And here is where they are ...

Over there in Boston .....

Where they have a NEW YORK STATE-sized BOONDOGLE .....

TAXPAYER-FUNDED, OF COURSE ....

Known as the BIG DIG .....

"Documents reveal Big Dig design dispute"

By BROOKE DONALD, Associated Press Writer

28 minutes ago

BOSTON - Investigators probing the fatal collapse of a Big Dig tunnel ceiling have discovered documents showing there was a "substantial dispute" over whether the design of the tunnel was adequate to hold the weight of the ceiling panels, the attorney general said Monday.

Four of the 3-ton panels collapsed onto a car July 10, killing Milena Del Valle, 38, of Boston, and injuring her husband.

Since then, engineers have found hundreds of places within the connector tunnel, a main passage to Boston's Logan International Airport, where the bolts are not properly secured.

Attorney General Tom Reilly, who refused to give specifics, said he did not know how the dispute was resolved.

He said the designer, the installer and Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, the company overseeing the Big Dig project, were involved but would not say who raised the questions.

"There was a substantial dispute whether the design was adequate to hold the weight expected," Reilly said.

As investigations and testing on the tunnel system continued, commuters on Monday got their glimpse of the increased traffic hassles that officials say could endure for two months, at least.

A second tunnel ramp, which connects Interstate 90 west to Interstate 93, was closed Sunday after testing showed dozens of problems with the bolts holding up the ceiling.

That ramp had been used as part of a detour around the accident scene.

Gov. Mitt Romney has called the ceiling problems a "systemic failure."

He met Monday with congressional, state and city leaders to outline his plan for ensuring safety of the roadways and tunnels, and for easing traffic congestion in the meantime.

After the meeting, Sens. John Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy endorsed the governor's plans.

Kennedy said congressional committees are making plans to hold hearings into the tunnel collapse and the overall Big Dig project.

No hearings had been scheduled.

"We want to make sure the issue of safety is front and center," Kennedy said.

Kerry said the traffic jams resulting from the closures demonstrate the value of the project.

"One thing is for certain: The congestion that we're seeing and the incredible backup really is a statement to the importance of this project and to the difference it has made to the lives of people in this community," Kerry said.

State and federal investigators have focused their attention on the bolts and epoxy glue used to hold the drop-ceiling system in place in the tunnels.

Each of the concrete slabs suspended above the roadway weighs three tons.

The National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Highway Administration and the Massachusetts Highway Department conducted pull tests Monday of selected bolts in the tunnel where the panels fell to determine the characteristics of the epoxy used.

Pull tests are pending on bolts in the Ted Williams Tunnel, which remains open and has a different ceiling design which used lighter panels.

The $14.6 billion Big Dig buried the old elevated Central Artery that used to slice through the city, replacing it with a series of tunnels.

Although it's been considered an engineering marvel, the most expensive highway project in U.S. history also has also been plagued by leaks, falling debris, cost overruns, delays and problems linked to faulty construction.

Reilly is leading a state criminal investigation and has said that both the contractor, Modern Continental Construction Co., and the project overseer, Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, were told in 1999 that five ceiling bolts had broken free during testing.

He questioned whether a prescribed fix had been made.

Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff has defended the construction technique and said it was widely and successfully used throughout the construction industry.

And then ...

There is always ...

IRAQINAMISTAN .....

Where the people ....

Cannot use their real names .....

For fear of getting their heads blown off .....

Thanks to George W. Bush ....

And so .....

"3 American soldiers killed in Iraq"

2 hours, 15 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Three American soldiers were killed Monday in separate attacks, two in the Baghdad area and one in western Iraq, the U.S. military said.

A U.S. statement said one soldier was hit by small arms fire early in western Baghdad.

Another soldier died from injuries suffered in an explosion south of the capital, the military said in a separate statement.

The third soldier, assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, died "due to enemy action" in Anbar province, west of Baghdad, the military said.

At least 2,553 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the war in 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

The figure includes seven military civilians.

end quotes

To date ....

2553 members of the United States Military ....

Have died ....

Over there in IRAQINAMISTAN ....

For George W. Bush's LIES .....

Will George surpass the fifty-some thousand dead from Viet Nam?

Stay tuned ....

And see ....

"Bush curses Hezbollah on live microphone"

By JEANNINE AVERSA, Associated Press
Last updated: 7:06 p.m., Monday, July 17, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- It wasn't meant to be overheard.

Private luncheon conversations among world leaders, picked up by a microphone, provided a rare window into both banter and substance -- including President Bush cursing Hezbollah's attacks against Israel.

Bush expressed his frustration with the United Nations and his disgust with the militant Islamic group and its backers in Syria as he talked to British Prime Minister Tony Blair during the closing lunch at the Group of Eight summit.

"See the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this s--- and it's over," Bush told Blair as he chewed on a buttered roll.

He told Blair he felt like telling U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who visited the gathered leaders, to get on the phone with Syrian President Bashar Assad to "make something happen."

He suggested Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice might visit the region soon.

The unscripted comments came during a photo opportunity at the lunch.

The leaders clearly did not realize that a live microphone was picking up their discussion.

Asked about the microphone mishap during his final briefing of the summit, Blair quipped that it was "all about transparent government."

He smiled and tapped the microphone in front of him.

Bush "sort of rolled his eyes and laughed" when told the comments had been audible and a copy had been made, said Press Secretary Tony Snow.

"Actually his reaction first was, 'What did it say?'"

"So we showed him the transcript, then he rolled his eyes and laughed."

Bush also spoke to other leaders, and his unscripted comments ranged from the serious topic of escalating violence in the Mideast to light banter about his preference for Diet Coke and a gift he received from another leader.

Blair, whose remarks were not as clearly heard, appeared to be pressing Bush about the importance of getting international peacekeepers into the region.

Bush expresses amazement that it will take some leaders as many as eight hours to fly home -- about the same time it will take Air Force One with Bush aboard to return to Washington.

"You eight hours?"

"Me, too."

"Russia's a big country and you're a big country," Bush said, at one point telling a waiter he wanted Diet Coke.

"Takes him eight hours to fly home."

"Russia's big and so is China."

"Yeah Blair, what're you doing?"

"Are you leaving."

Bush thanked Blair for the gift of a sweater and joked that he knew Blair had picked it out personally.

"Absolutely," Blair responded, with a laugh.

A stickler for keeping to his schedule, Bush could also be heard telling Russian President Vladimir Putin, "We've got to keep this thing moving."

"I have to leave at 2:15."

"They want me out of town so to free up your security forces."

Bush also remarked that some speakers at the meeting talk too long.

It was the second time in less than a month that remarks at a G-8 event in Russia ended up being heard over an audio system officials thought was off.

Last month, an inadvertent audio feed from a closed-door lunch in Moscow between Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov exposed their sometimes testy discussion about the security situation in Iraq.

------

On the Net:

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

Quotation of the Day:


Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime: Ernest Hemingway

I couldn't have said this any better.

"Suozzi campaign manager steps aside"

By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:46 p.m., Monday, July 17, 2006

NEW YORK -- Democrat Tom Suozzi shook up his longshot bid for governor Monday, replacing campaign manager Kim Devlin in an effort to turn around the struggling campaign.

Suozzi, who badly trails Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in the Democratic primary race in polls and fundraising, announced that Devlin would be relieved of day-to-day responsibilities on the campaign but would continue as a close political counselor.

"I trust Kim Devlin and her abilities more than anyone in politics," Suozzi said in a statement.

"She will continue to do what she has done for the last five years, which is to advise me."

A Suozzi adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak for the campaign, said Devlin would be replaced by Paul Rivera, a longtime Democratic strategist and adviser to Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign, and by Anthony Cancellieri, the Nassau County deputy executive who has held a leadership role in the Suozzi campaign.

Rivera will take the lead on campaign strategy, and Cancellieri will be in charge of management.

Since announcing his candidacy at a raucous campaign kickoff in late January, Suozzi, the Nassau County executive, has been unable to chip away at Spitzer's momentum and enormous lead.

Polls show Suozzi trailing Spitzer by as much as 60 percentage points.

Suozzi has argued that Spitzer, despite his towering reputation as the so-called "sheriff of Wall Street," is too closely tied in to the Albany political establishment and lacks experience as a government reformer and manager.

Devlin, who has served as a key adviser to Suozzi since 2001, said she was willing to do whatever necessary to boost his political fortunes.

"I believe with everything in me that Tom Suozzi is the only candidate for governor who can truly change Albany and make New Yorkers' lives better," Devlin said in a statement.

"I will do anything to help see him as our next governor, including stepping aside as campaign manager and allowing new ideas and energy to flow through the campaign."

The Spitzer campaign was expected to announce Monday that it had about $15 million in the bank, compared to just $2.8 million for Suozzi.

The primary is Sept. 12.

end quotes

Eliot Spitzer ...

Is soft .....

On GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION .....

So soft ...

He is just like a marshmellow .....

And he has a lot of money ....

In his campaign warchest .....

SO ....

Go figure ....

And did I say ...

It was hot today?

Pretty hot, anyway ....

And so ....

"Heat, humidity and smog stifle upstate"

Associated Press
Last updated: 6:16 p.m., Monday, July 17, 2006

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Temperature records were threatened and the humid, sticky air was declared unhealthy across upstate New York as a heat wave that has hammered much of the nation moved over the Northeast on Monday.

The National Weather Service issued heat advisories from the Hudson Valley to the Buffalo region and high levels of ground-level ozone, a major component of smog, prompted state officials to issue an air quality health advisory for the entire state.

"I have asthma and it's hard to breathe in this heat," complained Walt Russell, 68, a hot-dog vendor who was getting only a trickle of lunch customers at his stand in normally crowded Cobbs Hill Park in Rochester, where the mercury edged toward a record-tying high of 95 degrees.

"People don't normally feel like eating in weather like this, so business is slow -- about 50 percent what it normally is," he said.

Russell believes the climate has turned warmer in recent times.

"Look at the mild winters we've had, and the summers seem to be a lot hotter," he said, wiping the sweat from his brow with plastic disposable gloves that get so sticky they need to be changed every quarter hour.

The heat pushed statewide power consumption to a record high of 32,624 megawatts for the hour between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., beating out the July 26, 2005 record of 32,075 megawatts, said Jim Smith, manager of communications for the New York Independent System Operator near Albany.

"One megawatt is enough to power 800 to 1,000 homes," Smith said.

Despite increased usage, power companies have sufficient supply to meet demand, he said.

In western New York, which had its warmest June-to-September period in 84 years in 2005 and then an unusually mild winter, "we're in sort of a banana belt of the North for the last year or so," said Steve McLaughlin, a meteorologist in Buffalo.

Temperatures have been above normal 14 out of the last 15 months, he said.

To the east, people outside the Capitol in Albany were taking the heat in stride.

"It's not bad in the shade," said construction worker Alan Reynolds.

"We got our briefing in the morning to take more breaks and drink more liquids."

"You just have to pace yourself."

Investigators in Buffalo were looking into whether heat played a role in the death of an 18-month-old girl found dead in her bedroom Sunday afternoon.

An autopsy was scheduled.

Temperatures inside the second-floor bedroom exceeded 90 degrees, police said.

And while we are on the subject of politicians dipping into the public till .....

To help themselves .....

And their POCKETS ....

And the PARTY ....

"Report: Pataki hosts N.H. GOP activists at Executive Mansion"

Associated Press
Last updated: 4:56 p.m., Monday, July 17, 2006

ALBANY -- Gov. George Pataki opened the doors of the Executive Mansion on June 20 for a taxpayer-financed dinner for about a dozen Republican activists from New Hampshire, it was reported Monday.

The dinner came just a few hours after Pataki had state lawmakers over for a lunchtime barbecue.

Pataki, the three-term, lame-duck governor, is eyeing a run for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination and has become a regular visitor in recent months to New Hampshire and Iowa, the states that traditionally begin the presidential nominating process.

On Monday, the New York Daily News reported that Pataki, in reversing the process, had the Granite State GOP activists to the governor's official residence for dinner.

"It was a very good salmon dinner," David Hess, one of the New Hampshire Republicans attending the event, told the tabloid.

"We even got a tour of the kitchen and met the chef."

State Democratic Chairman Herman Farrell complained that Pataki was using the mansion "to wine and dine politicians from another state who he thinks can help get him elected president."

Pataki spokesman David Catalfamo told The Associated Press that hosting the dinner at the publicly financed mansion was "appropriate."

"The governor is a national figure who travels throughout the state and the nation."

"He meets Democrats, Republicans and people from all walks of life and on occasion he has an opportunity to meet with these people when they visit New York," Catalfamo said in a statement to the AP.

"The mansion's historical purpose is to serve as the governor's private residence and like past governors he uses it as such when he's in Albany."

Pataki rarely stays in the mansion.

During his more than 11 years as governor, he and his family have never used it as their main residence, preferring to stay at their Victorian home in Garrison, Putnam County.

Catalfamo, citing security concerns, refused requests from the Daily News to make the guest list for the June 20 dinner public.

------

Information from: Daily News.., http://www.nydailynews.com

Graft ...

Corruption .....

Shoddy workmanship .....

And engineers .....

Who make excuses .....

Cook books ...

And look the other way .....

Life in OUR America today ....

So ...

Who actually is surprised .....

That the BIG DIG .....

Is a GEORGE W. BUSH-sized debacle?

And so ....

"Governor: Big trouble with Big Dig bolts"

By BROOKE DONALD, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:23 a.m., Tuesday, July 18, 2006

BOSTON -- Gov. Mitt Romney on Monday dramatically raised the number of potential trouble spots identified by engineers and investigators in a Big Dig connector tunnel where the ceiling collapsed.

Romney, speaking at a Statehouse news conference and illustrating his points with charts and diagrams, said that tests show more than 1,100 bolt assemblies that used epoxy and more than 300 other areas in the connector tunnel complex are unreliable.

All, he said, will have to be reinforced.

"In grabbing ahold of these bolts and pulling on them with excess force, they're letting go ... at lower pressures than they were designed to handle," Romney said.

"That suggests that this epoxy system is not working ... and for that reason we can't count on it," he said.

Last week, days after 12 tons of ceiling panels came loose and fell on a car, crushing a passenger, the governor announced that inspections had found at least 242 points where bolts were separating from the tunnel roof.

Two Big Dig tunnels have since been closed and Romney has not yet cleared the way for them to reopen.

The suspect bolt assemblies the governor described Monday used epoxy, and are the same type as the ones that failed, causing the fatality.

Thousands of other bolt assemblies in the tunnel complex were constructed differently and are not believed to pose a risk.

The $14.6 billion Big Dig -- the most expensive highway project in U.S. history -- buried a highway network that used to slice through the city, replacing it with a series of tunnels.

The project also has also been plagued by leaks, falling debris, cost overruns, delays and problems linked to faulty construction.

Attorney General Tom Reilly, who is considering filing involuntary manslaughter charges in the ceiling collapse, said Monday that investigators had discovered documents showing there was a "substantial dispute" from 1999 to 2000 over whether the design of the tunnel was adequate to hold the weight of the 3-ton ceiling panels.

Reilly, who refused to give specifics, said he did not know how the dispute was resolved.

He said the tunnel designer, the contractor and the company overseeing the Big Dig project were involved but would not say who raised the questions.

The contractor on the tunnel, Modern Continental Construction Co., issued a statement saying it was cooperating with the investigation and is "confident that our work fully complied with the plans and specifications provided by the Central Artery Tunnel Project."

Messages left with project manager Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff and tunnel designer Gannett Fleming were not immediately returned.

Commuters on Monday endured increased traffic hassles with the closing of a second tunnel ramp connecting two interstates.

It was closed Sunday after testing showed dozens of problems with the bolts holding up the ceiling.

That ramp had been used as part of a detour around the accident scene.

Romney said engineers successfully tested a system to reinforce the bolts.

With crews working around the clock, at least one portion of the closed areas could reopen by late in the weekend, he said.

Romney met earlier in the day with congressional, state and city leaders to outline his plan for traffic and to ensure the safe reopening of the tunnels.

After the meeting, Sens. John Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy endorsed the governor's plans.

Kennedy said congressional committees are making plans to hold hearings into the tunnel collapse and the Big Dig project.

"We want to make sure the issue of safety is front and center," Kennedy said.

end quotes

AS WE ENGINEERS SAY .....

"AIN'T GOT TIME ......"

"TO DO IT RIGHT ..."

"BUT WE ALWAYS ....."

"HAVE TIME ....."

"TO DO IT ...."

"TWICE ...."

And so ....

And speaking of old "ANTI-LAW AND ORDER" George W. Bush .....

It's George's way .....

Or the highway .....

And there is nothing .....

In between ......

Except George W. Bush .....

Listening in on our conversations .....

And snooping around .....

In our laundry bins .....

Looking around ......

In our dirty laundry .....

See if maybe a TAY-RIST got down in there somehow .....

Waiting for the chance .....

To murder us .....

In our sleep .....

So as to be able to take over ....

Our identities ....

Our houses .....

Out in the suburbs .....

And our bank accounts ....

And credit cards ....

And so .....

"Bush blocked eavesdropping program probe"

By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:55 p.m., Tuesday, July 18, 2006

WASHINGTON -- President Bush personally blocked a Justice Department investigation of the anti-terror eavesdropping program that intercepts Americans' international calls and e-mails, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Tuesday.

Bush refused to grant security clearances for department investigators who were looking into the role Justice lawyers played in crafting the program, under which the National Security Agency listens in on telephone calls and reads e-mail without court approval, Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Without access to the sensitive program, the department's Office of Professional Responsibility closed its investigation in April.

"It was highly classified, very important and many other lawyers had access."

"Why not OPR?" Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the committee chairman, asked Gonzales.

"The president of the United States makes the decision," Gonzales replied.

Later, at the White House, spokesman Tony Snow said the eavesdropping program is reviewed every 45 days by senior officials, including Gonzales.

The president did not consider the Justice unit that functions as a legal ethics watchdog to be the "proper venue," Snow said.

"What he was saying is that in the case of a highly classified program, you need to keep the number of people exposed to it tight for reasons of national security, and that's what he did," Snow said.

Yet, according to OPR chief Marshall Jarrett, "a large team" of prosecutors and FBI agents were granted security clearances to pursue an investigation into leaks of information that resulted in the program's disclosure in December.

Justice Department inspector general Glenn A. Fine and two of his aides were among other department officials who were granted clearances, Jarrett said in an April memo explaining the end of his probe.

That memo was released by the Justice Department Tuesday.

The inspector general is conducting a limited, preliminary inquiry into the FBI's role in and use of information from the NSA surveillance program, deputy inspector general Paul Martin said.

The existence of the eavesdropping program outraged Democrats, civil libertarians and even some Republicans who said Bush overstepped his authority.

A group of 13 prominent legal experts wrote lawmakers last week that the Supreme Court's recent decision striking down military commissions for detainees at the Guantanamo naval base in Cuba "strongly supports the conclusion that the president's NSA surveillance program is illegal."

Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., who requested the Justice Department investigation, said he and other lawmakers were preparing a letter to Bush asking him to allow the probe to go forward.

"We can't have a president acting in a dictatorial fashion," Hinchey said.

Gonzales insisted Tuesday that the president "has the inherent authority under the Constitution to engage in electronic surveillance without a warrant."

Still last week, under a deal with Specter, Bush agreed conditionally to a court review of the warrantless eavesdropping operations.

In the House, Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., introduced a bill Tuesday to update the 26-year-old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that would include allowing the government to monitor the suspected terrorists' communications without a court order for up to 45 days after an attack.

Wilson chairs the Intelligence subcommittee that oversees the NSA and has the support of Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., making her bill a leading proposal in the Republican-controlled House.

Bush's 2001 directive authorized the National Security Agency to monitor -- without court warrants -- the international communications of people on U.S. soil when terrorism is suspected.

The administration initially resisted efforts to write a new law, contending that no legal changes were needed.

But after months of pressure, officials have grown more open to legislation.

Under the deal with Specter, the president agreed to support a bill that could submit the program to the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for a constitutional review.

Last week, Gonzales said the bill gives Bush the option of submitting the NSA program to the intelligence court, rather than requiring the review.

Specter said Tuesday Bush assured him he will seek the court review if the legislation passes without significant amendment.

Critics of the legislation have called it a fig leaf that would give congressional blessing to a legally suspect program.

"The so-called compromise reached by Senator Specter and the White House does nothing to establish a check over the administration's warrantless surveillance program," said Bruce Fein, a former Justice Department official in the Reagan administration.

Well done, Snuf .....

I must have completely missed this the other day .....

I'm glad I found it .....

No argument from me on those sentiments .....

At all ....

Nothing in between ....

But death ....

And destruction ....

For the poor people

Of IRAQINAMISTAN ...

Who have to go around .....

With false identities .....

So they won't get killed ....

And then they do, anyway .....

Thanks to George W. Bush ....

The AVENGING ANGEL .....

Of DEATH ....

And DESTRUCTION .....

RIGHT OUT OF THE APOCALYPSE ....

FOR THOSE OF YOU OUT THERE ...

WHO ARE EVANGELICALS ....

AND SO ...

BELIEVE ...

EVERY WORD ....

IN THE BIBLE .....

INCLUDING PROPHECY .....

IS TRUE ....

"Iraq civilian toll spikes to almost 6,000"

By NICK WADHAMS, Associated Press Writer

53 minutes ago

UNITED NATIONS - Nearly 6,000 civilians were slain across Iraq in May and June, a spike in deaths that coincided with rising sectarian attacks across the country, the United Nations said Tuesday.

The report from the U.N. Assistance Mission in Iraq describes a wave of lawlessness and crime, including assassinations, bombings, kidnappings, torture and intimidation.

Hundreds of teachers, judges, religious leaders and doctors have been targeted for death, and thousands of people have fled, the report said.

Evidence suggests militants also have begun to target homosexuals, it said.

"While welcoming recent positive steps by the government to promote national reconciliation, the report raises alarm at the growing number of casualties among the civilian population killed or wounded during indiscriminate or targeted attacks by terrorists or insurgents," the U.N. said in a note accompanying the report.

According to the report, 2,669 civilians were killed in May and 3,149 were killed in June.

Those numbers combined two counts: from the Ministry of Health, which records deaths reported by hospitals; and the Medico-Legal Institute in Baghdad, which tallies the unidentified bodies it receives.

The report charts a month-by-month increase in the number of civilians killed, from 710 in January to 1,129 in April.

In the first six months of the year, it said 14,338 people had been killed.

The report's figures were higher than some other counts, but even the U.N. said many killings go unreported.

According to an Associated Press tally based on its daily reporting, at least 1,511 civilians were killed, in May and June, with at least an additional 289 police and security forces killed.

The AP tally showed that from January through June 2006, at least 4,191 civilians were killed.

The minimum number of police and security forces casualties in that period was at least 805 killed.

The AP figures do not include insurgents.

It was unclear whether the tally from the Medico-Legal Institute included only those who were killed as a result of violence.

The U.N. report also details the rise in kidnappings, particularly of large groups of people.

On May 17, for example, the report said 15 Tae Kwon Do athletes were kidnapped in western Iraq.

"There is no news regarding their whereabouts," the report said.

Women report that their rights have been rolled back by extremist Muslim groups — both Shiite and Sunni.

While under Saddam Hussein's largely secular regime, women faced few social restrictions, they say they are now barred from going to market alone, wearing pants or driving cars.

The government still has not pursued many allegations of torture and other inhumane treatment in prisons and detention centers, the U.N. said.

I've been wondering.....

What happened .....

To all ....

Of the hurricanes .....

That we were supposed to get this year .....

"Tropical storm forms off N. Carolina"

By ADRIAN SAINZ, Associated Press
Last updated: 7:57 p.m., Tuesday, July 18, 2006

MIAMI -- Tropical Storm Beryl, the second named storm of 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, formed off the North Carolina coast Tuesday and a tropical storm watch was issued for the eastern part of the state.

A hurricane reconnaissance aircraft reported that the storm's maximum sustained winds were at least 40 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.

At 5 p.m. EDT, Beryl was centered about 180 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras and was moving toward the north at about 6 mph.

The storm is expected to make its closest approach to North Carolina on Wednesday and it was forecast to remain a tropical storm, said hurricane specialist Eric Blake.

A slow turn toward the north-northwest or northwest was expected later Tuesday or Wednesday.

The tropical storm watch, indicating tropical storm conditions are possible within 36 hours, extended along the coast from north of Cape Lookout to south of Currituck Beach Light.

"We are watching the storm very closely."

"With the projected track at this point we're not anticipating problems, but certainly things can change quickly," said Dorothy Toolan, a spokeswoman for Dare County, N.C., which includes the state's northern Outer Banks.

The first named storm of the June-November Atlantic hurricane season, Tropical Storm Alberto, splashed ashore in Florida in mid-June, then plowed northward along the coast past North Carolina's Outer Banks.

It was blamed for one drowning.

Experts say the Atlantic Ocean is in the middle of a cycle of increased hurricane activity.

Last year, there were a record 28 named storms and 15 hurricanes, including destructive Katrina.

------

Associated Press Writer Erin Gartner contributed to this report from Raleigh, N.C.

------

On the Net:

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

And while we are on the subject of nature .....

Here in OUR America .....

"Top Predators Key to Ecosystem Survival, Study Shows"

Bjorn Carey, LiveScience Staff Writer, LiveScience.com

1 hour, 25 minutes ago

Top-level predators strike fear in the hearts of the animals they stalk.

But when a deer is being mauled by a wolf, at least it can know that it's giving its life for the greater good.

A new study reveals how ecosystems crumble without the presence of top predators keeping populations of key species from growing too large.

It also provides a cautionary lesson to humans, who often remove top predators from the food chain, setting off an eventual collapse.

The study is detailed in the July 20 issue of the journal Nature.

Food chain Whac-a-Mole

The researchers studied eight natural food webs, each with distinct energy channels, or food chains, leading from the bottom of the web to the top.

For example, the Cantabrian Sea shelf off the coast of Spain has two distinct energy channels.

One starts with the phytoplankton in the water, which are eaten by zooplankton and fish, and so on up to what are called top consumer fish.

The second channel starts with detritus that sinks to the sea floor, where it's consumed by crabs and bottom-dwelling fish, which are consumed by higher-up animals until the food energy reaches top-level consumers.

The top predators play their role by happily munching away at each channel's top consumers, explained study leader Neil Rooney of the University of Guelph in Canada.

"Top predators are kind of like the regulators of the food web—they keep each energy channel in check," Rooney told LiveScience.

"The top predator goes back and forth between the channels like a game of Whac-a-Mole," a popular arcade game in which constantly appearing moles are smacked down with a mallet.

Constant predation of the top consumers prevents a population from growing larger than the system can support.

Boom or bust

Removing a top predator can often alter the gentle balance of an entire ecosystem.

Here's an example of what can happen: When an area floods permanently and creates a series of islands, not all the islands have enough resources to support top predators.

Top consumers are left to gobble up nutrients and experience a reproductive boom.

The boom is felt throughout the system, though, as the booming species out-competes others, potentially driving the lesser species to extinction and reducing biodiversity.

Rooney refers to this type of ecosystem change as a "boom and bust cycle," when one species' population boom ultimately means another will bust.

Bigger booms increased chances of a bust.

"With each bust, the population gets very close to zero, and its difficult getting back," he said.

Your role in all this

Humans often play a role in initiating boom and bust cycles by wiping out the top predator.

For example, after gray wolves were hunted to near extinction in the United States, deer, elk, and other wolf-fearing forest critters had free reign and reproduced willy-nilly, gobbling up the vegetation that other consumers also relied on for food.

Or, more recently, researchers found that when fish stocks in the Atlantic Ocean are over fished, jellyfish populations boom.

While jellyfish have few predators, removing the fish frees up an abundance of nutrients for the jellyfish to feast on.

Ecosystems provide us with the food we eat and help produce breathable air and clean water.

But they're generally fragile and operate best when at a stable equilibrium, scientists say.

"These are our life support systems," Rooney said.

"We're relying on them."

"This study points to the importance of top predators and that we need to be careful with how we deal with them."

And while we are on the subject of predators .....

"Sweeney urged to return money - Democrat-linked groups slam congressman's role in Lake Placid getaway"

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

First published: Wednesday, July 19, 2006

ALBANY -- The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and a pro-Democrat state grass-roots group called on U.S. Rep. John Sweeney on Tuesday to return $30,100 worth of campaign contributions he received from guests at an annual winter weekend getaway in Lake Placid.

The DCCC called the money from lobbyists and others who attended the publicly funded Winter Congressional Challenge Jan. 6-8 "scandal-tainted," noting a state official testified that Sweeney helped draw up the guest list -- a practice deemed inappropriate by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.

Sweeney has insisted, through an aide, that he had nothing to do with the invitations.

Citizen Action of New York called the cash "questionable."

It asked Sweeney, R-Clifton Park, to sign a "Voters First" pledge supporting public financing for campaigns that don't accept private money, Internet reporting of lobbyist contributions and new restrictions on gifts by lobbyists to members of Congress.

Sweeney's Democratic challenger, Kirsten Gillibrand, has signed the pledge, her campaign said, although she is accepting money from lobbyists -- including her father, Douglas Rutnik.

In a letter to Sweeney, Citizen Action Executive Director Richard Kirsch called the contributions, "a clear violation of the public trust, an erasing of the line between the public's business and your personal political interest."

Melissa Carlson, Sweeney's deputy chief of staff, said the congressman will not return the $30,100.

She said Sweeney's constituents are his top priority, adding:

"The voters of his district can see from his record of accomplishments that he is fighting for their priorities."

Sweeney's campaign spokeswoman, Maureen O'Brien Donovan, slammed the DCCC, calling a recent fundraising video, which included footage of flag-draped coffins of military personnel killed in Iraq, "morally reprehensible."

She also continued, as national Republicans have done, to try to tie DCCC Chairman Rahm Emanuel, an Illinois congressman, to an ongoing corruption trial of former members of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's administration.

Emanuel has insisted he has no connection to he Chicago charges.

The stated goal of the Winter Challenge is to show Washington lawmakers Lake Placid's Olympic facilities and stress the need for federal funding.

The Assembly is investigating the role of state authorities in funding the event.

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

end quotes .....

I am one of "Hey, Jackie Boy, Hey, Johnnie" Sweeney's alleged "constituents" .....

And I cannot see ....

Where anything .....

That "Hey, Jackie Boy, Hey Johnnie" fights for .....

Which is usually money ....

For his pocket .....

IS ANY KIND ...

OF PRIORITY ....

OF MINE .....

And so .....

"Hey, Jackie Boy, Hey, Johnnie" Sweeney's priorities .....

Don't include me .....

And they never have .....

And so .....

Make that voters minus one .....

And the record will be correct ....

And so ....

"Sweeney donors under scrutiny - $30,100 came from attendees at winter event now under investigation by committee"

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

First published: Tuesday, July 18, 2006

ALBANY -- U.S. Rep. John Sweeney has received $30,100 worth of campaign contributions in the current election cycle from guests at an annual winter weekend getaway in Lake Placid that is under investigation by an Assembly committee.

According to Federal Election Commission filings, the donors included at least six lobbyists -- two of whom once worked for the Clifton Park Republican -- as well as U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, and Eugene Zeltman, former president of the New York Power Authority, which has funded Congressional Winter Challenge weekends in Lake Placid since 2000.

The lobbyists' donations ranged from $1,000 to $4,200.

Some gave multiple times.

A list of the lobbyist's donations is at
http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?page_id=1666

The Winter Challenge has been held by the state Olympic Regional Development Authority with the U.S. Olympic Committee since 1998.

Its stated goal is to show Washington lawmakers Lake Placid's Olympic facilities and stress the need for federal funding.

Asked if there were any connections between the contributions and the donors' attendance at the 2006 weekend Jan. 6-8, Sweeney's Deputy Chief of Staff Melissa Carlson said the congressman "appreciates" contributions, but they "in no way affect his level of support for any measure."

"He is an advocate of the people of the 20th Congressional District."

"... Their priorities are what motivate his decisions in Washington," Carlson said.

State Democratic Party spokesman Blake Zeff criticized Sweeney for refusing to testify at hearings on the Winter Challenge held by Democratic Assembly members Richard Brodsky, of Westchester, and Paul Tonko, of Amsterdam.

"If John Sweeney is so proud of his behavior and these donations why is he refusing to testify under oath about them?" Zeff said.

Last week, Sweeney declined a written invitation to testify from Brodsky, chair of the Assembly Corporations, Authorities and Commissions Committee.

Brodsky invited him again on Monday, and included a list of questions such as: "Why are lobbyists invited?" and "What activities were engaged in by you and your office with respect to the persons invited and in attendance?"

Sweeney's office declined to comment on Brodsky's second letter.

At a hearing July 11, ORDA President Ted Blazer said Sweeney played a key role in drawing up the Winter Challenge guest list -- a practice deemed inappropriate by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.

Carlson said Sweeney had nothing to do with the invitations, but ORDA spokesman Sandy Caligiore said Blazer "stands by his testimony."

The Winter Challenge began under Sweeney's predecessor, U.S. Rep. Gerald Solomon.

NYPA provides $40,000 to $55,000 a year to ORDA for the $27,000 event and for unrelated programs to bring underprivileged children to the Olympic facilities.

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

"Hollywood, unions star as Spitzer donors"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press
First published: Wednesday, July 19, 2006

ALBANY -- Actors Ben Affleck and Judd Hirsch, entertainer Barbra Streisand, hair guru Vidal Sassoon and Eagles frontman Don Henley have helped Democrat Eliot Spitzer raise $10.7 million for his governor's campaign in the last six months.

Henley led the California entertainment headliners with a $10,000 contribution.

Affleck, Streisand and Sassoon each gave $1,000 and Hirsch gave $150.

The Featherstonhaugh, Wiley, Clune, Cordo lobbying firm gave $6,000, and Patricia Lynch, a lobbyist and former top aide to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, contributed $99.

More than a dozen unions also contributed, including the Port Authority PBA at $33,900, the Uniformed Firefighters Association at $31,400, and the New York State Troopers PBA with two donations of $16,900 each.

The United Food and Commercial Workers gave $33,900.

R.D. Hubbard, owner of California's Hollywood Park race track, and his wife, Joan, each gave $10,000; the New York Thoroughbred Breeders gave $5,000; and Mary Lou Whitney of Saratoga Springs gave $10,000.

Spitzer also received $4,700 from Friends of Leecia Eve, the one-time lieutenant governor candidate that Spitzer passed over when he chose Senate Minority Leader David Paterson.

Paterson's campaign gave Spitzer $3,046.

And while we are on the subject .....

Of all the new ....

And stunning ...

Economic opportunities .....

That we are presented with .....

As a result ....

Of global warming ....

"Floods make season a washout - Business owners around Great Sacandaga Lake lament customers lost due to closed campsite, beaches"

By KENNETH C. CROWE II, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Thursday, July 20, 2006

NORTHAMPTON -- High water in the Great Sacandaga Lake has meant no camping, no swimming and no customers.

The late June flooding wiped out the start of the tourism season along the lake.

The usual influx of visitors was washed away by the high waters during the peak Fourth of July weekend.

"Complete devastation."

"Crippling."

"I lost 80 percent of my business," said Mark DeMeo, 47, owner of the Campers Last Stop outside the entrance to the Northampton Beach state campground.

"It seems like the season is over," said DeMeo, comparing it to the quiet after the tourists have left.

Fulton County escaped the expansive devastation caused by flooding in neighboring Montgomery County and down Interstate 88 into the Southern Tier in counties such as Broome and Delaware.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation shut down Northampton Beach's 224 campsites and closed the beach.

About 400 reservations from June 30 through Wednesday were canceled or rescheduled due to flooding, said Kim Chupa, a DEC spokeswoman.

Two miles away from the campground, Norman Lamphear, 41, said he would have sold 50 to 60 cords of firewood by now from his home at 691 County Road 152.

The wood is still stacked waiting for customers.

"We usually split wood all summer."

"We won't have to," Lamphear said.

Monica Baldwin, 46, of Schenectady, rescheduled her vacation plans when DEC canceled her reservation.

She intended to spend last week at Northampton Beach.

Instead, Baldwin, her son, Ryan Baldwin, 12, and his friend, David Pepper, 14, spent a day at the campground.

Baldwin relaxed by the lake while the two boys waded in the flooded parking areas catching bullheads.

The beach was closed, eight campsites flooded and the parking lots under water.

Only a handful of people milled around the campground.

"It's the highest I've ever seen."

"I've been coming here since 1990," Baldwin said from her chair a couple of feet from the lake.

Water levels are slowly receding at a rate of a few inches daily.

"We've been dropping three-tenths to four-tenths of a foot each day."

"It depends on that inflow," said Robert S. Foltan, chief engineer for the Hudson River-Black River Regulating District.

Foltan said the lake should reach its usual level by the end of the month, barring further storms.

At Edinburg Marina and Powersports at 140 North Shore Road, business was increasing.

"The Fourth of July weekend was right on the heels of the storm."

"There was certainly a lot less boat traffic," said Joan Campbell, co-owner of the marina.

The season, Campbell said, "Is really just started."

"It definitely got pushed back."

"I don't know if you ever make that up."

Northampton Supervisor Linda Kemper said lakeside residents and businesses are still picking up and cleaning up.

"Debris is still under the water."

"People still have to exercise caution," said Kemper.

"We are very grateful we didn't have the major catastrophes like farther down south."

DEC started taking reservations again Wednesday for Northampton Beach.

The beach will reopen as the water subsides.

In the meantime, Fulton County businesses are making do.

"It could not have come at a worse time."

"We've been encouraging people to do other things," said Wally Hart, president of the Fulton County Regional Chamber of Commerce.

"If they can't get on the lake, there's still plenty of places to camp, and restaurants."

"There are other attractions."

"Don't be afraid to come up."

C. Crowe II can be reached at 581-8438 or by e-mail at kcrowe@timesunion.com.

Finding flood relief

People who need help because of flood damage can call the state Emergency Management Office at (888) 769-7243 and the Federal Emergency Management Office at (800) 621-3362. Callers must provide Social Security number, current and pre-flood address, telephone number, insurance information, total household income, a description of the losses and a bank routing and account number if assistance funds are to be transferred directly into a bank account. FEMA can provide individual grants and loans for housing, repairs and replacement of damaged items like water heaters, electrical service and appliances. Only primary homes, not vacation or second homes, are eligible for assistance. Rental assistance for temporary housing may be available if the home is uninhabitable because of the disaster. The state program can provide grants of up to $5,000 for losses not covered by insurance or federal aid. The state also can provide grants of up to $20,000 to small businesses. The Postal Service recommends that people who have moved because of flood damage file change-of-address forms.

And as the world .....

Gets set ....

To burn .....

So that Donald Rumsfeld .....

And Dick Cheney .....

Can "defend" .....

Their HOMELAND .....

Wherever in hell that might be .....

"Israel won't rule out full-scale invasion"

By HUSSEIN DAKROUB, Associated Press

Last updated: 7:56 a.m., Thursday, July 20, 2006

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Israeli troops met fierce resistance from Hezbollah guerrillas Thursday as they crossed into Lebanon to seek tunnels and weapons for a second consecutive day.

Israel, meanwhile, refused to rule out a full-scale invasion.

Israeli warplanes also launched new airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, shortly after daybreak Thursday, followed by strikes in the guerrilla's heartland in the south and eastern Bekaa Valley.

The strikes came a wave of bombings Wednesday killed as many as 70 people, according to Lebanese television, making it the deadliest day since the fighting began on July 12.

Russia sharply criticized Israel over its onslaught against Lebanon, now in its ninth day, sparked when Hezbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Israel's actions have gone "far beyond the boundaries of an anti-terrorist operation" and repeating calls for an immediate cease-fire.

At least 306 people have been killed in Lebanon since the Israeli campaign began, according to the security forces control room that collates casualties.

In Israel, 29 people have been killed, including 14 soldiers.

The U.N. has said at least a half million people have been displaced in Lebanon.

In developments on the evacuation of Lebanon, U.S. Marines landed in Beirut Thursday to help Americans onto a Navy ship bound for Cyprus in the second mass U.S exodus from the battle-torn country.

About 40 U.S. Marines arrived at a beach just north of Beirut in a landing craft and picked up 300 Americans who they ferried to the amphibious assault ship USS Nashville just off the coast.

The Nashville is supposed to sail for Cyprus with about 1,000 Americans.

Hundreds of people, some with shirts draped over their heads to protect themselves from the sun, gathered on the beach.

A U.S. Embassy official, speaking through a megaphone, pleaded for patience, reassuring the crowd that all those who registered to be evacuated would be assisted.

"We are frustrated and disappointed, but we are O.K.," said Bob Elazon, an Illinois resident who complained that the U.S. evacuation was badly organized.

Elazon, who left his native Lebanon 34 years ago, was with his 20-year-old daughter, Anna, who was visiting the country for the first time.

His wife departed just before the fighting erupted.

Meanwhile, the first plane carrying U.S. evacuees landed outside Baltimore early Thursday, and eager family members waited to greet the 145 Americans aboard the charter flight from Cyprus.

Some 900 Americans arrived in Cyprus early Thursday aboard a luxury cruise ship -- the first mass U.S. evacuation from Lebanon since the Israeli airstrikes started more than a week ago.

It was among dozens of cruise ships evacuating thousands of foreigners from Lebanon.

Some 8,000 of 25,000 U.S. citizens in Lebanon have asked to leave.

So many people were leaving Lebanon that boats were forced to line up outside Beirut harbor and had to wait before docking in Cyprus.

Israel's series of small ground forays across the border have aimed to push back Hezbollah guerrillas who have continued to fire rockets into northern Israel despite more than a week of massive bombardment against them -- raising the question of whether air power alone can suppress them.

Guerrillas fired 25 rockets into Israel on Thursday, which caused no casualties.

But the guerrillas have been fighting back hard on the ground, wounding three Israeli soldiers Thursday, a day after killing two.

An Israeli unit sent in to ambush Hezbollah guerrillas also had a fierce gunbattle Thursday with a cell of militants.

In another clash, just across the border from the Israeli town of Avivim, guerrillas fired a missile at an Israeli tank, seriously wounding one soldier.

Hezbollah said in a statement that its guerrillas destroyed two tanks as they tried to enter the Lebanese border village of Maroun al-Ras, across from Avivim.

Israel has mainly limited itself to attacks from the air and sea, reluctant to send in ground troops on terrain dominated by Hezbollah.

But an Israeli army spokesman refused to rule out the possibility of a full-scale invasion.

Israel also broadcast warnings into south Lebanon on Wednesday telling civilians to leave the region, a possible prelude to a larger Israeli ground operation.

"There is a possibility -- all our options are open."

"At the moment, it's a very limited, specific incursion but all options remain open," Capt. Jacob Dallal, an Israeli army spokesman, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Israel dropped leaflets Wednesday night warning the population that any trucks traveling in Lebanese towns south of the Litani River would be suspected of carrying weapons and rockets and could be targeted by its forces.

The Lebanese government is under international pressure to deploy troops in the south to rein in Hezbollah guerrillas -- but even before the fighting many considered it too weak to do so without deeply fracturing the country.

An Italian newspaper quoted Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora on Thursday as making his strongest statement yet against the Shiite militant group.

But Saniora's office quickly said he was misquoted.

The Milan-based Corriere della Sera quoted him as saying in an interview that Hezbollah has created a "state within a state," adding:

"The entire world must help us disarm Hezbollah."

"But first we need to reach a cease-fire."

Saniora later issued a statement denying the remarks.

He said he told the paper that the international community must help press Israel from Chebaa Farms, a small border area that Lebanon claims and Hezbollah points to as proof of the continued need for armed resistance.

Saniora told the paper that "the continued presence of Israeli occupation of Lebanese lands in the Chebaa Farms region is what contributes to the presence of Hezbollah weapons."

"The international community must help us in (getting) an Israeli withdrawal from Chebaa Farms so we can solve the problem of Hezbollah's arms," the statement said.

There was no immediate comment from the Italian paper.

On Wednesday, Saniora appealed for a cease-fire, saying his country "has been torn to shreds."

Warplanes pounded areas in the south where Hezbollah operates -- but civilian residential neighborhoods bore the brunt, with dozens of houses destroyed.

Dallal said Israel had hit "1,000 targets in the last eight days -- 20 percent were missile-launching sites and the rest were control and command centers, missiles and so forth."

Brig. Gen. Ido Nehushtan insisted the Israeli army never targets civilians but has no way of knowing whether civilians are in an area they are striking.

"Civilians might be in the area because Hezbollah is operating from civilian territory," Nehushtan said.

He said that Hezbollah has fired more than 1,100 rockets at civilian areas in Israel since the fighting erupted and that 12 percent -- or about 750,000 people -- of Israel's population currently live in areas that can be targeted by the guerrilla group.

Israel said its airstrikes so far have destroyed about half of Hezbollah's arsenal -- and it has been trying to take out its top leaders.

The Israeli military said Wednesday that aircraft dropped 23 tons of explosives on what the military believed was a bunker used by senior Hezbollah leaders in the Bourj al-Barajneh neighborhood of Beirut between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Hezbollah said none of its members were hurt in the strike and denied a leadership bunker was in the area, saying a building under construction to be a mosque was hit.

Hezbollah has a headquarters compound in Bourj al-Barajneh that is off limits to the Lebanese police and army, so security officials could not confirm the strike.

Israel's U.N. Ambassador Dan Gillerman told CNN his country would not issue a statement about the attack until it is sure of all the facts.

But he added, "I can assure you that we know exactly what we hit."

"... This was no religious site."

"This was indeed the headquarters of the Hezbollah leadership."

On Thursday, Israeli jets struck houses believed used by Hezbollah officials in the town of Hermel in the western Bekaa Valley, wounding at least three.

Israeli warplanes also attacked and destroyed a five-story residential and commercial building that reportedly once held a Hezbollah office in the Bekaa Valley city of Baalbek, a Hezbollah stronghold, witnesses said.

There was no immediate word on casualties.

Two civilians were killed late Wednesday in strikes on bridges in Lebanon's far north, near Tripoli, the National News Agency said.

Israeli jets also raided a detention center in the town of Khiam in south Lebanon Thursday, witnesses and local TV said.

The notorious Khiam prison, formerly run by Israel's Lebanese militia allies during its occupation of south Lebanon, was entirely destroyed in four bombing runs by Israeli jets, they said.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour criticized the growing death toll, saying the indiscriminate shelling of cities and of nearby military sites was invariably resulting in the deaths of innocent civilians.

"International law demands accountability," Arbour said in Geneva.

"The scale of the killings in the region, and their predictability, could engage the personal criminal responsibility of those involved, particularly those in a position of command and control."

International pressure mounted on Israel and the United States to agree to a cease-fire.

The rising death toll and scope of the destruction deepened a rift between the U.S. and Europe.

The Bush administration is giving Israel a tacit green light to take the time it needs to neutralize Hezbollah, but the Europeans fear mounting civilian casualties will play into the hands of militants and weaken Lebanon's democratically elected government.

------

Associated Press reporters Joe Panossian in Beirut and Maria Sanminiatelli in Larnaca, Cyprus, contributed to this report.

Now ...

Here .....

Is .....

Some ....

JUDICIAL COURAGE ....

And INDEPENDENCE .....

RIGHT WHEN WE NEED SOME ......

"Judge refuses to dismiss spying lawsuit"

By DAVID KRAVETS, Associated Press
Last updated: 5:25 p.m., Thursday, July 20, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge Thursday refused to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the Bush administration's domestic spying program, rejecting government claims that allowing the case to go forward could expose state secrets and jeopardize the war on terror.

U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker said the warrantless eavesdropping has been so widely reported that there appears to be no danger of spilling secrets.

Dozens of lawsuits alleging that telecommunications companies and the government are illegally intercepting Americans' communications without warrants have been filed.

This is the first time a judge has ruled on the government's claim of a "state secrets privilege."

"It might appear that none of the subject matter in this litigation could be considered a secret given that the alleged surveillance programs have been so widely reported in the media," Walker said.

Walker also wrote that he did not see how allowing the lawsuit to continue could threaten national security.

"The compromise between liberty and security remains a difficult one," Walker said.

"But dismissing this case at the outset would sacrifice liberty for no apparent enhancement of security."

And in declining to dismiss AT&T Inc. from the lawsuit, filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation privacy group, Walker suggested the case had some merit.

"AT&T cannot seriously contend that a reasonable entity in its position could have believed that the alleged domestic dragnet was legal," he wrote.

The Justice Department did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

The lawsuit challenges President Bush's assertion that he can use his wartime powers to eavesdrop on Americans without a warrant.

It accuses AT&T of illegally cooperating with the National Security Agency to make communications on AT&T networks available to the spy agency without warrants.

The government intervened in the case, telling Walker that Bush's surveillance program, adopted after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, is "a secret of the highest order."

The government argued that divulging any information about any alleged collusion between AT&T and the government to eavesdrop on Americans could subject AT&T employees and facilities to attack and would enable terrorists "to communicate more securely."

The state secrets defense, first recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court in a McCarthy-era lawsuit, has been increasingly and successfully invoked by federal lawyers seeking to shield the government from court scrutiny.

The high court has upheld the legal tactic as recently as January, when it rejected an appeal from a former covert CIA officer who accused the agency of racial discrimination.

The president confirmed in December that the NSA has been conducting warrantless surveillance of calls and e-mails thought to involve al-Qaida terrorists if at least one of the parties to the communication is outside the United States.

The administration contends the program is legal and necessary, but has been mum on whether purely domestic calls and electronic communications are being monitored, as the lawsuit alleges.

A pending legislative compromise worked out by the White House and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, would allow the president to submit the spy program to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for a one-time test of its constitutionality.

That legislation, which has not been voted on, would remove the EFF case and others from the federal civil courts.

The EFF asked Walker to rule on whether the president possesses wartime powers to authorize warrantless eavesdropping in the United States.

The EFF alleges that San Antonio-based AT&T, which neither confirms nor denies the allegations, practices "wholesale surveillance" of its customers.

end quotes

"A SECRET OF THE HIGHEST ORDER ....."

IN A PIG'S EYE ....

And so .....

It looks like .....

Another load .....

Of BUSHCO HORSE **** .....

Is getting tossed ....

Into the dumper .....

Where it belongs .....

And so .....

Another victory .....

AGAINST THE TYRANNY .....

Of George W. Bush .....

THE MILITARY DICTATOR .....

Of America .....

AND THE WORLD .....

And so ....

Well ...

Here is some proof .....

That George W. Bush ...

Is not totally ......

Out of touch .....

With reality .....

That he does know some things, anyway .....

And so .....

"Bush knows many blacks distrust GOP"

By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press
Last updated: 5:35 p.m., Thursday, July 20, 2006

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, addressing the NAACP after skipping its convention for five years, said Thursday he knows racism exists in America and that many black voters distrust his Republican Party.

Bush lamented the GOP's rocky relations with blacks.

He pledged to improve that relationship and work with the NAACP's new leader to achieve common goals.

"I understand that racism still lingers in America," Bush told more than 2,200 people at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's annual gathering.

"It's a lot easier to change a law than to change a human heart."

"And I understand that many African-Americans distrust my political party."

That line generated boisterous applause and cheers from the audience, which generally gave the president a polite, reserved reception.

"I consider it a tragedy that the party of Abraham Lincoln let go of its historical ties with the African-American community," Bush said.

"For too long, my party wrote off the African-American vote, and many African-Americans wrote off the Republican Party."

Black support for Republicans in elections has hovered around 10 percent for more than a decade.

In 2004, Bush drew 11 percent of the black vote against Democrat John Kerry.

Most of the president's talk generated a smattering of applause.

But many in the convention center stood and clapped when he urged the Senate to renew a landmark civil rights law passed in the 1960s to end racist voting practices, such as poll taxes and literacy tests, in Southern states.

The Senate was passing the bill later Thursday and sending it to the president.

For five years in a row, Bush had declined invitations to address the oldest and largest civil rights organization in the nation.

This year, he said yes, knowing that he would be facing a tough crowd.

According to AP-Ipsos polling conducted in June and July, 86 percent of blacks disapprove of the way Bush is handling his job, compared with 56 percent of whites who disapprove.

While the audience was cordial, some NAACP members were disappointed that the president did not mention the war in Iraq.

During Bush's speech, two NAACP members from Louisiana held their hands in the air to display the two-fingered, "V" peace symbol.

Others expressed dismay that Bush did not offer more substantive remarks about issues such as education and the economy.

The unemployment rate for blacks was 9 percent in June -- nearly twice the national jobless rate of 4.6 percent

"There was an amazing gap between the aspirations of his speech and the policy behind it."

"It was so vague," said Barbara Arnwine of the Washington-based Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

"He doesn't have enough contact with this community," said Arnwine.

The group was set up in 1963, at the request of President Kennedy, to get private lawyers to provide legal services to address racial discrimination.

Bush talked about his No Child Left Behind education program, but did not mention that it has been underfunded, said Madie Robinson of Florence, S.C., a member of the NAACP national board of directors.

"He raised many issues," she said, "but didn't offer solutions."

The administration's relations with the NAACP have been sketchy at best.

The organization's president, Kweisi Mfume, once described Bush's black supporters as "ventriloquists' dummies" and said the president's decision not to speak at the NAACP conventions was an insult.

The chairman, Julian Bond, urged members to oust Bush and condemned the administration's policies on education, the economy and the war in Iraq.

In 2004, then White House press secretary Scott McClellan said NAACP leaders, through their "hostile rhetoric," have shown no interest in working with Bush.

Relations have improved under the leadership of current NAACP president, Bruce Gordon.

Gordon, who introduced Bush at the convention, has met with him three times in the year that he has headed the civil rights group.

That compares with one meeting Bush had with Mfume, Gordon's predecessor.

"Bruce is a polite guy," Bush said.

"I thought what he was going to say, `It's about time you showed up.'"

"And I'm glad I did."

The White House denied that Bush's appearance was a way of atoning for the government's slow response to Hurricane Katrina.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson and some black elected officials alleged that indifference to black suffering and racial injustice was to blame for the sluggish reaction to the disaster.

Bush said he and Gordon have had frank talks about the challenges blacks face following the hurricane.

"We found areas where we share common purpose, and we have resolved to work together in practical ways," Bush said.

"I don't expect Bruce to become a Republican -- and neither do you."

"But I do want to work with him, and that's what I'm here to talk to you about."

Toward the end of his remarks, two protesters interrupted the president, shouting inquiries about Vice President Dick Cheney and the situation in the Middle East.

"Stop being a Stepin Fetchit for Dick Cheney!" one shouted in a reference to a black actor known for stereotypical portrayals of black minstrel characters.

Bond approached the microphone, but Bush told him not to bother trying to quell the disturbance.

"Don't worry," Bush told Bond.

"I'm almost done."

"I know you can handle it," Bond replied.

------

Associated Press National Writer Erin Texeira contributed to this report.

And while we're on the subject of Dick Cheney .....

The lengths ....

That some people will go .....

Just to understand .....

What makes Dick tick .....

"2-year Neanderthal genome project launches"

By GEIR MOULSON, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:16 p.m., Thursday, July 20, 2006

BERLIN -- U.S. and German scientists on Thursday launched a two-year project to decipher the genetic code of the Neanderthal, a feat they hope will help deepen understanding of how modern humans' brains evolved.

Neanderthals were a species that lived in Europe and western Asia from more than 200,000 years ago to about 30,000 years ago.

Scientists from Germany's Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology are teaming up a company in Connecticut to map the genome, or DNA code.

"The Neanderthal is the closest relative to the modern human, and we believe that by sequencing the Neanderthal we can learn a lot," said Michael Egholm, a vice president at 454 Life Sciences Corp. of Branford, Conn., which will use its high-speed sequencing technology in the project.

There are no firm answers yet about how humans picked up key traits such as walking upright and developing complex language.

Neanderthals are believed to have been relatively sophisticated, but lacking in humans' higher reasoning functions.

The Neanderthal project follows scientists' achievement last year in deciphering the DNA of the chimpanzee, our closest living relative.

That genome map produced a long list of DNA differences between humans and chimps and some hints about which differences might be crucial.

The chimp genome "led to literally too many questions, there were 35 million differences between us and chimpanzees -- that's too much to figure out," Jonathan Rothberg, 454's chairman, said in a telephone interview.

"By having Neanderthal, we'll really be able to home in on the small percentage of differences that gave us higher cognitive abilities," he said.

"Neanderthal is going to open the box."

"It's not going to answer the question, but it's going to tell where to look to understand all of those higher cognitive functions."

Over two years, the scientists aim to reconstruct a draft of the 3 billion building blocks of the Neanderthal genome -- working with fossil samples from several individuals.

They face the complication of working with 40,000-year-old samples, and of filtering out microbial DNA that contaminated them after death.

Only about 5 percent of the DNA in the samples is actually Neanderthal DNA, Egholm estimated, but he and Rothberg said pilot experiments had convinced them that the decoding was feasible.

At the Max Planck Institute, the project also involves Svante Paabo, who nine years ago participated in a pioneering, though smaller-scale, DNA test on a Neanderthal sample.

That study suggested that Neanderthals and humans split from a common ancestor a half-million years ago and backed the theory that Neanderthals were an evolutionary dead end.

The new project will help in understanding how characteristics unique to humans evolved and "will also identify those genetic changes that enabled modern humans to leave Africa and rapidly spread around the world," Paabo said in a statement Thursday.

end quoters

That will be something .....

If these scientists ....

End up proving ....

That Dick Cheney .....

Is a neanderthal .....

That might help to explain ....

Some things ....

About Dick .....

Like his finely-honed killer instincts ....

For example .....

That mark Dick out .....

As a higher-order predator .....

And so .....

And IRAQINAMISTAN .....

Where George W. Bush .....

Does not want .....

To cut and run .....

Until everybody ...

Is dead ....

And so ....

"Sharp rise in Baghdad violence reported"

By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer

55 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Bombings and shootings soared by 40 percent in the Baghdad area in the past week, the U.S. military said Thursday.

An American general said extremists were preparing "an all-out assault" on the capital in a decisive battle for the future of Iraq.

Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric issued his strongest call yet for an end to Shiite-Sunni bloodletting, urging all Iraqis to wake up to the "danger threatening the future of the country" and stand "side-by-side against it."

U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said there had been an average of 34 attacks a day involving U.S. and Iraqi forces in and around the capital since Friday — up sharply from the daily average of 24 registered between June 14 and July 13.

"We have not witnessed the reduction in violence one would have hoped for in a perfect world," Caldwell told reporters.

"The only way we're going to be successful in Baghdad is to get the weapons off the streets."

Caldwell said insurgents were streaming into the capital for "an all-out assault against the Baghdad area."

"Clearly the death squad elements, the terrorist elements, know that Baghdad is a must-win for them," he said.

"Whoever wins the Baghdad area, whoever is able to bring peace and security to that area, is going to set the conditions to stabilize this country."

But much of the bloodshed has been carried out by Shiite militias seeking retribution for attacks by Sunnis — including organized insurgents, religious extremists and Sunnis not affiliated with resistance groups but fearful of Shiite gunmen.

The result is a pattern of tit-for-tat vendetta killings which is difficult to stop by military action or political overtures to Sunni insurgent leaders.

With thousands fleeing areas where their sect is in the minority, Iraqis fear Baghdad is being transformed into a Sunni west and a Shiite and Christian east — divided by the Tigris River that flows through the center of the city.

Alarmed by the crisis, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani issued a rare statement, saying the time has come for "all those who value the unity and future of this country" to "exert maximum efforts to stop the bloodletting."

Al-Sistani, a longtime voice of moderation, urged Iraqis against "falling into the trap of sectarian and ethnic strife," which he said will only delay the departure of foreign troops.

"I repeat my call today to all Iraqis of different sects and ethnic groups to be aware of the danger threatening the future of the country and stand side-by-side against it," he said.

Caldwell's comments were among the most frank by a senior American military official about the grave crisis facing Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's two-month-old national unity government.

U.S. officials have long pointed to relative peace in many of Iraq's 18 provinces, dismissing the insurgency as a problem limited to Baghdad and sparsely populated Sunni Arab areas to the west and north.

However, Baghdad is the country's major transportation hub, the center of political and economic power, and home to more than 20 percent of the population.

Its religiously and politically mixed population makes it a natural battleground for control of the country.

"Baghdad is a must-win not only for the prime minister, but for al-Qaida in Iraq," Caldwell said.

"Without Baghdad's centralized access to power brokers, Baghdad's large, diverse population, its financial resources, the terrorists elements will lose here in this country."

With the stakes high, al-Maliki last month unveiled a much-heralded security plan for Baghdad, including up to 50,000 police and soldiers on the streets, more checkpoints and raids in neighborhoods where violence is high.

But with surging attacks in the capital — including the kidnappings of Iraqi officials — leading politicians from Shiite and Sunni parties have declared the plan a failure.

The United Nations said this week that about 6,000 civilians were killed in May and June, many of them in sectarian violence.

About 50 people were killed Thursday in attacks nationwide, police said.

They included a U.S. Marine killed in Anbar province and 12 people who died in a car bombing near Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad.

Five others were killed by a car bomb in the northern city of Kirkuk.

The crisis in Baghdad raises questions about the ability of Iraq's U.S.-trained police and army to cope with sectarian violence.

That in turn casts doubt about the U.S. timetable for handing over security responsibility to the Iraqis in all 18 provinces by the end of next year.

Despite the recent bloodshed, National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie said Iraqis will be in charge of security in eight of the 18 provinces before year's end.

However, he said the fight against insurgents could last for years.

The government said al-Maliki has dismissed an undisclosed number of security officials for failing to respond to a Monday attack in Mahmoudiya in which at least 51 people were killed.

Suspected Sunni gunmen went on a rampage through a market, shooting at shoppers and vendors.

Most of the victims were Shiites.

Nevertheless, Caldwell insisted Iraqi forces were "giving their all to bring security to the Baghdadi citizens."

He said at least 92 Iraqi police and soldiers had been killed and 444 wounded in fighting in the capital since mid-June.
___

Associated Press writers Ryan Lenz, Bassem Mroue, Bushra Juhi and Qais al-Bashir contributed to this report from Baghdad.

end quotes

IF .....

It was ...

A perfect world .....

George W. Bush .....

Sure as hell ...

Would not be president ....

Of OUR America .....

And in a perfect world ....

We wouldn't be stuck .....

IN A QUAGMIRE .....

In IRAQINAMISTAN ....

BECAUSE WE WOULDN'T .....

BE RULED ....

BY A FOOL ....

LIKE GEORGE W. BUSH ....

IN A PERFECT WORLD ....

And so ....

And starting out with something completely different in here this morning .....

"Sahara Desert Was Once Lush and Populated"

Bjorn Carey, LiveScience Staff Writer, LiveScience.com

Thu Jul 20, 2:30 PM ET

At the end of the last Ice Age, the Sahara Desert was just as dry and uninviting as it is today.

But sandwiched between two periods of extreme dryness were a few millennia of plentiful rainfall and lush vegetation.

During these few thousand years, prehistoric humans left the congested Nile Valley and established settlements around rain pools, green valleys, and rivers.

The ancient climate shift and its effects are detailed in the July 21 issue of the journal Science.

When the rains came

Some 12,000 years ago, the only place to live along the eastern Sahara Desert was the Nile Valley.

Being so crowded, prime real estate in the Nile Valley was difficult to come by.

Disputes over land were often settled with the fist, as evidenced by the cemetery of Jebel Sahaba where many of the buried individuals had died a violent death.

But around 10,500 years ago, a sudden burst of monsoon rains over the vast desert transformed the region into habitable land.

This opened the door for humans to move into the area, as evidenced by the researcher's 500 new radiocarbon dates of human and animal remains from more than 150 excavation sites.

"The climate change at 10,500 years ago which turned most of the 3.8 million square mile large Sahara into a savannah-type environment happened within a few hundred years only, certainly within less than 500 years," said study team member Stefan Kroepelin of the University of Cologne in Germany.

Frolicking in pools

In the Egyptian Sahara, semi-arid conditions allowed for grasses and shrubs to grow, with some trees sprouting in valleys and near groundwater sources.

The vegetation and small, episodic rain pools enticed animals well adapted to dry conditions, such as giraffes, to enter the area as well.

Humans also frolicked in the rain pools, as depicted in rock art from Southwest Egypt.

In the more southern Sudanese Sahara, lush vegetation, hearty trees, and permanent freshwater lakes persisted over millennia.

There were even large rivers, such as the Wadi Howar, once the largest tributary to the Nile from the Sahara.

"Wildlife included very demanding species such as elephants, rhinos, hippos, crocodiles, and more than 30 species of fish up to 2 meters (6 feet) big," Kroepelin told LiveScience.

A timeline of Sahara occupation:

22,000 to 10,500 years ago: The Sahara was devoid of any human occupation outside the Nile Valley and extended 250 miles further south than it does today.

10,500 to 9,000 years ago: Monsoon rains begin sweeping into the Sahara, transforming the region into a habitable area swiftly settled by Nile Valley dwellers.

9,000 to 7,300 years ago: Continued rains, vegetation growth, and animal migrations lead to well established human settlements, including the introduction of domesticated livestock such as sheep and goats.

7,300 to 5,500 years ago: Retreating monsoonal rains initiate desiccation in the Egyptian Sahara, prompting humans to move to remaining habitable niches in Sudanese Sahara.

The end of the rains and return of desert conditions throughout the Sahara after 5,500 coincides with population return to the Nile Valley and the beginning of pharaonic society.

And speaking of when the rains came ....

"Tropical Storm Beryl hits Massachusets"

Associated Press
Last updated: 6:16 a.m., Friday, July 21, 2006

BOSTON -- Tropical Storm Beryl quietly made landfall on Nantucket early Friday, bringing a steady, driving rain to coastal Massachusetts.

Hours later, it moved out to sea, leaving little but a soaking in its path.

The storm's center hit around 3 a.m., said Jack Beven, hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The wind and rain started to pick up just after midnight, said Rocky Fox, owner of the Chicken Box bar there.

But he wasn't scared: "It's the kind that puddles quick," he said.

"To us it's just a big old Nor'easter."

Officials said the region fared well.

The Coast Guard said they hadn't heard of problems, and no power outages were reported.

"It looks like a gray, rainy day," said Nantucket Fire Department Capt. Steve Murphy as he looked out the window.

A tropical storm warning issued from the coast of Massachusetts was discontinued Friday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Areas affected included Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard.

At 5 a.m. EDT, the storm had maximum sustained winds of about 50 mph, and was about 35 miles northeast of Nantucket.

It was expected to weaken over the next 24 hours and lose tropical characteristics by Saturday morning.

It was moving at about 21 mph and was expected to increase in speed Friday, forecasters said.

The center of Beryl was expected to be near or over Nova Scotia late Friday or early Saturday.

The Coast Guard was monitoring about 50 commercial fishing vessels still on the New England waters near the storm's path late Thursday night, but had no reports of vessels in trouble, said Chief Petty Officer Scott Carr.

A tropical storm watch had been issued for eastern Long Island and parts of Connecticut, but was discontinued early Friday as the storm moved northeast.

Workers at Nantucket Moorings on Thursday were making sure their customers' boats were tied down securely, but they weren't panicking.

"That's all we can do for now -- make sure lines are secure and people know that the storm is approaching," said Leigh Van Hoven, office manager of the company, which rents and sells moorings.

A record 28 named storms and 15 hurricanes, including destructive Katrina, occurred during last year's June-November Atlantic hurricane season.

The first named storm of the 2006 season, Tropical Storm Alberto, swept over Florida in mid-June, then plowed northward along the coast past the Outer Banks.

It was blamed for one drowning.

------

On the Net:

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

------

Associated Press Writer Michelle Spitzer in Miami contributed to this report.

And in this day and age .....

Of renewed WARS OF AGGRESSION ....

This following should surprise no one ....

"Israel preparing Lebanon ground offensive"

By LEE KEATH, Associated Press Writer

21 minutes ago

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Pitched battles raged between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters on the border Thursday, and Israel warned hundreds of thousands of people to flee southern Lebanon "immediately," preparing for a likely ground offensive to set up a buffer zone.

On Friday the Israeli army said a barrage of Hezbollah-fired rockets aimed at northern Israel fell short of their targets and struck a United Nations observation post in Lebanon.

An army spokesman said it wasn't immediately clear if the United Nations Interim Force post was occupied at the time or if there were casualties.

Meanwhile, U.N. chief Kofi Annan warned of a humanitarian crisis in Lebanon and called for an immediate cease-fire, even as he admitted "serious obstacles" stand in the way of even easing the violence.

Annan denounced Israel for "excessive use of force" and Hezbollah for holding "an entire nation hostage" with its rocket attacks and snatching of two Israeli soldiers last week.

As the death toll rose to 330 in Lebanon, as well as at least 32 Israelis, Lebanese streamed north into the capital and other regions, crowding into schools, relatives' homes or hotels.

Taxi drivers in the south were charging up to $400 per person for rides to Beirut —more than 40 times the usual price.

In remote villages of the south, cut off by strikes, residents made their way out over the mountains by foot.

The price of food, medical supplies and gasoline rose by as much as 500 percent in parts of Lebanon on Thursday as Israel's relentless bombardment destroyed roads, bridges and other supply routes.

The World Food Program said estimates of basic food supplies ranged from one to three months.

On a day that saw U.S. Marines return to Lebanon for the first time in 22 years, the war looked ready to expand dramatically.

Neither side showed any sign of backing down.

Hezbollah refused to release its two Israeli soldiers without a prisoner exchange,

Israel was aiming to create a new buffer zone in a region that saw 18 years of Israeli presence ending in 2000.

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah shrugged off concerns of a stepped-up Israeli onslaught, vowing never to release two Israeli soldiers captured by his guerrillas even "if the whole universe comes (against us)."

He said they would be freed only as part of a prisoner exchange brokered through indirect negotiations.

He spoke in an interview with the Al-Jazeera news network taped Thursday to show he had survived a heavy airstrike in south Beirut that Israel said targeted a Hezbollah underground leadership bunker.

The guerrillas said the strike only hit a mosque under construction and no one was hurt.

The United States — which has resisted calls to press its ally Israel to halt the fighting — was sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the region, arriving in Israel on Tuesday or Wednesday after stopping over in Arab nations, Israeli officials said.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because the schedule was not yet confirmed.

The mission would be the first U.S. diplomatic effort on the ground since the Israeli onslaught against Lebanon began nine days ago.

Israel has decided air power alone will not be enough to drive Hezbollah back from the Israeli-Lebanon border and that a ground force will be needed to establish a zone that is at least 20 miles deep, senior military officials said Thursday.

That would force Hezbollah behind the Litani River.

Israel wants to send a strong message to all its enemies, especially Iran, that the consequences of attacking the Jewish state will be unbearable.

But mounting civilian casualties and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese could limit the amount of time Israel has to achieve its goals, as international tolerance for the bloodshed and destruction runs out.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora put the death toll at more than 330 — at least 11 of them killed Thursday — with 1,100 wounded.

At least 32 Israelis have been killed, including 17 service members — three of them killed in military operations Thursday and early Friday.

Saniora said more than 55 bridges across the country had been destroyed, and that Israeli forces had targeted ambulances and medical convoys.

"This attack is no longer against Hezbollah, it is an attack against the Lebanese and Lebanon," Saniora told CNN.

The U.N. estimated that about a half-million people have been displaced in Lebanon, with 130,000 fleeing to Syria and about 45,000 believed to be in need of assistance.

More than 600 relatives of U.N. peacekeepers and other foreigners were evacuated by ship from the southern port city of Tyre, a region south of the Litani that has seen a ferocious pounding by Israeli warplanes and gunboats for days.

Many of the women and children had spent the night on the beach waiting for the ship that arrived Thursday morning and took them to Cyprus.

The exodus of Americans and other foreign nationals stepped up dramatically, with ships lining up off Beirut to take thousands of families waiting at the port out of the war zone.

A group of around 40 U.S. Marines hit the ground in Beirut, helping in the evacuation of hundreds of Americans to a Navy transport vessel, the USS Nashville, offshore — the first U.S. military deployment in Lebanon in 22 years.

More than 2,200 Americans were pulled out Thursday, twice the number a day before.

Israeli forces resumed attacks on Beirut at daybreak on Friday, witnesses said.

One loud explosion was heard in the Lebanese capital.

Al-Arabyia TV said the strike targeted Beirut's southern suburbs, Hezbollah's stronghold.

Israeli aircraft also targeted the town of Nabi Sheet in the eastern Bekaa valley, witnesses and Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said.

Witnesses said strikes hit the town and overlooking hills, where Hezbollah guerillas have been known to operate.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Israeli strikes Thursday also pounded southern Beirut and the Bekaa valley as well as villages and towns in the Shiite heartland of the south.

Hezbollah, in turn, fired more than 40 rockets into northern Israel.

The clashes about a mile inside the Lebanese side of the border Thursday evening came when an Israeli patrol sweeping for Hezbollah bunkers was ambushed by guerillas, taking casualties.

The fight rapidly expanded, with Israeli helicopters firing missiles at targets on the ground and rescue forces storming in.

The Israeli military said two Israeli soldiers died in the fighting and several guerrillas were killed.

Hezbollah's Al-Manar television said three Israeli soldiers were killed but did not mention guerrilla casualties.

Two Apache attack helicopters collided in an accident northern Israel near the Lebanon border early Friday, killing one air force officer and injuring three others, two seriously, Israeli officials said.

Al-Jazeera reported that four soldiers were killed in the crash, but did not give a source.

The commander of Israel's air force appointed an inquiry team to determine the cause.

Israel has stepped up its small-scale forays over the border in recent days, seeking Hezbollah positions, rocket stores and bunkers.

Each time it has faced tough resistance from the guerrillas.

In preparation for a more powerful punch deeper into Lebanon, an Israeli military radio station that broadcasts into the south issued what it called "a strict warning" that Israeli forces would "act immediately" to halt Hezbollah rocket fire.

"It will act in word and deed inside the villages of the south against these aggressive terrorist acts."

"Therefore all residents of south Lebanon south of the Litani must leave their areas immediately for their own safety," the message in Arabic on the Al-Mashriq station said.

More than 300,000 people are believed to live south of the Litani — which twice has been the border line for Israeli buffer zones.

In 1978, Israel invaded up to the Litani to drive back Palestinian guerrillas, withdrawing from most of the south months later.

Israel invaded Lebanon again in a much bigger operation in June 1982 when its forces seized parts of Beirut.

It eventually carved out a buffer zone that stopped at the Litani.

That zone was reduced gradually but the Israeli presence lasted for 18 years until 2000, when it withdrew its troops completely from the country.
___

Associated Press reporter Maria Sanminiatelli in Larnaca, Cyprus, contributed to this report.

And then .....

There is ....

"GOD'S OWN PARTY" .....

Here in OUR America ......

Which naturally .....

Is also George W. Bush's own party .....

HIM being God's appointed LORD OF THE EARTH .....

For all of us ....

And so .....

With that being the case ....

"GOP confident of fall election - Party's congressional campaign chairman talks up state races"

By TIM O'BRIEN, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, July 21, 2006

TROY -- While voters may think the nation and state are headed in the wrong direction, that won't translate into Democratic victories in this year's congressional races, said U.S. Rep. Tom Reynolds, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

During a conference call with reporters Thursday, Reynolds called the 20th Congressional District seat held by incumbent U.S. Rep. John Sweeney "the best Republican seat in the state."

That's based both on the Republican enrollment advantage, he said, and the pattern of voter behavior in that district.

As of April 1, there were 84,657 more Republicans than Democrats in the district.

"I know the area, but I also know John Sweeney and I also know Ms. Gillibrand's father," Republican lobbyist Douglas Rutnik, he said.

"It is the best Republican seat in the state."

"It is one that John Sweeney, as an experienced candidate and an experienced political operative, he knows you can't take anything for granted."

Reynolds, R-Clarence, pointed to labor endorsements to say Sweeney has crossover appeal.

As for Gillibrand, he said, "She is working."

"She is a Manhattan-based trial lawyer."

"She has got a long ways to go in this race taking on an incumbent."

"I know Sweeney well."

"You ain't ever going to outwork him."

He said he is also confident Republicans can hang onto the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-New Hartford.

Republican State Sen. Ray Meier is running against Democrat Michael Arcuri.

Reynolds acknowledged polls on whether the state and nation are heading in the right direction are not good for Republicans, but added that won't affect the outcomes in congressional races.

His advice to candidates this year is to focus on local concerns first, organize well-run campaigns and have enough money to keep the races competitive.

"These are local contests," he said.

"They are pocketbook issues."

"It's not like presidential politics, the Senate or governor."

Tim O'Brien can be reached at 454-5096 or by e-mail at tobrien@timesunion.com.

end quotes

It seems that Dick Cheney is being marginalized here ....

Or his "message" is, anyway .....

BY THE MEMBERS ....

Of his own party ....

Or God's Own Party, anyway .....

Perhaps they really can sense a sinking ship, as it is said ....

Interesting ....

Dick Cheney, the "YADA YADA MAN" .....

Like an aluminum siding salesman .....

In a world ....

Where everyone is using vinyl ......

And while the REPUBLICANS are marginalizing the "YADA YADA MAN" .....

What are the DEMOCRATS up to?

Are the REPUBLICANS sliding in a ringer here, I wonder .....

"Ex-paratrooper challenges McNulty - Democrat Thomas Raleigh announces primary run for 21st Congressional District"

By RICK CLEMENSON, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, July 21, 2006

ALBANY -- A retired Army paratrooper from Niskayuna said supporting American forces at war will be the top priority in his campaign to unseat U.S. Rep. Michael McNulty in the first Democratic primary in a decade in the 21st Congressional District.

"As long as we have a pair of boots on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, that has to be issue number one," but this is not the time to withdraw American troops from those countries, said Thomas Raleigh in announcing his candidacy Thursday at the Italian American Community Center.

He railed against the post-9/11 Congress, proclaiming government has a "breathtaking inability to get their priorities straight."

However, Raleigh provided no specifics on any policy changes he advocates in the war on terror.

Raleigh filed 307 pages of signatures at the state Board of Elections last week.

Thursday, Raleigh announced he would not accept campaign contributions from political action committees or associated corporate sponsors and said he believes $25,000 is enough to unseat McNulty.

"I'm not a professional politician," he said.

"Though I retired from the Army two years ago, I remain a soldier."

McNulty, of Green Island, filed petitions last week for the Democratic, Conservative, Independence and Working Families Party lines.

At the end of June, he reported having $373,377 in his campaign war chest.

McNulty was first elected to Congress in 1988 and easily won re-election two years ago with more than 70 percent of the vote.

The winner of the Sept 12 Democratic primary will face Warren Redlich, a Republican from Guilderland, who ran an unsuccessful campaign against McNulty in 2004.

Raleigh said he would strive to repair America's image abroad, which he said has been tainted in recent years by U.S. foreign policy.

"We've ruptured our alliance with our traditional allies," said Raleigh.

McNulty, who voted in favor of the Iraq war, subsequently called it "a colossal failure."

Rick Clemenson can be reached at 454-5030 or by e-mail at rclemenson@timesunion.com.

end quotes

Mike McNulty ....

Not surprisingly ....

IS a career politician ....

Like "Hey, Jackie Boy, Hey, Johnnie" Sweeney .....

Who has never held any gainful employment .....

Outside of politics .....

That seat that he holds in the United States Congress .....

Was handed to him .....

By his father .....

As a kind of "property" .....

Or a seat in the English Parliament .....

Can Mike McNulty be beaten on just $25,000?

Not likely ....

But what the hey ....

It's only $25,000 that the guy is willing to toss away ....

And it is a free country ....

They say, anyway .....

And so ....

And then ...

There is local politics ....

Up here in the CORRUPT EMPIRE of New York .....

The "GUT", so to speak ....

Where the "lower orders" .....

On the political food chain can be found ....

And so ....

"Reid, Gordon lead in race for cash - They have biggest campaign war chests among six jostling for 108th Assembly seat"

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

First published: Friday, July 21, 2006

Candidates Martin Reid and Tim Gordon have the most money in their campaign accounts so far in the crowded 108th Assembly District race, according to newly released financial disclosure reports.

Reid, a Sand Lake Republican backed by the party establishment, closed with a balance of $16,086.

Gordon, a Bethlehem Independence Party member also brawling in the four-way Democratic primary, reported $23,714.

Meanwhile, a mystery surrounds the cash raised by the aborted campaign of Bethlehem Republican Peter Santiago.

Santiago, who on July 11 abandoned what would have been an underdog GOP primary fight against Reid, claimed to have raised $125,000 in a June interview with the Times Union.

It's a sum that state Board of Elections spokesman Lee Daghlian said Santiago would need to report in the filing that was due Monday, whether or not he dropped out of the race.

The board had received nothing from Santiago as of Thursday, Daghlian said.

The former candidate has not returned any of three messages left by the Times Union since last week.

The impending retirement of seven-term Assemblyman Pat Casale, R-Speigletown, leaves a vacuum in the 108th with a half-dozen candidates squabbling over five party lines.

The district includes parts of Rensselaer, Albany, Columbia and Greene counties.

Four candidates are angling to compete in the Democratic primary.

Only one of them is actually enrolled in the Democratic Party, however, and challenges are pending against all of their petitions.

Of those candidates, Averill Park school board member Bill Reinhardt took in $3,414 but ended with a balance of $994.

Reinhardt, enrolled in the Conservative Party, said he expects to spend up to $20,000 of his own money in the primary.

"You can't get party support," he said.

"They're letting us duke it out."

Also duking it out is Keith Hammond, a Rensselaer County legislator and Poestenkill Town Board member looking to run on the Democratic and Working Families Party lines.

He recently switched his enrollment back to the Democratic Party after a brief stint as a Conservative, but the change won't take effect until after the election.

Hammond said he hasn't started raising money yet.

Ken Preston of Bethlehem is the only registered Democrat in the race.

He did not report any financial activity.

Preston said he plans to spend "a lot" of his own money on the campaign.

So far, Reid has loaned his campaign $3,958, and Gordon loaned his $15,000.

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

end quotes

Keith Hammond is another one of those professional politicians that we are stuck with up here .....

In the CORRUPT EMPIRE of New York .....

With its dysfunctional legislature .....

That draws professional politicians to it .....

Like pig swill ....

Draws flies .....

Professional politicians .....

Who have never worked ...

A day in their lives ....

Outside of politics .....

Which is really nothing more ....

Than getting a space .....

For your arm ....

To get into the public till .....

Along with the arms .....

Of all the other career politicians .....

Who feel it is their DUE .....

To be supported .....

By the taxpayers .....

Like expensive lap dogs .....

Who are good for nothing .....

But eating fancy food ....

And making messes .....

That we have to follow after ....

And clean up ....

And so ....

I heard it on the radio earlier .....

So that when I got here tonight ....

The first thing I did .....

Was to check out Youtube .....

At this following URL .....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB_ZAlNibZ4...h=bush%2Cmerkel

And if you click on the URL ......

What you will see ....

Is someone .....

Who looks an awful lot .....

Like George W. Bush .....

POUNCING ....

Like a mountain lion ....

Or something anyway .....

It's hard to say ....

What urges ....

Drive George .....

But anyway ...

It's in the newsclip that comes up at that URL .....

George W. Bush ....

Is pouncing on this East German woman .....

Who is now the boss of Germany .....

And so .....

Who can really ever tell with George ...

Whether he is being playful .....

OR WHAT .....

He sure seems to have surprised the Be-Jaysus out of this Ms. Merkel, alright ......

And it is humerous to watch ....

On the video ....

The look on her face ....

As George pounces on her neck ....

And so .....

Maybe George should do that more often ....

Lighten up things like that .....

Doing pratfalls and such ....

Dick Cheney's Stepin Fetchit, someone called him ....

And hey ...

You just never know ...

If it works for you ....

And let's face it ....

George pouncing on Ms. Merkel is drawing him some publicity, alright ....

Then you just got to go for it .....

And George sure did ....

And so .....

And maybe this following article ....

Will help us understand ....

Our loathing ....

For cheap politicians on the make ....

And so ....

"Fear of Snakes Drove Primate Evolution, Scientist Says"

Ker Than, LiveScience Staff Writer, LiveScience.com

Fri Jul 21, 10:32 AM ET

An evolutionary arms race between early snakes and mammals triggered the development of improved vision and large brains in primates, a radical new theory suggests.

The idea, proposed by Lynne Isbell, an anthropologist at the University of California, Davis, suggests that snakes and primates share a long and intimate history, one that forced both groups to evolve new strategies as each attempted to gain the upper hand.

To avoid becoming snake food, early mammals had to develop ways to detect and avoid the reptiles before they could strike.

Some animals evolved better snake sniffers, while others developed immunities to serpent venom when it evolved.

Early primates developed a better eye for color, detail and movement and the ability to see in three dimensions—traits that are important for detecting threats at close range.

Humans are descended from those same primates.

Scientists had previously thought that these traits evolved together as primates used their hands and eyes to grab insects, or pick fruit or to swing through trees, but recent discoveries from neuroscience are casting doubt on these theories.

"Primates went a particular route," Isbell told LiveScience.

"They focused on improving their vision to keep away from snakes."

"Other mammals couldn't do that."

"Primates had the pre-adaptations to go that way."

Harry Greene, an evolutionary biologist and snake expert at Cornell University in New York, says Isbell's new idea is very exciting.

"It strikes me as a very special piece of scholarship and I think it's going to provoke a lot of thought," Greene said.

Isbell's work is detailed in the July issue of the Journal of Human Evolution.

A new weapon

Fossil and DNA evidence suggests that the snakes were already around when the first mammals evolved some 100 million years ago.

The reptiles were thus among the first serious predators mammals faced.

Today, the only other threats faced by primates are raptors, such as eagles and hawks, and large carnivores, such as bears, large cats and wolves, but these animals evolved long after snakes.

Furthermore, these other predators can be safely detected from a distance.

For snakes, the opposite is true.

"If you see them close to you, you still have time to avoid them," Isbell said.

"Primate vision is particularly good at close range."

Early snakes killed their prey using surprise attacks and by suffocating them to death—the method of boa constrictors.

But the improved vision of primates, combined with other snake-coping strategies developed by other animals, forced snakes to evolve a new weapon: venom.

This important milestone in snake evolution occurred about 60 million years ago.

"The snakes had to do something to get better at finding their prey, so that's where venom comes in," Isbell said.

"The snakes upped the ante and then the primates had to respond by developing even better vision."

Once primates developed specialized vision and enlarged brains, these traits became useful for other purposes, such as social interactions in groups.

Seeing in 3D

Isbell's new theory could explain how a number of primate-defining traits evolved.

For example, primates are among the few animals whose eyes face forward (most animals have eyes located on the sides of their heads).

This so-called "orbital convergence" improves depth perception and allows monkeys and apes, including humans, to see in three dimensions.

Primates also have better color vision than most animals and are also unique in relying heavily on vision when reaching and grasping for objects.

One of the most popular ideas for explaining how these traits evolved is called the "visual predation hypothesis."

It proposes that our early ancestors were small, insect eating mammals and that the need to stalk and grab insects at close range was the driving force behind the evolution of improved vision.

Another popular idea, called the "leaping hypothesis," argues that orbital convergence is not only important for 3D vision, but also for breaking through camouflage.

Thus, it would have been useful not only for capturing insects and finding small fruits, but also for aiming at small, hard-to-see branches during mid-leaps through trees.

But there are problems with both hypotheses, Isbell says.

First, there is no solid evidence that early primates were committed insectivores.

It's possible that like many primates today, they were generalists, eating a variety of plant foods, such as leaves, fruit and nectar, as well as insects.

More importantly, recent neuroscience studies do not support the idea that vision evolved alongside the ability to reach and grasp.

Rather, the data suggest that the reaching-and-grasping abilities of primates actually evolved before they learned to leap and before they developed stereoscopic, or 3D, vision.

Agents of evolutionary change

Isbell thinks proto-primates—the early mammals that eventually evolved into primates—were in better position compared to other mammals to evolve specialized vision and enlarged brains because of the foods they ate.

"They were eating foods high in sugar, and glucose is required for metabolizing energy," Isbell said.

"Vision is a part of the brain, and messing with the brain takes a lot of energy so you're going to need a diet that allows you to do that."

Modern primates are among the most frugivorous, or "fruit-loving," of all mammals, and this trend might have started with the proto-primates.

"Today there are primates that focus on leaves and things like that, but the earliest primates may have had a generalized diet that included fruits, nectar, flowers and insects," she said.

Thus, early primates not only had a good incentive for developing better vision, they might have already been eating the high-energy foods needed to do so.

Testing the theory

Isbell says her theory can be tested.

For example, scientists could look at whether primates can visually detect snakes more quickly or more reliably than other mammals.

Scientists could also examine whether there are differences in the snake-detecting abilities of primates from around the world.

"You could see whether there is any difference between Malagasy lemurs, South American primates and the African and Asian primates," Isbell said.

Anthropologists have tended to stress things like hunting to explain the special adaptations of primates, and particularly humans, said Greene, the Cornell snake expert, but scientists are starting to warm to the idea that predators likely played a large role in human evolution as well.

"Getting away from things is a big deal, too," Greene said in a telephone interview.

If snake and primate history are as intimately connected as Isbell suggests, then it might account for other things as well, Greene added.

"Snakes and people have had a long history; it goes back to long before we were people in fact," he said.

"That might sort of explain why we have such extreme attitudes towards snakes, varying from deification to 'ophidiphobia,' or fear of snakes."

And I bet it is hot down here ....

"As many as 100,000 without power in Queens"

By VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press Writer

1 hour, 12 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Tens of thousands of New Yorkers were still without power Friday, the fifth day of a mysterious electrical problem that has been blamed for subway delays, flight cancellations and dead air conditions during the hottest week of the year.

Power company Con Edison initially said fewer than 2,000 customers were affected, but it increased that number tenfold Friday morning to 25,000 customers.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg estimated that would translate to about 100,000 people considering that each "customer" could be more than one household in an area where homes are often sectioned into multiple units, and could even be an entire apartment building.

"The sad thing is, this shouldn't have happened," Bloomberg said.

"We don't know why, but the most important thing — make sure nobody dies or gets hurt and then help Con Ed to get it back up."

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown issued a statement Friday saying his staff was conducting a review to determine if criminal charges are warranted.

The blackouts started Monday in a handful of neighborhoods in Queens.

Two LaGuardia Airport terminals lost power Monday night and again on Tuesday.

Since then, hundreds of businesses have since been idle, and the city's jail complex on Rikers Island has had to operate on backup generators.

Some building's elevators were not running, and traffic lights at some intersections were not working.

"This is outrageous," City Councilman Peter F. Vallone Jr. said.

"When is this going to be fixed?"

"If it's going to be days, they should tell people it is going to be days."

The blackouts were at their worst on Wednesday, when 10 of the 22 feeder cables that supply the area with power were down simultaneously.

The temperature had hit 100 degrees in the neighborhood the day before.

Consolidated Edison spokesman Chris Olert said the revised number followed a block-by-block cable inspection in northwest Queens on Thursday night.

It said previous estimates came from the number of customers who called to complain.

Olert said the power company was making every effort to get the situation fixed but couldn't estimate when that might happen.

He said the company didn't know why things went wrong.

"Chances are fair, but not firm, that it was heat related, but right now that is just a hypothesis," he said.

Bloomberg said the utility's latest estimate was that most of the problems could be fixed by the end of the weekend.

Con Edison also said Friday that 35,000 customers in Westchester County, the suburbs just north of New York City, also lost power after Tuesday's storm.

About 6,000 were still out Friday morning.

Bloomberg demanded that the utility investigate and deliver a report on the cause of the outages in Queens within two weeks.

That was little consolation for Gianni DellaPolla, 26, a baker at Gian & Piero Bakery.

"We probably lost $25,000 in business in three days," DellaPolla told the Daily News.

"Everything like wedding cakes, eggs, creams, we had to throw all that out."
___

Associated Press Writers David B. Caruso and Sara Kugler contributed to this report.

And this comes as no surprise ....

Since with their air strikes ....

They appear to be following .....

What is known as the HORNER DOCTRINE .....

From BIG BUSH's war against Saddam Hussein .....

If anyone had read the book Crusade .....

By Rick Atkinson .....

Which was a day-by-day account of BIG BUSH's war ...

Starring Lt. General Charles Horner ....

In charge of allied air power .....

Prior to the invasion of Kuwait ....

By "FREAKING, SHRIEKING NORMIE" Schwarzkopf .....

And his ground forces ...

This would all be quite transparent ...

And so ....

"Israel massing military on Lebanon border"

By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:15 p.m., Friday, July 21, 2006

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Israel massed tanks and troops on the border, called up reserves and warned civilians to flee Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon as it prepared Friday for a likely ground invasion.

The Israeli army confirmed some of its troops have been operating in Lebanon for days although no major incursion has been launched.

An official from the U.N. monitoring force in south Lebanon, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press, told The Associated Press in Beirut that between 300 and 500 troops are believed to be in the western sector of the border, backed by as many as 30 tanks.

Israeli forces would conduct ground operations as needed in Lebanon, but they would be "limited," Israeli army chief of staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz said.

He also said nearly 100 Hezbollah guerrillas have been killed in the offensive in Lebanon.

"We will fight terror wherever it is because if we do not fight it, it will fight us."

"If we don't reach it, it will reach us," Halutz said at a news conference in Tel Aviv.

"We will also conduct limited ground operations as much as needed in order to harm the terror that harms us."

Israeli will allow aid supplies into Lebanon, an envoy said, a day after the United Nations warned of a growing humanitarian crisis following 10 days of the heaviest bombardment of the country in 24 years.

Hezbollah militants fired 11 rockets at Israel's port city of Haifa, wounding five.

Israeli warplanes pounded the Beirut-to-Damascus highway, collapsing part of Lebanon's longest bridge.

A U.N.-run observation post near the border was hit, but no one was hurt.

Ships lined up at Beirut's port as a massive evacuation of Americans and other foreigners picked up speed.

U.S. officials said more than 8,000 of the roughly 25,000 Americans in Lebanon will be evacuated by the weekend.

As sunset approached, lines of tanks, troops, armored personnel carriers and bulldozers were parked on a two-lane highway in northern Israel -- close enough for some soldiers to see Lebanese villages and homes.

A barrage of 11 Hezbollah rockets rained down again on Israel's third-largest city, the northern port of Haifa, wounding at least five people, two seriously.

The army said rockets also hit Rosh Pina, Safed and communities near the Sea of Galilee.

Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets at northern Israeli towns from north of the Lebanese border, killing 16 civilians and forcing hundreds of thousands of Israelis to flee repeatedly into bunkers.

Rice plans meetings in Jerusalem and the West Bank with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as sessions in Rome with representatives of European and moderate Arab governments that are meant to shore up the weak democratic government in Lebanon's capital, Beirut.

"We do seek an end to the current violence, we seek it urgently."

"We also seek to address the root causes of that violence," Rice said -- a reference to the U.S. position that Hezbollah must not be allowed to rule southern Lebanon with impunity.

The group's capture of two Israeli soldiers in a bloody cross-border raid on July 12 touched off Israel's heaviest bombardment of Lebanon in 24 years.

In south Lebanon, soldiers buried 72 people killed in recent bombings in a mass grave just outside a barracks in the city of Tyre.

Volunteers put the bodies, many of them children, in wooden coffins and spray-painted the names of the dead on the lids.

Ships lined up at Beirut's port as a massive evacuation effort to pull out Americans and other foreigners picked up speed.

U.S. officials said more than 8,000 of the roughly 25,000 Americans in Lebanon would be evacuated by the weekend.

France, the United Nations and Red Cross painted a dire portrait of life for civilians trapped in the south or forced to flee their homes there.

They demanded Israel open humanitarian corridors to allow life's necessities -- shelter, food, water and medicine -- to reach the swelling numbers of displaced people -- an estimated half-million.

At the United Nations, Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman said he expected a humanitarian corridor for food, medicine and other supplies to be opened later Friday or Saturday.

Responding to a U.S. request, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said French aid would be allowed into Lebanon's port of Sidon.

U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland told the U.N. Security Council that "it is estimated that Beirut only has days of fuel supplies remaining."

The Lebanese health ministry reported 362 deaths in Lebanon so far in the onslaught, an increase of 55 since it released figures on Thursday.

Thirty-four Israelis also have been killed, including 18 soldiers and an air force officer killed Friday in the collision of two helicopters.

Al-Arabiyah television reported that Israeli troops found the body of a fellow soldier in south Lebanon who was killed in clashes the day before in which four other soldiers died.

The count of 362 includes six Hezbollah fighters that the group has confirmed were killed, including three who died Friday.

Israel's army chief of staff said Friday that nearly 100 Hezbollah guerrillas have been killed in the offensive in Lebanon.

The Lebanese toll was expected to rise with heavy Israeli strikes on Friday in Shiite regions of the country's south and east.

In the southern towns of Nabatiyeh and Aytaroun, buildings were leveled -- including one on a commercial street -- killing at least one person.

But rescue crews were too afraid of the continuing waves of strikes to search for more dead or wounded trapped in the rubble.

Israel warplanes also continued their bombing to cut off roads, collapsing part of a suspension bridge linking two mountain peaks on the Beirut-Damascus highway in central Lebanon, which has already been heavily hit.

Three U.N.-run positions near the border were struck.

One post on the Israeli side was hit and severely damaged, though the Ghanian troops inside were safely in shelters.

A U.N. officer said it was hit by an Israeli artillery shell, but Israel said Hezbollah rockets struck it.

Two more U.N. positions on the Lebanese side took direct hits from Israeli artillery, also causing damage but no casualties, the U.N. observer force said.

Beirut was swelling with refugees from the south as well as from its own Shiite southern neighborhoods, heavily hit by Israeli strikes.

They piled up by the hundreds in parks and schools, those with enough money staying in hotels.

But after 10 days, Beirutis -- enured by past wars -- were emerging increasingly from their homes, fed up with staying indoors even as the conflict looked ready to escalate.

More shops on downtown Hamra Street were open, and in the evening families, including many southern refugees, were strolling along the seafront, kids roller-blading, young men smoking water-pipes.

Israel's army chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, said the military would conduct "limited ground operations as much as needed in order to harm the terror that harms us" -- leaving it unclear how deep and how powerful the Israeli punch into Lebanon would be.

Israel on Friday called up several thousand reservists to free up regular troops for duty in the north.

"We will fight terror wherever it is because if we do not fight it, it will fight us."

"If we don't reach it, it will reach us," he told a nationally televised news conference.

But the time Israel has to achieve its goals could be limited by mounting civilian casualties, as international tolerance for the bloodshed and destruction runs out.

------

Associated Press Writers Lee Keath in Beirut, Steven Gutkin in Jerusalem, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Anne Gearan in Washington and Gabe Ross in Haifa, Israel, contributed to this story.

Politics .....

BID-NESS ....

As usual .....

And perhaps ....

After this interminably long ....

TYRANNICAL REIGN ....

Of the REPUBLICAN PARTY ....

Here in OUR America ....

And the world as well ....

People ....

Are starting ....

To get ....

A "gut full" .....

Of this REPUBLICAN CRAP ....

AND CORRUPTION ....

AND BID-NESS AS USUAL ....

And so ....

"Voters hope GOP stars skip 2008"

By MARC HUMBERT, Associated Press
First published: Saturday, July 22, 2006

ALBANY -- The vast majority of New York voters think the state's top elected Republicans, Gov. George Pataki and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, should definitely not run for president in 2008, a statewide poll reported Friday.

And, voters continue to have mixed feelings about whether Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Republican Rudolph Giuliani should run for the White House, the WNBC-TV/Marist College Institute for Public Opinion poll reported.

Seventy-five percent of New York voters questioned for the new poll said Pataki should not run for president.

Seventy-three percent of voters said Bloomberg shouldn't run.

Clinton is the front-runner in her adopted New York among potential 2008 Democratic presidential contenders.

The poll had 42 percent of New York Democrats supporting her for the 2008 nomination and 24 percent favoring former Vice President Al Gore.

While 62 percent of Democrats said Clinton should run for president, 46 percent of all New York voters surveyed felt that way and 49 percent said she should not run.

Sixty-four percent said that it was unlikely the former first lady could be elected president.

Among New York's GOP voters, Giuliani led Republic Sen. John McCain, 38 percent to 20 percent, as the favorite for the party's 2008 nomination.

Fifty-one percent of voters, including 71 percent of Republicans, said Giuliani should run for president while 44 percent said he should not run.

The latest poll has Giuliani leading Clinton, 52 percent to 43 percent, among all voters.

In a possible McCain-Clinton matchup, 48 percent of New York voters favored McCain and 46 percent opted for Clinton.

And speaking of "GOD'S OWN PARTY" .....

Here in George Pataki's CORRUPT EMPIRE ....

Of New York ....

"Lack of Faso donors worries GOP - Governor candidate raises $1.5M in 6 months, compared to Democrats Spitzer $11M, Suozzi $4M

By YANCEY ROY, Gannett News Service
First published: Saturday, July 22, 2006

ALBANY -- From the beginning, one of the knocks against John Faso's candidacy for governor -- even from fellow Republicans -- was that he'd struggle to raise the tens of millions typically needed to win.

So far, that's held true.

Campaign finance statements filed this week show Faso raised just $1.5 million in the last six months and has just $1.4 million in the bank with less than four months till Election Day.

Front-runner Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat, raised $11 million over the same period.

Even long-shot Democratic contender Tom Suozzi raised $4 million.

That has Republicans anxious.

Though they attribute a good deal of the fundraising woes to Spitzer's huge lead in the polls and President Bush's low approval ratings, some are concerned the party has yet to rally behind Faso as promised when he won the GOP convention June 1.

"I haven't seen any evidence of that yet," said Rockland County GOP Chairman Vincent Reda, "but that's because I haven't seen any major fundraisers" organized.

Faso's total was about half that of the Republican contender for attorney general, Jeanine Pirro.

The candidate for governor is typically a party's best fundraiser.

Many party members say Pirro is their best bet to win a statewide race this year.

Reda, a vice chairman on the Republican State Committee, said, "we haven't scratched the surface yet" for tapping donors for Faso and that "I'm in no way ready to run up a white flag."

But asked if it's been tough to raise money, he said: "I can't say it's not."

"We know some of the major contributors here have sent their money to Eliot Spitzer, which is disappointing," Reda said.

Faso's win at the convention triggered Republican leaders to ask rival Bill Weld to drop out to avoid a costly primary.

Weld, the former Massachusetts governor, never caught on with grass-roots party leaders but was considered the better potential fundraiser.

end quotes

We got REPUBLICANS up here in George Pataki's CORRUPT EMPIRE of New York ....

THE WAY A DOG HAS FLEAS ......

And so .....

The BAGHDAD-IZATION ....

OF NEW YORK CITY ........

Here in OUR America ....

In this DAY ...

AND AGE ....

Of the CORPORATE LOOTERS ....

Who are protected .....

As they loot ...

BY OUR INCOMPETENT, SELF-SERVING GOVERNMENT .....

THAT IS NOTHING MORE ...

THAN A FANCY SYSTEM ....

OF LIFE-LONG WELFARE ....

FOR THE "POLITICALLY CONNECTED ..."

AND "PROTECTED" .....

And so ....

"Queens blackout powers anger - Utility says failure 10 times larger than first reported, prompting furious complaints"

By VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press
First published: Saturday, July 22, 2006

NEW YORK -- The misery of a five-day blackout that has darkened large swaths of Queens during the hottest week of the year erupted into fury Friday after Con Edison revealed that the blackout is 10 times larger than it had previously reported.

The development drew an angry response, with residents and city leaders branding Con Ed as incompetent and one state lawmaker, Assemblyman Michael Gianaris of Astoria, calling for a criminal investigation.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said his office would consider the request.

All the while, Queens residents endured another sweltering day with no lights and no air conditioning, spoiled food piled up, and streetlights remained dark.

A firehouse responded by handing out water and dry ice, and the Red Cross was giving away meals.

"I'm here and I go home and it's the same thing," said Marie Koutsoumbaris, a receptionist at a funeral home.

"No lights, no air."

Con Edison originally said the blackout only affected 2,500 customers, but provided a new estimate on Friday of 25,000, saying the initial figure was based only on the number of customers who called to complain.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the actual number of people without power is about 100,000; the term "customer" can refer to more than one household or even an entire apartment building.

Bloomberg said he was annoyed by the new estimate because "we might have thrown more resources into the area."

Others had harsher words for Con Ed.

"They're either pathetic incompetents or pathetic liars," said Councilman Peter Vallone Jr.

"We're trying to get them up as quickly as possible."

"We're working 24/7, and we're hoping that the bulk of the customers that are out will be back on Sunday," said Alfonso Quiroz, a spokesman for Con Edison.

end quotes

The fruits of long-term corruption ....

Ripen on the vine .....

Here in GEORGE PATAKI'S ....

CORRUPT ...

REPUBLICAN EMPIRE ....

OF NEW YORK ....

And so ....

And getting away from George Pataki's CORRUPT REPUBLICAN EMPIRE of New York .....

For a moment, anyway ...

If for no other reason .....

Than to breathe in ...

Some cleaner air .....

Than exists here .....

Where down in Albany, New York ....

The CAPITAL OF THE CORRUPT REPUBLICAN EMPIRE ....

The air smells like fish rotting ....

From the head down ....

"Iowa governor latest presidential hopeful to help Granholm"

By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN, Associated Press
Last updated: 7:55 p.m., Friday, July 21, 2006

LANSING, Mich. -- Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack had some advice Friday for Gov. Jennifer Granholm based on his own re-election experience: Don't worry.

Even though polls show Granholm roughly tied or even behind Republican challenger Dick DeVos, Vilsack said he expects the race will turn around in late September or early October when Granholm begins to run enough ads to get out her message to voters.

"People just have to know there's a plan" to create jobs, said Vilsack, who entered his own re-election race in 2002 down by 6 points and went on to win by 8.

"You're starting to see the fruits of that plan despite the car industry's woes."

Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis wasn't impressed by Vilsack's assessment.

"The governor has a plan but it isn't working," he said.

"As of June, Michigan's unemployment rate is 37 percent higher than the national rate."

Michigan's 6.3 percent unemployment rate was more than 1.5 percentage points above the 4.6 percent national rate.

Vilsack was in Michigan to tour the Andersons Albion Ethanol plant in Albion and campaign at the Ionia Free Fair with Granholm.

He said the development of more ethanol plants will provide the same economic boost for Michigan that Iowa has seen, with the potential for spinoffs that will create even more jobs.

The Iowa governor is the second Democrat with presidential hopes to campaign with Granholm.

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton joined Granholm for a fundraiser on May 13 in Dearborn.

On Sunday, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry will campaign for Granholm at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit church with her husband, Dan Mulhern, before meeting the governor at Honest John's Bar and Grill in Detroit and accompanying her to a precinct captain and volunteer rally in Madison Heights.

The Michigan Democratic Party also gave the Granholm campaign a boost Friday, unveiling a new ad focusing on her recent announcement that Google Inc. plans to open an office in the Ann Arbor area that will employ 1,000 people within five years to handle advertising that appears on its Internet search engine.

"We beat out other states for a thousand new high paying jobs."

"Jennifer Granholm's diversifying our economy with a clear goal in mind -- so that our young people can stay home in Michigan," an announcer says in the 30-second ad.

The DeVos campaign has unveiled 12 ads so far in a $10 million ad blitz that began in mid-February.

Granholm has not run any campaign ads, relying instead on the Democratic Party, which has spent at least $2 million on TV ads so far.

DeVos has had help from 2008 GOP presidential hopefuls, including former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who joined the Ada businessman at a May 10 fundraiser in Dearborn.

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney also has campaigned with DeVos.

------

EDITOR's NOTE: Kathy Barks Hoffman heads the Lansing AP bureau and has covered Michigan politics since 1986.

------

On the Net:

Granholm campaign: http://www.granholmforgov.com

DeVos campaign: http://www.devosforgovernor.com

end quotes

After God knows how many years of George W(rong). F(ailure). Bush ....

ON THE THRONE ....

Here in OUR America ....

We need ....

More REPUBLICANS ....

Here in OUR America .....

Like a dog .....

Needs more fleas ....

And so ...

In the United States Military ...

Or probably any military for that matter ....

There is a rigid chain of command ...

AND THE LOWEST PEOPLE ...

ON THAT CHAIN .....

DO WHAT THEY ARE TOLD TO DO ....

BY THOSE ABOVE THEM ....

ON THAT CHAIN OF COMMAND ....

AND THAT ...

IS THAT ....

IN OUR AMERICAN MILITARY ....

POLICY ...

THAT IS CARRIED OUT ....

BY THE BOTTOM OF THE CHAIN OF COMMAND ....

IS APPROVED ....

BY THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF ....

WHO IS PRESENTLY GEORGE W. BUSH ...

And so ....

It's a simple equation, in actuality ...

Not at all hard to comprehend ...

Or understand ...

Orders come down the chain of command ...

After being approved at the top ....

Which is the Office of the President of the United States of America ...

In OUR system, anyway ....

And so ...

"Group: U.S. military urged abuse in Iraq"

By DAVID B. CARUSO, Associated Press
Last updated: 3:52 a.m., Sunday, July 23, 2006

NEW YORK -- The group Human Rights Watch said in a report released Sunday that U.S. military commanders encouraged abusive interrogations of detainees in Iraq, even after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal called attention to the issue in 2004.

Between 2003 and 2005, prisoners were routinely physically mistreated, deprived of sleep and exposed to extreme temperatures as part of the interrogation process, the report said.

"Soldiers were told that the Geneva Conventions did not apply, and that interrogators could use abusive techniques to get detainees to talk," wrote John Sifton, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.

The organization said it based its conclusion on interviews with military personnel and sworn statements in declassified documents.

A Pentagon spokesman, Cmdr. Greg Hicks, said he wasn't aware of the report, but noted the military is reviewing its procedures regarding detainees following a Supreme Court ruling that the Geneva Conventions should apply in the conflict with al-Qaida.

The Bush administration had previously held that certain enemies, including terrorists, were illegal combatants and not protected by those rules.

The conventions prohibit "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment."

Human Rights Watch focused much of its report on a detention facility called Camp Nama at Baghdad International Airport.

One soldier, whose name was withheld from the report, described a suspected insurgent being stripped naked, thrown in the mud, sprayed with water and then exposed to frigid temperatures in an attempt to soften him up for interrogators.

Commanders, the soldier said, seemed confident that their treatment of prisoners was legal.

He described computerized authorization forms that had to be filled out before subjecting detainees to strobe lights, loud music, extreme heat or cold, or intimidation by barking dogs.

The allegations of abuse at the camp were first reported in March by The New York Times.

end quotes

AND THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION ....

WAS WAY OFF THE RESERVATION .....

WAY OUTSIDE THE LAW ...

WHEN IT TOLD OUR TROOPS ....

OUR AMERICAN MILITARY .....

THAT IT COULD ACT LIKE NAZI MONSTERS ....

OVER THERE IN IRAQ ...

And so ....

On early Sunday mornings up here ....

There is a political talk show on for a bit ....

And this morning ....

They had on a guy named Joe Mahoney ....

Who writes political stuff ....

For some rag ...

Or other ...

Down there in New York City ....

The Daily News, perhaps ....

And all the talk ...

Had to do ...

With REPUBLICAN candidates for office up here in the State of New York ....

Especially the Congressional races ...

Trying to distance themselves from George W. Bush .....

Who has all the popularity ....

Of a chicken-killing dog .....

On a chicken farm .....

And so ....

And then ....

We have ...

REPUBLICAN Randy "BIG DUKE, MY MAN IN THE SLAM" Cunningham .....

Who was one of the star members .....

Of VETERANS FOR BUSH/CHENEY ......

Go figure, eh .....

"Classified bills a refuge for mischief"

By KATHERINE SHRADER, Associated Press
Last updated: 5:25 a.m., Sunday, July 23, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Convicted congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a new study says, took advantage of secrecy and badgered congressional aides to help slip items into classified bills that would benefit him and his associates.

That finding comes from Michael Stern, an outside investigator hired by the House Intelligence Committee to look into how Cunningham carried out his scheme.

Stern is working with the committee to fix vulnerabilities in the way top-secret legislation is written, said congressional officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the committee still is being briefed on Stern's findings.

Cunningham's case puts a stark spotlight on the oversight of classified --or "black" -- budgets.

Unlike legislation dealing with social and economic issues, intelligence bills and parts of defense bills are written in private, in the name of national security.

That means it is up to members of Congress and select aides with security clearances to ensure that legislation is appropriate.

The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., and the top Democrat, Rep. Jane Harman of California, took the unusual step of hiring Stern to investigative how Cunningham used his seat on the committee to influence legislation for his own enrichment.

Federal prosecutors found that Cunningham accepted $2.4 million in bribes, including payments for a mansion, a Rolls-Royce and a 65-foot yacht, in return for steering defense and intelligence contracts to certain companies.

Cunningham pleaded guilty and was sentenced to more than eight years in prison.

Stern has told the committee that Cunningham's efforts to steer business to friends and associates were far worse in the spending bills written by the House Appropriations Committee than those written by the House Intelligence Committee, congressional officials say.

As a final step, Stern wants to interview Cunningham in prison to find out more about how he influenced the system.

The Justice Department is resisting because of other potential prosecutions pending in the case.

"No end in sight for Queens blackout, which remains a mystery"

By VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press
Last updated: 9:47 p.m., Saturday, July 22, 2006

NEW YORK -- The damage to Consolidated Edison's underground network in Queens is greater than the utility company imagined -- a twist in the six-day power outage that could mean electricity won't be back until early in the week, the mayor reported Saturday.

"It'll be done when it's done," Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters gathered in Queens' Astoria Park, where the city's emergency command center for the blackout is set up.

Later Saturday, Con Ed CEO Kevin Burke held his first news conference about the blackout since it began, apologizing to customers for the inconvenience and attributing the outages to an unprecedented failure of multiple power lines.

"It was really a very extraordinary event, something that I've never seen before," Burke said.

"I don't know right now what has happened."

To hasten the restoration of power to as many 18,000 customers, or about 72,000 people, electrical crews from as far away as Pittsburgh and Columbus, Ohio were on their way to New York to assist Con Ed in the restoration of the network, Bloomberg said.

Con Ed crews "are going manhole to manhole, pulling up every line," the mayor said.

As workers inspected underground cables and transformers, Bloomberg said, they "found more damage than they thought they would find."

"They were surprised."

Con Ed spokesman Mike Clendenin said the damage to underground equipment in Queens is "extensive," including burned out cables and transformers that need to either be repaired or replaced.

The equipment will later be analyzed to determine how the damage contributed to the blackout, Clendenin said.

A round of thunderstorms Friday made the problem worse, flooding manholes that had to be emptied before work could continue.

In addition, the bad weather knocked out some major circuits that had only recently been restored.

Con Edison hasn't been able to explain why the power distribution system began failing in the area on Monday at the height of a heat wave.

But Burke was able to detail the damage.

Burke said the problem began with failures on a series of feeder cables, circuits that carry 27,000 volts and supply entire neighborhoods with power.

There are 22 such feeder cables in the network serving the area with the outages, and they are designed to work redundantly, meaning if one fails, others can pick up the load.

Starting Monday, however, multiple feeders failed, leaving 10 out of service at the worst of the crisis.

Now, only one is out, but the repair work is far from over.

Burke said the current problem involves lower-voltage cables that were apparently damaged by carrying larger amounts of current than normal while Con Edison tried to keep the system running without its main feeders.

The utility company has fielded a chorus of criticism, from citizens irate at how long they're waiting for their power to the charge from City Council member Eric Gioia that Con Ed's "failure to accurately report the extent of this crisis has slowed response time and caused critical delays."

The utility originally said the electrical failures affected just a couple thousand private and business customers in Queens.

But on Friday, Con Edison provided a new estimate of 25,000 customers, or as many as 100,000 people.

Joseph Bruno, commissioner of the city's Office of Emergency Management, said Saturday that power had been restored to no more than 15 percent of customers.

In Astoria, some residents found their own solutions.

One barber without electricity set up his generator right on 30th Avenue and cut hair on the sidewalk.

"It's very dark and you can't really see inside," said salon owner Rocco Aliberti, who's Hair Fantasy salon been without power since Monday.

"It's very bad."

"We try to do as much as we can do."

"I've got to pay bills."

On Saturday, the mayor and his top commissioners offered a lineup of official solutions to residents' needs.

Emergency service employees were reaching out to the most vulnerable city residents -- the elderly and the ill, including diabetics whose insulin must be kept under refrigeration.

Insulin was among medication carried by mobile health centers driven to about a dozen Queens locations.

In addition, the Red Cross had distributed 20,000 bottles of water and 15,000 meals.

And 16 senior centers -- normally closed on weekends -- were open on Saturday and Sunday.

Con Edison was also working Saturday to resolve unrelated outages in suburban Westchester County.

About 3,700 customers there remained without power Saturday afternoon, down from an estimated 35,000 in the county who lost power during thunderstorms.

Bloomberg praised utility crews out in the heat and rain, urging New Yorkers who see them to thank them for working "very, very long hours in conditions that are not always pleasant."

And for something completely different .....

And odd, when you stop to think about it .....

In a nation ....

Where we are supposed to have .....

LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE .....

Which means ....

Or is supposed to mean, anyway .....

That you can view god ....

Or God ....

Anyway ....

THAT YOU WISH ....

And I guess what I am wondering ....

IS EXACTLY WHO DIED ...

AND PUT THESE SELF-PROCLAIMED EVANGELICALS ....

WHOEVER THEY ARE ....

THESE SELF-PROCLAIMED ....

OR SELF-ACCLAIMED ....

"BORN AGINS ...

IN CHARGE OF ANYTHING ...

HERE IN OUR AMERICA ....

AT ALL ...

"Deeds prove Washington a believer"

By PETER A. LILLBACK
First published: Saturday, July 22, 2006

Myths have always surrounded George Washington.

It's time to dispel one of the worst -- that he was not a Christian.

Since the 200th anniversary of his birth in 1932, the consensus of historians has been that Washington was a deist -- someone who believes in a remote and impersonal God who plays no role in human affairs.

Recently, several books have been published, often referring to Washington as more "a man of honor than -- a man of religion" or not a Christian "if one defines 'Christian' as the evangelicals do."

Some of Washington's contemporaries, such as Thomas Paine, were deists, but calling Washington a deist is not only false, it is sloppy scholarship.

I challenge these historians to produce one verifiable statement from Washington's writings that shows he was a deist.

Scholars today, by and large, consider all possible research on Washington's faith to have been completed.

They think there is little new to discover, and they believe the conclusion that Washington was not a Christian is unimpeachable.

The fact is that such secular scholars simply read their own unbelief into Washington, in order to draw the desired conclusion.

Discovering the truth is made more difficult by Washington's introspective nature.

He didn't like talking about himself.

His personal faith was more often expressed in actions, according to his motto, "deeds not words."

But a careful examination of his thoughts, words and deeds shows that he was a devout 18th-century American Anglican -- what today would be called a Low Church Episcopalian.

Washington never claimed to be a deist and never used the word deist or deism, and yet he does refer to himself as a Christian, using the phrase "on my honor and the faith of a Christian."

Washington believed in a God who was active in history, calling his faith the "blessed religion revealed in the Word of God," speaking of Christ as the "Divine Author of our blessed religion" and continually referring to the role of Divine Providence in the affairs of men.

Washington read sermons to his family.

His writing was thick with biblical allusions.

He composed more than 100 prayers in his own hand; deists don't believe that God answers prayers.

In Washington's writings, he used the word God at least 140 times, divine at least 95 times, heaven at least 130 times and providence at least 270 times.

His first act as president was a prayer.

When he finished his oath of office at his first inaugural, he added the words, "So help me God," and bent down to kiss the Bible.

Then he led the crowd across the street to St. Paul's Chapel for a two-hour service.

Alexander Hamilton's wife said she was at Washington's side when he took Communion that day.

In his general orders to the troops at Valley Forge, Washington wrote, "While we are zealously performing the duties of good Citizens and soldiers we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of Religion."

"To the distinguished Character of Patriot, it should be our highest Glory to add the more distinguished Character of Christian."

On Sept. 28, 1789, President Washington wrote to the Rev. Samuel Langdon:

"The man must be bad indeed who can look upon the events of the American Revolution without feeling the warmest gratitude toward the great Author of the Universe whose divine interposition was so frequently manifested in our behalf."

Washington's titles for God, such as "Great author of the Universe," were not deist titles.

These were the titles of honor used for deity by the preachers of his day.

He also used several biblical titles for God.

These included: Jehovah, Jesus Christ, Lord, God of Armies, Lord of Hosts, Almighty, Redeemer, Creator, Maker, Lord of Nations and Father.

Where a nation begins largely determines the course it treads.

If our Founding Father was a deist, we should certainly be secularists today.

But if he was committed to a Christian worldview, Christianity today is not an interloper in the public square but rather has a legitimate role in addressing the secular assault against the historic values and beliefs of America.

Peter A. Lillback is president of Westminster Seminary in Glenside, Pa., and the author, with Jerry Newcombe, of "George Washington's Sacred Fire," published this month by Providence Forum Press.

LIBERTY:

The "LIBERTY" guaranteed and protected by constitutional provisions denotes not only freedom from unauthorized physical restraint, but embraces also the freedom of an individual to use and enjoy his faculties in all lawful ways, acquire useful knowledge, marry, establish a home, and bring up children, WORSHIP GOD ACCORDING TO THE DICTATES OF HIS (OR HER) OWN CONSCIENCE, live and work where he chooses, engage in any of the common and lawful occupations of life, enter into all contracts which may be proper and essential to carrying out successfully the foregoing purposes, and generally to enjoy these privileges long recognized at common law AS ESSENTIAL TO THE ORDERLY PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS BY FREE PEOPLE.

- Black's Law Dictionary

Pardon me here .....

But I do not believe ....

That as Americans ....

We should be having ....

Anyone ....

Of any faith at all ....

Regardless of what that faith might be .......

JAMMING ...

Their way of "believing" .....

Down our throats .....

As if only "they" knew what the proper mode ...

Or method ...

Or style ....

Of believing was ....

And so .....

I'm not a BORN AGIN ....

And yet ....

I am familiar with the Bible ....

And what it says to me .....

And I consider it to be true ...

Is that there were a whole lot of BEGATTINGS ....

Here on this earth of OURS ...

Over history ....

Which would go some way ...

Towards explaining .....

Why there were so many people ...

Down here on this earth of OURS ....

And then ....

There were a lot of wars, and upheavals .....

And plagues ...

And pestilences .....

And that sort of stuff ...

Which goes a long way ...

Towards explaining .....

Why this earth of OURS ....

Is not overrun with people by now .....

And so ....

That is simply my belief ...

And if you don't like it ...

Or believe it ...

Well ..

That don't confront me none ....

Since no one can prove any of it ....

Either way ...

And so .....

As jeffmoskin and I discussed a long time ago .....

When I put a seed into the ground ...

I have faith in the goodness of the seed ....

And of the goodness of the ground ...

And the goodness of the season ...

And if I have goodness in myself ...

Maybe that seed will bear fruit ....

And so ....

If that don't make me a Christian .....

So be that .....

And if it does make me a Christian ....

Well ...

So be that too ....

And so ...

What these Evangelicals ought to do ....

Here in OUR America ....

Is climb back down ....

From their high horses ....

Until they are perfect ....

At which time ....

That perfection of theirs ...

Will become apparent to us all ...

And who knows ...

MAYBE WE WILL WANT TO EMULATE THEM ...

And become perfect ourselves .....

But in the meantime .....

And from religion ....

Which seems to be becoming awful political .....

We go to politics .....

Which up here where I am ...

IS PRACTICED AS A RELIGION .....

And so ....

"Just whose Working Families Party is it?"

Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, July 21, 2006

An emerging battle over control of the Working Families Party in Rensselaer County is spilling into the 106th Assembly District race.

The struggle came to light Wednesday when Assemblyman Ronald Canestrari, D-Cohoes, who had been endorsed by the WFP and petitioned for the line, abruptly declined to run on it this fall.

That avoided a primary with Christopher Consuello, whose name was on another set of WFP petitions circulated by a well-known GOP player.

Canestrari told Inside Politics the line was being "hijacked" by the Republicans, so he turned it down, leaving him with a single line -- Democratic.

His opponent, Kandi Terry, will have three: GOP, Conservative and Independence.

Consuello's petitions were carried by none other than Bob Mirch -- an enrolled Conservative, Troy's public works commissioner, majority leader of the Rensselaer County Legislature and a $30,000-a-year constituent liaison for Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick.

Terry works for the Senate Finance Committee.

Starting to see a pattern here?

Mirch also circulated petitions to create a Rensselaer County WFP Committee.

The WFP generally has multi-county chapters, not county committees.

WFP leaders accused Mirch of trying to take over the party locally so he (and Bruno) can control another ballot line.

The WFP, with help from Democrats, circulated petitions for some 67 committee members in an effort to fight off Mirch and the more than 100 he's trying to put in place.

Mirch said the suggestion he's trying to take control is "a terrible accusation," and he insisted he was not working at Bruno's behest.

"That's absolutely false," Mirch said.

"(The WFP) has a philosophy ... of grassroots local involvement."

"They have a problem with grassroots working families following state Election Law and constituting a party?"

Karen Scharff, co-chair of the WFP's Capital District Chapter replied:

"We don't feel what he's doing is grassroots organizing."

"Bob Mirch wants a ballot line he can control."

The WFP tapped Harriet Warnock, a Troy party member, to run against Consuello.

Why all this effort against Canestrari?

Inside Politics sources say Bruno is angry that the assemblyman was unable -- or unwilling -- to deter Rensselaer County Democrats from letting attorney Brian Premo challenge Bruno this fall on their line.

Have clubs, will bicker

Lou Cotrona, one of several North Greenbush Democrats looking to oust town Democratic committee members, held a news conference Tuesday in front of the Rensselaer County office building raising concerns about Democratic chairman Dan Ashley.

He said Ashley has dual residencies -- in North Greenbush and Daytona Beach, Fla. -- in violation of several laws.

His main assertion, though, was that Ashley isn't eligible to lead the party if he lives in Florida.

Cotrona said several attorneys concur, but no government agency has weighed in on the alleged violations.

Charles "CB" Smith, a Democratic committeeman, town legislative liaison and noted Ashley sidekick, hissed from the sidelines, interrupting Cotrona frequently.

After Cotrona finished, Smith, on his way to North Greenbush Democrats Golf Day fund-raiser, fired back with a news release detailing a 1992 incident in which Cotrona was thrown off the East Greenbush Central School District board over his own residency issues.

Ashley maintains Cotrona's attack is sour grapes for not getting the committee's endorsement when he wanted to run for supervisor last year.

Cotrona said the party deserves to have a law-abiding leader.

The registered lobbyist kept his cool for most of the news conference, but on the walk to his car, as Smith called after him with sarcastic remarks, Cotrona let loose with a reference to Smith's golf outing:

"Don't let the balls hit ya in the ass."

Inside Politics is compiled by staff writer Elizabeth Benjamin. Staff writer Kate Perry contributed to this column.

And from local politics ....

Which is considered a "blood sport" up here ....

By the thugs ....

And goons .....

Who form the core .....

Of local politics up here .....

We go to CONGRESSIONAL POLITICS .....

Where REPUBLICAN CONGRESSBOY "Hey, Jackie Boy, Hey, Johnnie" Sweeney ....

Is alleged ....

To be an endangered species ....

Which is to say ....

A continuing incumbent ....

In the majority party ....

And so ....

"Gillibrand out-raises Sweeney for quarter"

Albany, New York Times Union
First published: Friday, July 7, 2006

Democratic congressional candidate Kirsten Gillibrand's campaign issued a triumphant press release Thursday announcing she had beaten U.S. Rep. John Sweeney, R-Clifton Park, in quarterly fundraising between April 1 and June 30.

According to the Gillibrand camp, her latest Federal Election Commission filing will show she has raised just a tad over $500,000 over the past three months.

Sweeney's campaign (in a missive forwarded by Sweeney ally, Clifton Park GOP Chairman Mike Lisuzzo) declared that he has raised $479,000 during the last quarter.

Disclaimer: "Inside Politics" is taking the campaigns at their word on this one, since the FEC filing won't be released until late next week.

Gillibrand Campaign Manager Bill Hyers says she will have $750,000 on hand, and her total raised will be in the neighborhood of $1.2 million.

Gillibrand got a big lift from an Emily's List endorsement and help from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Hyers said.

Hyers noted, too, that Sweeney had some $713,000 on hand to her $286,000 last December.

He insisted Gillibrand is just hitting her stride when it comes to fundraising and said her progress is particularly noteworthy against "an endangered incumbent who had U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) helping him raise money."

Sweeney will have $1 million on hand and has raised $1.6 million in this election cycle -- a fundraising performance that tops any of the congressman's previous election cycles, according to his campaign.

Sweeney spokeswoman Maureen O'Brien Donovan said Sweeney "will continue to rely on his supporters to counter Ms. Gillibrand's liberal, far-left Manhattan and Hollywood funds," which, she added, are coming from donors who are "not in line with the values of the people of the 20th Congressional District."

Inside Politics is compiled by staff writer Elizabeth Benjamin. Staff writer Brian Nearing contributed to this column.

end quotes

I am a voter ....

In the 20th Congressional District .....

In the State of New York ...

AND I KNOW ....

BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT ....

THAT WHATEVER "VALUES" .....

"HEY, JACKIE BOY, HEY, JOHNNIE" SWEENEY MIGHT HOLD ....

AS AN EXPERIENCED POLITICAL OPERATIVE ....

UP HERE IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK ...

ARE NOT ANYTHING .....

THAT I WOULD TOUCH ...

WITH A TEN-FOOT POLE ...

And so ...

And here is some real American history ....

From just down the road from me ....

That we no longer think of ...

Or are even aware of .....

In this modern day and age ...

Where we have no history .....

But that ....

Which is being written ....

As we speak ...

By George W. Bush ....

And so ....

"Fight for freedom walks streets of Troy"

By KATE GURNETT, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Monday, July 17, 2006

The day began with an errand.

Charles Nalle went to the bakery in Troy as coachman for his boss, industrialist and future mayor Uri Gilbert.

He was arrested on the way.

Within hours, more than 1,000 people had rushed to State Street to free the wanted man.

The ensuing uproar eventually drew gunfire and two rescues by the biracial crowd.

It cemented Troy's reputation as strongly abolitionist.

And drew Southern ire just two weeks before Abraham Lincoln was nominated for president.

In 1860, Troy was one of the richest cities in the U.S., with prosperous textile and iron manufacturers.

But in the run-up to the Civil War, slavery had divided the city's abolitionists and active black community and its merchants, who relied on the South's economy.

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 ordered the return of runaways from any state in the U.S.

Resisted in the north, it produced not one arrest until 1860 in Troy, a way station on the Underground Railroad and home in the 1840s to the Rev. Henry Highland Garnet, renowned African-American abolitionist.

Charles Nalle, 30, had escaped in 1858 from a Virginia plantation.

Hoping to reunite with his wife, he sought letter-writing assistance from Horace F. Averill, a "shyster lawyer" and "poor specimen of humanity," the Troy Daily Times opined.

Averill betrayed Nalle and contacted his owner, Blucher Hasbrough, in Culpeper County.

The town of Averill Park was later named for Horace Averill.

When Nalle went for bread on April 27, he was arrested by a U.S. marshal.

"They have got a fugitive slave here," the Albany Morning Times reported on April 27.

"The people all swear they won't let him go."

Nalle was an octoroon, the mostly-white son of his former owner, now the legal property of a half-brother in Virginia.

Harriet Tubman, best known as the leader of the Underground Railroad, which helped escort hundreds of slaves to freedom over a 10-year period in the mid-1800s, was in town that day, visiting a cousin before an anti-slavery rally in Boston.

When she learned Nalle was being held, she went to the U.S. Commissioner's building at First and State streets.

She got inside by donning a sunbonnet and pretending to be an old woman.

As officers brought the manacled Nalle to a wagon, Tubman pushed them away, seized Nalle and urged the crowd to free him.

Biographer Sarah Bradford wrote the following, based on an interview with Tubman:

"Offers were made to buy Charles from his master, who at first agreed to take twelve hundred dollars for him, but when this was subscribed, he immediately raised the price to fifteen hundred."

"The crowd grew more excited."

"A gentleman raised a window and called out, 'Two hundred dollars for his rescue, but not one cent to his master!'"

Tubman's cry, Bradford wrote, was: "Drag us out!"

"Drag him to the river!"

"Drown him!"

"But don't let them have him!"

Bloodied and bruised, the pair made it to the Hudson River and Nalle was ferried to West Troy, now Watervliet, only to be recaptured.

"It's just an incredible event that occurred."

"People have to realize that it occurred as much in Watervliet as it did in Troy," said author Scott Christianson of Sand Lake, who has a book coming out on the rescue.

Officials took Nalle to a judge's office in Albany County.

That's now the site of a McDonald's restaurant on Broadway, Christianson said.

Watching from across the river, the crowd followed, grabbing "every boat they could find."

This time, as they stormed the office, police fired on the mob.

Several people were wounded.

A "giant man" who pushed in the door was struck in the head with a hatchet.

The people grabbed Nalle, who was put on a horse and escaped to Schenectady County, Christianson said.

Speaking in Boston, Tubman displayed her injuries, although she was a fugitive herself.

In Troy, several prominent Republicans and anti-slavery advocates were indicted.

But Lincoln's election and the ascent of local Republicans blocked any court action.

Citizens collected $650 to buy Nalle's freedom.

He and his wife and children reunited three months after his escape and lived in Troy for seven years.

"Some people have acknowledged it as being one of the greatest, if not the greatest thing that ever happened in Troy," Christianson said.

"It was one of the most extraordinary rescues of a captured fugitive slave in American history."

Kate Gurnett can be reached at 454-5490 or by e-mail at kgurnett@timesunion.com.

And speaking of the "history" .....

OF TYRANNY ....

AND DESPOTISM .....

NOT TO MENTION .....

GROSS INCOMPETENCE .....

AND POSSIBLE WILLFUL COMMISSION .....

OF WAR CRIMES ....

That is being written ...

By REPUBLICAN George W. Bush .....

AS WE SPEAK ....

HERE ...

IN OUR AMERICA .....

We have ....

"Study condemns Bush legal tactic - Legal panel calls use of "signing statements" a constitutional issue"

By MICHAEL ABRAMOWITZ, Washington Post
First published: Monday, July 24, 2006

WASHINGTON -- A panel of legal scholars and lawyers assembled by the American Bar Association is sharply criticizing the use of "signing statements" by President Bush that assert his right to ignore or not enforce laws passed by Congress.

In a report to be issued today, the ABA task force said Bush has lodged more challenges to provisions of laws than all previous presidents combined.

The panel members described the development as a serious threat to the Constitution's system of checks and balances, and they urged Congress to pass legislation permitting court review of such statements.

"The President is indicating that he will not either enforce part or the entirety of congressional bills," said ABA President Michael Greco.

"We will be close to a constitutional crisis if this issue, the President's use of signing statements, is left unchecked."

The report seemed likely to fuel the controversy over signing statements, which Bush has used to challenge laws ranging from a congressional ban on torture and a request for data on the Patriot Act, to whistle-blower protections and the banning of U.S. troops in fighting rebels in Colombia.

Administration officials describe them as a part of routine presidential practice.

"Presidents have issued signing statements since the early days of our country," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Sunday.

"President Bush's signing statements are consistent with prior administrations' signing statements."

"He is exercising a legitimate power in a legitimate way."

Bush has vetoed only one bill since taking office, a bill approved by Congress last week relaxing his limits on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research.

But he has on many occasions signed bills, then issued statements reserving the right not to enforce or execute parts of the new laws, on the grounds that they infringe on presidential authority or violate other constitutional provisions.

Perhaps the most prominent example was legislation last year banning cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment of prisoners at U.S. detention centers.

Bush signed the bill into law after a struggle with Congress, then followed it with an official statement indicating he might waive the ban under his constitutional authority as commander in chief, if necessary to prevent a terror attack.

Determining the rarity of this approach is a matter of some dispute.

The Justice Department has said Bush has issued 110 signing statements, compared with President Bill Clinton's 80.

In testimony last month before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michelle Boardman denied Bush was trying to "cherry pick" among parts of a duly enacted law.

"Presidential signing statements are, rather, a statement by the President explaining his interpretation of and responsibilities under the law," she said.

size=5]The ABA task force, chaired by Miami attorney Neil Sonnett, cites research that Bush in his signing statements has collectively lodged more than 800 challenges to provisions of laws passed by Congress.[/size]

Task force members said the nature of the challenges has also changed under Bush, with many objections being lodged under the "unitary executive" theory, the idea that congressional checks on the president's power are limited.

If the President has constitutional problems with a bill, the task force said, he should convey those concerns to Congress before it reaches his desk.

The panel said signing statements should not be a substitute for vetoing bills the President considers unconstitutional.

"The President's constitutional duty is to enforce laws he has signed into being unless and until they are held unconstitutional by the Supreme Court or a subordinate tribunal," panel members wrote.

"The Constitution is not what the President says it is."

"The President greatly respects the roles of the branches of our government," Perino said, "and anyone to suggest otherwise is ignoring the facts of our continued efforts to work with the Hill on all matters of legislation."

The impact of the report on the administration is uncertain, given the belief by many conservatives and some members of the Bush administration that the ABA is liberally biased.

Early in its tenure, the administration ended the association's special role in evaluating judicial nominations.

The 10-member ABA panel includes at least three well-known conservatives or Republicans: former congressman Mickey Edwards, R-Okla., former FBI Director William Sessions and former Reagan Justice Department member Bruce Fein.

It also includes former appellate Judge Patricia Wald, former Stanford Law School Dean Kathleen Sullivan and Harvard law professor Charles J. Ogletree Jr.

The report will be considered by the full ABA at its meeting next month.

end quotes

"LIBERALS" .....

Here in OUR America .....

Are people ....

With a sense ...

And knowledge ....

Of OUR HISTORY .....

And DESTINY .....

As a "PEOPLE" ....

Since the PEOPLE ....

Of the original thirteen ......

"United States of America" .....

PRESENTED FACTS .....

IN 1776 ....

TO A CANDID WORLD ....

AS TO WHY ....

THE PEOPLE ....

Of the thirteen original United States ....

Were severing ...

THEIR TIES .....

With the TYRANT KING ....

AND THE PEOPLE ....

OF GREAT BRITAIN .....

While what are called "CONSERVATIVES" .....

HERE IN OUR AMERICA ....

APPEAR ...

BASED ON THEIR OWN WORDS ....

AND ACTIONS ....

TO BE LARGELY .....

EMPTY-HEADED BIGOTS .....

AND HATE-MONGERS ....

WHO NEED ....

SOMEONE LIKE GEORGE W. BUSH .....

A TYRANT ....

IN A COWBOY SUIT .....

TO CLEAVE TO ....

For some irrational reason or other ...

That cannot be rationally explained .....

And so ....

WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON, EH?

Because there are not three ......

Just the one ....

Or the other ...

And so .....

And while we are on that subject ....

"PLASTIC JESUS ON THE DASHBOARD OF MY JET"

Words attributed to Flight Lieutenant George W. Bush, Republic of Texas Air Force, dates of service deleted for purposes of national security, but certainly at a time when the nation was at war, for sure, and Flight Lieutenant Bush was charged with keeping the skies of the Republic of Texas free from COMMUNISM and Viet Cong Bombers and paratroop transports .....

I don't care .....

If it's raining ....

Or freezing ....

'Long as I got ....

My plastic Jesus ....

Riding on the dashboard ....

Of my jet fighter plane ...

Through my trials ....

And tribulations ....

And my travels ....

Above the nation ....

With my plastic Jesus .....

I'll go far .....

Plastic Jesus, plastic Jesus .....

Riding on the dashboard ....

Of my .....

Hypersonic .....

Jet fighter plane ....

I'd be afraid ....

If my commander ....

Said he had to go .....

I don't care ....

If his magnets ....

Ruin my radio .....

Or if I have a wreck ....

He'll leave a scar .....

Flying through the Texas skies ....

With his hand on his heart ....

A wreck may be ahead ....

When I try to land this thing ...

But He don't mind .....

Trouble coming ....

That he sees ....

And ....

He keeps His eye on me ......

And any other thing that lies behind .....

LIKE COMMIE FIGHTER JETS .....

Out to get me ....

'Cause I'm the ace ....

Plastic Jesus, plastic Jesus .....

Riding on the dashboard ....

Of my .....

Hypersonic .....

Jet fighter plane .....

Though the sunshine ...

On His back

Makes Him peel ...

Chip ....

And crack ....

A little patching ....

Keeps Him up to par ....

When I'm in a traffic jam ....

Around the airport .....

Waiting to land this thing ....

And afraid to run out of gas ....

He don't care ....

If I say "damn" ....

I can let ....

All my curses roll ....

Plastic Jesus doesn't hear ....

'Cause he has a plastic ear ....

The man who invented plastic ....

Saved my soul ...

Plastic Jesus, plastic Jesus .....

Riding on the dashboard ....

Of my .....

Hypersonic .....

Jet fighter plane ......

Once His robe was snowy white ....

Now it isn't quite so bright ....

Stained by the smoke ...

Of all that napalm ....

That I dropped ...

While he was there ....

If I weave around at night .....

After I finally land that damn thing ....

And policemen think I'm tight ....

And rightfully so ....

They never find my bottle ....

Though they ask ....

Plastic Jesus shelters me .....

For His head comes off, you see ....

He's hollow ....

And I use Him for a flask ....

Plastic Jesus, plastic Jesus

Riding on the dashboard ....

Of my .....

Hypersonic .....

Jet fighter plane .....

Fly with me ...

There's two seats in this thing, after all .....

It's really just a trainer ....

And have a dram ....

Of the blood ....

Of the Lamb .....

Plastic Jesus is a holy bar .....

Well, I don't care if it rains or freezes .....

Long as I have my plastic Jesus ....

Riding on the dashboard ....

Of my .....

Hypersonic .....

Jet fighter plane ....

I could go a thousand miles an hour ....

Long as I got the almighty power .....

Glued up there with my pair of fuzzy dice ....

Plastic Jesus, plastic Jesus

Riding on the dashboard ....

Of my .....

Hypersonic .....

Jet fighter plane .....

Through all my trials ....

And tribulations ....

As a jet fighter ace ....

We will fly through every nation .....

With my plastic Jesus I'll go far ....

I don't care if it rains or freezes .....

As long as I've got my plastic Jesus ....

Glued ....

To the dashboard ....

Of my .....

Hypersonic .....

Jet fighter plane ....

You can buy Him phosphorescent ...

Glows in the dark ....

He's pink and pleasant ....

Take Him with you ....

When you're flying far ....

Like Alabama ......

I don't care if it bumps or jostles .....

Long as I got the twelve apostles ....

Bolted ....

To the dashboard ....

Of my .....

Hypersonic .....

Jet fighter plane ......

Don't I have a pious mess .....

Such a crowd of holiness ....

Strung across the dashboard

Of my .....

Hypersonic .....

Jet fighter plane .....

When them illegals ....

Try to cross ...

Over into Texas ....

I swoop down on them ....

From out of the rising sun ....

To let them know who's boss .....

I never give them warning .....

I fly all over Texas .....

Trying to gun them down ....

And it's seldom ....

That they live ....

To see the morning .....

Plastic Jesus, plastic Jesus ......

Riding on the dashboard ....

Of my hypersonic jet fighter plane ....

His halo fits just right .....

And I use it as a sight ....

And they'll scatter ....

Or they'll splatter ....

Near and far ....

I don't care if it rains or freezes ....

Long as I got my plastic Jesus ....

Riding on the dashboard ....

Of my hypersonic .....

Jet fighter plane ....

He's the dude ....

With the rusty nails .....

Walks on water ....

Don't need no sails .....

Riding on the dashboard ...

Of my hypersonic ....

Jet fighter plane ....

And as a Viet Nam combat veteran myself .....

I am quite moved ....

By the words .....

To George W. Bush's WARRIOR CHANT above here ....

And in fact .....

As a mere groundpounder, myself .....

I am in awe .....

Of the sheer machismo ....

That comes across ....

In George's FIGHTER PILOT WARRIOR'S CHANT above here ....

And so .....

And moving along .....

To the RACE ....

For Governor .....

In the CORRUPT REPUBLICAN EMPIRE .....

Of New York ....

We have the following news ....

Just in ...

FROM THE TOM SUOZZI CAMPAIGN .....

FOR GOVERNOR ....

OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK ....

And so ....

Tomorrow night our campaign to fix Albany goes prime time.

At 7 p.m. Tuesday, Pace University will host the first of what we hope will be several debates between Tom Suozzi and Eliot Spitzer in the Democratic race for governor.

It will air live on NY-1 and NY-1 Noticias (in New York City), Capital News 9 (in Albany and Upstate New York) and on News 12 on Long Island.

This debate is really opening night of the campaign.

For the first time, both candidates will be on a stage side-by-side.

Tom's ready to show that he's the real reformer in this race, the only candidate with the strength, experience, and independence to shake things up in Albany.

We hope you will show your support for Tom on this special night by watching the debate and encouraging your friends to do the same.

For those of you who can't watch at home, we want to invite you to watch with our campaign staff and friends at a special debate party in Manhattan.

We will be gathering at 5 p.m. at Beekman's Pub (15 Beekman Street).

If you would like to attend, please RSVP to hjames@tomsuozzi.com or call 1-877-TOM-4-GOV (866-4468), ext. 207.

We appreciate all you have done for our campaign so far and are excited to kick off this next phase with you.

We hope you can make it.

Friends of Tom Suozzi
PO Box 112, Carle Place, NY 11514-0112