of Iraq - Iraqi civilian deaths fueling hatred of U.S."

By Richard C. Paddock, LA Times Staff Writer

Mon Jul 25, 7:55 AM ET

"The United States says it is the leader of justice in the world."

"Let us see that."

In OUR America .....

BY IMPERIAL DECREE OF THE GOD EMPORER ...

GEORGE THE EXCEEDINGLY MALODOROUS .....

NO CHILD, IN FACT, WILL BE LEFT BEHIND .....

And in the "America" of the GOD EMPORER GEORGE ....

There is no justice .....

So ....

Given that ....

It would be very difficult for the "America" of the GOD EMPORER ....

To be any kind of world leader in that regard ....

And so ....

ATTENTION, AMERICA ...

Do you know where your kids are today?

And what it is that they are putting in their mouths?

"More antipsychotics being prescribed for children"

By Karla Gale

Tue Jun 6, 9:53 AM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The prescription of antipsychotic medications for children and adolescents in the US increased nearly 6-fold between 1993 and 2002, according to survey results.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved only three antipsychotic drugs - haloperidol, thioridazine hydrochloride and pimozide -- for use in patients younger than 18 years, but most of the prescriptions written were for newer medications.

"What was most striking is that nearly one in five -- 18 percent -- of visits to psychiatrists by young people resulted in their being prescribed an antipsychotic medication," lead investigator Dr. Mark Olfson told Reuters Health.

Interest in this issue followed "earlier studies that reported significant increases in the use of antipsychotics by young people within the Medicaid population," the researcher added.

"We wanted to find out if this was a general trend that more broadly affects the mental health care of youths in the US."

Olfson, from Columbia University in New York City, and his associates therefore evaluated data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.

Their findings appear in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

The data indicate that "there is a gap between what has been learned in carefully controlled studies and what is actually occurring in practice," the researcher noted.

Approximately 90 percent of antipsychotics prescribed were for the second-generation drugs -- clozapine, risperidone, olanzapine, and quetiapine.

None of these drugs are approved for treating adolescents or children.

The researchers note that these drugs were prescribed primarily for disruptive behavior disorders (37.8 percent), mood disorders (31.8 percent), or pervasive developmental disorders or mental retardation (17.3 percent).

Only 14.2 percent were prescribed for psychotic disorders.

"It is my guess," Olfson said, that the "water cooler effect," in which "physicians learn from one another informally" during discussions or attendance at professional meetings, "has probably contributed to the dissemination of these kinds of prescribing practices."

A major concern, Olfson said "is that we don't know enough about the metabolic effects of newer antipsychotics, particularly the long-term effects in young people."

SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry, June 2006.

[Livyjr]

In OUR America .....

BY IMPERIAL DECREE OF THE GOD EMPORER ...

GEORGE THE EXCEEDINGLY MALODOROUS .....

There is no justice .....

So ....

Given that ....

It would be very difficult for the "America" of the GOD EMPORER ....

To be any kind of world leader in that regard ....

And so ....

"Rumsfeld Painting Expected to Be a Hit in Baghdad"

By HAMZA HENDAWI, AP

BAGHDAD, Iraq (June 7) - Muayad Muhsin was both inspired and enraged by a photo of U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld slumped on a seat with his army boots up in front of him.

"It symbolized America's soulless might and arrogance," said Muhsin, whose similar painting of Rumsfeld will be unveiled in an exhibition opening in Baghdad on Monday.

The painting, expected to be the show's main attraction, and the rest of the exhibit illustrate the simmering anger of Iraqis with the United States as the country continues to endure violence, sectarian tensions and crime three years after Saddam Hussein's ouster.

Muhsin's Rumsfeld painting is not the first artistic expression by Iraqis of the perceived injustices by the United States in their country, but it is the first to depict a top member of the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush.

After Bush, most Iraqis see Rumsfeld as the man behind the invasion of their oil-rich country and the chief architect of U.S. military actions in Iraq.

Those who closely follow him remember his infamous comment - "Stuff happens" - when asked why U.S. troops did not actively seek to stop the lawlessness in the Iraqi capital in the weeks that followed their capture of the city in April 2003.

Another memorable Rumsfeld comment, also made in 2003, was his suggestion that Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction were deeply hidden in Iraq.

"It's a big country," he said.

Muhsin first saw the Rumsfeld photo about 18 months ago.

He went to work right away, but did not finish the painting - entitled "Picnic" - until about two weeks ago.

The oil-on-canvas, 5-by-3-foot work shows Rumsfeld in a blue jacket, tie, khaki pants and army boots reading from briefing papers.

His boots are resting on what appears to be an ancient stone.

While Rumsfeld's image is true to life, he sits next to a partially damaged statue of a lion standing over a human - a traditional image of strength during the ancient Babylon civilization.

The statue's stone base is ripped open, revealing shelves from which white piece of papers are flying away, later turning into birds soaring high into an ominously gray sky.

Muhsin said the symbolism has to do with Washington's repeated assertions in the months before the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that Saddam's regime had weapons of mass destruction, the cornerstone in the Bush administration's argument for going to war.

No such weapons turned up, but the Bush administration maintained that removing Saddam's regime alone justified the decision to invade Iraq.

"They did not find the weapons and, instead, found the annals of an ancient civilization that turned into birds of love, peace and knowledge," said Muhsin, himself a native of the area around the central Iraqi city of Babil, or Babylon, south of Baghdad.

"Rumsfeld's boots deliver a message from America: 'We rule the world,"' Muhsin, 41, told The Associated Press in an interview.

"It speaks of America's total indifference to what the rest of the world thinks."

Muhsin said he signed the painting in the middle, instead of the customary bottom corner, to avoid having it under Rumsfeld's boots.

Muhsin's works borrow heavily from Iraq's ancient history.

Images of historical ruins and other ancient landmarks are often depicted in the background.

His human subjects, like those in most of the 15 paintings to be exhibited, often cut tormented figures.

The central subject of his "Execution Plaza," another attraction in the exhibition, is a slender woman in a red dress, blindfolded and standing barefoot on dry ground.

In the background is a twilight sky dotted with clouds and a distant mosque minaret.

Muhsin's opposition to the U.S. military presence in Iraq is matched by his resentment of Saddam's regime.

A veteran of Iraq's ruinous 1980-1988 war against neighboring Iran, he was discharged for just a day in 1990 before he was called back for duty when Iraq occupied Kuwait.

"Saddam took the best years of my life," he lamented, speaking outside a storeroom where he keeps four of the 15 paintings scheduled for display.

The departure of Saddam's regime did not improve things, he said.

"The Americans brought us rosy dreams but left us with nightmares, they came with a broad smile but gave us beheaded bodies and booby-trapped car."

end quotes

And while I respect your right to say each and every word of what you have said ...

The only thing that I would say in return ...

AS AN AMERICAN ....

IS PLEASE ....

Do not say that the AMERICANS brought these things to you ...

FOR WE DID NOT ....

That was George W. Bush ...

And his crowd ....

Which is not America at all ....

But something obscene, instead ...

And malevolent, as well ...

And so ...

[Livyjr]

"Rumsfeld Painting Expected to Be a Hit in Baghdad"

By HAMZA HENDAWI, AP

"Rumsfeld's boots deliver a message from America: 'We rule the world,"' Muhsin, 41, told The Associated Press in an interview.

"It speaks of America's total indifference to what the rest of the world thinks."

The departure of Saddam's regime did not improve things, he said.

"The Americans brought us rosy dreams but left us with nightmares, they came with a broad smile but gave us beheaded bodies and booby-trapped car."

end quotes

And while I respect your right to say each and every word of what you have said ...

The only thing that I would say in return ...

AS AN AMERICAN ....

IS PLEASE ....

Do not say that the AMERICANS brought these things to you ...

FOR WE DID NOT ....

That was George W. Bush ...

And his crowd ....

Which is not America at all ....

But something obscene, instead ...

And malevolent, as well ...

And so ...

And speaking of malevolence ....

"Probe of CIA prisons implicates EU nations"

By JAN SLIVA, Associated Press
Last updated: 5:57 p.m., Wednesday, June 7, 2006

PARIS -- Fourteen European nations colluded with U.S. intelligence in a "spider's web" of human rights abuses to help the CIA spirit terror suspects to illegal detention facilities, a European investigator said Wednesday.

Swiss senator Dick Marty's report to Europe's top human rights body was thin on evidence but raises the possibility of a cover-up involving both friends and critics of Washington's war on terror.

It says European governments "did not seem particularly eager to establish" the facts.

The 67-page report, addressed to the 46 Council of Europe member states, will likely be used by the rights watchdog to pressure countries to investigate their suspected role in U.S. rendition flights carrying terror suspects.

Marty's claims triggered a wave of angry denials but also accusations that governments are stonewalling attempts to confront Europe's role in the flights.

"This report exposes the myth that European governments had no knowledge of, or involvement in, rendition and secret detentions," said lawmaker Michael Moore, foreign affairs spokesman for Britain's second opposition party, the Liberal Democrats.

In the strongest allegations so far, Marty said evidence suggests planes linked to the CIA carrying terror suspects stopped in Romania and Poland and likely dropped off detainees there, backing up earlier news reports that identified the two countries as possible sites of clandestine detention centers.

Officials in Romania and Poland vigorously denied the accusations.

"This is slander and it's not based on any facts," Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, Poland's prime minister, told reporters in Warsaw.

But Filip Ilkowski, leader of Poland's "Stop War" movement protesting the Iraq war, said the Polish government was trying to thwart European Union investigators.

"It is hard to say whether prisoners were dropped off here, but from what we know, U.S. planes landed in Poland outside the official channels."

"The government has done nothing to clarify the matter, it is doing everything to cover it up," Ilkowski said.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair also denied the collusion allegations and said Marty's report contained no new evidence.

"I have to say, the Council of Europe report has absolutely nothing new in it," he told lawmakers.

There was no immediate U.S. reaction.

Marty, investigating the flights since November, said the 14 European nations -- along with some other countries including Iraq, Morocco and Afghanistan -- aided the movement of at least 17 detainees who said they had been abducted by U.S. agents and secretly transferred to detention centers around the world.

Some former detainees said they were transferred to the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and others to alleged secret facilities in countries including Egypt and Jordan.

Some said they were mistreated or tortured.

"I have chosen to adopt the metaphor of a global spider's web, a web that has been spun out incrementally over several years using tactics and techniques that had to be developed in response to new threats of war," Marty said.

In his investigation, Marty -- a former prosecutor -- relied mostly on flight logs provided by the European Union's air traffic agency, Eurocontrol, witness statements gathered from people who said they had been abducted by U.S. intelligence agents, and judicial and parliamentary inquiries in various countries.

He concluded that several countries let the CIA abduct their residents, while others allowed the agency to use their airspace or turned a blind eye to questionable foreign intelligence activities on their territory.

"European governments simply agreed not to want to see," Marty told journalists.

He listed 14 European countries -- Britain, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Bosnia, Macedonia, Turkey, Spain, Cyprus, Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Romania and Poland -- as being complicit in "unlawful interstate transfers" of people.

Some, including Sweden and Bosnia, already have acknowledged some involvement.

Marty put airports in Timisoara, Romania, and Szymany, Poland, in a "detainee transfer/drop-off point" category, together with eight airports outside Europe.

He said one plane arrived in Timisoara from Kabul, Afghanistan, on the night of Jan. 25, 2004, after picking up Khaled El-Masri, a German who said he had been abducted by foreign intelligence agents in Skopje, Macedonia, and taken to the Afghan capital.

The investigator said the plane stayed in Timisoara for 72 minutes before leaving for Spain.

"The most likely hypothesis of the purpose of this flight was to transport one or several detainees from Kabul to Romania," Marty said in the report, without elaborating.

But Dan Andrei, the head of Romania's Civil Aeronautic Agency, denied that the CIA operated the plane.

"The plane did not drop off or pick up any passengers and declared five passengers on board."

"We don't have any evidence that it was a CIA plane," he said.

Marty said he believed the Szymany airport in northeastern Poland was also used for a rendition flight in September 2003.

A parallel investigation by the European Parliament has said data show there have been more than 1,000 clandestine CIA flights stopping on European territory since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Officials said it was not clear if or how many detainees were on board.

"We're definitely not talking about hundreds of detainees, it likely is a much smaller number," Marty said.

Allegations that CIA agents shipped prisoners through European airports to secret detention centers, including compounds in eastern Europe, were first reported in November by The Washington Post.

Clandestine prisons and secret flights via or from Europe to countries where suspects could face torture would breach the continent's human rights treaties, including the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Council of Europe has no power to punish countries for breaching the treaty other than terminating their membership in the organization.

Based on irrefutable evidence, the European Union might be able to suspend the voting rights of a country found to have breached the convention.

[Livyjr]

And speaking of malevolence ....

"Probe of CIA prisons implicates EU nations" 
 
By JAN SLIVA, Associated Press
Last updated: 5:57 p.m., Wednesday, June 7, 2006

PARIS -- Fourteen European nations colluded with U.S. intelligence in a "spider's web" of human rights abuses to help the CIA spirit terror suspects to illegal detention facilities, a European investigator said Wednesday.
 
Swiss senator Dick Marty's report to Europe's top human rights body was thin on evidence but raises the possibility of a cover-up involving both friends and critics of Washington's war on terror.

It says European governments "did not seem particularly eager to establish" the facts.

There was no immediate U.S. reaction.

Well ....

First they didn't say anything ...

The BUSHCOS, that is ....

But now ...

Well ....

Now, they're saying plenty ....

The BUSHCOS, that is ....

But of course, these days ....

After all the lies ....

WHO BELIEVES A SINGLE WORD A BUSHCO SAYS ....

And so ....

"US blasts Council of Europe report on secret CIA flights"

1 hour, 43 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States criticized a Council of Europe report on secret CIA flights for "war on terror" suspects, dismissing it as heavy on charges but thin on hard facts.

"We're certainly disappointed in the tone and the content of it," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told a press briefing.

"This would appear to be a rehash of the previous efforts by this group."

"I don't see any new solid facts in it."

"There seem to be a lot of allegations but no real facts behind it."

According to the report, 14 European countries colluded in or tolerated the secret transfer of terrorist suspects by the United States, and two of them -- Poland and Romania -- may have harboured CIA detention centers.

Drawn up by Swiss parliamentarian Dick Marty, the report identified a "spider's web" of landing points around the world used by the US authorities for the practice of "extraordinary rendition" -- the undercover transfer of security suspects to third countries or US-run detention centres.

"It is now clear -- although we are still far from establishing the whole truth -- that authorities in several European countries actively participated with the CIA in these unlawful activities."

"Other countries ignored them knowingly, or did not want to know," the report said.

McCormack said that renditions "are an internationally recognized legal practice.

"(Venezuelan terrorist) Carlos the Jackal wouldn't be in jail today without the practice of rendition."

McCormack also decried the "tone in the report and some of the discussion that there's something inherently bad or illegal about intelligence activities."

Intelligence cooperation "between the United States and Europe and between the United States and other countries around the world saves lives in the war on terror," he said.

The Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, which is a separate body from the European Union, was set up after World War II to promote democracy and human rights across the continent.

It has 46 member states.

[Livyjr]

And what about Tony Blair, then, says a reader ....

What's he up to ...

Besides denials ....

And so ..

Let's go see ....

"Brown will replace Blair 'well before' election: Straw"

1 hour, 37 minutes ago

LONDON (AFP) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair will quit and hand over to Gordon Brown "well before" the next general election in 2009 or 2010, Leader of the Commons Jack Straw said in an interview to be published Thursday.

"Everybody knows that Tony will go, go well before the next election; that unless something astonishing happens, that I'm not anticipating, that Gordon is his successor," Straw told the Spectator magazine.

Straw, who was moved from the Foreign Office in last month's Cabinet reshuffle, said he would be "astonished" if Brown was not elected unopposed by the party when Blair stands down.

"I think there'll be one candidate."

"And I think that'll be a great relief to people."

"Because if there is one obvious candidate, why on earth spend so much time and money, let me say, in the party having an unnecessary contest?" he said.

Blair has said previously that he intends to step down before the next election but he has not set a date.

Straw also confirmed his interest in taking over from John Prescott, who is under intense pressure to resign, as deputy prime minister.

Several other candidates have also thrown their hat into the ring.

[Livyjr]

This morning ...

On the radio ....

I heard it said ...

That one of George W. Bush's .....

Many or innumerable enemies ....

On the face of this earth ...

Had been killed ...

By an American bomb ....

And so ...

Who really knows if this happened ...

And as for me ...

Quite frankly ...

I AM DAMN SICK AND TIRED ...

OF HEARING DAILY ...

ABOUT EVERYBODY THAT GEORGE W. BUSH HAS KILLED ...

OR ELSE ...

ABOUT THE REST ...

THE ONES THAT GEORGE W. BUSH WANTS TO KILL ...

BUT HASN'T YET DONE SO ....

That in some ways ...

Although I abhor the taking of a human life ...

Especially by the cowardly means ....

Of dropping massive bombs ....

From a distance ....

I am somewhat glad that this Abu Rabu Zimbuku ....

Or whoever the Hell else he might have been ...

Is finally gone .....

So that maybe ...

Finally ....

George W. Bush ..

Will finally run out of enemies ....

So that we can get some peace back ...

In OUR lives ...

Those of us who don't have enemies, anyway ....

Because we have outgrown the need for such childish notions ....

And so ....

Although that is quite doubtful, really ....

That we are going to see peace in my remaining lifetime, anyway ....

Because George W. Bush has started way more than he is capable of finishing ....

And so ...

While I would hope that the death of this al-Hambra Zimbabwe ....

Or whoever the Hell he might have been ...

Will strike a blow ...

Towards getting back to some semblance of world peace .....

I just don't think this Bush ....

This immature boy that we are stuck with as president ....

Has that gear ....

In his gearbox ....

And so .....

Soon ...

There will be another Zarcoffee ....

Or whatever that guy's name really was ...

To be George W. Bush's next enemy ...

Because George W. Bush seems to have some kind of obsession with all these enemies ...

A need ...

A "JONES" ....

Like a barking dog ....

Just having this need to bark ...

That will keep him ....

Perpetually in motion ....

Like a shark .....

Looking for more and more "enemies" .....

That he can then ordered killed ...

And so ....

My fear ...

Or my belief .....

Whatever .....

Is that killing this Sambuku fellow .....

Will end exactly nothing .....

And that we are going to have years and years and years and years and years more ...

Of this daily BULL **** .....

That we have had to endure ...

Of who has been killed ...

Which is mostly women and children ....

And who has yet to be killed ...

Which is the men ...

Who are fighting back ...

Because George W. Bush ...

Is killing their wives, and sisters and mothers and grand-mothers, and children, and grand-children, and relatives .....

THIS DAILY CRAP ....

That we Americans have had to endure ...

Since this abomination named George W. Bush ...

Took over things ....

Here in OUR America ...

To OUR detriment ...

AS A PEOPLE ON THE FACE OF THIS EARTH ...

WHO ARE NOT ALL A RAMPAGING BARBARIAN HOARDE ....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

"Poll: U.S. disapproves of war in Iraq"

Associated Press
Last updated: 4:25 p.m., Thursday, June 8, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The death of al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq came as more Americans than ever thought the war in Iraq was a mistake, according to AP-Ipsos polling.

The poll, taken Monday through Wednesday before news broke that U.S. forces had killed al-Zarqawi, found that 59 percent of adults say the United States made a mistake in going to war in Iraq -- the highest level yet in AP-Ipsos polling.

Approval of President Bush's handling of Iraq dipped to 33 percent, a new low.

His overall job approval was 35 percent, statistically within range of his low of 33 percent last month.

The poll of 1,003 adults has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Among other findings:

--More than half, 54 percent, said it's unlikely that a stable, democratic government will be established in Iraq, a new high in AP-Ipsos polling.

The survey was completed before Iraq's parliament approved three key new government ministers.

Just 67 percent of Republicans, 63 percent of conservatives, and 57 percent of white evangelicals believed a stable, democratic government is likely.

--Only 68 percent of Republicans, 57 percent of white evangelicals and 51 percent of self-described conservatives -- key groups in Bush's base of support -- approved of his handling of Iraq.

Those most likely to disapprove are Democrats (89 percent), women (70 percent), minorities (84 percent), city dwellers (72 percent), those with household incomes under $25,000 (71 percent), and unmarried men (70 percent).

--Those most likely to believe the war in Iraq was a mistake are Democrats (84 percent), women (63 percent), especially suburban women (67 percent), minorities (76 percent), city dwellers (66 percent), self-described liberals (82 percent), moderates (64 percent), and Catholics (62 percent).

------

AP Polling Director Mike Mokrzycki, AP Manager of News Surveys Trevor Tompson and AP News Survey specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this story.

[Livyjr]

This morning ...

On the radio ....

I heard it said ...

That one of George W. Bush's .....

Many or innumerable enemies ....

On the face of this earth ...

Had been killed ...

By an American bomb ....

And so ...

Who really knows if this happened ...

And as for me ...

Quite frankly ...

I AM DAMN SICK AND TIRED ...

OF HEARING DAILY ...

ABOUT EVERYBODY THAT GEORGE W. BUSH HAS KILLED ...

OR ELSE ...

ABOUT THE REST ...

THE ONES THAT GEORGE W. BUSH WANTS TO KILL ...

BUT HASN'T YET DONE SO ....

That in some ways ...

Although I abhor the taking of a human life ...

Especially by the cowardly means ....

Of dropping massive bombs ....

From a distance ....

I am somewhat glad that this Abu Rabu Zimbuku ....

Or whoever the Hell else he might have been ...

Is finally gone .....

So that maybe ...

Finally ....

George W. Bush ..

Will finally run out of enemies ....

So that we can get some peace back ...

In OUR lives ...

Those of us who don't have enemies, anyway ....

Because we have outgrown the need for such childish notions ....

And so ....

Although that is quite doubtful, really ....

That we are going to see peace in my remaining lifetime, anyway ....

Because George W. Bush has started way more than he is capable of finishing ....

And so ...

"Poll: U.S. disapproves of war in Iraq" 
 
Associated Press
Last updated: 4:25 p.m., Thursday, June 8, 2006

Approval of President Bush's handling of Iraq dipped to 33 percent, a new low.

"Bush: al-Zarqawi death won't end violence"

By ANNE GEARAN, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:46 p.m., Thursday, June 8, 2006

WASHINGTON -- President Bush hailed the killing of "the most-wanted terrorist in Iraq" but said Thursday it wouldn't stop the violence there or bring a speedy withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Officials were on the watch for possible retaliation in this country, while Bush laid plans for an Iraq strategy meeting with advisers early next week.

Confidence in the president's handling of Iraq was at its lowest point ever, according to an AP-Ipsos poll taken before the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was announced.

An Air Force F-16 dropped precision-guided bombs on an al-Qaida safe house north of Baghdad, killing al-Zarqawi and several others, the U.S. said.

Special operations forces had tracked an al-Zarqawi adviser, Sheik Abdul Rahman, who unwittingly led U.S. forces to the building.

"Zarqawi is dead, but the difficult and necessary mission in Iraq continues," a grim-faced Bush said during an early morning Rose Garden appearance.

"We can expect the terrorists and insurgents to carry on without him."

The United States has about 133,000 troops in Iraq more than three years into an increasingly unpopular war.

The AP-Ipsos poll this week, before word of the killing, showed more Americans than ever thought the war in Iraq was a mistake.

Al-Zarqawi was one of the few identifiable enemies in the war, which has changed from a conventional military confrontation to a campaign to counter guerrilla-style insurgent attacks on U.S. forces and Iraqi civilians.

The Jordanian-born terrorist is believed to have personally beheaded two U.S. hostages in Iraq, and he claimed responsibility for attacks in and out of the country that killed many more.

"The ideology of terror has lost its most visible, aggressive leader," Bush said, calling al-Zarqawi the most wanted terrorist in Iraq and the "operational commander of the terrorist movement" there.

The war has not seen the downfall of such an iconic figure since late 2003 when former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was captured.

Shortly afterward, Iraq's new prime minister announced long-delayed political appointments that Washington hopes will help inspire confidence and gradually sap the Sunni Arab-driven insurgency of popular support.

Bush planned to convene his defense and foreign policy advisers at Camp David next week for a two-day strategy session.

There also will be a teleconference discussion with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and members of the Iraqi Cabinet.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said al-Zarqawi's death "will not mean the end of all violence in that country."

"Over the past several years, no single person on this planet has had the blood of more innocent men, women and children on his hands," Rumsfeld said at a meeting of NATO ministers in Brussels, Belgium.

Bush learned of the killing Wednesday afternoon during an Oval Office meeting with Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, national security adviser Stephen Hadley and White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten, said spokesman Tony Snow.

Bush discussed the events by phone Thursday with al-Maliki and also with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Britain has been the Bush administration's staunchest ally in Iraq, with about 8,000 troops on the ground.

The AP-Ipsos poll found that 59 percent of adults say the United States made a mistake in going to war in Iraq -- the highest level yet.

Approval of Bush's handling of Iraq dipped to 33 percent, a new low.

Only 68 percent of Republicans, 57 percent of white evangelicals and 51 percent of self-described conservatives -- key groups in Bush's base of support -- approved of his handling of Iraq.

A U.S. counterterrorism official predicted little disruption to al-Qaida activities because of the decentralized nature of the terror group, but also said the charismatic al-Zarqawi would not be an easy figure to replace.

Al-Zarqawi provided guidance and strategy for insurgent attacks, was an able fundraiser and maintained a long list of foreign contacts far beyond Iraq, the official said.

Without al-Zarqawi, the official said, it is unclear how well his organization will be able to launch attacks outside Iraq such as a hotel bombing last year in Amman, Jordan, that killed guests at a Palestinian wedding.

A U.S. defense intelligence official warned that there could be retaliatory attacks in the United States or elsewhere.

Both officials requested anonymity because events were still unfolding.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said his department was watching for signs of retaliation or other threats to the United States.

But he indicated there were no immediate plans to step up domestic security measures.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said al-Zarqawi's death "reinforces our view that American forces will hunt down and destroy terrorists where they hide. "

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who was his party's nominee for president in 2004, said the killing, coupled with the political events in Iraq, should speed the U.S. exit.

"Its time to work with the new Iraqi government to bring our combat troops home by the end of this year," said Kerry, who supported the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

[Livyjr]

And it seems ...

That you cannot say the name of George W. Bush ....

Whether at home ...

Or abroad ....

Without that name being associated with violence ....

And the continued degradation ...

Of OUR standard of living ...

Here in OUR America ....

Which George W. Bush ...

Is turning violent ...

Just as he has done in Iraq ....

And so ....

"Cities struggling with increased violence"

By SUSAN HAIGH, Associated Press Writer

Thu Jun 8, 1:58 PM ET

HARTFORD, Conn. - A man who refused to give up his gold and diamond chain.

Two teenagers hanging out on a front porch.

Four family members in front of their house planning a cookout.

They were among 20 people shot, three fatally, in Connecticut's capital since May 24 in a surge of seemingly senseless violence that has clergy and state lawmakers calling for a cease-fire and state troopers preparing to walk the beat.

Hartford and some other cities around the country are seeing a disturbing rise in shootings — many of them prompted not by drugs or money, but by petty squabbles and perceived slights.

Young people are drawing guns over respect, turf and relationships.

Much of the bloodshed is attributed to 12- to 16-year-olds "settling beefs, dirty looks and somebody looking at somebody else's girlfriend," said Albert DiChiara, director of the University of Hartford's criminal justice program.

"I'm anticipating a very, very bad summer," he said.

Summer violence is not unusual in Hartford, a city of 125,000 that is a pocket of poverty in the nation's second-wealthiest state.

But residents say this year is different because so many people have been shot in such a short time.

From Jan. 1 to May 27, the most recent figures available, police reported 83 shootings, up 25 percent from the same period last year.

Those killed include Kerry Foster Jr., 15, described as a good kid with perfect school attendance who tried to stay away from the turf wars roiling his neighborhood.

He and a 14-year-old friend were hit by shots from a passing car as they stood on Foster's front porch.

"I'm fretting these numbers because one of these days, it could be coming to your door," said Sam Saylor, a father of two teenagers.

"I'm feeling helpless, and when men feel helpless, they go to drastic measures."

DiChiara, who is part of a federally-funded project that works to keep the peace in the two Hartford neighborhoods where most of the shootings have occurred, said this year's violence is the worst since he arrived in the city 16 years ago.

He said the gang wars of the early 1990s were easier to deal with because they involved organized factions that could be reasoned with.

Across the country, cities have reported recent increases in violence after years of declining national crime rates.

In Little Rock, Ark., there have been 33 homicides so far this year, slightly ahead of the pace of 1993, when gang violence caused a sharp increase.

Sgt. Terry Hastings said most of the killings this year were prompted by drugs or soured relationships.

"We can't figure out why suddenly you're talking and then you start shooting," he said.

"How, as a law enforcement agency, do you deal with that?"

Philadelphia's homicide toll is running about even with last year's count, when a total of 380 people were killed, the most since 1997.

In San Francisco, the number of killings is running at a 10-year high.

And in Jacksonville, Fla., there have been at least 64 homicides this year, compared with 36 this time last year.

In Hartford, where clergy and lawmakers have asked for a 60-day cease-fire, the plan is to create teams of adults to visit high schools and teen centers to talk with young people and their families.

Teams of mental health workers will also be sent out into the community to talk about anger management and available mental health services.

"We're here to listen to you."

"This is not the police coming," said state Rep. Kenneth Green of Hartford.

"We want to begin to engage you in how to solve this problem."

For the fourth summer in a row, uniformed state troopers and plainclothes officers will be dispatched to help city police patrol neighborhoods.

Federal agents will also help out.

Despite the increased police presence, many parents are keeping their children inside.

Saylor said he is willing to submit to random traffic stops by police or other measures that could help stop the gunfire.

"I'm willing to give up some civil liberties if it means saving one kid's life," he said last week.

"There's a sense of a complete absence of law right now, and I'm not ashamed to say I'm scared to death."
___

Associated Press Writer Stephanie Reitz in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this report.

end quotes

There is more than a sense of a complete absence of law here in OUR America ..........

There is a complete absence of law ...

Because the man at the very top ....

George W. Bush, that being ....

Has made it incandescently clear ....

To all the candid world ....

That to him ...

The "law" ain't worth doodly-squat ....

And so ....

With that kind of example being set by the leader ....

Who is surprised by the results, when they happen?

And so ....

[Livyjr]

"Bush likens war on terrorism to Cold War" 
 
By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press
Last updated: 2:05 p.m., Saturday, May 27, 2006

WEST POINT, N.Y. -- President Bush, likening the war against Islamic radicals to the Cold War threat of communism, told U.S. Military Academy graduates on Saturday that America's safety depends on an aggressive push for democracy, especially in the Middle East.

"This is only the beginning," Bush said.

"The message has spread from Damascus to Tehran that the future belongs to freedom, and we will not rest until the promise of liberty reaches every people in every nation."

A "PUSH" for DEMOCRACY ....

IS NOT DEMOCRACY ....

And the PROMISE OF LIBERTY, of course ...

IS NOT LIBERTY ...

To the contrary ....

IT IS A STATE OF SLAVERY ....

With an implied promise of liberation ...

BY THE MASTER ...

At some future point in time ...

And so ....

"Iraq orders driving ban to prevent attacks"

By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer

27 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's prime minister imposed a daytime driving ban in Baghdad and in the province where Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed by American bombs, fearing insurgents will seek to avenge the death of the al-Qaida in Iraq leader.

As Iraqi and U.S. leaders cautioned that al-Zarqawi's death was not likely to end the bloodshed in Iraq, an American general said another foreign-born militant was already poised to take over the terror network's operations.

Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said Egyptian-born Abu al-Masri would likely take the reins of al-Qaida in Iraq.

He said al-Masri trained in Afghanistan and arrived in Iraq in 2002 to establish an al-Qaida cell.

Al-Masri, whose name is an obvious alias meaning "father of the Egyptian," is believed to be an expert at constructing roadside bombs, the leading cause of U.S. military casualties in Iraq.

Al-Zarqawi, who was born in Jordan, was killed in a U.S. airstrike Wednesday near Baqouba, the capital of Diyala province, which is in the heartland of the Sunni-led insurgency and has seen a recent rise in sectarian violence.

Baqouba is 35 miles northeast of Baghdad.

The vehicle ban will be in effect from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday in Baghdad and from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. for three days starting Friday in Diyala, Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Adnan Abdul Rahman said.

The ban falls during the times that most Iraqis go to mosques for Friday prayers.

Bombers have been known to target Shiite mosques during the weekly religious services with suicide attackers and mortars hidden in vehicles.

Iraqi authorities imposed the vehicle ban as a security measure "to protect mosques and prayers from any possible terrorist attacks, especially car bombs, in the wake off yesterday's event," a government official said, referring to al-Zarqawi's death.

The official from the prime minister's office spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to media.

The U.S. military displayed images of the battered face of al-Zarqawi, Iraq's most feared terrorist, and said he had been identified by fingerprints, tattoos and scars.

Biological samples from his body also were delivered to an FBI crime laboratory in Virginia for DNA testing.

The results were expected in three days.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki also hailed a breakthrough on the political front Thursday, gaining approval from the Iraqi parliament for three key security ministers in a move that ended a three-week stalemate among Iraq's fractured ethnic and sectarian groups.

The new Iraqi Defense Minister Gen. Abdul-Qader Mohammed Jassim al-Mifarji, a Sunni Arab, promised to work with the other security forces to stop the violence in the country.

"I will cooperate completely with the other security forces, the interior ministry, the national security, the intelligence service," he said Thursday at a handover ceremony.

"We have to be one team with the multinational forces to achieve victory against terrorism."

Members of that formerly dominant minority are the backbone of the insurgency, and many people feel it is crucial to have Sunnis deeply involved in the new government to weaken support for the guerrillas.

Sunni Arabs also have complained of random detentions and maltreatment at the hands of the Shiite-dominated interior ministry, which oversees the police.

The defense ministry controls the army.

The other two new ministers came from the Shiite majority — Jawad al-Bolani as interior minister and Sherwan al-Waili as minister of state for national security.

The two breakthroughs on Thursday may give the United States and its Iraqi allies another brief chance to build momentum toward stability and away from violence.

With al-Zarqawi out of the way and the new government in place, some Sunni Arab leaders may be emboldened to resume a dialogue they started last fall — exchanges sunk by al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq.

If another effort is made, much will depend on the Iraqi government's ability to live up to its promises to build a political system that includes all groups, including disaffected Sunnis.

More than a dozen Sunni Arab insurgent groups are believed to be operating in Iraq, and a few use tactics just as ruthless as al-Zarqawi's.

President Bush and U.S. military leaders cautioned that the death of the 39-year-old militant was not likely to end the bloodshed — just as the capture of Saddam Hussein and the killings of his two sons failed to dampen the insurgency.

A rash of bombings that killed nearly 40 people in Baghdad on Thursday confirmed that assessment.

Five civilians were killed and three were wounded Friday during a firefight in the area of Ghalibiya, west of Baqouba, according to the regional authorities.

The circumstances of the firefight, which demolished five houses, were unclear.

Elsewhere, the torso of a man wearing a military uniform was found floating in a river Friday morning near Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, morgue official Hadi al-Ettabi said.

Police also found five unidentified bodies late Thursday of men who had been shot in the head in eastern Baghdad.

And gunmen opened fire on Friday's funeral procession for the brother of the governor of the northern city of Mosul.

Zuhair Kashmola was killed by gunmen on Thursday.

Meanwhile, an Australian security guard was identified as one of four victims in a roadside bombing in northern Iraq on Thursday.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the 34-year-old man, whose name was not released, was guarding a vehicle convoy at the time of the attack, which occurred about 190 miles north of Baghdad.

Further details of the attack were not immediately available.

Al-Zarqawi, who had a $25 million bounty on his head, was killed at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday after an intense two-week hunt that U.S. officials said first led to the terror leader's spiritual adviser and then to him.

U.S. Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said the American airstrike targeted "an identified, isolated safe house."

Four other people, including a woman and a child, were killed with al-Zarqawi and Abu Abdul-Rahman al-Iraqi, the terrorist's spiritual consultant.

Al-Qaida confirmed al-Zarqawi's death in a statement and vowed to continue its "holy war."

Curiously, the announcement was signed by al-Iraqi, who was identified as deputy "emir" of the group, perhaps in an attempt to spread confusion.

Caldwell said the U.S. military had discussed the succession question with the Iraqi government even before al-Zarqawi was killed.

Al-Maliki said Thursday that it made no real difference.

"Whenever there is a new Zarqawi, we will kill him," he told reporters.
___

Associated Press writers Patrick Quinn, Hamza Hendawi, Sinan Salaheddin, Qais al-Bashir and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.

[Livyjr]

I don't know about anyone else ....

Here in America ....

Or out in the world, for that matter ....

But my "DISGUST LEVEL" ....

With the "world situation" .....

Has been running at a fairly high level now ....

FOR YEARS ....

At least since 2003 ....

When I saw some of George W. Bush's IMPERIAL LEGIONS ....

In their designer sunglasses ....

Holding fixed bayonets .....

In the faces ...

Of the IRAQINAMI people ....

Whose lives ....

George W. Bush had so callously disrupted ....

When he invaded IRAQINAM ....

For the purpose of stealing their oil ....

As well as to get a more COMPLIANT PUPPET ON THE THRONE OVER THERE ....

To replace America's former puppet ....

Saddam Hussein ....

Who was no longer CONVENIENT ...

For America to maintain as a puppet ....

And so ....

It is hard to put into words ....

MY DISGUST ...

AND REVULSION this morning ....

When I pulled my newpaper out of its box ....

TO SEE AN OBVIOUSLY DEAD HUMAN FACE ...

PEERING BACK OUT AT ME ....

As PROOF .....

That George W. Bush ....

HAD JUST KILLED SOME MORE HUMAN BEINGS ...

On this earth of OURS ...

Some more women and children ....

Along with one of George's many alleged enemies .....

And so ....

WHAT KIND OF DEPRAVED, GHOULISH NATION ....

PUBLISHES IMAGES OF DEAD PEOPLE'S FACES .....

IN ITS MORNING NEWSPAPERS ....

WHERE THOSE DEAD FACES ...

CAN BE SEEN ...

BY CHILDREN ....

ALONG WITH EVERYONE ELSE ...

Including myself ...

WHO HAS SEEN A GUT-FULL OF OTHER DEAD HUMAN FACES CAUSED BY AMERICA ...

And so .....

When I saw that face looking back at me ....

All I could see ....

Was AMERICA ....

DOWN ON ITS KNEES ....

LAPPING UP THIS MAN'S BLOOD ....

LIKE IT WAS A HYENA ....

OR SOME OTHER SCAVENGING, RAVENING BEAST ....

And so ....

I wonder if they cut out his heart ...

And sent it back to George W. bush ...

And/or Dick Cheney ...

And Condoleeza Rice ....

And Donald Rumsfeld ...

To eat .....

Like real conquerors do ....

Make their enemies strength ...

Their strength ....

As if they were aboriginal savages ....

In the heart of the blackest jungle somewhere near to HELL ...

Or if they hooked chains to his achilles tendons ....

And dragged him around Baghdad .....

Behind one of George W. Bush's HUMMERS ....

As if he were poor slain Hector ....

At the battle of Troy ...

Being dragged behind his slayer's chariot ....

While George W. Bush ...

Has a wreath of laurels ..

Placed around his head ....

By the hands of a GRATEFUL NATION ....

Minus one ....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

And getting as far away from George W. Bush as I can in here this evening .....

We have ....

Coming at us ....

Perhaps, anyway ....

Some more violent weather ....

Just to make life interesting .....

Or to keep it that way, anyway ...

And so .....

"1st tropical depression heads toward Fla."

By JENNIFER KAY, Associated Press
Last updated: 5:26 p.m., Saturday, June 10, 2006

MIAMI -- A tropical depression in the Caribbean headed toward Florida on Saturday and was expected to become the first named storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season.

The depression formed earlier in the day, nine days after the official start of the season, but the poorly organized system was not expected to become a hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center.

"It will be relatively weak in terms of wind, but that doesn't mean it's going to be weak in terms of rainfall," senior hurricane specialist Stacy Stewart said.

The system, which had maximum sustained wind near 35 mph, would be named Alberto if it reaches the 39 mph threshold for a tropical storm.

At 5 p.m. EDT, the depression was centered in the Caribbean Sea about 50 miles west of Cabo San Antonio on the western tip of Cuba, forecasters said.

It was moving north-northwest near 6 mph.

The hurricane center recommended tropical storm warnings for the Cuban provinces of Pinar Del Rio and the Isle of Youth.

Over the next three days, the system is expected to move through the Yucatan Channel into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, then toward Florida where it could make landfall Monday or Tuesday somewhere between South Florida and the western tip of the Panhandle, forecasters said.

The depression's outer rainbands stretched Saturday to the southern tip of Florida, and heavy rain was forecast over the state's Gulf Coast and the Florida Keys through Monday.

State officials pleaded with residents to update their hurricane preparedness plans but most shrugged at the news.

"The media overplays this, they get people very scared," said Tim Roberts, a Fort Lauderdale condo owner who was visiting Tallahassee.

"Sure, when the time comes to be alarmed, yes, but don't make more out of it until it's time."

Scientists predict the 2006 season could produce up to 16 named storms, six of them major hurricanes.

Last year's hurricane season was the busiest and most destructive in recorded history.

Hurricane Katrina alone devastated Louisiana and Mississippi and was blamed for more than 1,570 deaths in Louisiana alone.

Mike Martino lost his Navarre Beach home twice in the past two hurricane seasons -- first to Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and never got to move into a new home built on the same lot because Hurricane Dennis wiped it out in 2005.

Instead of rebuilding again, he moved to the mainland.

Martino, who rents kayaks, bikes and surfboards out of his store in Navarre Beach, worried that the weather would do more economic damage than property damage.

"I know that we have weather coming, so I can't have weekly rentals, it's all going to have to be done by the day," he said.

The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the busiest in 154 years of storm tracking, with records set for the number of named storms (28) and hurricanes (15).

Forecasters used up their list of 21 proper names (beginning with Arlene and ending with Wilma) and had to use the Greek alphabet to name storms for the first time.

Meteorologists have said the Atlantic is not as warm as it was at this time in 2005, meaning potential storms would have less of the energy needed to develop into hurricanes.

Atlantic hurricane seasons were relatively mild from the 1970s through 1994.

Since then, all but two years have been above normal.

Experts say the ocean is in the midst of a 20-year-cycle that will continue to bring strong storms.

From 1995 to 2005, the Atlantic season averaged 15 named storms, just over eight named hurricanes and four major hurricanes, according to the hurricane center.

From 1971 to 1994, there were an average of 8.5 named storms, five hurricanes and just over one major hurricane.

The Atlantic hurricane season ends Nov. 30.

------

Associated Press writers Kelli Kennedy in Hialeah and Andrea Fanta in Tallahassee contributed to this report.

------

On the Net:

National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

[Livyjr]

"U.S. commander to review Haditha report" 
 
By FREDERIC J. FROMMER, Associated Press
Last updated: 1:25 p.m., Monday, June 5, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The No. 2 American general in Iraq will soon review a preliminary criminal report into the alleged massacre by Marines of Iraqi citizens in Haditha, a congressman just back from Iraq said Monday.

A senior defense official told the Associated Press last month that evidence points to unprovoked killings by the Marines involved.

A separate probe is examining whether there has been a coverup of the incident by the U.S. military.

Also Sunday, the top U.S. military officer pledged a thorough investigation in the alleged massacre at Haditha, acknowledging that the charges have raised concerns among Iraqi officials and in the United States.

Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it is not clear exactly what happened last November when as many as two dozen Iraqis were killed during a U.S. attack in Haditha.

end quotes

Well, General Pace ....

You say that you want the "judicial process" to move along without any influence ....

And supposedly ...

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

And so ...

As an American citizen ...

And as a disabled veteran ...

I would say that was a good thing ...

But then ...

I would say ...

That as CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS ....

YOU ARE CERTAINLY EXERTING CONSIDERABLE INFLUENCE ON THE ALLEGED "JUDICIAL PROCESS" ....

And you appear to be doing your damndest ....

To taint the probes ...

By making what are obvious and blatant political speeches ...

Wherein you state ....

Or assert ...

Or certainly imply ...

That as CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS ...

You are possessed of some kind of HARD EVIDENCE ......

WHICH WOULD PROVE ....

TO US, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ....

That 99.9 percent of the servicemen and service women are doing what we expect them to do ....

And so ...

What you have done with your words, here, General Pace ...

In your capacity as CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS ....

IS TO HAVE SET A QUOTA ....

As to how many bad apples there can possibly be in OUR military ........

And the MAXIMUM NUMBER, therefore ....

Of bad apples ....

THAT YOU WILL ACCEPT .....

OR ALLOW YOUR SUBORDINATES DOING THE INVESTIGATION ....

TO PRESENT YOU WITH ....

And so ...

General ...

Do us a favor ...

AND STOW THE BULL **** .....

About not wanting to influence this investigation ...

Because you already have ...

And so ...

"NITS BREED LICE, KILL THEM ALL ...."

- AMERICAN RULES OF ENGAGEMENT IN GEORGE W. BUSH'S WAR OF TERROR ON THE PEOPLE OF IRAQINAM

"Lawyer: Marine denies Haditha massacre"

Associated Press
Last updated: 5:35 a.m., Sunday, June 11, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The lawyer for a sergeant who led a squad of Marines during an incident that left civilians dead in Haditha, Iraq, says his client insists his unit was following military rules of engagement, did not intentionally target any civilians and did not try to cover up what it had done.

No one has yet been charged in the Haditha case, which centers on allegations that a small number of Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment killed 24 Iraqi civilians -- included unarmed women and children -- on Nov. 19 after a roadside bomb in the town killed one of their fellow Marines.

Neal A. Puckett told The Washington Post in a story for Sunday's editions that Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, 26, told him several civilians were killed when his squad pursued insurgents firing at them from inside a house after the bombing.

He quoted the sergeant as describing to him a house-to-house hunt that went wrong in the midst of a confusing battlefield, but denying any vengeful massacre.

"It will forever be his position that everything they did that day was following their rules of engagement and to protect the lives of Marines," Puckett told the newspaper.

"He's really upset that people believe that he and his Marines are even capable of intentionally killing innocent civilians."

The Post characterized Wuterich's version of what happened at Haditha as the first public account from a Marine who was on the ground when the shootings occurred, which it said has led to an investigation looking into possible murder charges against a half dozen Marines.

A separate investigation is examining whether Marines tried to cover up the shootings and whether commanders were negligent in failing to investigate the deaths when they were reported to them.

Haditha residents have said innocent civilians were executed, including some who begged for their lives before being shot.

But Puckett said Wuterich told him in initial interviews over nearly 12 hours last week that the shootings were the unfortunate result of a sweep for enemies in a firefight.

The Post said lawyers for two other Marines involved in the incident say Wuterich's account is consistent with what their clients have told them.

Gary Myers, an attorney for a Marine who was with Wuterich that day but not further identified, told the Post the Marines followed standard procedures when clearing houses, using fragmentation grenades and gunshots to respond to a perceived threat.

"I can confirm that that version of events is consistent with our position on this case," Myers told the Post.

"What this case comes down to is: What were the rules of engagement, and were they followed?"

Kevin B. McDermott, who is representing Capt. Lucas M. McConnell, the company commander who was relieved of duty after the incident, told the Post that Wuterich and other Marines informed McConnell on the day of the incident that at least 15 civilians were killed by "a mixture of small-arms fire and shrapnel as result of grenades" after the Marines responded to an attack from a house.

The lawyer told the paper McConnell told him that he had reported the high number of civilian deaths to his superiors that afternoon and that within a few days the battalion's intelligence chief gave a PowerPoint presentation to higher-up Marine commanders.

"Everywhere up the chain, they had ample access to this thing," McDermott said.

Puckett gave this account to the Post, based on his interview with Wuterich:

Immediately after the roadside bomb, Marines noticed a car full of "military-aged men" near the bomb site who ran when ordered to stop.

Marines opened fire, killing four or five men.

The unit subsequently came under fire and a corporal identified the shots as coming from a specific house.

A four-man team, including Wuterich, kicked in the door and found a series of empty rooms before hearing people behind one door.

They kicked that one in, tossed a fragmentation grenade into the room and one Marine fired a series of rounds through dust and smoke, killing several people.

Even though they realized they had killed men, women and children, they saw a back door ajar and believed insurgents had moved to a second house.

The Marines moved to the second house, kicking in the door, killing one man inside and then using another grenade and more gunfire to clear another room full of people.

Still having not found the insurgents, Wuterich told his team to stop and headed back to reassess the situation with his platoon leader, realizing that a number of civilians had just been killed.[/b][/color]

end quotes

And finally ...

We are starting to get into the REAL BALLPARK here ....

With this mouthpiece's question ...

"What were the rules of engagement, and were they followed?"

And the ANSWER to that ....

According to this Marine General .....

This BUSHCO Pace .....

IS THAT THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT WERE INDEED FOLLOWED .....

As is evidenced by the fact .....

That everyone in those houses ....

Whether man, woman, or child ....

WAS SLAUGHTERED OUTRIGHT ....

And especially the children ....

BECAUSE NITS BREED LICE ....

Who might be future ENEMIES of GEORGE W. BUSH ....

And so ....

KILL THEM ALL ....

And at some point in time ...

In some future, anyway ...

George W. Bush won't have any enemies left .....

To trouble his fitful sleep .....

And so ...

[Livyjr]

"NITS BREED LICE, KILL THEM ALL ...."

- AMERICAN RULES OF ENGAGEMENT IN GEORGE W. BUSH'S WAR OF TERROR ON THE PEOPLE OF IRAQINAM

"British troops, insurgents battle in Iraq"

By RYAN LENZ, Associated Press
Last updated: 12:55 p.m., Sunday, June 11, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Insurgents set a fire in a vegetable market to lure British soldiers into a gunbattle Sunday that left five civilians dead and more than a dozen hurt by the crossfire, Iraqi police said.

The fighting was part of a string of violent incidents Sunday amid a government stalemate and threats of continued violence from insurgents after the death of al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Police Capt. Hussein Karim said insurgents started the blaze in the market in south Amarah, 180 miles southeast of Baghdad, to draw the troops into an ambush.

The British Defense Ministry offered a different account, saying soldiers were sent to search the suspected launch site of a rocket attack and came under small-arms fire.

The ministry said there were reports of "a small number of terrorist casualties," but full details of the incident remained unclear.

It could not confirm that civilians were among the dead and wounded.

Meanwhile, Iraq's national security adviser said he believed the number of coalition forces would drop below 100,000 by year's end.

Mouwafak al-Rubaie also said the majority of coalition forces would leave before mid-2008.

"The more our Iraqi security forces, our police, our army, the more they grow in number, in training and are ready and able to perform and to protect our people, then the less we need of the multinational forces," al-Rubaie told CNN's "Late Edition."

"The overwhelming majority of the multinational forces will leave probably before ... the middle of 2008."

The top U.S. commander in Iraq said Sunday he does not plan to ask President Bush for more troops during meetings this week, but he declined to say whether he would suggest a reduction of his forces.

"I constantly evaluate the situation," Gen. George Casey said.

"And if I think I need more, I'll ask more."

"If I think I need less, I'll tell the president that I need less."

White House officials have played down expectations of troop cutback announcements coming from the president's summit on Iraq.

Roadside bombs struck two Iraqi police patrols in separate attacks in north and south Baghdad, killing two people, at least one of them a police officer, and wounding 11.

At least nine other violent deaths were reported around the country.

Al-Qaida in Iraq vowed Sunday to carry out "major attacks," insisting in a Web statement that it was still powerful after the death of al-Zarqawi.

Insurgents Saturday posted an Internet video of the beheading of three alleged Shiite death squad members.

The attacks since the Thursday announcement of al-Zarqawi's death have been far from the mass bloodshed promised by his supporters.

The government had imposed partial driving bans in Baghdad and Baqouba, which resulted in a slight drop in violence.

An average of about 19 people a day were killed around Iraq in the past three days.

Continuing an already monthlong delay, the Iraqi parliament postponed its session to allow the main political blocs more time to agree on the exact powers of the Sunni Arab parliament speaker.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met with party representatives Saturday but failed to break the deadlock.

Fellow Sunni insurgent groups sent condolences for al-Zarqawi in Internet messages Saturday and warned Sunnis not to cooperate with the Iraqi government, an apparent call for unity after U.S. forces killed the terror leader in a targeted airstrike Wednesday.

The Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi was the defining face of Iraq's insurgency.

His tirades against the nation's majority Shiites and calls for the once-dominant minority Sunni Arabs to rise up and kill them were accompanied by the killings of thousands of Shiites in attacks.

Iraqi and U.S. leaders acknowledged that al-Zarqawi's killing was not likely to stop the insurgency, now in its fourth year.

But they hoped it would rob his supporters of an iconic figure around which they rallied.

Saturday's grisly video was the first known footage of insurgent beheadings posted in months and was clearly designed to quash hopes that the Sunni-dominated insurgency might end attacks on Shiites.

In other violence Sunday:

-- Drive-by gunmen fired on a civilian car, killing the driver, police said.

-- Police in the southern Baghdad neighborhood of Dora found four unidentified bodies, all of which had been tortured and shot.

-- Baghdad police said they separately found the body of a Health Ministry security guard who appeared to have been shot in the head after being tortured and the corpse of a taxi driver who was reported kidnapped yesterday in Dora.

-- Unidentified gunmen in Mosul shot and killed a former Iraqi Army officer, police said.

The assailants were in a speeding car and killed Ali Ahmed Abdullah with a machine gun as he was walking in one of the city's commercial centers.

-- A roadside bomb in western Mosul killed one bystander and injured six others, police Col. Abdul-Karim Ahmed said.

------

Associated Press reporters Sinan Salaheddin and Qais al-Bashir contributed to this report.

[Livyjr]

"FOR AMERICA, GENOCIDE IS PAINLESS"

Through early morning fog .....

I see ....

Visions ....

Of the things to be .....

The pains ....

That are withheld ....

From America ....

I realize ....

And I can see...

That for America, anyway ....

GENOCIDE is painless .....

While certainly ...

For the rest of the world, anyway ....

It brings on many changes .....

Starting with a major population decline, of course ...

Which means a lot less enemies .....

For George W. Bush ....

To have to trouble himself about ....

Since by having them killed ...

Well ...

Then ...

Nits can't breed lice .....

And so ....

And America ....

Can take or leave it ....

If it pleases .....

Because it is not here ....

And so ....

As for me ....

I try to find a way to make ....

All our little joys relate ....

Without that ever-present hate ....

That emanates ....

From Washington, D.C. ....

But now I know .....

That it's too late, and...

The game of life is hard to play ....

And George W. Bush's victims ...

Are gonna lose it anyway ....

The losing card ....

George W. Bush ....

Has already dealt to them ....

So this is all I have to say.

For George W. Bush ....

And his REPUBLICANS ....

The only way to win ...

Is cheat ....

And to lay down the population of the world ....

Before they are beat ....

And so ...

The sword of George W. Bush ....

Will pierce their skins ....

Including the women and children ....

And it will hurt like hell ...

When it begins ....

And as it works its way on in ....

The pain grows stronger...

Watch George and Connie and Dick and Donald grin, but...

A brave man once requested me ....

To answer questions that are key ....

Is it to be or not to be ....

And I replied, "oh why ask me?"

'Cause to America ....

GENOCIDE is painless ....

For George W. Bush ....

It brings on many changes ....

And since America is not affected ....

It can take or leave it if it pleases .....

And you can do the same thing if you please .....

And so .....

If you like the way things are ....

VOTE REPUBLICAN ....

And your wish will be fulfilled ....

And so .....