The Cheney Observer
State can't investigate complaint on Rove's voting in Texas
WASHINGTON - The Texas Secretary of State's office doesn't have jurisdiction to investigate a watchdog group's complaint that presidential adviser Karl Rove may be illegally voting in Texas, a spokesman said Wednesday.
Spokesman Scott Haywood said complaints about a voter's residency must be investigated by county officials. He also said the group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, did not have standing to file the complaint against Rove. Such complaints would have to be filed by another registered voter in Kerr County, the county where Rove is registered.
Haywood said the agency is drafting a response to the group's complaint.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/12584299.htm
New York Times: Karl Rove Taking Over To Contain Storm Political Damage
by Joe Gandelman
Just as some have predicted, the New York Times reports that White House political guru Karl Rove is now taking over to orchestrate White House response to Hurricane Katrina, offset the political damage — and go on the offensive.
This means Americans will start seeing and hearing the new line in images, comments from leading GOPers and, most prominently, in arguments made by lock-step GOP establishment radio and cable talk show hosts. It's worth looking at this Times piece in some detail so outraged independents, Democrats and non-lockstep Repubublicans know what to expect:
Under the command of President Bush's two senior political advisers, the White House rolled out a plan this weekend to contain the political damage from the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina.
It orchestrated visits by cabinet members to the region, leading up to an extraordinary return visit by Mr. Bush planned for Monday, directed administration officials not to respond to attacks from Democrats on the relief efforts, and sought to move the blame for the slow response to Louisiana state officials, according to Republicans familiar with the White House plan.
There you have it: (a)don't respond to criticism, labeling it all as political and partisan just because Democrats (and OTHERS by the way) are voicing it, (b)shift the blame to others to avoid blame falling on the administration. MORE:
http://www.themoderatevoice.com/posts/chain_1125979340.shtml
This is Censorship.
Internet satellite imagery under fire over security
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Asian governments have expressed security concerns about easy access to detailed satellite images on the internet, such as those used by rescuers in New Orleans, saying the technology could endanger sensitive sites.
Thailand and South Korea were the most vocal critics of the search tool on Wednesday, rounding on providers like US-based Google, which runs the website http://www.earth.google.com/ and demanding action from Washington.
"We are looking for possible restrictions on these detailed pictures, especially state buildings," the Thai Armed Forces spokesman, Major-General Weerasak Manee-in, told Reuters. "I think pictures of tourist attractions should do."
(image placeholder)
http://www.itnews.com.au/newsstory.aspx?CIaNID=19923
Top War Profiteer Doug Feith Retires Wealthy
by Evelyn Pringle
http://www.opednews.com/
Douglas Feith, the recently resigned undersecretary of defense, who just happened to be one of the main people who for years on end advocated for a war in Iraq, and who in large part developed the disastrous policies for the war in Iraq, planned ahead for his retirement and will not be seen in the unemployment line.
On January 27, 2005, the Washington Post announced: "A principal architect of the Defense Department's postwar strategy in Iraq ... will leave his post this summer."
The announcement came after years of rumors that top administration officials had decided that Feith had to go, but were dissuaded by Donald Rumsfeld who argued that his ouster would be viewed as an admission that the war in Iraq was a mistake. But the administration had definitely reduced Feith's authority over the past 2 years.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_evelyn_p_050907_top_war_profiteer_do.htm
Ex-FEMA director's Halliburton work protested
Political 'revolving door' blasted; company says Allbaugh isn't lobbying
09:32 PM CDT on Wednesday, September 7, 2005
By DAVID JACKSON / The Dallas Morning News
WASHINGTON – With the Federal Emergency Management Agency under fire over its response to Hurricane Katrina, a watchdog group protested Wednesday that former FEMA Director Joe Allbaugh now does work for Halliburton on disaster issues.
The Project on Government Oversight called Mr. Allbaugh's relationship with a Halliburton subsidiary – KBR – an example of the political "revolving door."
"The government has got to stop stacking senior positions with people who are repeatedly cashing in on the public trust in order to further private commercial interests," said Danielle Brian, the group's executive director.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/washington/djackson/stories/090805dntexallbaugh.256024d.html
Crossing Halliburton and Bush's FEMA
The issue: The Bush Administration and whistle-blowers
Our view: Firing of U.S. Army Corps official smacks of political reprisal.
Forgive us if we remain a little skeptical about President Bush's pledge to "investigate" the tragically impotent federal government's role before, during and after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
After all, when it comes to investigations into the workings of the secret-obsessed Bush administration, things always seem to come out the same: Some low-level bureaucrat gets fired or reprimanded for pointing out the flaws, while the buck - using the words of another president - seems to consistently stop anywhere but the Oval Office.
Consider the plight of Bunnatine Greenhouse, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lead official for government contracts, whose demotion last week to a position with no influence was obscured by news of Hurricane Katrina. What did the otherwise highly respected civil servant do to earn such harsh discipline from the government she, by all accounts, served admirably throughout her career?
http://www.journalstandard.com/articles/2005/09/07/opinion/opinion01.txt
A New Works Project Administration ?
By Eric Hamburg
It has occured to me that with all the money that will need to be spent to recover from Katrina that instead of following the usual model of allocating money to contractors (e.g. Halliburton), and the inevitable abuse of those funds, that the effort could be modeled somewhat after the depression era WPA.
The government could marshall the efforts of many who want to assist and many who need work. It could be an opportunity to inspire people and groups of all types (e.g., construction workers, artists) to service.
http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/9/7/151242/3470
Upi Market Update: Global Energy Crisis Looms
The Paris-based International Energy Agency said Hurricane Katrina`s damage on important strategic oil refineries ignited a global energy crisis.
Despite easing oil prices as nations tap into their emergency stockpiles and the United States receives fuel assistance from foreign nations, IEA Executive Director Claude Mandil warned the damage inflicted on Gulf production had serious global implications.
The IEA`s 26 oil-consuming member nations decided to release 60 million barrels of fuel over the next 30 days.
Because a significant proportion of domestic oil refining industry was hit, Mandil said the world`s largest fuel consumer would have to consider securing offshore facilities to meet its requirements.
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/business/article_1046621.php/Energy_Watch
Subject : Katrina: Bush Arrogance Cruelty (and Halliburton?)
As if Mother Nature and an inept President were not enough, watch out for Halliburton. There is going to be a poorly regulated flood of federal dollars into the disaster zone and Halliburton has their point-man heading to the scene.
Mr. Bush, in a flurry of meetings at the White House, said he would dispatch Vice President Dick Cheney to the Gulf Coast this week to cut through any bureaucratic obstacles slowing recovery efforts. full text
I smell more no-bid contracts for Halliburton being cooked up.
Bush is showing that he does not lack arrogance. I thought this statement set a new standard in arrogance.
"What I intend to do is lead a - to lead an investigation to find out what went right and what went wrong," Mr. Bush, after meeting with his cabinet, said in response to a question about who would be held accountable. full text
Ok Mr. President, and perhaps drunks should be allowed to determine if they were fit to drive before the crash.
http://english.ohmynews.com/TALK_BACK/bbs_view.asp?ba_code=63&bb_code=303747
This is incredible, a conservative finds a way to criticise Bush at the expense of Bill Clinton who put FEMA at the top of his priorities Mr. Bainbridge would cite FEMA under Clinton as pork barrel but says nothing about the pork barrel spending that should have gone to funding FEMA and Homeland Security under Bush. Amazing.
The Invisible Helping Hand
By Stephen Bainbridge
At this point, there seems little doubt that government -- at all levels from small localities all the way up to the federal government -- fumbled the response to Hurricane Katrina quite badly. As President Bush correctly observed, the response was "unacceptable."
Politicians and partisans are desperately trying to assign -- and shift -- blame and, in fairness, there is plenty of blame to go around. Yet, it's important to recognize that we are dealing with a longstanding problem with bipartisan credentials.
The government's delayed response to Hurricane Andrew, for example, is widely seen as having contributed to former President George H.W. Bush's loss to Bill Clinton in 1992. In turn, Clinton revamped FEMA, turning it into one of the biggest pork barrels in the federal government, using it for political advantage by stretching "the concept of 'major disaster' to cover routine mishaps."
http://www.techcentralstation.com/090805C.html
Where's Dick Cheney?
By Derrick Z. Jackson September 7, 2005
AS IF THE antebellum antics of Senator Trent Lott and President Bush were not enough, the inadequate response to Hurricane Katrina can be measured even more profoundly by the disappearance of Vice President Dick Cheney.
Lott is the senator who romanticized himself right out of the Senate majority leadership by praising the late Senator Strom Thurmond's 1948 run for president on a segregationist platform. Lott was one of those people who lost his Gulf Coast home to Katrina. That brought Lott no closer to understanding the human misery in Katrina's wake.
While New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was pleading in expletives for help from the White House and predicting that thousands of lives would be washed away, Lott had the gall to say, ''I am pleased with the federal government response."
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/09/07/wheres_dick_cheney/
Hurricane Katrina didn't just wipe away large sections of New Orleans; the storm also wiped the media's memory...
YouHaveBO.com
Have you ever had a friend or coworker with horrible Body Odor but didn't know what to say? Let us deliver the message for you! It's free and anonymous!
Remember Valerie Plame? Because the US news media doesn't. As you might recall, she was "outed" as a NOC (non-official cover) agent of the CIA by the Bush administration in retaliation for her husband, Joseph Wilson, making remarks critical of Bush policy on Iraq. This saga was once front-page news, especially as it was reaching a boiling point with many fingers pointing to Karl Rove as the source of that leak.
But then the American Media 4-second attention span kicked in, and nothing significant has been reported since August 16, when the editor of Time said the info from Rove was not worth a promise of confidentiality. Since that time, it's all been editorials and bloggers keeping the story alive. The news media forgot to follow one of the biggest stories of the 21st century (so far).
Then there's Tom DeLay's questionable ethics. When was the last time you heard anything significant about the investigation into his behaviour? Maybe August 11 when his lobbyist buddy Jack Abramoff was indicted for fraud. But even that isn't news about Tom DeLay himself. For that, you have to go all the way back to August 5 when it was reported that lobbyists donated to his legal defense fund (and Harry Reid's as well) in violation of House ethics rules.
http://web.morons.org/article.jsp?sectionid=2&id=6497
US lawmakers prepare Katrina probe, financial aid
07 September 2005
WASHINGTON: The Republican senator leading an investigation into the Hurricane Katrina crisis said on Tuesday the government's response was "woefully inadequate" and it had raised doubts about the US ability to cope with a terrorist attack.
Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, spoke as lawmakers prepared to provide a second round of emergency funds to cope with the devastation on the Gulf coast expected to total around $40 ($NZ57.07) billion.
Collins said her Senate Homeland Security Committee would begin its investigation this week into the relief efforts.
"If our system did such a poor job when there was no enemy, how would the federal, state and local governments have coped with a terrorist attack that provided no advance warning and that was intent on causing as much death and destruction as possible?" she told reporters.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3402937a12,00.html
The Bush Golf Dynasty
The two presidents, 41 and 43, weren't the first golfers in the White House or the first in their family
How many families can count two Presidents of the United States and a governor in the same golf group?
AP
By Dan Jenkins
Golf Digest
October 2005
If you're a friend or a relative of George Herbert Walker Bush, Prez 41, or George W. Bush, Prez 43, or any other Bushes, then you know an 18-hole round of golf shouldn't take more than three hours out of your day--there are other important things to do. Like, oh, you know. Overthrow a tyrant. Imprison a terrorist. Expose a saboteur. And those are just the Democrats.
Funny, huh? No? Well, at least try to remember there's a war on, and loose libs sink ships. Just getting your attention, actually. I'll bet you'd be dozing off right now if this piece had started off discussing Nancy Pelosi's new book, How the Snob Sport of Golf Has Ruined America and Everybody in San Francisco Who Didn't Vote for Me.
This is about the Bush golf dynasty, is what it is, and the first thing you need to be reminded of is that the Bushes didn't introduce golf to the White House. A hacker named William Howard Taft, Prez 27, did that. Around 1909 or thereabouts.
http://www.golfdigest.com/features/index.ssf?/features/gd200510dynasty.html
Another 20 years needed for landing on Mars: Armstrong
Human will have to wait for at least twenty years before they can land on Mars. But landing on Mars may be easier than his lunar landing in 1969, said Neil Armstrong, the first man who set foot on the Earth's moon.
Armstrong made the remarks on Sept 6 at a global summit forum held in Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. He said to land on Mars, scientist must first develop more advanced spaceship technologies and more effective radiation shield.
Armstrong said this certainly needs twenty years or even longer. It will be expensive because much energy will be needed to build a complex spaceship. But he predicted it would not be as difficult as the Apollo program, which started in 1961.
According to Bush Administration's space program, the US plans to spend hundreds of billion dollars in next ten to fifteen years sending more astronauts to the moon, and finally to the Mars and other planets. But no timetable for landing on the Mars has been given.
By People's Day Online
http://english.people.com.cn/200509/07/eng20050907_207141.html
Baghdad on the Bayou and the People Left Behind
A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by Michael Winship
As the torpor of this long, hot and humid summer came to an end, television plagued by re-runs and movie theaters by remakes of TV re-runs, it seemed appropriate somehow that the Bush presidency more and more resembled a bad remake of the Nixon administration.
Instead of the Pentagon Papers, we had the apparent White House outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame. It seems a shoddy attempt to discredit her husband Joe Wilson, who was debunking claims that Saddam tried to buy uranium for WMD's.
Instead of Nixon's alleged complicity in the overthrow of Chile's Salvador Allende, we had Pat Robertson calling for the un-Christian-like snuffing of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez.
And, of course, instead of Vietnam, we have Iraq. Okay, Iraq is different from Vietnam. As Daniel Ellsberg of the aforementioned Pentagon Papers recently noted, Iraq has more of a dry heat.
http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/05/09/con05319.html
Without big money projects like post Katrina and Iraq these companies would be in red digits. These smaller projects just isn't satisfying for them.
Two bid on toll plan for bypass
Published: September 6, 2005
By NICOLE MONTESANO
Of the News-Register
Two international consortiums have submitted proposals to build the $300 million Newberg-Dundee bypass as a toll road under a public/private partnership arrangement, part of a new program the state is trying as a way to fund projects whose pricetags would be too big otherwise.
The proposals were submitted by groups calling themselves Yamhill Transportation Partners, which says it could have the bypass open for business by 2010, and the Oregon Transportation Improvement Group, which proposes extending the 11-mile project eight more miles to the outskirts of McMinnville. The latter consortium is also bidding on two other major Oregon highway projects, and is offering a 30 percent discount if awarded all three.
http://www.newsregister.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=197979
Racism and Sexism are at the Core of John Roberts’ Judicial Activism
By Leo Walsh
Related stories: right wing watch
(image placeholder)
9-07-05, 9:08 am
In a weak effort to shift searing public critique of the Republican and Bush administration’s inadequate, incompetent, and racist response to the Katrina disaster, President Bush announced over the weekend that he was amending his nomination of John G. Roberts to serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
This announcement shocked much of the civil rights and democratic rights community as revelations about Roberts’ views on women, civil rights, and the Bill of Rights have shown him to be a hard line conservative whose judicial activist career aims to roll back some of the most advanced and democratic laws, decisions, and practices won over the last 40 years.
Hearings that were scheduled to begin before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday (Sept. 6th) were postponed until next week.
http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/1803/1/32/
Business frugal in Roberts support
By Elana Schor
Business interests so far have avoided direct spending to influence the brewing Supreme Court confirmation battles, despite their emergent involvement in state judicial races and chief justice nominee John Roberts’s pro-industry credentials.
Both the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), whose combined lobbying bills for the first half of this year topped $21 million, have officially endorsed Roberts but have made no plans to buy advertising promoting their support. “These appointments are always viewed through a very narrow prism of social issues. We are getting disenfranchised because no one has ever looked at how [federal judges] deal with our issues,” said Pat Cleary, a lobbyist and senior vice president of communications at NAM. The trade association has sent communications alerts to its members on Roberts and is mulling a possible public appearance next week by its president, John Engler.
http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/090805/bus.html
Legal Experts Call Current Law A Poor Fit for Leak Prosecutions
By Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 7, 2005; Page A23
Convictions for leaking sensitive government information to the media are almost as rare as sightings of the ivory-billed woodpecker.
Only twice have government employees gone to prison for such misdeeds. And legal experts say prosecutors will have a hard time putting away anyone in the administration for violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act in the revelation of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity in 2003.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/06/AR2005090601582.html
Fox - President Says He Will Do Investigation On His Timetable
Today on Studio B, Shepard Smith reported from the White House that the President said now is not the time to be pointing fingers. He added that the President said when the time comes he will launch an investigation into the Federal Relief and Rescue effort.
He then went to Wendall Goler, reporting from the White House who said that 'when the time comes' is the key phrase coming from the president and that time is not now and officials (what officials?) made clear that it would not be anytime soon.
Goler explained that since the people who need to be questioned about Katrina are the same folks who are wrestling with the everyday needs of the victims of Hurricane Katrina they can't be questioned at this time.
He switched to the President in a conference room who said that, (paraphrased but pretty much verbatim) "We still live in an uncertain world. We want to make sure we respond properly if there is a WMD attack (pause) or, if there's another storm. And, uh...so I'm gonna find out what went right and what went wrong..uh..over time."
http://www.newshounds.us/2005/09/06/fox_president_says_he_will_do_investigation_on_his_timetable.php
Roberts & the 'Apex of Presidential Power'
By Nat Parry
September 6, 2005
What’s at stake with the Supreme Court confirmation of John Roberts, especially with George W. Bush poised to name a second justice, is not only how the United States deals with abortion and other social issues but whether the President will be granted broad authoritarian powers over the nation’s future and the civil liberties of people worldwide.
While much of the focus on Bush’s choice of Judge Roberts has centered on his life-long conservative ideology, including his hostility toward women’s rights, a sleeper issue has been Roberts’s support for giving the Executive nearly unlimited authority, at least when the White House is held by a Republican.
That past support for an Imperial Presidency is even more significant now that Bush has picked Roberts, 50, to replace the late William Rehnquist as Chief Justice, creating the prospect of a Roberts Court that may extend for decades. Bush next plans to fill the vacancy from Sandra Day O’Connor’s retirement with another nominee, who is expected to consolidate right-wing control of the high court.
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2005/090605.html
Chief justice has powers beyond just a single vote
Job carries added influence, burdens
The chief justice has only one of nine votes on the U.S. Supreme Court. But the numbers don't express the power or importance of the position.
In nearly two decades as the court's leader, the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist appointed the secret court that approved national security wiretaps and searches; named the committees that wrote the rules for federal court procedures; and, under a now-repealed law, selected the panel to pick the special prosecutor who brought impeachment charges against President Bill Clinton. Rehnquist then presided over Clinton's trial in the Senate.
The chief justice also lobbied Congress for more federal judgeships and higher pay, spoke out against attempts by fellow conservatives in Congress to curb judicial authority, chaired the policymaking arm of the federal courts, and was chief executive of an institution with 350 employees and a $70 million budget.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/09/06/MNGDOEITFK1.DTL
Tom DeLay: No support to roll back gas tax
Tue Sep 6, 2005 4:37 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Republican Leader Tom DeLay said on Tuesday there was no support for rolling back the federal gasoline tax to offset higher prices.
"Absolutely not," he told reporters after a meeting with President George W. Bush on issues related to Hurricane Katrina.
"Now more than ever you're going to need ... that infrastructure, those highway trust funds, to rebuild the bridges that were destroyed, rebuild the railroads that were destroyed. You have to have the infrastructure or you can't have a recovery," DeLay, of Texas, said.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2005-09-06T203801Z_01_MCC664526_RTRIDST_0_POLITICS-CONGRESS-ENERGY-DC.XML
The New Zealand Herald
Hooters restaurant chain coming to New Zealand
08.09.05
By Juliet Rowan
Controversial American restaurant chain Hooters is on its way to New Zealand.
The chain, which acknowledges that many consider its name "a slang term for a portion of the female anatomy", announced yesterday that it plans to open branches in all major cities in the country beginning next year.
Auckland is likely to be the first stop for Hooters, which describes itself as "delightfully tacky yet unrefined" and is renowned for its busty "Hooters Girls".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10344555
National lists top 10 priorities
08.09.05 1.00pm
National leader Don Brash today outlined the party's top 10 priorities if it becomes government, with cutting personal taxes top of the list.
Dr Brash launched a new pamphlet today titled "National's Action Plan For New Zealand: The First Ten Things We Will Do" which will be delivered to more than one million homes from this weekend.
"In nine days New Zealanders will have to decide who will really tackle the issues that matter to New Zealand and its future," he said at the launch in Northcote, Auckland.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10344634
Radio host in hot water
08.09.05
Radio New Zealand's Morning Report presenter, Sean Plunket, has been suspended after a "confrontational" interview with Greens co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons.
"I'm having a lie-in tomorrow," Plunket said last night. "That's all I'm contractually allowed to say."
He interviewed Ms Fitzsimons and National deputy leader Gerry Brownlee on Morning Report about the Exclusive Brethren pamphlet controversy.
The Greens said last night that they had expressed "disappointment" to Radio New Zealand about Plunket's "lack of balance" but had not made a formal complaint or sought disciplinary action.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10344597
Refugee wishes brothers could be with him
08.09.05
By Angela Gregory
Former refugee Dawit Arshak this week packed his bags in his New Lynn home for the trip of a lifetime.
He was getting ready to fly out to the United States and then the Netherlands to visit his two brothers whom he has not seen for over 20 years.
Mr Arshak fled Ethiopia where he was to be drafted into the Army against his wishes.
He has lived in New Zealand since 1988 with his wife and their two young children, but wishes more of his family could have joined him here.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10344564
Worker's legs trapped in rollers at timber mill
08.09.05 10.00am
A timber worker suffered serious leg injuries after becoming trapped in rollers at a mill in Hawke's Bay.
The accident happened at the Pan Pac timber mill in Whirinaki, north of Napier, a spokesman for the Lowe Rescue Helicopter said.
The man was trapped in rollers at the chipping plant for nearly two hours, before being freed from the heavy equipment and flown to Hawke's Bay Regional Hospital.
Fire service teams and paramedics from Napier and Hastings attended.
No further details were available.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10344612
Officials hot on bulbul birds' trail
08.09.05 6.00am
Biosecurity officials hope they are hot on the trail of a pair of unwanted overseas visitors.
Biosecurity New Zealand had raised the alarm about reports of two red-vented bulbul birds in the Devonport and central city areas of Auckland.
Senior adviser Sonya Bissmire said yesterday that a Devonport man had told her he thought a pair of the birds had been living in one of his trees for the past three months.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10344595
concluding …
