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

[Livyjr]

And while we are on the subject ...

Of THUGS ....

And LOOTERS .....

In OUR government ....

Over here in OUR America ....

We have ...

From REPUBLICAN George Pataki's CORRUPT EMPIRE of New York ....

As follows .....

"Doling out tax dollars in secret - State Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver won't lift shroud on how pork is spent by state legislators"

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

First published: Sunday, June 11, 2006

ALBANY -- Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver refuse to let anyone know how lawmakers are spending hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money.

Since April, the two powerful politicians have rejected all requests to disclose the names of legislators who arranged some $340 million in appropriations of the public's money in recent years for thousands of pet projects, grants and gifts.

Some of that money went to churches, private clubs and hundreds of obscure special interest groups across the state -- all of it exempt from auditing by state Comptroller Alan Hevesi.

The special appropriations, called "member items," have become a secret piggy bank for Bruno and Silver.

As leaders, they decide in private how to spend $170 million the Legislature routinely inserts into the state budget each year for themselves and their 210 colleagues.

They add another $30 million for Gov. George Pataki to use as he wishes.

Despite repeated requests from the Times Union made through New York's Freedom of Information Law, the two elected leaders for weeks have claimed the public has no right to see records showing which legislators arranged what deals -- and how much money each lawmaker's projects received.

Bruno and Silver say the information is secret, even though their voluminous lists of member-item projects become an official law of the state each year.

There are plenty of reasons for taxpayers to worry about member-item money.

A continuing Times Union investigation of member items has found hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Senate being funneled to a Bronx charity controlled by former Republican Sen. Guy Velella, even after Velella was convicted of taking bribes in 2004.

The cash was still flowing this year despite the ouster of Velella, who was replaced by a Democrat.

Other large sums from the Assembly are sent to a Brooklyn senior citizen group controlled by Democratic Assemblyman Vito Lopez.

The charity pays Lopez's girlfriend $108,593 a year for a 25-hour-a-week job.

Lopez also is the new chairman of Brooklyn's Democratic Party, succeeding ex-Assemblyman Clarence Norman, who was convicted earlier this year of taking bribes in exchange for doling out judgeships.

Bruno and Silver also have disregarded a handshake agreement with Senate Minority Leader David Paterson, promising him an itemization of this year's member items by mid-May.

Paterson is the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor.

In April, Paterson threatened to block a Senate override of Pataki's veto of state spending bills, including a $200 million allotment to replenish the state's member-item fund, unless the Legislature made its member-item process public.

Patterson compromised by agreeing that the Legislature could publish an itemized list of member items and make information about future projects public 30 days before an expenditure.

The governor was to get $30 million to spend from the member-item bill he vetoed, with $85 million going to each house of the Legislature.

The state's member-item fund, also called the 007 Account and the Community Projects Fund, already had more than $250 million in unspent cash on hand.

Member-item dollars, doled out in closed-door negotiations, receive only rudimentary oversight by state agencies or public authorities chosen to implement the funding.

Many member-item grants are buried within large state contracts that bear little or no connection to the member item's purpose.

Lawmakers conceal their identities from the Office of the state Comptroller, which must issue checks, sometimes for $1 million or more.

The comptroller reviews contracts of $50,000 or more to make sure the recipient doesn't owe taxes and the contract is in order.

He also can audit agencies that are supposed to monitor member-item contracts, but otherwise has a minimal role in overseeing member-item spending.

In April, it took Pataki, Paterson and Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco just one week to honor the Times Union's request for details on all their member-item projects funded in the 2004 and 2005 budget years -- including the names of lawmakers sponsoring each grant, the names of the recipients and contact information.

Yet despite a series of FOI letters requesting the same disclosure, Silver and Bruno won't budge.

Silver declares the materials are "intra-agency" and "predecisional," even though tens of millions of dollars already have been spent on the projects at issue and the legislation authorizing them has been enacted.

Bruno argues the documents are not covered by the state Freedom of Information Law, without offering any explanation for his position.

State spending records show that only about $100 million to $120 million was actually spent annually on member items in recent years.

Many lawmakers are willing to discuss the spending, but they don't really like exposure of their own items, Paterson said.

"Members don't want anybody looking at their money trail," Paterson said.

Blair Horner, legislative director for the New York Public Interest Research Group, said withholding the information is "indefensible" and suggests politicians have something to hide.

The vague member-item records that are available to the public lead down thousands of trails that hide a hundred rats' nests of questionable tax grants -- intertwined with typical government charity for popular public institutions or the arts and intriguing political relationships between giver and receiver.

Gift keeps giving

For instance, tax money kept flowing to former Sen. Guy Velella of the Bronx even after he left the Senate as a felon and served a one-year sentence.

The project was the ninth biggest single recipient of member-item funds during the state's 2004 and 2005 budget years -- and the No. 1 largest grantee of Senate majority funds: the North Bronx Westchester Neighborhood Restoration Association.

Officials with the organization say Velella, a Republican, sponsored the funding, a total of $1.4 million over two years.

Sen. Jeff Klein, a Democrat who now represents the district, said the organization served as an arm of Velella's political machine.

"It's a total waste of money," Klein said.

Yet the organization was still preparing vouchers to receive the last remnants of its secret member-item cash this year.

The nonprofit corporation is being closed down, according to its new executive director, John Reehill.

Its programs for the community, such as graffiti removal, are essentially over.

But the group's longtime executive, Dorothy DeLayo, paid $75,000 annually until she was let go at the end of 2005, contends the charity did good work in spite of its direction by Velella's handpicked board.

"We did a lot of good stuff for the community," she said.

"Did it bounce back on Guy Velella?"

"Yes."

"Is it such a horrible thing to know who brought them the money?"

"... Was the end result helpful to him in his campaign?"

"There is no denying it."

DeLayo says she now wonders how $95,000 in cash remaining when she was forced out is being used under the direction of Reehill, whom Velella arranged to replace her after the senator became angered with her allegiance to a Republican boss the senator no longer favored.

Jennifer Farina, of the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal, said her agency keeps issuing money to the Bronx-Westchester charity at the direction of Majority Leader Bruno's office.

A Bruno spokesman said he thought the program had ended.

The agency, as a rule, holds back 10 percent of grants.

That withholding on Velella's 2003 member item for the group, which totaled $950,000, is being disbursed now that the group provided a final budget, Farina said.

"We get our marching orders from Senate Finance," she said, referring to the powerful committee controlled by Bruno.

Velella said in an interview that DeLayo was removed by the board for overspending on rent and demanding severance.

The organization, he said, was simply drawing down from the grant after his departure and there is nothing nefarious going on.

Klein, according to the former senator, "speaks from envy" and may be worried that Velella would run again, win, and return to the Senate.

The numerous groups that benefited from his member-item funds, Velella said, from Little Leagues to senior centers, would testify to how he provided for constituents.

"It didn't go in my pocket," he said, "it went to the people who voted for me."

Family affairs

Another organization has received nearly $700,000 over the same two-year period under the sponsorship of Democratic Assemblyman Vito Lopez.

It is the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council Inc. in Brooklyn, which employs a part-time executive director, Christiana Fisher, for nearly $129,000 a year and 17.5 hours per week.

That's roughly $141 per hour.

The council also employs Lopez's girlfriend, Angela Battaglia, as a housing director.

She's paid $108,593 a year for 25 hours a week of work -- roughly $84 per hour.

Lopez and both women did not return calls, and the assemblyman's spokesman had no comment.

The council's comptroller, Wesley Hitner, said he was not authorized to discuss the organization.

Critics of Lopez say the organization offers good programs for senior citizens but that Lopez rules over which elderly people get to participate.

They also claim the council provides patronage jobs and political help for the assemblyman.

"They're all tied in with his political club," says Arthur Steier, 70, who has complained to the Brooklyn district attorney's office.

Pataki gets his cut of the so-called 007 Account the Legislature has nurtured.

Pataki gave $443,000 in recent years to a new group, the Museum of Women's History.

The board of directors of the nonprofit includes his former director of communications, Zenia Mucha, now an executive at the Walt Disney Co.

Evelyn Rollins, a $119,200-per-year deputy director for Pataki, is president.

The corporation listed the governor's Manhattan office and telephone number as its own.

State employees field questions for the still unbuilt museum and return calls left for Rollins.

Informed of this, Pataki's spokeswoman, Carmela Uzzi, said Rollins' use of the governor's office was "just an oversight" over the past two years.

She said Rollins has been instructed to change her business address.

Yet another beneficiary of member items has an especially intimate relationship to the Assembly.

The Metropolitan New York Coordinating Council on Jewish Poverty, which received $1.23 million in funding, almost all of it from Assembly Democrats, employs William Rapfogel as its $273,181-per-year executive director.

He is married to Judy Rapfogel, Speaker Silver's chief of staff.

William Rapfogel said his organization had received member-item money for decades, even before he arrived 14 years ago, and that a slew of members help obtain the funds.

He said he does not lobby Silver or anyone else for cash and that legislators expect nothing in return.

"They've never asked us to raise money for them in campaigns or fundraising, which is quite surprising," Rapfogel said of his politician benefactors.

The money pays for services to all people in financial and domestic crisis, he said, as well as for clothing and furniture for poor people.

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

[Livyjr]

And while we are on the subject ...

Of THUGS ....

And LOOTERS .....

In OUR government ....

Over here in OUR America ....

We have ...

From REPUBLICAN George Pataki's CORRUPT EMPIRE of New York ....

As follows .....

"State aide quits in computer probe - Resignation from $128,898 post comes during discipline meeting after equipment goes missing"

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

First published: Saturday, June 10, 2006

ALBANY -- The director of the state Office for Small Cities abruptly resigned Friday after apologizing for a lapse in judgment.

The nearly 12-year state career of Glen King, 58, of Averill Park, ended two weeks after the state Inspector General found he had "removed" at least one computer and two hard drives from work to use for music, pictures and personal materials.

He also refused to cooperate with an Inspector General investigation into the missing items.

During a meeting about disciplining him on Friday, he submitted his resignation.

The board of the Office of Housing and Community Renewal unanimously accepted it.

The board met for two hours Friday, mostly behind closed doors, to decide what to do about King's actions, said Jennifer Farina, a spokeswoman.

King offered a brief statement expressing regret over the incident during an open portion of the meeting.

His resignation is effective immediately, she said.

The Inspector General's office said King returned the computer after officials noticed surplus equipment was missing and proposed calling police.

But he switched its hard drive with an inferior one, the report said.

Other computer components were also missing.

King, a former Rensselaer County planning director, worked for the Small Cities office since 2001 as an appointee of Gov. George Pataki.

He was paid $128,898 a year and provided a state car.

He also served Pataki from 1995 to 2001 as assistant commissioner for community development.

end quotes

Like prison ....

New York State government ....

Is a place ....

Where criminals ...

Teach others .....

To become criminals as well .....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

CORRUPT GOVERNMENT .....

Outside of Washington, D.C., which may or may not have the MOST CORRUPT GOVERNMENT IN OUR AMERICA, and there, I mean the federal government, New York State is in the TOP TEN ....

CORRUPT GOVERNMENTS in the United States that is ...

Or maybe even the world, for that matter .....

Since we are supposed to have some of the very best politicians in the world that money can buy ....

And so ....

Being from here, I shine a spotlight on government corruption here in New York State from time to time ....

And so ....

With OUR governor's office being up for grabs this November ...

It is never too early to get that spotlight turned on bright ...

And when it is ...

The picture that is revealed is not at all a pretty or welcome one to us common citizens who do not live or reside in the New York City METRO AREA ....

Where New York State Attorney General Eliot "BIG EL" Spitzer holds sway with all the big-money interests .....

"Big EL", or "Old Uncle Eliot" as he is sometimes known up here in the hinterlands, is soft, oh so very soft, on government corruption here in the State of New York ...

Which makes him the "enemy" of the PEOPLE of the State of New York who want corruption gone from OUR government ....

But because "Old Uncle Eliot" is soft on corruption in government, HE HAS THE SUPPORT OF THE "MACHINE" that helps to produce and promote and prolong that corruption ......

And so ...

And my God ....

Am I ever surprised at this next story....

Who would ever have thought it even could be possible?

And so ....

"Member items help grease political machine - State senator from Bronx used straw donors for campaigns, ex-loyalists say"

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

First published: Sunday, June 11, 2006

ALBANY -- Three people who worked at Bronx charities created by Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. say the state senator secretly gave them currency or money orders and instructed them to personally contribute the cash into his or his son's campaign accounts.

Two of the charities have been heavily financed by special legislative grants of taxpayer money -- called "member items" -- arranged by the senator's son, Assemblyman Ruben Diaz Jr.

State law makes it unlawful for a person to give money in someone else's name to a candidate's campaign, but that is exactly what Sen. Diaz did, three former loyalists said in interviews.

Hundreds of dollars in campaign donations from the three appear on the Bronx Democrat's state and city campaign disclosure reports, as do thousands of dollars more from dozens of employees and former employees of not-for-profit organizations Sen. Diaz controls.

"He would hold a fundraiser and go to the employees and give them cash or money orders," said Edward Padilla, executive director of Soundview Community In Action.

"It wasn't the employees' money."

Sen. Diaz and his son, Assemblyman Ruben Diaz Jr., both refused to comment.

Soundview Community in Action is a Bronx nonprofit group that formerly employed Sen. Diaz, his wife and his former wife, the mother of Assemblyman Diaz.

Soundview received hundreds of thousands of dollars in so-called legislative "member-item" funds through the senator's son while his family members were employed.

That act apparently violated Assembly guidelines that render an organization which employs an elected official's relative ineligible for such funds.

A recent story in the Times Union about the Diaz family's use of member item money prompted Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to give Assemblyman Diaz a stern lecture, according to a source familiar with the confrontation.

Silver said he has since bolstered oversight of member-item spending by bolstering monitoring staff and investigatory resources.

Soundview employees had begun to rebel at being used as political tools when Diaz Sr. rose from his position as a city councilman to become a state senator in 2003.

Both the senator and his assemblyman son then began steering hundreds of thousands of dollars in member-item money to Christian Community Benevolent Association, another Diaz organization.

Its staff is closely affiliated with Christian Community In Action, which employs Sen. Diaz's wife.

State records show Soundview's director, Padilla, contributed two checks of $500 each in 2002 to Assemblyman Diaz's campaign -- money Padilla said came from the senator.

Sen. Diaz's filings for his last City Council campaign also list Padilla, misspelling Padilla's first name but using his Bronx address, as providing a total of $1,120 in June of 2001 in three checks -- money Padilla says he did not provide from his own pocket.

A woman who worked for Christian Community In Action, whose name is being withheld by the Times Union to protect her from retaliation, said she also received money from the senator, who also is a minister, to make contributions.

She is listed as contributing to Assemblyman Diaz in 2000.

The woman also is listed as contributing to the Rev. Diaz's City Council campaign in 2001.

That source said the orders to donate and a supply of money orders came from the elder Diaz.

"He's the only one with the audacity," she said.

A third source, who still works for one of the charities, said he received money to donate to campaigns as well.

He is listed in 2002 filings as having given hundreds of dollars to both the senator's and assemblyman's campaigns.

That worker said the senator provided the cash for the contributions.

"He would make money orders and just ask us to put our name on it," he said.

The allegations that Sen. Diaz has used straw contributors were corroborated by a fourth source who worked with Diaz, but they were disputed by several employees at Christian Community In Action, when reached at work.

Those employees say they donated their own money to both the senator and his son.

Even while earning less than $30,000 a year, some gave hundreds or thousands of dollars to Diaz campaigns.

They insisted the money came from their own funds.

Many more would not comment and several others refused to take calls.

Finally, a woman identifying herself as a lawyer for the group threatened legal action and demanded the Times Union stop contacting workers.

In recent years, Padilla and others who worked for Soundview complained to Attorney General Eliot Spitzer that the senator forced the nonprofit employees to work on voter campaigns, raise election funds and fill out money orders for campaigns, Padilla said.

Spitzer, Sen. Diaz's filings show, donated $150 in 2002 to the elder Diaz's city council campaign.

A spokesman for Spitzer could not explain the donation.

Spitzer's office concluded its investigation of Sen. Diaz by allowing the senator to use his campaign treasury to reimburse the state and federal government for misused public grants.

Those grants, intended to help Soundview keep kids off the streets, were used to buy furnishings and audio speakers found at the senator's district office.

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

[Livyjr]

And as DEMOCRACY rapidly recedes .....

Here in OUR America ....

In this REIGN .....

Of the DICTATOR George W. Bush ........

And as OUR United States CONSTITUTION ....

And OUR REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT ....

Disappear as well ....

To be replaced .....

By the FOURTH REICH .....

And all of OUR former institutions ....

Such as OUR courts .....

BECOME A MOCKERY ...

And a TRAVESTY ...

Where justice certainly is not to be found ....

"War on terror spawns courtroom secrecy"

By MIKE ROBINSON, Associated Press
Last updated: 12:25 p.m., Sunday, June 11, 2006

CHICAGO -- Witnesses used bogus names, the public was barred from the courtroom and part of the hearing was behind closed doors in the judge's chambers -- with defense lawyers shut out.

"I don't know what took place back there," grumbled Michael E. Deutsch, chief defense lawyer for Muhammad Salah, a Chicago man charged with laundering hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for murders, bombings and other acts of terrorism by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Court secrecy is getting tighter across the nation as the government wages war on terrorism, and the recent hearings in Salah's case, set for trial Oct. 12, are just one example, attorneys say.

In Maryland, a federal judge last month dismissed a lawsuit filed by a German man, Khaled al-Masri, who claimed to have been illegally detained and tortured in overseas prisons run by the CIA.

After receiving a secret written CIA briefing, the judge ruled that going ahead with a civil trial in the al-Masri case would have exposed state secrets.

The New York Civil Liberties Union is asking an appeals court to order a federal judge in Albany to unseal his decision refusing to toss out charges against alleged money launderers Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain.

They say they may have been targets of a warrantless wiretap.

The judge's decision came two hours after the government submitted a secret court document.

In Chicago, attorneys for Sami Latchin, a man accused of serving as a "sleeper agent" in the United States for the Saddam Hussein regime, have asked U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer whether the National Security Agency eavesdropped on his telephone conversations.

Prosecutors say a representative of the Justice Department in Washington will answer the question -- but only in the judge's chambers with defense attorneys not allowed.

Such secret procedures, once rare in American courts, have become more common since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Prosecutors say they need secrecy to protect undercover agents, informants and witnesses from terrorist reprisals and keep critical information pipelines from being shut down.

But defense attorneys say the right of defendants to confront their accusers, guaranteed by the 6th Amendment to the Constitution, is being worn away under the guise of national security.

"It's critical to the functioning of a healthy democracy that people know what the government is doing in their name," says Professor David Cole of Georgetown University Law Center.

Cole says secrecy has gone too far not only in criminal cases but in civil lawsuits where he says government attorneys have relied on the state secret privilege to bar challenges.

But former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy, who sent Omar Abdel-Rahman, the so-called Blind Sheik, to prison for plotting to blow up New York landmarks, scoffs at the notion that the public has a right to know what's going on in the shadowy world of terrorism investigations.

"In point of fact, the public doesn't have a right to know a large variety of information maintained by the government, particularly its investigators, its intelligence services, and that presumption doesn't change just because someone is charged with a crime," McCarthy says.

So-called ex parte hearings -- from which one side is barred -- are legal under the Classified Information Procedures Act, passed three decades ago to combat a phenomenon known as "graymail."

Defendants charged with spying would try to force the government to drop the charges by threatening to expose classified U.S. military and intelligence secrets on the witness stand.

Attorneys say the law was meant to let judges sort out the classified information behind closed doors and determine what the defense genuinely needed to make public.

If the judge decided that the defendant couldn't get a fair trial without spilling secrets, the government could decide whether to bite the bullet and let it happen or drop the charges.

But critics say the law is now being overused.

"This has gotten to the crisis point," says professor Jonathan Turley of George Washington University Law School in the nation's capital.

"We are turning our courts into something like military tribunals where the evidence is entirely up to the prosecutor."

In the Salah case, U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve ruled Thursday that prosecutors may use as evidence statements that the defendant, a Palestinian man who once worked as a Chicago public school teacher, gave to Israel's Shin Bet security service a dozen years ago.

Salah claims that after his 1993 arrest in Israel he was stripped naked, made to sit in an uncomfortable children's chair for long periods, forced to listen to blaring music at high volume, slapped and left with a foul-smelling hood over his head.

St. Eve held hearings starting in March on Salah's request to throw out the statements.

Two of his interrogators, testifying under the code names Haim and Nadav to protect themselves against Hamas reprisals back home, denied that they tortured Salah to make him talk.

Before the hearing, they asked for permission to wear "light disguise," which St. Eve denied.

Federal marshals barred the press and public from the courtroom and sealed off the hallway outside to prevent the curious from peering in.

Some testimony came in St. Eve's chambers with Deutsch and other defense attorneys excluded.

On Thursday, St. Eve ruled that Salah's statements to Haim and Nadav could be used but threw out a statement he made to an Israeli policeman named Suleiman who was not a hearing witness.

In keeping with the secrecy surrounding the hearings, St. Eve issued two versions of her 138-page opinion.

One was complete but classified.

The public version had a number of white spaces where material was redacted for national security reasons.

[Livyjr]

And as DEMOCRACY rapidly recedes .....

Here in OUR America ....

In this REIGN .....

Of the DICTATOR George W. Bush ........

And as OUR United States CONSTITUTION ....

And OUR REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT ....

Disappear as well ....

Up here ....

We still have no sun ....

And it is quite cool ....

The growing season has taken a real hit ...

Stuff that is growing ....

Is growing slowly ...

Because the ground is still cold ...

And other stuff just never came up ....

Like corn ....

Perhaps America is about to be taught a lesson in some real humility ...

By the earth itself ...

"You people think you are so great ..."

"So almighty powerful ..."

"Rulers of the world, you say?"

"Well ..."

"Snap your fingers ..."

"And make some food appear ...."

"Because I'm not doing it for you ....."

And so ...

And in the reign of GEORGE, THE EXCEEEDINGLY MALIGNANT AND MALODOROUS ....

The EMPIRE .....

Of America ...

Was visited ....

By plagues ....

And devastation ....

On a scale ....

Equal to ....

Or greater than ....

The DEVASTATION ....

That the MALIGNANT AND MALODOROUS LORD GOD EMPORER GEORGE ...

Visited ....

Upon the rest of the earth ....

And so ....

"1st named storm of 2006 heads for Fla."

By PHIL DAVIS, Associated Press

Last updated: 8:35 a.m., Monday, June 12, 2006

TAMPA, Fla. -- The first named storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season strengthened slightly in the Gulf of Mexico early Monday, prompting tropical storm warnings for the dry Florida coast.

Tropical Storm Alberto had maximum sustained wind near 50 mph, well below hurricane strength of 74 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.

At 8 a.m., the storm was centered 240 miles south-southwest of Apalachicola and was moving north-northeast at about 8 mph, forecasters said.

Alberto's core wasn't expected to reach Florida until Tuesday, but with tropical storm-force wind stretching 230 miles from the center, powerful gusts may be felt long before it makes landfall.

The storm's outer bands brought rain on the state Sunday, and forecasters warned that tornadoes were possible in west-central and northwestern Florida Monday night.

"Right before landfall they expect a little stronger: 55 (mph) gusts to 65 (mph)," said Ron Goodman, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center.

"Things can change, but right now it's not expected to be a hurricane."

Four to 10 inches of rain could fall on the Florida peninsula through Tuesday, forecasters said.

A tropical storm warning was issued for most of Florida's gulf coast, from Englewood to Indian Pass, meaning tropical storm conditions were expected there within the next 24 hours.

A tropical storm watch was in effect from south of Englewood to Bonita Beach.

Patricia Haberland, whose back porch was flooded by 12 inches of rain in March, was keeping an eye on the forecasts but wasn't too worried.

She put a few valuables in plastic bins this weekend just to be on the safe side.

"Other than that, we're carrying on as usual, going to work, going to church," said Haberland, 52.

The prospect of a wet storm without hurricane-force wind was welcomed by firefighters who have been battling wildfires for six weeks on Florida's Atlantic coast.

"A good soaking rain would do a lot to help stop the fires in our area," said Pat Kuehn, a spokeswoman for Volusia County Fire Services.

"It has been a hard fire season."

"We've had several fires a week here."

The tropical depression that produced Alberto formed Saturday, nine days after the official start of the hurricane season, in the northwest Caribbean, which can produce typically weak storms that follow a similar track this time of year, forecasters said.

"They can also meander in the gulf for awhile, and we've seen some dissipate before reaching any land areas," said hurricane specialist Richard Pasch.

Scientists say the 2006 season could produce as many as 16 named storms, six of them major hurricanes.

Last year's hurricane season was the most destructive on record.

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

It also was the busiest in 154 years of storm tracking, with a records 28 named storms and a record 15 hurricanes.

Meteorologists 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.

The first named storm of 2005 was Tropical Storm Arlene, which formed June 9 and made landfall just west of Pensacola in the Florida Panhandle.

------

Associated Press Writer Jennifer Kay in Miami contributed to this report.

------

On the Net:

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

[Snuffysmith]

ONLY IN AMERICA

WHAT WE MISSED WHILE THE YANKS PLAYED THE SOX: AMERICA, LAND OF DENIAL - MICKEY Z. (COUNTERPUNCH, JUNE 9): Americans spend about $7 billion on 21,000 different pesticide products each year.
http://www.counterpunch.org/mickey06092006.html

IN DEBT BEFORE YOU START - SANDRA BLOCK (USA TODAY, JUNE 11): The average college senior graduated this year with more than $19,000 in debt.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/colleg...over-usat_x.htm

POTEMKIN PORTFOLIOS: KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES IS SINKING AMERICANS FURTHER INTO DEBT - SHIRA BOSS (LOS ANGELES TIME, JUNE 12): The Fed says that, as of April, we owed $807 billion on our credit cards -- an average of $7,600 per U.S. household.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commen...omment-opinions

[Livyjr]

And in the meantime, Snuf ....

"Dow closes down nearly 100 points"

By CHRISTOPHER WANG, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:16 p.m., Monday, June 12, 2006

NEW YORK -- Wall Street extended its monthlong retreat Monday as inflation fears kept investors on edge following hefty losses last week, the worst so far in 2006.

A late-day selloff dragged the Dow Jones industrials down almost 100 points and put the Nasdaq composite index at a seven-month low.

Investors have been reluctant to buy stocks ever since the Federal Reserve said in early May that record oil prices could require higher interest rates to keep prices from climbing elsewhere.

Downbeat inflation comments from Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Sandra Pianalto on Monday was another reminder for an already uneasy market.

But recent signs of slowing economic growth now has Wall Street worried that too many rate hikes could send the economy sliding.

Trading was expected to be skittish this week ahead of wholesale and consumer price data, which might bring clues about whether the Fed will boost rates again at its June 28-29 meeting.

"There are certainly some positives in the economy to point to, but until we get some more clarity on the battle between inflation and economic growth, the markets are likely to remain volatile," said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at Spencer Clarke LLC.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow tumbled 99.34, or 0.91 percent, to 10,792.58, its lowest close since hitting 10,749.76 on Feb. 7.

The blue-chip index shed 355 points last week and is 7.3 percent below its six-year high of 11,642.98, reached May 10.

Broader stock indicators also retreated.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid 15.89, or 1.27 percent, to 1,236.41, and the Nasdaq lost 43.74, or 2.05 percent, to 2,091.32.

------

On the Net:

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

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

[Livyjr]

And in the reign of ....

THE TYRANT ...

GEORGE ....

The EMPIRE .....

Of America ...

Was visited ....

By plagues ....

And devastation ....

On a scale ....

Equal to ....

Or greater than ....

The DEVASTATION ....

That the MALIGNANT LORD GOD EMPORER GEORGE ...

Visited ....

Upon the rest of the earth ....

And so ....

"1st named storm of 2006 heads for Fla." 
 
By PHIL DAVIS, Associated Press

Last updated: 8:35 a.m., Monday, June 12, 2006

TAMPA, Fla. -- The first named storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season strengthened slightly in the Gulf of Mexico early Monday, prompting tropical storm warnings for the dry Florida coast.
 

"Alberto prompts evacuation on Fla. coast"

By MITCH STACY, Associated Press
Last updated: 6:56 p.m., Monday, June 12, 2006

CEDAR KEY, Fla. -- More than 20,000 people along Florida's Gulf Coast were ordered to clear out Monday as Alberto -- the very first tropical storm of the new hurricane season -- unexpectedly picked up steam and threatened to come ashore as a hurricane.

Forecasters posted a hurricane warning for the Gulf Coast and a tropical storm warning from north of Daytona Beach to the Georgia-South Carolina line, saying Alberto could begin battering the coast early Tuesday.

Gov. Jeb Bush signed a declaration of emergency allowing him to call up the National Guard and put laws against price gouging into effect.

"We're talking about powerful forces of nature," Bush said.

"People need to take this very seriously."

If Alberto came ashore as a hurricane, it would be the earliest hurricane in 40 years to hit the United States, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The earliest on record is Alma, which in 1966 struck the Florida Panhandle on June 9 -- the ninth day of the hurricane season.

Alberto started as a tropical depression on Saturday, and forecasters over the weekend were confident it would not become a hurricane.

But the storm's winds accelerated with startling speed from 50 mph to 70 mph in just three hours Monday morning.

The minimum for a hurricane is 74 mph.

"We were surprised, but we've been surprised before," said Richard Pasch of the hurricane center.

"The center in disorganized storms can re-form and jump."

Florida homeowners stocked up on chain saws, plywood and other emergency supplies.

Employees at a marina in St. Petersburg said they planned to work through the night securing more than 600 boats against the wind and waves.

"This is a little earlier that I expected," said marina manager Walter Miller.

"But we've had a bad couple of years, so it's not entirely unexpected."

Forecasters said Alberto would probably become only a weak Category 1 hurricane, meaning winds of 74 mph to 95 mph, because the warm water from which hurricanes draw their strength is not particularly deep in the area.

At 5 p.m. EDT, Alberto was centered about 145 miles southwest of Cedar Key and was moving northeast at about 10 mph.

Its top sustained winds remained at 70 mph.

"We don't want to overdo it."

"It's not a Katrina or a Wilma, but storm surge and flooding could still cause loss of life," said Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center.

Evacuation orders were posted for people in mobile homes or low-lying areas in at least five coastal counties stretching more than 100 miles.

Those ordered to leave included about 21,000 residents of Citrus, Levy and Taylor counties.

Alberto was expected to blow ashore anywhere from north of Tampa to the Panhandle.

Forecasters said it could bring 4 to 10 inches of rain to central Florida and southeastern Georgia.

Rain already was falling Monday and at least two tornados had formed, but there were no immediate reports of any injuries or damage.

Dick Grier, a retiree from Homosassa, said he planned to gas up his car and bring in lawn chairs.

But "at this point I don't think it's the kind of thing that we worry about," he said.

Alberto also prevented the crew of space shuttle Discovery from flying to the Kennedy Space Center from Houston for several days of dress rehearsals for their expected launch in July.

On Monday, Alberto drenched western Cuba after a weekend of heavy rains prompted evacuations, caused some dilapidated buildings to collapse and flooded low-lying areas in Havana.

There were no reports of other major damage or injuries.

More than 12 inches of rain fell in some rural areas over the weekend, the official Prensa Latina news agency reported.

Scientists say the 2006 season could produce as many as 16 named storms, six of them major hurricanes.

Last year's hurricane season was the most destructive on record and the busiest in 154 years of storm tracking, with a record 28 named storms and a record 15 hurricanes.

The first named storm of 2005, Tropical Storm Arlene, formed June 9 and came ashore just west of Pensacola in the Florida Panhandle.

------

Associated Press Writers Phil Davis in Tampa, Fla., Michelle Spitzer in Miami, Andrea Rodriguez in Havana, Cuba, and Jennifer Kay in Miami contributed to this report.

------

On the Net:

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

[Livyjr]

And here's another real surprise ....

This next story ....

I thought George W. Bush ....

Was supposed to be bringing us ...

LAW AND ORDER ....

And all we have instead ....

From him and his REPUBLICANS ....

IS NOTHING BUT ONE GREAT BIG MESS ....

And so ....

"FBI: Violent crime in U.S. on rise in 2005"

By PATRICK WALTERS, Associated Press
Last updated: 7:05 p.m., Monday, June 12, 2006

PHILADELPHIA -- FBI statistics Monday confirmed what big cities like Philadelphia, Houston, Cleveland and Las Vegas have seen on the streets: Violent crime in the U.S. is on the rise, posting its biggest one-year increase since 1991.

In Philadelphia, homicides jumped from 330 in 2004 to 377 in 2005, a 14 percent increase, according to the FBI.

Murders climbed from 272 to 334 in Houston, a 23 percent rise, and from 131 to 144 in Las Vegas, a 10 percent increase.

Jeffrey Sedgwick, director of the U.S. Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics, cautioned that it is not yet clear whether the FBI numbers reflect a real increase, or the ordinary year-to-year variations that statisticians call "static noise."

Sedgwick said it is possible that crime rates in the U.S. are approaching a floor below which it may be difficult or even impossible to go.

"I'm not sure it's reasonable to expect you can always drive the crime rate down," he said.

Some criminal justice experts said the statistics reflect the nation's complacency in fighting crime.

Crime dropped dramatically during 1990s, and some cities have since abandoned effective programs that emphasized prevention, the putting of more cops on the street, and controls on the spread of guns.

"We see that budgets for policing are being slashed and the federal government has gotten out of that business," said James Alan Fox, a criminal justice professor at Northeastern University in Boston.

Still, Fox said, "We're still far better off than we were during the double-digit crime inflation we saw in the 1970s."

In Philadelphia, which has had more than 160 murders this year, the police department has responded by creating a special unit charged with roaming the streets in the dangerous hours between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m.

The program, which is expected to start soon, will shift 46 officers from other assignments.

Philadelphia police Capt. Benjamin Naish said more people appear to be settling disputes with guns.

"I think that everybody continues to be frustrated within the government, within the department," he said.

Philadelphia police have stressed that the number of killings is still below the averages in the mid-1990s and far below the 525 homicides in 1990.

The overall national increase in violent crime was modest, 2.5 percent, which equates to more than 1.4 million crimes.

Nevertheless, that was the largest percentage increase since 1991.

Nationally, murders rose 4.8 percent, meaning there were more than 16,900 victims in 2005.

That would be the most since 1998 and the largest percentage increase in 15 years.

Some big cities felt the brunt.

Murders rose from 59 to 104 in Birmingham, Ala., up 76 percent; from 59 to 85 in Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, N.C., a 44 percent spike; from 89 to 126 in Kansas City, Mo., a 42 percent rise; from 87 to 122 in Milwaukee, a 40 percent jump; and from 79 to 109 in Cleveland, up 38 percent.

"The killings are going in spurts," said Judy Martin, a victims' advocate in Cleveland whose son was shot to death in a 1994 carjacking.

"A number of the murders this year seem to come from a number of young men jumping on someone and killing them."

"We are going downhill."

Detroit, Los Angeles and New York were among several big cities that saw murder numbers drop.

Theories about New York's decline vary.

Some experts point to favorable shifts in demographics and the economy, as well as the crash of a once-thriving crack market that fueled violence in the 1980s.

Officials in the 36,000-officer department, the nation's largest, credit their crime-fighting approach.

They cite a tactic refined over the past decade in which commanders use computers to track crime patterns -- particularly those involving guns and drugs -- and deploy patrols where and when criminals are most active.

Police in Houston attributed some of their spike in violent crime to New Orleans gang members who evacuated there along with thousands of other victims of Hurricane Katrina last fall.

The FBI figures were released on the same day authorities announced the arrest in Louisiana of a Katrina evacuee considered one of the Houston area's most-wanted killers.

Authorities said he robbed two other evacuees of their FEMA money and shot them, killing one.

------

On the Net:

FBI: http://www.fbi.gov

end quotes .....

More and more people ....

Are settling disputes with guns ....

BECAUSE THAT IS HOW GEORGE W. BUSH SETTLES HIS DISPUTES ....

And with that kind of example at the top .....

Well ...

[Livyjr]

And how about this, too?

Whoever could have guessed it would be so?

Besides anyone with a lick of common sense in their head .....

Which sure does not seem to be anyone down there in Washington, D.C. .....

And especially the PRESIDENT of the WORLD'S ONLY REAL SUPERPOWER ....

WHICH IS A "SUPERPOWER" .....

BECAUSE WE HAVE THE SUPERBOWL ....

WITH ITS PLENITUDE OF VIAGRA COMMERCIALS ....

WHEN NOBODY ELSE IN THE WORLD DOES ....

WHICH IS WHAT MAKES US "SUPER", I GUESS ....

And so .....

"Civilians the forgotten victims of Iraq stress disorder"

by Veronique Kiss

Sun Jun 11, 4:24 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - David Meredith was one of tens of thousands of American civilians who believed the high salary to be earned as a contractor in Iraq outweighed the risks.

"Before, I was a cool, laid-back, easygoing guy," said the 37-year-old truck driver and father of four.

"Since I came back from Iraq, I have suicidal thoughts, angry outbursts, insomnia, flashbacks."

Meredith, who spent one year in Iraq from 2004-2005, is among thousands of military and civilian veterans of the Iraq conflict to be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

US soldiers get psychological treatment.

Meredith says he gets no help from his former employer, Halliburton, which had major contracts in Iraq.

Meredith earned 90,000 dollars a year in Iraq.

"It is true, I earned nearly double what I could in the United States but now I feel like my country is turning its back on me," he told AFP by telephone.

Now back at home in Kansas, the driver relies heavily on anti-depressant drugs and his wife's health insurance to pay the medical bills.

A local doctor diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but Halliburton's insurer refuses to pay for treatment.

He can no longer work as a driver because of the drugs he takes.

"I feel betrayed," he said.

After the Vietnam War, US veterans had difficulty claiming compensation for PTSD but now it is an affliction that the US military takes seriously.

Colonel Elspeth Ritchie, a psychiatry consultant to the US Army Surgeon General, said special units had been set up in Iraq to counter post-traumatic stress and more than 200 "mental health professionals" work with the 130,000 US troops in the strife-torn country.

"We want to identify (cases) and treat them before it becomes chronic," Ritchie told AFP.

Troops are even monitored for three-to-six months after their return to the United States.

According to a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, 15-17 percent of soldiers come back from Iraq suffering from PTSD.

At the moment there are an estimated 30,000-35,000 US civilians in Iraq working for companies like Halliburton providing transportation, cleaning, catering and other services for the military and other contractors.

In Iraq, drivers like Meredith faced the daily threat of insurgent attacks, roadside bombs and snipers.

Hundreds of contractors for Halliburton and other companies have been killed in the country since the US-led invasion in 2003.

"In Iraq, no place is safe."

"They can never relax," said Dean Kilpatrick, a professor of clinical psychology at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

Foreign civilian workers are "always in a stress situation".

Kilpatrick, who has been studying stress disorder for 25 years, said that the army weeds out characters that might not be able to stand a tour of Iraq, while civilian companies take anyone.

Gary Pitts, a lawyer in Houston, Texas, represents about 100 American civilians who have come back from Iraq with PTSD and are now launching legal action for compensation.

He said that insurance companies refuse to pay for victims even when they are diagnosed by independent doctors.

"Insurance companies don't like to spend money," said Pitts.

A truck driver in the United States earns about 35,000 dollars a year, while in Iraq that goes up to 70,000-90,000 dollars for working 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

"Yes, it is a good way to save money, but they also do it also for patriotism reasons because often they are too old to be soldiers," said Pitts.

Charles Figley, a professor of psychology at Florida State University, said that civilians are more at risk of PTSD than soldiers because they recieve less training.

"Companies like Halliburton are only business-oriented, there is no adequate mental health support," he said in an interview.

Halliburton declined requests for an interview.

end quotes

IN A "MERCANTILE REPUBLIC" .....

SUCH AS AMERICA IS .....

"PATRIOTISM" ....

OR WHAT PASSES FOR IT, ANYWAY ....

IS DIRECTLY CONNECTED ...

TO THE SIZE OF THE PAYCHECK BEING OFFERED ....

TO BE "PATRIOTIC" .....

And so .....

[Livyjr]

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

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

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

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

"Civilians the forgotten victims of Iraq stress disorder"

by Veronique Kiss

Sun Jun 11, 4:24 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - David Meredith was one of tens of thousands of American civilians who believed the high salary to be earned as a contractor in Iraq outweighed the risks.

Meredith earned 90,000 dollars a year in Iraq.

"It is true, I earned nearly double what I could in the United States but now I feel like my country is turning its back on me," he told AFP by telephone.

"I feel betrayed," he said.

Don't get all in an uproar, there, Bub .....

About feeling "BETRAYED" .....

The "COUNTRY" is turning its back on most everyone these days ....

And what the hell ...

You got your 90 GRAND tax free ....

And so ....

Put some in the stock market, why don't you ...

And then ....

You'll really have something to howl about .....

And so ....

"Stocks fall; Dow now negative year-to-date"

By CHRISTOPHER WANG, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:45 p.m., Tuesday, June 13, 2006

NEW YORK -- Wall Street resumed its retreat with a third straight session of losses Tuesday as declines in oil and gold prices did little to calm anxiety over higher interest rates and a slowing economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average is now negative year-to-date for the first time in 2006.

Investors struggled to make sense of the Labor Department's May producer price index, which showed a mild uptick in wholesale prices but a stronger-than-forecast rise in inflation without food or energy costs.

The data suggested that energy costs did not grow as much as expected, but the higher core prices nonetheless kept the market on edge.

While a downturn in commodities fed some hopes about easing inflation, persistent uncertainty about whether the Federal Reserve will continue boosting interest rates left investors unwilling to buy stocks amid fears of an economic crash.

"(The PPI data) was not conclusive enough to drive the market," said Rick Pendergraft, an equity trader for Schaeffer's Investment Research.

If Wednesday's consumer price data comes in below or meets expectations, that might spark a rally following stocks' hefty slide over the past month, he said.

Wall Street's pullback trailed sharp losses on stock markets worldwide, which were driven by worries that a weakening U.S. economy will overturn other economies in its wake.

The continued inversion of short- and long-term bond yields was also evidence of the market's expectations of an economic slowdown.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow tumbled 86.44, or 0.8 percent, to 10,706.14, coming off of a nearly 100-point loss Monday.

The Dow is now down 0.11 percent for 2006.

Broader stock indicators pulled back and widened their losses for the year.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 12.71, or 1.03 percent, to 1,223.69, and the Nasdaq lost 18.85, or 0.9 percent, to 2,072.47.

Declining issues topped advancers by about 4 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume of 2.31 billion shares led the 1.63 billion shares that changed hands Monday.

Overseas stock markets continued suffering from concerns that rising interest rates will dampen U.S. demand for foreign-made products.

Japan's Nikkei stock average plunged 4.14 percent to a two-year low, and stocks in India slid 4.4 percent to a 52-week low.

Elsewhere overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 lost 1.8 percent, Germany's DAX index sank 1.92 percent and France's CAC-40 was lower by 2.24 percent.

The Labor Department's PPI report -- seen as a precursor to consumer-level inflation -- gave Wall Street a mixed reading on wholesale prices.

While overall PPI for May gained just 0.2 percent, core prices rose 0.3 percent to top economists' estimates of 0.2 percent.

But Ken McCarthy, chief economist for vFinance Investments, said the gain in core PPI was not a major concern since annual core inflation still stood at a mild 1.5 percent rate.

He added that the PPI was less significant because it included only finished goods, while Wednesday's consumer price index would also account for services.

"It's encouraging that we're not seeing (the impact of energy costs) in core finished goods," McCarthy said.

"But this is just the appetizer before tomorrow's main event."

Other data reinforced beliefs that soaring gasoline prices have begun to choke consumer spending, which might cool the economy enough to keep the Fed from hiking short-term lending rates.

The Commerce Department said May retail sales grew 0.1 percent after surging 0.8 percent in April; excluding automobiles, retail sales gained 0.5 percent.

Bonds drifted, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipping to 4.96 percent from 4.98 percent late Monday.

However, the 2-year yield stood at 5.01 percent; the inversion of yields signaled heightened expectations for slowing economic growth.

The U.S. dollar gained on the Japanese yen and was flat against European currencies; gold prices plunged to about $570 per ounce and carried other metals lower, which bode well for the inflation outlook.

Crude futures plunged as Tropical Storm Alberto posed less of a threat to U.S. refineries in the Gulf of Mexico.

A barrel of light crude dropped $1.80 to $68.56 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In earnings news, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. posted sharply better-than-forecast results for the second quarter but warned that continued market weakness could hurt its results.

Goldman Sachs skidded $5.75 to $139.25.

Best Buy Co. said its profit swelled 38 percent to beat estimates as customers bought more big-ticket items and cost-cutting measures boosted its margins.

Best Buy jumped $2.66 to $51.69.

Jabil Circuit Inc. cut its third-quarter earnings forecast but kept its revenue target intact.

Jabil shares plunged $7.11 to $25.31.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies dipped 10.47, or 1.53 percent, to 672.72.

------

On the Net:

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

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

[Livyjr]

And while that guy above here is feeling BETRAYED ...

And while the stock market over here is tanking ....

Let's jump over to IRAQINAM ....

And see what is happening there ....

Where the PUPPETEER and the PUPPET are apparently having a little tete-a-tete ....

OOOOOPS ....

Whoa ....

Pardon me ....

That's French ...

Tete-a-tete, I mean ....

And I'm not sure that we can use French words over here, yet ....

After they became forbidden ....

When the French questioned the sanity of George W. Bush ....

With good reason ...

Or so I thought, anyway ....

Since I question it myself ...

But, wait a minute, I'm digressing ....

And so ....

YADA, YADA, YADA ....

Another little TIN-POT SADDAM HUSSEIN LOOK-A-LIKE steps up the the plate, here ....

Over there in IRAQINAM ...

And so ....

"Al-Maliki vows 'no mercy' in crackdown"

By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer

Tue Jun 13, 2:12 PM ET

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's new prime minister promised "no mercy" for terrorists Tuesday as President Bush paid a surprise visit to Baghdad on the eve of a security crackdown involving 75,000 troops, road closures and a curfew.

Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, who didn't know Bush was coming until five minutes before they met, said that Iraq was "determined to succeed, and we have to defeat terrorists and defeat all the hardships."

Security officials said Iraqi and multinational forces would deploy Wednesday throughout Baghdad, securing roads, launching raids against insurgent hideouts, and calling in airstrikes if necessary.

Underscoring the lack of security, a series of explosions struck the northern city of Kirkuk, killing at least 16 people.

The new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq vowed to avenge predecessor Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's death and threatened horrific attacks "in the coming days," according to a statement posted on the Web — the first from the new terrorist leader.

The statement appeared a day after the group announced that a man identified by the nom de guerre Abu Hamza al-Muhajer would succeed the Jordanian-born militant as its leader.

Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Mohammed said 761 attacks killed 263 civilians and wounded 301 others last week, from Friday to Saturday, while 78 terror suspects were killed and 584 detained.

Bush's visit came on the final day of a two-day work session aimed at keeping up the momentum generated by last week's swearing-in of key Iraqi national security officials, and the U.S. airstrike that killed al-Zarqawi.

"God willing, all the suffering will be over."

"And all the soldiers will return to their country with our gratitude for what they have offered, the sacrifice," al-Maliki said through a translator.

Bush made it clear, however, that a U.S. military presence — now at about 132,000 troops — would continue.

"I have expressed our country's desire to work with you, but I appreciate you recognize the fact that the future of the country is in your hands," Bush said.

Radical anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's representatives, meanwhile, organized a Wednesday demonstration in northern Baghdad to protest the visit.

Maj. Gen. Mahdi al-Gharrawi, the commander of public order forces under the Interior Ministry, said al-Maliki's plan includes securing roads in and out of Baghdad, banning personal weapons and implementing a 9 p.m.-6 a.m. curfew.

Al-Gharrawi told The Associated Press that the plan to be launched at 6 a.m. Wednesday would be the biggest operation of its kind in Baghdad since the U.S. handed over sovereignty to Iraq in 2004.

He warned insurgents were likely to step up activity ahead of the security crackdown and as revenge for al-Zarqawi's death.

He said the ground forces could call in air cover if needed.

"We are expecting clashes will erupt in the predominantly Sunni areas," he said.

"The terrorists will escalate their violence especially during the first week as revenge for the killing of al-Zarqawi."

He also said; "Baghdad is divided according to geographical area and we know the al-Qaida leaders in each area."

Iraqis have complained of random violence and detentions by Iraqi forces, especially the police, which are widely believed to have been infiltrated by so-called sectarian death squads.

Al-Gharrawi said there were plans for a single uniform to distinguish legitimate forces in the coming days.

"There will be a special uniform with special badges to be put on the vehicles as a sign that it belongs to our forces," he said, adding the prime minister would decide when to end the crackdown.

Iraqi army Brig. Jalil Khalaf also said the plan would include more checkpoints and raids against suspected insurgent hideouts.

"The terrorists cannot face such power," he said.

Al-Maliki said the plan "will provide security and confront the terrorism and ... enable Iraqis to live in peace in Baghdad."

"The raids during this plan will be very tough ... because there will be no mercy toward those who show no mercy to our people," he said in a news release.

The Iraqi army launched a similar crackdown dubbed Operation Lightning on May 28, deploying more than 40,000 Iraqi police and soldiers, backed by American troops and air support, but violence continued to spike and many Sunnis were alienated by the heavy-handed tactics concentrating on their neighborhoods.

The attacks in Kirkuk began at 7:45 a.m. Tuesday, when a parked car containing a bomb exploded near a police patrol in the city center, killing 10 people, including two policemen, Brig. Gen. Sarhat Qadir said.

Nine people were wounded.

A half-hour later, guards opened fire on a suspected suicide car bomber trying to get through a checkpoint at the Kirkuk police directorate.

The car exploded, killing five people, including two policemen, and wounding six, Qadir said.

Another suspected suicide car bomber in Kirkuk tried to hit a Kurdish political office in the oil-rich city about 180 miles north of Baghdad at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, but guards opened fire on the car, and it exploded, police Col. Taieb Taha said.

Three civilians were wounded.

A suicide car bomber targeted a police patrol south of Kirkuk more than an hour later near an institute for the disabled.

The explosion killed the driver of a civilian car nearby and wounded six, Qadir said.

At least 20 other violent deaths were reported Tuesday, according to police.
___

Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra, Patrick Quinn, Sameer N. Yacoub and Qais al-Bashir contributed to this report.

[Livyjr]

"Al-Maliki vows 'no mercy' in crackdown"

By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer

Tue Jun 13, 2:12 PM ET

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's new prime minister promised "no mercy" for terrorists Tuesday as President Bush paid a surprise visit to Baghdad on the eve of a security crackdown involving 75,000 troops, road closures and a curfew.

Bush made it clear, however, that a U.S. military presence — now at about 132,000 troops — would continue.

The Iraqi army launched a similar crackdown dubbed Operation Lightning on May 28, deploying more than 40,000 Iraqi police and soldiers, backed by American troops and air support, but violence continued to spike and many Sunnis were alienated by the heavy-handed tactics concentrating on their neighborhoods.

And speaking of the HAM-HANDED PUPPETEER .....

And his SADDAM HUSSEIN LOOK-A-LIKE PUPPET ....

"Bush visit may have downside for al-Maliki"

By PATRICK QUINN, Associated Press Writer

1 hour, 46 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - President Bush's trip to Baghdad comes at a pivotal time for the new prime minister, as he tries to convince Iraqis the country can stand on its own and end violence — if they unite behind him.

But instead of bolstering that effort, Bush's trip could push away the very Sunni Arabs Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is trying to court.

Bush and U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad have made much of the fact that al-Maliki and his national unity government are the result of three years of democratic progress.

But it is an experiment in Middle Eastern civics that has cost thousands of American and Iraqi lives and arguably has been outpaced by the Sunni insurgency.

"I appreciate you recognizing that the future of the country is in your hands," Bush told al-Maliki as he came to Baghdad to congratulate the prime minister for finally assembling a Cabinet six months after parliamentary elections.

He lauded al-Maliki for bringing together Shiites, Sunni Arabs, Kurds and Christians in a government he hopes will convince insurgents of its impartiality.

"You've assembled people from all parts of your country, representing different religions, different histories and traditions."

"And yet the Cabinet here represents the entire Iraqi people," Bush said.

But many Iraqis are already wary of the Cabinet — assembled from second and third choices to overcome sectarian objections and bearing fingerprints of the Bush administration.

Khalilzad has often commented about the active role he played in the negotiations to form the government; many of those talks took place inside his residence.

"Bush does need to reinforce Khalilzad's efforts to produce stable political compromises, include the Sunnis, talk to the 'moderate' insurgents and prepare to appoint an inclusive body to review the constitution."

"U.S. pressure to reach a stable compromise between factions is critical," said Anthony Cordesman, an analyst at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Al-Maliki's political future may be bleak if he fails to convince Sunni Arabs he is not a Washington puppet and truly wants to disarm Shiite militias and death squads blamed for hundreds of killings.

Many Sunni Arab and even some Shiite political parties dismissed the visit as an attempt by Bush to associate himself with positive developments in Iraq — formation of the new government and last week's killing of al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Bush's political standing portends a difficult election for fellow Republicans in November's congressional elections.

"This visit carries a lot of meanings, but this visit means nothing to the Iraqi street."

"There will never be any benefits from such a visit and the only one to benefit from this visit is Bush himself and his troops here, not the Iraqi people," said Hassan al-Robaie, a lawmaker loyal to anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Baghdad University political science professor Nabil Mohammed Selim said Bush's trip also was a bid to show the world that he has achieved something in Iraq.

"In fact, nothing has been achieved in Iraq, hundreds of innocent Iraqis are being killed daily because of the chaos," Selim said.

On June 28, Iraq celebrates two years since the restoration of its sovereignty.

In that time it has seen some success: three governments, two elections and a referendum on a constitution.

It has also seen a catastrophic failure to restore security and, more importantly, move the country away from sectarian killing and forced relocations that threaten to divide Iraq.

In Baghdad, dozens of people are blown up, shot or beheaded by sectarian gangs every day.

Islamic extremists attack liquor stores, order women not to drive and shoot men for wearing shorts.

The city of 6 million has become so dangerous that al-Maliki plans to restore security by flooding its streets with 75,000 Iraqi and American troops.

Some Sunnis think the success of the Bush visit can only be gauged on al-Maliki's ability to persuade the U.S. president to start pulling some of the 130,000 American troops from the country.

"We hope that al-Maliki persuades Bush to announce a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces, otherwise the visit is of no relevance to Iraqis," said Zafer al-Ani, spokesman for the Iraqi Accordance Front — the main Sunni Arab partner in al-Maliki's government.
___

Patrick Quinn is Chief of Southeast Europe News for The Associated Press and has reported frequently from Iraq since 2003.

[Livyjr]

"Bush visit may have downside for al-Maliki"

By PATRICK QUINN, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - President Bush's trip to Baghdad comes at a pivotal time for the new prime minister, as he tries to convince Iraqis the country can stand on its own and end violence — if they unite behind him.

But instead of bolstering that effort, Bush's trip could push away the very Sunni Arabs Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is trying to court.

Some Sunnis think the success of the Bush visit can only be gauged on al-Maliki's ability to persuade the U.S. president to start pulling some of the 130,000 American troops from the country.

"We hope that al-Maliki persuades Bush to announce a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces, otherwise the visit is of no relevance to Iraqis," said Zafer al-Ani, spokesman for the Iraqi Accordance Front — the main Sunni Arab partner in al-Maliki's government.

And getting right to business in here this morning, we have from America's newest "PUPPET REGIME" in IRAQINAM, as follows ....

"Bush says troops to stay until not needed"

By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent

1 hour, 55 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Bush says he will not bend to political pressure for troop withdrawals from Iraq and says he told worried leaders in Baghdad the United States will not leave until Iraqi forces can do the job.

"I assured them they didn't need to worry," the president said Tuesday.

"I am going to do what I think is right."

"When I tell you these decisions are going to be made by General (George) Casey, I mean it," the president said.

Casey is the top U.S. general in Iraq.

Bush has shied away from embracing suggestions from Casey and other military leaders that the U.S. troop strength in Iraq — now about 132,000 — could be whittled to 100,000 by the end of the year.

The war has weakened Bush politically and raised anxieties among Republicans that they will lose seats — and perhaps control — of either the House or Senate in November.

"There's a worry almost to a person that we will leave before they are capable of defending themselves, and I assured them they didn't need to worry," the president said.

"I also made it clear that we want to work with their government on a way forward on all fronts."

"They're deeply concerned that the stability provided by our coalition forces will be removed and there will be a vacuum and they're concerned about what goes into the vacuum, and I can understand that concern," he added.

"I assured them that we'll keep our commitment."

"I also made it clear to them that in order for us to keep our commitment, they themselves have to do some hard things, they themselves have to set the agenda."

Slouched in a high-back swivel desk chair in his office on Air Force One, Bush talked about his 5 1/2 hour visit to Baghdad about a half hour after his departure.

Security was extraordinary for the takeoff from Baghdad's airport.

Bush's plane sat in total darkness on the runway and lifted off with no running lights.

The plane had not been completely refueled so that it could get up high faster.

As a result, a refueling stop was required en route back to Washington and it was nearing dawn Wednesday when it made it back to the White House.

Bush sat at his v-curved desk in a rumpled white shirt with no tie.

Senior aides stood along the wall or sat on a couch in front of him as he chatted with reporters for 36 minutes.

Bush said it was unrealistic to expect that Iraq could rid itself of violence — the bombings, gunfire and suicide attacks that have become a part of daily life in some cities.

"If the standard is no violence, that's an impossible standard to meet," the president said.

"If the standard is a government that is beginning to gain the confidence of the people because they're taking wise action in terms of helping return normalcy, then I believe this government will meet that standard."

Bush's visit came six days after a U.S. air strike killed al-Qaida terror chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and five days after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki completed his cabinet by naming the ministers of Defense and Interior — events the president's advisers hoped would lead to political progress.

Bush said he made the surprise trip to Baghdad to size up al-Maliki and members of his cabinet.

The president came away with a good impression of al-Maliki and his team, which combines Sunni, Shiite and Kurd officials into a unity government.

"I wanted to hear him talk about his way forward in Iraq," Bush said.

"I wanted to hear whether or not he was stuck in the past or willing to think about the future."

"I wanted to get a sense of his capacity to prioritize and rally people to achieve objectives."

"I came away with a very positive impression."

"He was a serious-minded fellow who recognized there had to be progress in order for the Iraqi people to believe the unity government could make a difference in their lives."

"He specifically talked about electricity in Baghdad and we talked about the security situation."

Bush listened to individual cabinet members describe the challenges they face.

He referred to them by their jobs — "oil guy," "reconciliation person," "defense minister," "the electricity man," a "lady member of the cabinet" who talked about human rights concerns about coalition forces.

"I came away with the feeling they're plenty capable people," the president said.

Bush didn't say whether he and the prime minister had discussed the timing or scope of a possible U.S. military withdrawal.

Al-Maliki, speaking in Arabic, thanked Bush for U.S. protection, but expressed a general hope for the day when American troops would be gone.

"God willing, all of the suffering will be over, and all of the soldiers will be able to return to their countries with our gratitude for what they have offered," al-Maliki said.

Before leaving Baghdad, Bush addressed a group of about 300 cheering U.S. troops assigned in supporting roles to the U.S. Embassy.

He thanked them for their work and said a top U.S. priority was now to support the new government.

"Our job is to help them succeed and we will," Bush said.

In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld gave a classified briefing on Bush's trip to selected senators.

Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, senior Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, told reporters afterward that Bush's trip "is likely to lead to phased redeployments this year and continuing in the next year."

Rumsfeld said that many U.S. troops have already been brought home.

He said officials would meet with Iraqi leaders "in the weeks ahead discussing at what pace we're going to be able to draw down our forces and it will all be done in a very orderly way."

[Livyjr]

"Bush says troops to stay until not needed"

By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent

WASHINGTON - President Bush says he will not bend to political pressure for troop withdrawals from Iraq and says he told worried leaders in Baghdad the United States will not leave until Iraqi forces can do the job.

"I also made it clear to them that in order for us to keep our commitment, they themselves have to do some hard things, they themselves have to set the agenda."

And speaking about this IRAQINAMI PUPPET al-Maliki doing some "HARD THINGS" ....

For George W. Bush, of course ....

Who is the world's leading purveyor of DEMOCRACY ....

In bags, boxes, and tins ....

From the JUMBO SMALL SIZE ....

Right on up to the MASSIVE ECONOMY SIZE ....

We have ....

DE-MOCKERY IN ACTION ....

LIVE ....

From IRAQINAM ....

As we speak ....

"Iraqi PM launches huge security crackdown"

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer

2 hours, 31 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's prime minister launched the biggest security crackdown in Baghdad since the U.S.-led invasion, with tens of thousands of security forces deploying throughout the capital on Wednesday and increased checkpoints causing some traffic jams.

The crackdown, which army officials said was dubbed Operation Forward Together, began a day after U.S. President George W. Bush paid a surprise visit to Baghdad, promising continued U.S. support for Iraqis but cautioning them that "the future of the country is in your hands."

An Iraqi army official, who declined to named because he was not authorized to release the information, said two divisions had been deployed in the capital, which would be about 20,000 soldiers, along with some 50,000 Interior Ministry forces.

There were more checkpoints and soldiers on the streets as Iraqis drove to work Wednesday morning, causing traffic to back up in some areas.

However, noticeably fewer cars were circulating in the city.

Maj. Gen. Mahdi al-Gharrawi, the commander of public order forces under the Interior Ministry, said his forces had not encountered any resistance to the stepped-up security measures, even in some of the capital's most volatile areas.

"The people are feeling comfortable with the security measures and they are waving to us," al-Gharrawi said.

"Until now, no clashes have erupted and no bullets have been fired at us."

Osama Ahmed Salah, a 50-year-old Sunni university professor in western Baghdad, said he hoped authorities would not randomly target the minority sect.

"The security plan operations should not depend on false information and they should not be sectarian or directed against a specific kind of people," he said.

"The operations should be well-prepared and they should not be conducted in a way that humiliates citizens."

Security officials said Tuesday that 75,000 Iraqi and multinational forces would be deployed throughout Baghdad, securing roads in and out of the city, establishing more checkpoints, launching raids against insurgent hideouts and calling in airstrikes if necessary.

The operation was the biggest of its kind in Baghdad since the U.S. handed over sovereignty to Iraq in June 2004, al-Gharrawi said Tuesday.

"The terrorists cannot face such power," Iraqi army Brig. Jalil Khalaf said.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki also announced plans for an extended curfew and a weapons ban, saying he would show "no mercy" to terrorists six days after al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike northeast of Baghdad.

The government did not say how long the crackdown would last.

Bush's visit Tuesday was seen by many as a boost for al-Maliki, who is seeking to build momentum after al-Zarqawi's death and the appointment of defense and interior ministers following weeks of political stalemate.

It got mixed reviews from Iraqis.

Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr planned a demonstration later Wednesday in Baghdad to protest the visit.

But other Iraqis said the visit came at a good time.

"It is truly a surprise visit, but it is a good gesture and a step forward on the path of establishing security and stability," author Abbas al-Rubai said.

Al-Zarqawi's successor, identified by the nom de guerre Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, vowed to defeat "crusaders and Shiites" in Iraq and said "holy warriors" in the country were stronger than ever, according to a Web statement posted Tuesday — the first from the new leader.

Underlining the threat, explosions on Tuesday struck oil-rich Kirkuk, killing at least 16 people.

Kirkuk police Brig. Gen. Sarhat Qadir said the attacks in the city 180 miles north of Baghdad were believed to be "a reaction to avenge the killing of al-Zarqawi."

Al-Qaida in Iraq has been increasingly focusing its attacks on Baghdad rather than on U.S. targets in western Iraq.

"Baghdad is divided according to geographical area, and we know the al-Qaida leaders in each area," al-Gharrawi said.

Despite the security crackdown, he warned insurgents were likely to step up their attacks.

"We are expecting clashes will erupt in the predominantly Sunni areas," al-Gharrawi told The Associated Press.

"The terrorists will escalate their violence especially during the first week as revenge for the killing of al-Zarqawi."

Civilians have also complained of random violence and detentions by Iraqi forces, especially the police, which are widely believed to have been infiltrated by so-called sectarian death squads.

Al-Gharrawi said there were plans for a single uniform to distinguish legitimate forces in the coming days.

"There will be a special uniform with special badges to be put on the vehicles as a sign that it belongs to our forces," he said.

Al-Maliki's plan additionally includes banning personal weapons and implementing a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, which hitherto had begun at 11 p.m.

The new curfew was expected to begin Friday.

Al-Maliki said in his news conference that the plan "will provide security and confront the terrorism and ... enable Iraqis to live in peace in Baghdad."

"The raids during this plan will be very tough ... because there will be no mercy toward those who show no mercy to our people," he said in a statement.

The Iraqi army launched a similar crackdown dubbed Operation Lightning in May 2005, deploying more than 40,000 Iraqi police and soldiers, backed by American troops and air support.

However, violence continued to spike and many Sunnis were alienated by the heavy-handed tactics concentrating on their neighborhoods.

The extended curfew is expected to curtail what few social activities Baghdad's 6 million residents have left — including shopping and buying bread.

But those activities were already restricted in many neighborhoods where the streets are not safe at night.

People are very likely to shoot strangers on sight after dark, which begins about 9 p.m.

The attacks in Kirkuk began at 7:45 a.m. when a parked car containing a bomb exploded near a police patrol in the city center, killing 10 people, including two policemen, Qadir said.

Nine people were wounded.

Some 30 minutes later, guards fired on a suspected suicide car bomber trying to pass through a checkpoint at the Kirkuk police directorate.

The car exploded, killing five people, including two policemen, and wounding six, Qadir said.

Another suspected suicide car bomber in Kirkuk tried to hit a Kurdish political office at 8:30 a.m., but guards opened fire on that car, and it exploded, police Col. Taieb Taha said.

Three civilians were wounded.

A suicide car bomber targeted a police patrol south of Kirkuk more than an hour later near an institute for the disabled.

The explosion killed a driver nearby and wounded six, Qadir said.

At least 26 other violent deaths were reported Tuesday.

Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Mohammed said 761 attacks killed 263 civilians and wounded 301 others last week, from Friday to Saturday, while 78 terror suspects were killed and 584 detained.

So far in 2006, at least 3,829 Iraqi civilians and at least 754 Iraqi security forces have been killed in war-related violence.

For the same time period, at least 4,577 Iraqi civilians and at least 749 Iraqi security forces have been wounded.

These figures are based on AP reports, which may not be complete because the reporting process does not cover the entire country.

These numbers do not include insurgents.

There have been at least 335 coalition troop deaths in 2006; of these at least 312 have been U.S. military.

The presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is considered a greater threat to Mideast stability than the current government in Iran, according to a new poll of European and Muslim countries.

The poll found that people in Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Russia rated the presence of troops in Iraq higher than the government in Iran as a threat, according to polling by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

Views of U.S. troops in Iraq were even more negative in countries like Indonesia, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Pakistan.
___

Associated Press writers Kim Gamel, Patrick Quinn, Sameer N. Yacoub and Qais al-Bashir contributed to this report from Baghdad.

end quotes

Boy ....

Isn't this DE-MOCKERY in IRAQINAM just the most wonderful thing to behold?

I WONDER WHEN WE ARE GOING TO GET SOME HERE?

[Livyjr]

And talking about "GETTING SOME" ....

"FEMA funds spent on divorce, sex change"

Associated Press Writer

2 hours, 39 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Houston divorce lawyer Mark Lipkin says he can't recall anyone paying for his services with a FEMA debit card, but congressional investigators say one of his clients did just that.

The $1,000 payment was just one example cited in an audit that concluded that up to $1.4 billion — perhaps as much as 16 percent of the billions of dollars in assistance expended after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita — was spent for bogus reasons.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency also was hoodwinked to pay for season football tickets, a tropical vacation and a sex change operation, the audit found.

Prison inmates, a supposed victim who used a New Orleans cemetery for a home address and a person who spent 70 days at a Hawaiian hotel all were able to get taxpayer help, according to evidence that gives a new black eye to the nation's disaster relief agency.

"I do Katrina victims all the time," Lipkin, the divorce attorney, told The Associated Press.

"I didn't know anybody did that with me."

"I don't think it's right, obviously."

Government Accountability Office officials were testifying before a House committee Wednesday on their findings.

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the subcommittee overseeing an investigation of post-hurricane aid, called the bogus spending "an assault on the American taxpayer."

"Prosecutors from the federal level down should be looking at prosecuting these crimes and putting the criminals who committed them in jail for a long time," he said.

To dramatize the problem, investigators provided lawmakers with a copy of a $2,358 U.S. Treasury check for rental assistance that an undercover agent received using a bogus address.

The money was paid even after FEMA learned from its inspector that the undercover applicant did not live at the address.

FEMA spokesman Aaron Walker said Tuesday that the agency, already criticized for a poor response to Katrina, makes its highest priority during a disaster "to get help quickly to those in desperate need of our assistance."

"Even as we put victims first, we take very seriously our responsibility to be outstanding stewards of taxpayer dollars, and we are careful to make sure that funds are distributed appropriately," Walker said.

FEMA said it has identified more than 1,500 cases of potential fraud after Katrina and Rita and has referred those cases to the Homeland Security Department's inspector general.

The agency said it has identified $16.8 million in improperly awarded disaster relief money and has started efforts to collect the money.

The GAO said it was 95 percent confident that improper and potentially fraudulent payments were much higher — between $600 million and $1.4 billion.

The investigative agency said it found people lodged in hotels often were paid twice, since FEMA gave them individual rental assistance and paid hotels directly.

FEMA paid California hotels $8,000 to house one individual — the same person who received three rental assistance payments for both disasters.

In another instance, FEMA paid an individual $2,358 in rental assistance, while at the same time paying about $8,000 for the same person to stay 70 nights at more than $100 per night in a Hawaii hotel.

FEMA also could not establish that 750 debit cards worth $1.5 million even went to Katrina victims, the auditors said.

Among the items purchased with the cards:

_An all-inclusive, one-week Caribbean vacation in the Punta Cana resort in the Dominican Republic.

_Five season tickets to New Orleans Saints professional football games.

_Adult erotica products in Houston and "Girls Gone Wild" videos in Santa Monica, Calif.

_Dom Perignon champagne and other alcoholic beverages in San Antonio.

"Our forensic audit and investigative work showed that improper and potentially fraudulent payments occurred mainly because FEMA did not validate the identity of the registrant, the physical location of the damaged address, and ownership and occupancy of all registrants at the time of registration," GAO officials said.

FEMA paid millions of dollars to more than 1,000 registrants who used names and Social Security numbers belonging to state and federal prisoners for expedited housing assistance.

The inmates were in Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Florida.

FEMA made about $5.3 million in payments to registrants who provided a post office box as their damaged residence, including one who got $2,748 for listing an Alabama post office box as the damaged property.

The GAO told of an individual who used 13 different Social Security numbers — including the person's own — to receive $139,000 in payments on 13 separate registrations for aid.

All the payments were sent to a single address.

end quotes

Boy ....

Isn't this BUSHONIAN DE-MOCKERY here in OUR AMERICA .....

Just the most wonderful thing to behold?

[Livyjr]

And speaking about this IRAQINAMI PUPPET al-Maliki doing some "HARD THINGS" ....

For George W. Bush, of course ....

Who is the world's leading purveyor of DEMOCRACY ....

In bags, boxes, and tins ....

From the JUMBO SMALL SIZE ....

Right on up to the MASSIVE ECONOMY SIZE ....

We have ....

DE-MOCKERY IN ACTION ....

LIVE ....

From IRAQINAM ....

As we speak ....

"Iraqi PM launches huge security crackdown"

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer

The presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is considered a greater threat to Mideast stability than the current government in Iran, according to a new poll of European and Muslim countries.

The poll found that people in Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Russia rated the presence of troops in Iraq higher than the government in Iran as a threat, according to polling by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

Views of U.S. troops in Iraq were even more negative in countries like Indonesia, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Pakistan.

As I consider all of this stuff ....

From my perspective as a free-born AMERICAN CITIZEN ....

I am forced to recall ....

OVER AND OVER AGAIN ....

The sight of George W. Bush ....

In his "flying suit" ....

Climbing out of his fighter jet ....

On the flight deck of that aircraft carrier ....

That was moored off the California coast ...

WHEN GEORGE WAS ANNOUNCING TO ALL THE WORLD ....

"MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!"

And so ....

What is this then?

MISSION II, the sequel?

"Bush rejects calls for pullout from Iraq"

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press
Last updated: 6:05 a.m., Thursday, June 15, 2006

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, just back from Iraq, dismissed calls for a U.S. withdrawal as election-year politics and refused to give a timetable or benchmark for success that would allow troops to come home.

"It's bad policy," Bush said in a Rose Garden news conference Wednesday, about six hours after he returned from Iraq.

"I know it may sound good politically."

"It will endanger our country to pull out of Iraq before we accomplish the mission."

The news conference was arranged to capitalize on Bush's stealthy 5 1/2-hour trip to Baghdad Tuesday.

The visit marked his first meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and the president said he was impressed with the new leader's plans and character.

"I sense something different happening in Iraq," Bush said.

He defended the decision not to tell the prime minister that the U.S. president was in his country until five minutes before they met and denied that it was because of any concern about al-Maliki's inner circle.

"I'm a high-value target for some," Bush said.

"I think if there was ample notification that I was coming, perhaps it would have given somebody a chance to plan, and we just didn't want to take that risk."

Bush said he wanted to see a reduction in the deadly violence in Iraq but would not say how much it must drop before troops can begin to withdraw.

He offered other ways of measuring progress in Iraq -- an increase in oil production or more electricity delivered to cool sweltering homes or growing numbers of Iraqi military units able to handle the fight.

But again, he did not offer any specific targets to measure when Iraqis will be able to govern themselves.

Instead, he declared that the government must be able to succeed and that leaving too early would "make the world a more dangerous place."

Democrats criticized Bush for failing to describe plans for a troop withdrawal.

"What we heard from the president today sounds like more of the same -- stay the course, which is a slogan, but it is not a plan," said House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi after leaving a White House meeting with Bush and other congressional leaders.

"What we would like is an approach that says, when we reach certain milestones, then we begin a responsible redeployment of our troops and that the commitment is not open-ended."

Several proposals were before Congress to draw down U.S. troops, including one by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., Bush's 2004 election rival, to withdraw U.S. combat forces by year's end.

"Don't bet on American politics forcing my hand, because it's not going to happen," Bush said.

But it won't be too long before U.S. commanders in Iraq make a recommendation on withdrawals, a senior military leader said Wednesday.

Bush said he would make the final decision based on recommendations from his commanders.

Army Brig. Gen. Carter Ham told Pentagon reporters that initial plans for the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, to make such a recommendation this spring had been delayed by the slow progress in forming the new government in Iraq.

"The government didn't form, so the conditions weren't quite right, so clearly the assessment and the recommendations will be pushed a little bit to the right," said Ham, deputy operations chief for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"But I don't think it will be too terribly long."

Pentagon officials said Wednesday that there are currently about 127,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, a drop from more than 130,000 in recent days.

Ham said the decline is due largely to the planned return home of a Pennsylvania National Guard unit -- the 2nd Brigade of the 28th Infantry Division -- which is at the end of its Iraq rotation.

He said it should not be interpreted as the beginning of troop withdrawal from Iraq.

Bush said his recent meeting with al-Maliki gave him confidence that the new government will be a capable partner to get the country back on its feet -- but he said the Iraqis still need help from U.S. forces.

"If the United States of America leaves before this Iraqi government can defend itself and sustain itself and govern itself, it will be a major blow in the war on terror," Bush said, pounding his fist on a lectern set up in the Rose Garden.

Bush's news conference lasted nearly an hour and included his trademark teasing of reporters.

He complimented one on the fancy handkerchief sticking out of his breast pocket and congratulated another as being knowledgeable for a newcomer to the White House.

Bush also poked fun at a reporter for wearing sunglasses during the news conference -- and later apologized in a phone call after learning that the reporter wore sunglasses because he's losing his sight to an eye disease.

Unlike typical presidential press conferences that tend to be more wide-ranging, most of the questions focused on Iraq.

Bush said U.S. agents collected new intelligence in recent days following last week's air raid that killed Iraqi terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and are conducting raids to stop further violence.

The president also said that a crackdown in Baghdad that al-Maliki began Wednesday offered the promise of reducing the violence.

That crackdown sent tens of thousands of Iraqi police and soldiers patrolling the streets, searching cars and securing roads.

"The terrorists are vulnerable, and we will strike their network and disrupt their operations and continue to bring their leaders to justice," Bush said.

He spoke anew about an idea he first proposed publicly Monday at the Camp David meeting with his war council -- an oil royalty trust that would give citizens across Iraq a stake in how the resources are developed.

He suggested it might be structured like Alaska's system, where citizens get a share of the state's royalties from the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.

Bush also said he was impressed with al-Maliki's ideas for reconciliation after the war, including former supporters of Saddam Hussein.

Bush suggested he would not like to see terrorists given amnesty as part of the process.

"If somebody has committed a crime, I don't know whether or not they'll be that lenient, frankly," Bush said.

A senior White House official said the Iraqis have indicated that they're looking for "models" in national reconciliation.

Another official said al-Maliki had inquired whether Bosnians or South Africans might be able to provide expertise.

------

On the Net:

http://www.whitehouse.gov

[jeffmoskin]

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Depends on the 'mission.'

If you bought into the BushLies about DEMOCRACY for Iraqis...

If you bought into the BushLies about THROWING FLOWERS at our feet...

If you bought into the BushLies about BEING LIBERATORS...

I agree.

But if you bought into the BushCo SECRET AGENDA of- -

Securing the oilfields so that NO OIL COULD BE PUMPED OUT,

Building 14 enduring bases to house the mercenaries...er PRIVATE CONTRACTORS, yeah, that's it - - PRIVATE CONTRACTORS for the next 50 years or so,

Cancelling all the contracts between Saddam Hussein and the 17 non US countries to explore 70% of Iraq's unexplored oilfields,

Switching back to DOLLARS for payment instead of the dreaded Euro,

then...

You would have to agree.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

[Livyjr]

Howdy, jeffmoskin .....

Good to see you back .....

[Livyjr]

"Bush rejects calls for pullout from Iraq" 
 
By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press
Last updated: 6:05 a.m., Thursday, June 15, 2006

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, just back from Iraq, dismissed calls for a U.S. withdrawal as election-year politics and refused to give a timetable or benchmark for success that would allow troops to come home.

Bush also poked fun at a reporter for wearing sunglasses during the news conference --

And later apologized in a phone call after learning that the reporter wore sunglasses because he's losing his sight to an eye disease.

"Iraq Amnesty Plan May Cover Attacks On U.S. Military - Leader Also Backs Talks With Resistance"

By Ellen Knickmeyer and Jonathan Finer
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, June 15, 2006; Page A01

BAGHDAD, June 14 -- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Wednesday proposed a limited amnesty to help end the Sunni Arab insurgency as part of a national reconciliation plan that Maliki said would be released within days.

The plan is likely to include pardons for those who had attacked only U.S. troops, a top adviser said.

Maliki's declaration of openness to talks with some members of Sunni armed factions, and the prospect of pardons, are concessions that previous, interim governments had avoided.

The statements marked the first time a leader from Iraq's governing Shiite religious parties has publicly embraced national reconciliation, welcomed dialogue with armed groups and proposed a limited amnesty.

Reconciliation could include an amnesty for those "who weren't involved in the shedding of Iraqi blood," Maliki told reporters at a Baghdad news conference.

"Also, it includes talks with the armed men who opposed the political process and now want to turn back to political activity."

Maliki stressed that he had not yet met with the Sunni resistance and added, "We will talk to those whose hands are not stained with blood, and we hope they would rethink their strategy."

He vowed that they "will not be able to interrupt the political process, either by wanting to bring back the old regime, or imposing an ugly, ethnic new regime upon Iraq."

As Maliki spoke, Iraqi soldiers and police led the first day of a security crackdown in Baghdad.

A force of more than 30,000 uniformed Iraqi security personnel, backed by more than 30,000 U.S.-led foreign troops, enforced the first day of a dusk-to-dawn curfew and stepped up checkpoints throughout the capital.

Iraq's Interior Ministry said Tuesday that no additional troops were brought in for the operation.

Thanks to Wednesday's expanded checkpoints -- one of the first clear efforts of Maliki's new government -- there were traffic-snarling jams across Baghdad.

"We have noticed less and less people shopping, but I would rather have security than more customers," said Wisam Saad, 29, who stood in a shop empty of customers, surrounded by cigar boxes, teapots and trinkets.

Iraq's previous, transitional government, led by Ibrahim al-Jafari, a Shiite, launched a similar crackdown last year but it failed to deter the violence.

After elections in December selected Iraq's first full-term parliament since the fall of Saddam Hussein, Maliki won appointment as prime minister.

His month-old administration has seen rapid movement on some long-standing demands from Sunni opponents of the Shiite governments, such as the U.S.-Iraqi agreement to free thousands of detainees in U.S.-run prisons in Iraq this month.

Hundreds are due to be released from the Abu Ghraib prison on Thursday.

Maliki's security crackdown and talk of amnesty and reconciliation came a day after President Bush's unannounced visit to Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.

Bush came with what he said were twin messages for Maliki: The United States would not abandon Iraq, but Iraq needed to do more to tackle its problems.

The violence continued Wednesday.

A bomb placed in a parked car exploded in northern Baghdad, missing the police patrol that was its apparent target but killing four civilians.

A photographer for the Reuters news service, caught in the traffic, reported witnessing bystanders sticking bars into vehicles in an effort to pull out victims who were burning alive.

President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, has long talked of negotiations and a possible limited amnesty to help end Iraq's violence.

However, Maliki's statements Wednesday marked the greatest public show of willingness to compromise from governments led by the Shiite religious parties.

The Arab League on Wednesday postponed a reconciliation conference for Iraq that had been set for August.

Adnan Ali al-Kadhimi, a top adviser to Maliki, said the conference was delayed in part so Iraq could decide who might be eligible for any amnesty.

It was not clear how the government would verify which insurgents have been responsible for which types of attacks.

"The government has in mind somehow to do reconciliation, and one way to do it is to offer an amnesty, but not a sort of unconditional amnesty," Kadhimi said in a telephone interview.

"We can see if somehow those who are so-called resistance can be accepted if they have not been involved in any kind of criminal behavior, such as killing innocent people or damaging infrastructure, and even infrastructure if it is minor will be pardoned."

The reconciliation effort pioneered by South Africa after the collapse of apartheid might be a model, Kadhimi said.

"One way was to admit what you have done and you will be forgiven, and maybe parts of this can be considered."

"Because once we see people coming forward to admit what they have done, and it's within the areas the government has the right to pardon, it could happen."

Asked about clemency for those who attacked U.S. troops, he said:

"That's an area where we can see a green line."

"There's some sort of preliminary understanding between us and the MNF-I," the U.S.-led Multi-National Force-Iraq, "that there is a patriotic feeling among the Iraqi youth and the belief that those attacks are legitimate acts of resistance and defending their homeland."

"These people will be pardoned definitely, I believe."

Asked about pardons for those who had attacked Iraqi forces, he said:

"This needs to be carefully studied or designed so maybe the family of those individuals killed have a right to make a claim at the court, because that is a public right."

"Or maybe the government can compensate them."

U.S. diplomatic officials have said previously that they were encouraging dialogue among Iraq's many rival factions, but none has confirmed U.S. backing for an amnesty offer.

Maliki also addressed the problem of militias allied with his Shiite religious bloc.

"Our success in the national reconciliation plan and our success in providing services will give . . . a message that there is no need anymore for militias, because security is under the government's control."

He had earlier proposed that militias be absorbed into Iraq's security forces.

Maliki's statements come as there is growing openness to dialogue on all sides of Iraq's ethnic and religious divides.

Talabani told reporters at a news conference in the Kurdish north last weekend that he believed 2006 might be the year of peace settlements for Iraq.

Similarly, the top Sunni Arab in Iraq's new government said this week that he believed a peace deal was "very close."

Salam al-Zobaie, the deputy prime minister, said in an interview in his Baghdad office this week that the difference this time was that the new Shiite-led government was indicating openness to compromise.

Asked about proposals of amnesty for Sunni insurgents, Zobaie said the previous Shiite governments "closed the door" on the Sunnis "and forced them to take up the gun to defend themselves."

"We should be talking about an apology, not amnesty."

Bahaa al-Araji, a lawmaker and supporter of Shiite cleric and militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr, said Wednesday that members of the governing Shiite alliance were formally asked by their bloc this week to evaluate who might be acceptable partners for dialogue on the Sunni side.

Speaking before Maliki's news conference, Araji rejected some of what he said were too-easy peace terms being floated by Talabani.

He said Talabani was speaking from the perspective of a northern Kurd spared the scale of violence that has bloodied the rest of Iraq.

Rather than a reconciliation conference, Araji said, the best step for peace in Iraq would be for leaders of Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish blocs in parliament to come to terms among themselves.

"That will take care of 90 percent of the people" in Iraq's conflict.

The remaining 10 percent "will then be isolated and exposed, so all their evil steps are obvious to us and to them," Araji said.

Military forces could deal with the remaining hard-liners after any reconciliation, he said.

Asked if he was optimistic about prospects for an easing of the killings, Araji cited the Feb. 22 bombing of the golden-domed Shiite shrine in Samarra, north of Baghdad.

Destruction of the shrine spurred sectarian violence to new and lasting heights.

"Not as optimistic as I was six months ago," the Shiite lawmaker said.

"More than I was three months ago."

Staff writer Joshua Partlow and special correspondents Omar Fekeiki and Saad al-Izzi contributed to this report.