With Global Warming tearing into the economic fabric of the USA on a regular basis now, Dickie and Georgie are finding 'Regime Change' in Washington, DC even more of a challege. The ony way to victory is more big spending.
While Cindy Sheehan held the largest Peace Rally since the illegal and immoral invasion into Iraq, Dick's wife came to DC to call September 17th 'Constitution Day.' I though Senator Byrd already did that. And Georgie's wife held a book fair. Those must have been challenging events for Neocon women. Somehow, A Peace Rally with National and Former Military support seems more of a daunting accomplishment.
Katrina Reveals Environmental Racism's Deadly Force
New America Media, Commentary, Beverly Wright, Sep 21, 2005
Editor's Note: Long before Hurricane Katrina, blacks in Louisiana's "Cancer Alley" suffered the effects of nearby fossil fuel plants. Now the hurricane shows how people of color will bear the brunt of climate change. Helping local businesses rebuild their own communities, instead of giant corporations, can help break the links between environmental disaster and racism.
NEW ORLEANS--What we once called home is now a toxic wasteland. But our communities were polluted even before Hurricane Katrina.
The 85-mile stretch from New Orleans to Baton Rouge is home to many African-American communities, as well as 136 petrochemical plants and six refineries. At the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice at Xavier University, I work with these "Cancer Alley" communities. I have learned how the use of fossil fuels hits us hard at the front end, through pollution from the production process. But we also suffer from a
"boomerang" effect: the increased extreme weather patterns caused by global warming.
http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=74fb2e18f6e1c829ae73181353442a61
Citizens Against Government Waste Names Reps. Tom DeLay and Don Young Co-Porkers of the Month
9/20/2005 4:19:00 PM
To: National Desk
Contact: Jessica Shoemaker, 202-467-5318 (daytime), or Tom Finnigan, 202-253-3852 (after hours), both of Citizens Against Government Waste
WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today named House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska) Co-Porkers of the Month for their response to requests to offset the costs of Hurricane Katrina relief. According to a Sept. 14 Washington Times article, Rep. DeLay declared an "ongoing victory" in the effort to cut spending, and that the Republicans had "pared (the government) down pretty good." While claiming to be receptive to proposed offsets, DeLay said that "nobody has been able to come up with any yet." He added that cutting the 6,000 earmarks in the recently-passed $295 billion Transportation Equity Act - A Legacy for Users (TEA-LU) would adversely affect "important infrastructure" and the economy, and it would be "right" to borrow the money to pay for Katrina relief.
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=53708
Senator questions Rove's fundraising trip as hurricane nears
By Eunice Moscoso
WASHINGTON BUREAU
Saturday, September 24, 2005
WASHINGTON -- A Democratic senator asked the White House on Friday to explain why Karl Rove, who reportedly is helping organize Katrina recovery efforts as President Bush's deputy chief of staff, was heading to a political fundraiser on the day another hurricane was poised to hit the Gulf Coast.
"Hurricane Rita is bearing down on the Gulf Coast even as the nation reels from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. It would be expected that Mr. Rove would be at his post '24/7' during this crisis," said Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, in a letter to Bush.
Rove, Bush's closest political adviser, is to speak to the North Dakota Republican Party and be featured as a special guest at a fundraising dinner on Saturday, the day Hurricane Rita is expected to make landfall. The hurricane caused flooding Friday in New Orleans, which was devastated by Katrina just weeks ago.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/auto/epaper/editions/saturday/news_3443bf966606417100fc.html
Political Strategist Karl Rove Visits ND
KFYR-TV
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove was in North Dakota today to rally state Republicans and raise money for the party's campaign coffers. Some also expected Rove to use his visit to Fargo to encourage Governor Hoeven to run against Senator Kent Conrad next year.
But, while Rove did take the time to praise Hoeven for his work as governor, he did not mention a run against the senator. In past interviews, Hoeven has said he and Rove have talked about the possibility running, but that he still has some thinking to do.
Many Democrats say Rove's visit to the state today was inappropriate considering the devastation plaguing the gulf coast. In fact, there were protesters in Fargo saying Rove has his priorities all mixed up.
http://www.kfyrtv.com/showNews.asp?whatStory=4171
Billions in storm relief at risk of waste, fraud
By Seth Borenstein
Knight Ridder
WASHINGTON - As the federal government throws tens of billions of dollars into hurricane relief and reconstruction, the system to make sure taxpayers' money is spent properly is a mess.
The federal purchasing system has been plagued with scandal; its top buyer was arrested Monday. It has too few workers deciding exactly what to buy, and there may not be enough auditors to ensure taxpayers get their money's worth. Even now, rules designed to keep the contracting process fair and honest are being loosened to speed recovery and reconstruction.
``We are looking at billions going out there. It will be certainly hundreds of millions of dollars at risk,'' said Bunnatine Greenhouse, who was the Army Corps of Engineers chief contracting officer until last month, when she was demoted after complaining about no-bid contracting in Iraq.
Already, money is being wasted, experts say.
``There's no doubt, no question, there's going to be fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement -- there already has been,'' Comptroller General David Walker told Knight Ridder. He runs the Government Accountability Office, the watchdog arm of Congress.
Whistle-blowers are hiring attorneys, complaining to law professors and calling federal fraud hotlines.
Fraud calls ``are just starting to flow in these last two weeks,'' Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Richard Skinner said Friday. ``We're getting a lot of calls. It's increasing daily.''
Thursday, the chief administrative officer for Kenner, La., was accused of malfeasance after police found food, drinks, chain saws and roof tarps -- all intended for Hurricane Katrina survivors -- at his house.
President Bush, under pressure to rebuild the devastated Gulf Coast quickly, vowed this week to protect the public treasury.
President's promise
``We'll make sure your money is spent wisely,'' Bush told an applauding crowd Wednesday. ``And we're going to make sure that the money is spent honestly by sending a team of inspector generals down there to review all expenditures.''
At the Office of Management and Budget, where procurement policy is set, official Alex Conant said, ``We feel that we have the controls in place to prevent abuse and fraud.''
But more than a dozen experts -- current and former contracting officers, auditors, contract law professors, whistle-blowers and members of Congress -- don't share that view.
``The government is fighting this war with Civil War weapons, and we're just overwhelmed,'' said Joshua Schwartz, co-director of the George Washington University Law School's government procurement law program. Schwartz pointed to small staffs, limited budgets and weak oversight.
Even as checks were being written to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina, evidence of corruption within the administration surfaced.
Monday, David Safavian, who was administrator of federal procurement policy in the Office of Management and Budget, was arrested and charged with lying to a government ethics officer as part of a burgeoning scandal involving a Washington lobbyist. Safavian, who had been chief of staff of the General Services Administration, also was accused of obstructing an inspector general's investigation of the GSA. He resigned three days before being arrested.
``It has no impact on the Katrina relief effort,'' OMB official Conant said.
Safavian isn't the first top purchasing official touched by scandal.
Darlene Druyun, who had been the U.S. Air Force's acquisition chief, soon will be released from prison after serving a nine-month sentence for conspiring to help Boeing win a multibillion-dollar airplane contract.
Lax practices
Contracting officials who complain about lax practices -- especially at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers -- have lost their jobs. At least four federal purchasing officials were demoted or fired, or resigned under pressure after complaining about no-bid contracts, including some involving Halliburton, the large, politically connected engineering firm once headed by Vice President Cheney.
``Clearly our priorities are perverse,'' said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, a financial watchdog group in Washington. ``Our government punishes the good guys and lets, in some cases, the really bad guys help run the show and set the agendas.''
George Washington University's Schwartz said reform of the federal purchasing system -- begun in the Clinton administration -- cut jobs and overburdened those remaining.
``The system and the workforce has a massive case of indigestion,'' Schwartz said.
The number of government purchasing agents and contract managers has been cut in half since 1990, but since Sept. 11, 2001, the contract spending they oversee has more than doubled, Schwartz said.
``We have resources to do $200 billion in contracts, but we are spending $400 billion in contracts,'' Schwartz said.
Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee chair Susan M. Collins, R-Maine, said the reduction in the contracting workforce ``does make federal programs more vulnerable to waste and outright fraud.''
In 2003 and 2004, the GAO put the Department of Homeland Security in its ``high risk'' category for effectiveness because its ``procurement activities had not achieved the level of sophistication and control that we had expected,'' said Norm Rabkin, managing director of the GAO's Homeland Security auditing team.
Just days after Katrina hit, Congress and the Bush administration increased the limits for purchase on government credit cards -- from $2,500 to $250,000.
That change was ``an open invitation to waste, fraud and abuse,'' said Collins, whose committee Thursday voted to repeal the new $250,000 limit.
Some restraints
OMB official Conant said there are some restraints. Purchases over $50,000 need authorization from another official, for example.
To date, $63 billion has been approved for Katrina relief and reconstruction. Of that, $15 million will be used to hire more auditors to review spending. Homeland Security's inspector general corps will have 150 auditors and investigators looking at hurricane spending.
Keith Ashdown, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, said: ``We will learn months after the money was wasted or stolen that it was wasted and stolen.''
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/12730323.htm
So many promises, so little money
The Straits TimesAsia News Network
The U.S. has a new president. The "compassionate conservative" George Walker Bush was last seen flying over New Orleans in solitary imperial splendor aboard Air Force One, two days after Hurricane Katrina struck, enroute to Washington from his Texas ranch. A deep sea swell of public anger over his performance submerged him soon after he hit ground, and he emerged last week - cleansed, in the view of some; soiled, in the view of others - as Franklin Lyndon Bush, "the bleeding heart liberal."
Speaking to the nation from an almost deserted New Orleans last Thursday, the new president promised to "do what it takes," and to "stay as long as it takes to help the citizens (in the Gulf coast states) rebuild their communities and their lives." It will be one of the largest reconstruction projects the world has ever seen, he declared, making it clear money was no object.
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2005/09/24/200509240013.asp
Auditors investigate Katrina contracts
Halliburton, Bechtel deals not clearly defined
By HOPE YEN
Associated Press
HURRICANE KATRINA
WASHINGTON - Government auditors are questioning whether several multimillion-dollar Katrina contracts — including one involving a subsidiary of Houston-based Halliburton Co. — invite abuse because they are open-ended and not clearly defined.
The contracts, for services such as levee repair and emergency housing, were granted to companies based on their pre-existing business relationships with the government. Critics say the arrangements foster cronyism because a few repeat players typically get the best deals. The Government Accountability Office and the Homeland Security Department, which has primary responsibility for reviewing the billions of dollars worth of Katrina contracts, said they will focus on agreements awarded with little or no competition.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3366125
Where is our National Guard
A massive region of the United States has been destroyed, and its population has been scattered across the country, from Texas to New York City to Seattle. And where is our National Guard? Well, they're in Iraq.
Why are they in Iraq? Because Sept. 11, 2001, was exploited; because Halliburton and the Carlyle Group and Chevron control the United States government; and because due to a wide diversity of circumstances, we now find ourselves without an electoral process, living under an empire rather than in a republic.
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/newssummary/s_376774.html
O'Reilly Bans Donahue, Continues to Defend Bush
Last night [9-22-05] Bill O'Reilly banned Phil Donahue from ever appearing on his show again. He then re-aired his interview with the silver-tongued liberal for the edification of viewers that missed it.
O'REILLY, Talking Points Memo: "Because of that plane situation in L.A. last night, we had to go to our news desk and did not run my debate with Phil Donahue on the early edition of 'The Factor.' It did run on the second showing at 11:00pm. So we'll run it again this evening because although confrontational, it is also instructive.
"There are two rules for guests here on 'The Factor.' No slander and no personal accusations without facts to back them up. If the guest violates those rules, they are scolded by me and will not be invited back. And only a few have violated the rules.
http://www.newshounds.us/2005/09/23/oreilly_bans_donahue_continues_to_defend_bush.php
New Fla. Poll: Gov. Jeb Bush Could Capture U.S. Senate Seat
U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris solidly leads other potential candidates in the race for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate from Florida, a new poll reveals.
But the poll also shows that only Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who has said he’s not running for the Senate, would beat incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/9/23/151434.shtml
Berezovsky, Neil Bush, Latvian businessmen meet
By TBT staff
RIGA – Exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky was in Riga along with Neil Bush, the brother of the U.S. president, to discuss an educational project with Latvian businessmen.
Berezovsky and Bush are promoting new educational software developed by Ignite Learning. The software is designated for primary school students teaches curriculum by developing children's thinking and imagination, according to reports.
Much controversy surrounded the meeting, since Berezovsky is wanted for arrest in Russia, and the scandalous Russian businessman, who now lives in London, met with a relative of the U.S. president.
Russian authorities sent an official request to Latvia to extradite the former oligarch, but the request was ignored by Latvian law enforcement officials.
During the visit, Berezovsky met with Parliamentary Chairman Ingrida Udre, former PM Andris Skele, businessman Peteris Smidre and others.
http://www.baltictimes.com/hot1.php?art_id=13659
Moon visit's dark side a blow-out in costs
A new era of space exploration awaits but a mission to Mars is far from certain, writes Stephen Cauchi.
FROM 2012, one chapter of NASA's space program will end and another will begin. No longer will there be a space shuttle on the Cape Canaveral launchpad, strapped to the back of a fuel tank with two rocket boosters either side. Instead, there will be one slim, graceful rocket with a manned capsule on top, just like the good old days of Apollo, Gemini and Mercury, when the space race was hot and congressional funds plentiful.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/science/moon-visits-dark-side-a-blowout-in-costs/2005/09/23/1126982231709.html
Democrat criticizes Rove's North Dakota trip
By MARY CLARE JALONICK
Associated Press Writer
September 23, 2005, 6:05 PM EDT
WASHINGTON -- A senator from New Jersey is criticizing White House adviser Karl Rove for planning to attend a North Dakota fundraiser the same day Hurricane Rita is expected to hit Texas.
Democrat Frank Lautenberg sent a letter to President Bush Friday saying "it would be expected that Mr. Rove would be at his post '24/7' during this crisis."
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--rovefundraiser0923sep23,0,7176977.story?coll=ny-region-apnewjersey
Angry ALCOA retirees take to the streets
2005-09-23
by Jennifer Hodson
of The Daily Times Staff
Despite 90-degree weather, ALCOA Inc. retirees, upset about a company proposal to cap their medical benefits, took to the streets Thursday.
Forming picket lines at three area locations, retirees waved at passing vehicles and hoisted signs with phrases like ``ALCOA, don't mess with retirees.''
The picketing was informational only -- not a work stoppage or strike -- and was simultaneously carried out at several ALCOA facilities nationwide.
http://www.thedailytimes.com/sited/story/html/218260
Nuclear coalition bypasses S.C.
Sites in Ala., Miss. chosen over Savannah River for possible plants
RICHARD SCHWARTZ
Bloomberg News
NuStart Energy Development LLC, a group of utilities and equipment manufacturers, bypassed South Carolina and selected plant sites in Mississippi and Alabama as possible locations for the first nuclear power projects in the U.S. in almost 30 years.
The sites, owned by Entergy Corp. and the Tennessee Valley Authority, are at Entergy's Grand Gulf nuclear power plant in Port Gibson, Miss., and at TVA's Bellefonte nuclear plant in Scottsboro, Ala.
NuStart had identified six finalists for the two applications, including the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/business/12719152.htm
MARGARET KIMBERLEY: Where was Dick Cheney during Katrina?
by Margaret Kimberley
September 23, 2005
Where was Dick Cheney? In the days following the devastation wrought by hurricane Katrina, the Vice President of the United States became the invisible man.
The vice president’s job is to succeed the president in case of death, impeachment or resignation, and to preside over the Senate. He also attends the funerals of world leaders not deemed important enough to merit the attention and time of the President. The veep is certainly on hand for post hurricane photo-ops showing distraught survivors and destroyed homes.
Not only was Cheney AWOL, but the corporate media rarely made note of his absence. Millions of Americans asked one another, “Where is Cheney?” but the New York Times, the Washington Post and CNN never thought to address the issue that the rest of us discussed on our own.
http://www.chicagodefender.com/page/commentary.cfm?ArticleID=2375
Dayton says he'll vote not to confirm Roberts
Dane Smith, Star Tribune
September 24, 2005 DAYTON0924
U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton announced Friday that he would vote against confirming John Roberts as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, but he predicted that the Senate will approve the appointment next week by a vote of about 70 to 30.
At a State Capitol news conference, Dayton, a DFLer who is not seeking reelection in 2006, listed three reasons for his decision:
•Roberts' refusal to answer even basic questions about his judicial philosophy and social views in Senate hearings.
•The White House's refusal to release information on Roberts' record as a deputy solicitor general under President George H.W. Bush.
http://startribune.com/stories/587/5631765.html
THE ROBERTS DISRUPTION
By William F. Buckley Jr. Fri Sep 23, 8:49 PM ET
A few years ago, checking in with the office, I was told I had a telephone call from Norman Lear. I immediately returned it, and probably my voice quavered. The very thought of being in personal touch with the producer of "All in the Family" -- my all-time favorite television program! "What," I asked unctuously, "can I do for you?"
"Well," he said, "I would like you to be the keynote speaker at the annual banquet of People for the American Way."
I wondered how Archie Bunker would have responded to such a request, mutatis mutandis. If I had the powers of Carroll O'Connor to register bewilderment/surprise/stupefaction, the expression on my face would have flowed, coast to coast, over the telephone line.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucwb/20050924/cm_ucwb/therobertsdisruption;_ylt=A86.I213ozRDLEkAnBf9wxIF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
OF COURSE THEY BLASTED HILLARY. IT'S MEANT TO DEGRADE HER AND OPPRESS HER CANDIDACY ANYTIME IN THE FUTURE. Hillary poses a real threat to the Bushys and Cheneys. It's going to be harder to be Hillary since it has become easier to be Bill in his Global Initiative. I am waiting for Carlyle to underwrite George H.'s Global Initiative to overrun sovereign countries and bring home the oil. Aren't you? I can see it now, 'Native populous in obedience to Evangelical values in exchange for left over Katrina MREs.'
GOP rivals blast Clinton on Roberts opposition
By MARC HUMBERT
AP Political Writer
September 23, 2005, 3:01 PM EDT
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Hillary Rodham Clinton's potential Republican challengers for next year's New York Senate race charged Friday that her opposition to John Roberts' nomination to become chief justice of U.S. Supreme Court was all about presidential politics.
Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro said the former first lady clearly had her eye on the battle for the 2008 Democratic nomination for president, a process that tends to be controlled by more liberal elements of the party.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--clinton-roberts0923sep23,0,4569317.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork
Reid likely to oppose Roberts' nomination
06:35 PM EDT on Friday, September 23, 2005
By DAVID ESPO
AP Special Correspondent
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid has told associates he intends to oppose confirmation of John Roberts as chief justice, Senate sources said Tuesday as rank and file Democrats began staking out positions on the man named to succeed the late William H. Rehnquist.
http://www.wcnc.com/sharedcontent/washington/politics_topstories/092005ccjccwNatReid.af40b788.html
Behind bars for a cause
THERE are three victims in the case of Valerie Plame, the CIA operative whose outing is the subject of a meandering investigation into who in the White House leaked her identity to the news media in 2003.
The first, of course, is Ms. Plame, whose long career with the intelligence agency has been compromised, if not damaged beyond effective repair.
The second is Judith Miller, the reporter for the New York Times who got caught up in what was at first a covert attempt by White House insiders to punish Ms. Plame's husband, former diplomat Joseph Wilson, for speaking out against President Bush's failed Iraq policy.
The third victim is the American people, who are shortchanged every time the legal system is manipulated to political ends in the name of official secrecy, which in this case has triumphed over freedom of the press.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050923/OPINION02/509230307/-1/OPINION
DeLay’s help was sought
September 23, 2005
By Jesse Harlan Alderman Herald Staff Writer
Seeking to bypass Forest Service review of the proposed Village at Wolf Creek, developers sought the help of powerbroker U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, to craft legislation in favor of the controversial development.
"We would have never gotten to first base without your help," Texas billionaire Billie Joe "Red" McCombs wrote in a May 2002 letter to the House majority leader.
McCombs is aggressively moving forward with plans to build a massive resort on 288 acres of private land atop Wolf Creek Pass.
A critical decision by the Forest Service is due in November that could grant developers access over national forest land into their property. That decision would pave the way for construction to begin.
http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/05/news050923_5.htm
DeLay declares 'victory' in war on budget fat
By Amy Fagan and Stephen Dinan
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
September 14, 2005
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that Republicans have done so well in cutting spending that he declared an "ongoing victory," and said there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget.
Mr. DeLay was defending Republicans' choice to borrow money and add to this year's expected $331 billion deficit to pay for Hurricane Katrina relief. Some Republicans have said Congress should make cuts in other areas, but Mr. DeLay said that doesn't seem possible.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20050914-120153-3878r.htm
FEMA and Bechtel Provide Housing for 1,600 Mississippi Families Displaced by Katrina
JACKSON, Miss., Sept. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly 1,600 Mississippi familieswho were displaced by Hurricane Katrina are now living in temporary housingprovided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), through itscontractor Bechtel National, Inc. (BNI).As of Thursday, September 22, evacuees had moved into 1,575 trailers andother housing units in Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson Counties. Another 1,791units have been staged and are ready for occupancy, while 3,474 more units arein place and being readied for families to move in.Ike Richardson, BNI's project manager, said, "Our Katrina Recovery Team isworking hand-in-hand with FEMA and state and local officials to identify sitesand put housing units in place. Bechtel's staff and our local Mississippisubcontractors are working seven days a week to move families in as fast as wecan."
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/09-23-2005/0004114205&EDATE=
Construction workers sent home early from Hanford plant site
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
RICHLAND, Wash. -- About 600 workers were sent home early from a construction site at the Hanford nuclear reservation after a third safety problem in a week.
The incident was the latest in a string of problems associated with the waste treatment plant under construction at the south-central Washington site. Construction was halted indefinitely this summer on a large portion of the project because of seismic problems, rising costs and delays.
The plant is being built to turn millions of gallons of radioactive waste into glasslike logs for permanent disposal in a nuclear waste repository. The waste, the remnants of Cold War-era plutonium production for the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal, is stored in 177 underground tanks nearby.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/aplocal_story.asp?category=6420&slug=WA%20Hanford%20Waste%20Plant
Report: Court Clears Way for Plant Restart
Stocks mentioned in this article
GENERAL ELECTRIC(GE) Quote, Chart, News
NEW DELHI (AP) - A court has cleared the way for restarting the 2,184-megawatt Dabhol Power Project in western India, a plant formerly owned by Enron Corp., a news report said Friday.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday approved transferring the assets of the Dabhol plant to India's Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private Ltd., or RGPPL and the plant is likely to resume power production before the end of 2006, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?feed=AP&Date=20050923&ID=5136972
Florida Governor Jeb Bush to Speak at the Miami Herald Americas Conference; This Year's Conference to Focus on Global Competitiveness In Latin America
MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 22, 2005--The ninth annual Miami Herald Americas Conference is positioned as the premier business and political forum on Latin America and the Caribbean and will count on the participation of key leaders and diplomats from around the globe. This year's conference, which focuses on Latin America's global competitiveness, will address issues such as intellectual property rights, trends in cross-border investment and China's increasing presence in the region. The conference will take place Thursday, Sept. 29 and Friday, Sept. 30 at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Fla.
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20050922005770&newsLang=en
Berezovsky Not Fit for Convention
// Latvia is not going to extradite the political emigrant to Russia
The émigré Boris Berezovsky said yesterday he is not afraid of being arrested or extradited to Russia from Latvia to which he arrived late Wednesday with Neil Bush, brother of the U.S. President, on business. The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office filed an extradition request to Latvia concerning Mr. Berezovsky to “institute criminal proceedings against him”.
Boris Berezovsky came to Riga from London on a private jet with Neil Bush, U.S. President’s younger brother and owner of Texas-based Inginte! (which deals with educational technologies). Ignite! is going to start producing tutorials in Latvia. Belokon Holdings is the company’s Latvian partner. Valery Belokon, the company’s owner, said yesterday that he had invited Neil Bush who took Boris Berezovsky, co-founder of Ignite!, with him. Mr. Berezovsky is quite familiar with the region, Valery Belokon says, and is interested to develop this business.
http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=611446
Fox News Shills for Gov. Rick Perry - No "Lack of Preparedness" in Texas!
Remember the post-Katrina ranting and raving about the "lack of preparedness" by the governor of Louisiana and the mayor of New Orleans, both of whom are Democrats? Have you noticed that we are witnessing, live on television today, another example of a "lack of preparedness," this time on the part of Texas officials? Have you seen the live feeds of the miles-long, gridlocked freeways heading north out of Houston? Have you heard the reports about people running out of gas as they sit in stop-and-go traffic, in 90+ degree heat with their air conditioners off to conserve fuel? Have you heard about gas trucks driving out to rescue stranded drivers?
Shortly after 4:00 p.m. EDT today (September 22, 2005), during Your World w/Neil Cavuto, the mayor of Houston and some of his officials held a news conference to update the media on the state of the evacuation and preparations for Hurricane Rita. The presser grew contentious when several reporters asked about the jammed freeways. The mayor and his group became quite defensive and concluded by saying the traffic jams weren't, "part of the plan."
http://www.newshounds.us/2005/09/22/fox_news_shills_for_gov_rick_perry_no_lack_of_preparedness_in_texas.php
Statement of Sen. Bayh on Judge John Roberts
Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Senator Evan Bayh today released the following statement on the nomination of Judge John Roberts to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States:
"The outcome of John Roberts' confirmation process is not in doubt. He will be the next Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Like all Americans regardless of party, I hope and pray that he will be a great Chief Justice. Time will tell.
"But I am troubled that I must hope and pray for that result and cannot conclude it with greater certainty. I cannot because so much essential to reaching a considered judgment about this nominee remains unknown. And that is not enough for a lifetime appointment to our nation's highest court, a court from which there is no appeal, a court that is the ultimate arbiter of our most basic rights and freedoms.
"It did not need to be this way. When I introduced Judge Roberts at his confirmation hearing, I said that I looked forward to a full and clarifying discussion of his views. Regrettably, that did not happen.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050924/NEWS06/50923018
Stabenow to vote against Roberts
PUBLISHED: September 24, 2005
By Chad Selweski
Macomb Daily Staff Writer
U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow announced Friday that she will vote against Judge John Roberts nomination for Supreme Court chief justice, saying she fears Roberts will curtail Americans' "most cherished and fundamental rights."
http://www.macombdaily.com/stories/092405/loc_stabenow%20vote001.shtml
Reject Roberts nomination
Chico Enterprise-Record
Judge John Roberts believes in a right to privacy, all right. He believes in his right to withhold from the U.S. Senate his thinking on the core legal issues that will affect the lives of a generation of Americans.
Americans know better than to just accept Roberts on faith. Just when the country needed clarity, candor and honesty, Roberts hid behind a veneer of legal ethics and privilege. He refused to answer specific questions on abortion, affirmative action, civil rights, presidential powers, and separation of church and state, just to name a few.
http://chicoer.com/letters/ci_3057622
Summary of Dick Cheney's Heart Problems
By The Associated Press
September 24, 2005, 2:54 PM EDT
A summary of Vice President Dick Cheney's heart problems:
* 1978: Cheney's first heart attack, at age 37.
* 1984: His second heart attack.
* 1988: After suffering his third heart attack, Cheney had quadruple bypass surgery in August to clear clogged arteries.
* 2000: Cheney suffered what doctors called a "very slight" heart attack, his fourth, and underwent an angioplasty to open a clogged artery.
* March 5, 2001: Just over 100 days later, Cheney felt chest pains and underwent another angioplasty to reopen the same artery.
* June 30, 2001: Cheney returned to the hospital and had a special pacemaker called an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, or ICD, inserted into his chest. During his 2004 annual checkup, doctors said the device had never automatically activated to regulate, which they said meant the heart was functioning normally.
* Nov. 13, 2004: Cheney entered the hospital after complaining of shortness of breath. He left after three hours. An aide said tests found no abnormalities.
* Sept. 24, 2005: Undergoes surgery to repair an arterial aneurysm on the back of each knee.
After the 2000 heart attack, Cheney, began a daily 30-minute regimen on the treadmill and began eating healthier. He takes medication to lower his cholesterol. He quit smoking in 1978.
http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-cheney-health-chronology,0,6604753.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines
Auditors Eye Open-Ended Katrina Contracts
By HOPE YEN
Associated Press Writer
September 22, 2005, 4:35 PM EDT
WASHINGTON -- Government auditors are questioning whether several multimillion-dollar Katrina contracts -- including one involving a Halliburton Co. subsidiary -- invite abuse because they are open-ended and not clearly defined.
The contracts, for services such as levee repair and emergency housing, were granted to companies based on their pre-existing business relationships with the government. Critics say the arrangements foster cronyism because a few repeat players typically get the best deals.
http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-katrina-contracts-hk4,0,4393665.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines
Meyerson: Karl Rove, master of the political poison pill
Harold Meyerson, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON POST
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Why has President Bush placed Karl Rove atop the government's endeavors to rebuild the Gulf Coast? Rove knows as much about massive relief and reconstruction efforts as your pet schnauzer, but he's not devoid of germane expertise. He played a critical role, after all, in the formation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
In the fall of 2002, as the legislation establishing the DHS was wending its way through Congress, Rove had a Rovean idea: Embed some extraneous, ideological criteria in the bill — criteria that the Democrats would obviously oppose — and then campaign against those Democrats for being soft on homeland security. Which is why one day the bill suddenly contained language mandating that the unionized federal employees at the agencies being merged into DHS would henceforth be nonunion. Predictably, the Democrats squawked, and predictably, the Republicans took out after a southern Democratic senator up for re-election — Georgia's Max Cleland, who'd lost an arm and both legs while fighting in Vietnam — as indifferent to protecting our nation. Cleland was defeated.
So it's not as if Rove lacks experience in manipulating national catastrophes for the narrowest of political ends. The administration is clearly going back to Congress to seek more than $100 billion in additional appropriations for the reconstruction of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, and Rove is certainly up to the task of crafting some poison-pill provisions that would make it difficult for Democrats to vote yes.
http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/09/22meyerson_edit.html
Karl Rove, top Bush political adviser, visiting Fargo on Saturday
DALE WETZEL
Associated Press
BISMARCK, N.D. - Karl Rove, President Bush's top political adviser, plans to speak Saturday at a GOP fundraiser and meet with Gov. John Hoeven, whom Republicans hope to coax into running against Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D.
Hoeven said he will attend the Fargo fundraiser and meet with Rove, but he downplayed the visit's significance.
"We'll talk about a variety of things," the governor said. "Obviously, I talk to the administration on a regular basis about all kinds of different issues. Just because he's coming out, that doesn't mean that's the only time I get to talk to him. I think that gets overplayed."
Conrad, who was first elected to the Senate in 1986, plans to run for re-election next year. He recently began running a television ad to talk up his role in pushing highway construction and energy legislation, and his lobbying on behalf of North Dakota's military installations.
http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/12716905.htm
Bush, Rove Press Congress on Illegal-Worker Proposal
By Mary Curtius, Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — White House political strategist Karl Rove is offering lawmakers new details of an administration-backed guest worker program that would temporarily legalize the status of millions of illegal workers, according to Republicans who have attended the meetings.
The White House effort is seen as its latest step toward reasserting President Bush's leadership on one of the most divisive issues confronting the Republican Party.
Concerned that increasingly strident anti-immigrant voices within the party were undermining the administration's efforts to reach out to Latino voters, the administration formed a coalition of business groups and immigration advocates during the summer to lobby for the sort of comprehensive plan Bush has advocated since early in his presidency.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-immig23sep23,0,4132562.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Rove cautions Republican leaders about complacency
By DAVE KOLPACK Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press - Sunday, September 25, 2005
· advertisement ·
FARGO, N.D.
State Republican leaders say Karl Rove's visit to North Dakota provided a boost, no matter what happens after his scheduled meeting with Gov. John Hoeven.
The president's top adviser delivered a low-key speech to about 60 state committee members on Saturday, before attending an event with Hoeven and other Republicans. Some party supporters are encouraging Hoeven to run against Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad in 2006.
http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8CQVKV80
O'Reilly: Tom DeLay "doesn't have any power anymore"
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On his nationally syndicated radio show, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly said that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) "doesn't have any power anymore." Attacking Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean, O'Reilly said that Dean has "no GOP equivalent." He then continued, "I guess Tom DeLay might be the closest, but he doesn't have any power anymore."
From the September 20 broadcast of Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly:
O'REILLY: Now, I don't have anything personally against Bill Clinton. I thought he did a pretty decent job managing the economy. I thought he was a disaster in foreign policy, and I think that a lot of his soft terrorism programs led to 9-11. I do believe that in my heart. But in managing the economy, he did a pretty damned good job. See, I'm not a Clinton-hater at all.
But the mail that I get -- anti-Clinton -- is just as vicious as the anti-Bush stuff that I hear. It just -- look, most of these people who have this kind of emotion invested in their political points of view have some kind of emotional damage. There's a reason why they hate Bush with a passion. I mean, Bush is a nice guy. Clinton's a nice guy. I mean, you talk to them one-on-one, they're not bad guys. So why do you hate them personally? Why? That's on you.
So people are bringing their neurosis to the table. Whether they're insecure about their intellect, you know, I don't really have time to delve into it. Once I see a Howard Dean -- and there is no GOP equivalent of Howard Dean. I guess Tom DeLay might be the closest, but he doesn't have any power anymore. Once I see Howard Dean out there viciously attacking people personally, I just say this guy doesn't deserve to be where he is, and he's shaming the Democratic Party.
— R.S.K.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200509220001
Jack Cafferty on Tom DeLay: "Has he been indicted yet?" (VIDEO)
Posted by Ian Schwartz on September 21, 2005 - 21:13
When asked about Tom DeLay's position on government pork, Jack "Ching Chong" Cafferty responded with "Has he been indicted yet?". Perhaps Jack should ask "Is my embarrassing career over yet?".
BLITZER: All right. Tom DeLay says there's no pork, everything is essential. I don't know if you heard him say that.
CAFFERTY: Has he been indicted yet?
BLITZER: We'll leave that alone. Jack Cafferty, thank you very much. Coming up, very serious story we're following. We'll tell you how some bloggers are suggesting that they -- suggesting ways they want to fund Katrina relief.
http://newsbusters.org/node/1354
Whiskey & Gunpowder: Whiskey and Gunpowder
September 22 2005
Why Has Gold Been Soaring Recently?
Whiskey & Gunpowder
September 22, 2005
by Mike "Mish" Shedlock Illinois, U.S.A.
The short answer is the yield curve is starting to widen, Congress is going on another spending spree, the market thinks rate hikes are nearly done, and the Fed is likely to print more money for more government handouts. That combination is more important than a U.S. dollar that has somehow held together in the face of the above.
Let's take a look at the long version.
...Perhaps President Bush should get together with Tom DeLay (R-Texas) when it comes to "unnecessary spending." After all, on Sept. 14, The Washington Times reports, "DeLay Declares 'Victory' in War on Budget Fat":
http://www.howestreet.com/story.php?ArticleId=1561
Hurry up and then wait
FEMA's bumpy bid solicitation for Gulf Coast replacement homes called to task
BY JOHN RILEY
STAFF WRITER
September 22, 2005
On Sept. 8, the Federal Emergency Management Agency solicited bids for thousands of manufactured homes desperately needed to house the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. The need was so urgent, bids were due by 3 p.m. the next day, and bidders had to be ready to begin delivering units quickly.
Manufacturers hustled to comply, and then waited as FEMA bought up thousands of available travel trailers and mobile homes at retail outlets. A week later, last Friday, FEMA put out word that awarding of bids had been put on indefinite hold.
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usfema224436622sep22,0,2439899.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-headlines
The Buzz
Short and snappy comments by anonymous Observer readers on the issues of the day
Anyone who believes that President Bush has this country on a downward spiral must not be old enough to remember Jimmy Carter.
The way Jake Delhomme is passing he must think he's still doing fast food commercials.
If David Murdock wants his Dole processing plants to buy all the fruit and vegetables N.C. farmers produce, what am I supposed to eat?
Pretzels will return to US Airways but "it could take a few weeks to re-establish the infrastructure." Apparently, FEMA is handling.
The captain of the Titanic said "stay the course" and he rammed an iceberg. When our president says "stay the course" will we have the same result?
There's not enough furniture left to afford the Clintons in the White House again.
Has there been a Bob Johnson sighting in the past four months? Where is he while his team is so obviously struggling with season ticket sales?
Pay $104 billion to return to the moon? Why don't we return New Orleans to civilization?
Don't steal. The government hates the competition.
It's nice that Karl Rove has fixed it that Haliburton and Bechtel don't have to go to the Middle East anymore to steal our money.
All of us boys aren't going to support the Bobcats because the tickets are too expensive to watch the NBA (Not Buying Again).
The Katrina response shows America would be better led by a swift boat captain who always got his men out of the water.
President Bush is spending like a drunken soldier to repair his reputation.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/opinion/12708989.htm
Go-ahead for new airport’s second phase
Published: Thursday, 22 September, 2005, 11:39 AM Doha Time
By Pratap John
HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani has given approval to launch $900mn Phase-II of New Doha International Airport (NDIA) project, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) chairman and managing director Abdul Aziz al-Noaimi said yesterday.
“We have decided to award the project to US firm Bechtel, which is currently implementing the $2.8bn NDIA Phase-I. The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Bechtel for Phase-II will be signed within a few days,” al-Noaimi told Gulf Times yesterday.
Al-Noaimi, also the head of the NDIA project steering committee, said Phase-II would now be integrated with Phase-I and completed by March 2009.
The Phase-I is scheduled for completion in November 2008.
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=53751&version=1&template_id=57&parent_id=56
Congress Reps. Object To Valerie Plame Inquiry Res
Thursday, 22 September 2005, 12:17 pm
Press Release: US Congressional Representative
FROM: http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/demviews/hres420cialeakdissent109.pdf
Dissenting Views to Accompany H.Res. 420, Resolution of Inquiry to the Attorney General
We strongly dissent from the Majority’s decision to report unfavorably H. Res. 420, a resolution of inquiry directed to the Attorney General regarding the leak of the identity of a covert operative. By doing so, the Majority has abdicated the Committee’s responsibility to oversee the Justice Department and to ensure the faithful execution of the laws.
Over two years ago, in July 2003, a Bush administration official committed one of the most serious breaches of national security in recent history by disclosing to the press the identity of an undercover Central Intelligence Agency operative. Even worse, it likely was done for political reasons, to retaliate against the operative’s husband for successfully challenging the President's claim that Iraq had sought nuclear material in Africa.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0509/S00403.htm
Most Disappointing Vote for John Roberts
Of all the votes by Democratic senators in favor of the nomination of John Roberts to serve as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, none is likely to be more disappointing to progressives than that of Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold.
Feingold, a maverick Democrat whose increasingly outspoken criticism of the war in Iraq has earned him frequent mentions as a potential candidate for his party's 2008 presidential nomination, was one of three Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to support the Roberts nomination on Thursday.
Along with Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the committee, and fellow Wisconsinite Herb Kohl, Feingold joined all of the committee's Republicans in backing the Bush administration nominee. The three Democratic votes on the committee are likely to ease the way for as many as two dozen Senate Democrats to vote to confirm Roberts when the nomination goes to the full Senate.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=23797
Greed a cause of the disaster
It appears that our federal government is the prime cause of the disaster on the Gulf Coast. By cutting revenue (tax cuts to the wealthy) and gambling that a hurricane would not hit that area, the necessary maintenance of the walls was used to fatten the 2 percent of richest individuals, including Mr. Bush, Cheney and corporations.
A civilized nation is impossible without a progressive tax policy. If you didn't live in the USA, and had two choices, would you choose Pakistan or Sweden?
The American people are entitled to know that we are burdened with a national debt, all run up by the Bush administration, of $8 trillion, and that the administration is still intent on more tax cuts.
The estate tax, which affects less than 2 percent of all estates, was to be permanently abolished this week, but, in view of events in New Orleans, Republicans decided they would look too greedy, at this time. They have postponed the vote to a time when they hope you won't be paying attention.
There are solutions to all our problems if we decide to be a country that is governed for the benefit of all Americans and not just the wealthiest 2 percent and corporations.
We the people have the power. Our elected, appointed and civil servants are our employees. We have the right to hire and fire.
George Croly
Santa Maria
http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/2005/09/22/sections/opinion/092205letters.txt
FU, Cheney: See Movie, Buy Shirt
Page 1 of 1
By Jenn Shreve
Also by this reporter
09:45 AM Sep. 14, 2005 PT
In the past two weeks, Dr. Ben Marble of Gulfport, Mississippi, lost his house, saw his wife give birth by flashlight and became an instant celebrity for telling Vice President Dick Cheney to go fuck himself.
"I tell you it was a good feeling at the time. It did feel really good. Wasn't quite as good as having sex or something, but it was good," Marble said of the Sept. 8 event, captured live on CNN.
Seconds later, however, he noticed this "panic-stricken look on the Secret Service guys' faces, like they were about to tackle me or I didn't know what." Marble walked briskly from the scene, leaving his friend Jay, who'd captured the whole thing on video camera. Marble told the man who'd just patted him down to "have a nice day" before heading home. He was later detained by two men in fatigues, questioned and released.
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,68855,00.html?tw=wn_16culthead
Bozell asserted Clinton claim on poverty was "comical" -- but Clinton in fact understated the true figures
In his September 21 nationally syndicated column, Media Research Center president L. Brent Bozell III criticized ABC host George Stephanopoulos's "cotton candy" interview with President Clinton on the September 18 edition of ABC's This Week, deriding as "too comical to correct" Clinton's claim that his administration "moved 100 times as many people out of poverty in eight years as had been moved out in the previous 12 years." But Clinton's positive record on addressing poverty is, in fact, almost a mirror image of the negative record of the preceding 12 years: The presidencies of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush actually saw a dramatic net increase in the number of impoverished Americans, whereas Clinton's presidency witnessed an even more dramatic net decrease.
The number of poor Americans grew by more than 6 million between 1981 and 1992 -- while decreasing by 7.6 million between 1993 and 2000 -- so Clinton's statement was, in fact, a sizable understatement of the difference. If the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations could claim a net decrease of 70,000 people below the poverty level, Clinton would be numerically correct in claiming that his administration had "moved 100 times as many people out of poverty."
http://mediamatters.org/items/200509210004
Cheney Revives Parvus
`Permanent War' Madness
by Jeffrey Steinberg, Allen Douglas, and Rachel Douglas
It was never a secret that the ranks of today's Washington neo-conservative war-party are filled with former first and second generation Trotskyists—personified by Irving Kristol, the former Shachtmanite Trotskyist, self-described "Godfather" of the entire neo-con apparatus, and the father of Weekly Standard editor William Kristol. What was ignored was the fact that both they and Vice President Dick Cheney are still fanatically committed to former Bolshevik minister of war Leon Trotsky's doctrine of "permanent revolution," and to the kind of permanent war which Cheney has created in Iraq, and is preparing to launch, very soon, as nuclear-armed warfare against Iran, and similarly permanent warfare against Syria, in South America, and elsewhere as soon, and as often as possible. It is this doctrine, which most historians associate with the name of Josef Stalin rival Leon Trotsky and his followers, which is presently the most immediate threat of mass-murderous violence to the world as a whole.
It is also the leading active threat to the continued existence of the U.S.A. as a constitutional republic, here, at home.
http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2005/3237cheney_permwar.html
RFK, Jr. Blasts Big Oil & Bush-Cheney Gang
by William Hughes
(Tuesday September 20 2005)
The Bush-Cheney Gang gave the store away in the so-called “Energy Bill.” It granted $4 billion in tax breaks to Big Oil, despite the fact that ExxonMobil had profits of $24 billion last year! Now, environmentalists rallying in Washington, D.C., on 09/20/05, suspect that parts of the pristine Arctic Wildlife Refuge will soon be opened up to oil drilling. At the protest, RFK, Jr., labeled George Bush: “The worst environmental president in U.S. history!”
Washington, D.C. - While a traumatized nation is focused on cleaning up the environmental horrors resulting from Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast area, concerned individuals, under the sponsoring umbrella of the "Arctic Refuge Action Coalition," and from other environmental groups, too, from across the country, rallied on the West side of the nation’s Capitol, on Sept. 20, 2005. They were there specifically to raise the consciousness of the U.S. Congress to the real dangers facing parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, located in northeast Alaska, from a man-made predator - Big Oil!
http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/19910
Rebuilding New Orleans: Consider the cost
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Have we learned nothing? In Iraq, the Bush administration awarded no-bid contracts to firms such as Halliburton and Bechtel, which have resulted in documented waste, inefficiency and corruption costing American taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, President Bush has awarded those same politically connected firms multimillion-dollar no-bid contracts to begin reconstruction of the devastated Gulf Coast (see "Fraud, no-bid contracts on federal radar," Sept. 14).
The $62 billion relief bill passed by Congress exempts contracts of less than $250,000 from competitive bidding and abolishes rules of transparency that would allow the public to have confidence that our money is being used wisely.
http://www.oregonlive.com/letters/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1127300362243070.xml&coll=7
L&T bags Rs 430 cr plant equipment export orders
Our Corporate Bureau / Mumbai September 22, 2005
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has bagged international orders of Rs 430 crore for construction of plant and equipment to a host of countries including the US, UK, Japan and France.
These contracts have been secured for gas development projects and construction of ammonia plants, petrochemical plants, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants from leading EPC contractors such as Kellogg Brown & Root, Bechtel, Foster Wheeler and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?storyflag=y&leftnm=lmnu1&leftindx=1&lselect=1&chklogin=N&autono=200850
Pelosi willing to give up S.F. funds for recovery
Washington -- House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco said Tuesday she was willing to return to the federal Treasury $70 million designated for San Francisco projects in the new highway and transportation bill and use the money to help pay for Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts.
Her counterpart, House Majority Leader Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said that while he would consider cutting all other domestic discretionary spending to raise the tens of billions of dollars needed for Katrina relief, it was a bad idea to take money from transportation projects.
His suburban Houston district is slated to get $64.4 million under the bill, and DeLay has said that he brought home an additional $50 million for freeway projects in the metropolitan area. He also helped secure $324 million in funding credits for Houston's light rail construction.
Pelosi, a longtime Appropriations Committee member who gave up that post when she became Democratic leader in late 2002, said she had always opposed the practice of lawmakers' writing legislation that specifies federal money for their special district projects.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/09/21/MNGDMER7HE1.DTL&feed=rss.news
Arianna Huffington: Plamegate: The John Bolton Connection
Arianna Huffington Wed Sep 21,12:29 PM ET
I'm now hearing that the investigation may be inching closer to never-confirmed UN Ambassador John Bolton.
According to two sources, Bolton's former chief of staff, Fred Fleitz, was at least one of the sources of the classified information about Valerie Plame that flowed through the Bush administration and eventually made its way into Bob Novak's now infamous column.
After delving into Fleitz, I can safely report that he is, at a minimum, a very interesting character. He is a career
CIA agent who Bolton handpicked to join him at Foggy Bottom, having gotten to know him during the administration of the first President Bush. While working as Bolton's top aide, Fleitz also continued his work in the CIA's WINPAC division, the group responsible for some of the worst prewar intelligence on Iraq (they were, among other things, big fans of Curveball and had "high confidence" in the presence of WMD in Iraq).
http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20050921/cm_huffpost/007648;_ylt=A86.I0Rv8TBDOuMAvSz9wxIF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
Morons in the News: Republicans Turn Against National Security, Accountability
When they talk about personal responsibility and accountability, they clearly mean it for other people, not for themselves...
YouHaveBO.com
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Republicans have thwarted attempts to hold the Bush administration accountable for its actions risking national security and American lives. The party that touts "personal responsibilty" and "accountability" in government is doing all it can to prevent these very things, demonstrating that they could better be described as the "cover your arse" party and the "protect your own and screw the country" party.
Democrats attempted to introduce "resolutions of inquiry" to require the Bush administration to turn over its documents related to communication with British officials during the lead-up to the Iraq war and documents related to the outing of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame by senior administration officials (probably Karl Rove and "Scooter" Libby) as retaliation for comments disfavorable to the administration and its thirst for war written by her husband, Joseph Wilson, in the New York Times.
The House International Relations Committee unfavorably reported two resolutions on Iraq and one respolution on Valerie Plame, virtually ensuring they would never see the light of day on the House floor and totally disregarding their Constitutional obligation to act as a check against the executive branch.
http://web.morons.org/article.jsp?sectionid=1&id=6518
Shield this reporter
SINCE JULY 6, New York Times reporter Judith Miller has languished in a federal lockup in Virginia for refusing to tell prosecutors what she knows about White House leaks in the Valerie Plame case. Put simply, she won't squeal on her sources.
Her continued incarceration is a disturbing commentary on the state of press freedom in this nation.
Her detractors think she has no right to hide what she knows about a crime -- the White House's possible role in illegally unmasking Plame as an undercover CIA agent. Others don't like the political overtones of her earlier work, which aided the Iraq war buildup by credulously reporting on the never-found WMDs. She's part of a coverup, so let her fold laundry with her prison pals, this side thinks.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/09/20/EDGLUEPCEL1.DTL
Bush Dynasty: The Next Generation
David Corn Wed Sep 21,10:32 AM ET
The Nation -- With the challenges and obligations created by the Katrina disaster, some political commentators have declared that George W. Bush's presidency is done, suggesting his agenda has been washed aside. That may not be so. He and Karl Rove may yet figure out how to exploit the tragedy in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast to revive their
Social Security plan, to sell more tax cuts for the well-to-do, and to justify their previously planned cuts in programs for low-income Americans. But if this is the end for a lame duck president, then perhaps it's time to look at Bush: The Next Generation. After all, we are already into the second generation of Bush presidencies, and bad news does come in threes.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20050921/cm_thenation/323401;_ylt=A86.I15rdjFDKEgAmhD9wxIF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
SAVE THE DATE: JEB BUSH IN 2008
By Michael J. Gaynor
The horrible hurricanes may have a salutary effect: putting Jeb Bush in the White House, whether or not he yearns for it.
Democrats blame President Bush for hurricanes, and try mightily to shift the responsibility for dealing with them to President Bush, even when the local and state authorities are unprepared, uncooperative and incompetent Democrats, even though local and state authorities are the first responders under America's federal system, and even though there was no insurrection and therefore no constitutional basis for President Bush to take control without cooperation.
When people reflect on hurricanes, and compare the responses of red states like Florida, Texas and Mississippi with that of Democrat-controlled Louisiana, they wisely will turn to the governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, to succeed his brother as President.
http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_9586.shtml
Whistleblowers' stomach-curdling story: Halliburton serves contaminated water to troops
Halliburton Watch
WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 (HalliburtonWatch.org) -- Outrage overflowed on Capitol Hill this summer when members of Congress learned that Halliburton's dining halls in Iraq had repeatedly served spoiled food to unsuspecting troops. "This happened quite a bit," testified Rory Mayberry, a former food manager with Halliburton's KBR subsidiary.
But the outrage apparently doesn't end with spoiled food. Former KBR employees and water quality specialists, Ben Carter and Ken May, told HalliburtonWatch that KBR knowingly exposes troops and civilians to contaminated water from Iraq's Euphrates River. One internal KBR email provided to HalliburtonWatch says that, for "possibly a year," the level of contamination at one camp was two times the normal level for untreated water.
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m15953&l=i&size=1&hd=0
Uncertain Anniversary for Iraq War Champions
by Jim Lobe
It was four years ago that a little-known group called the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) published an open letter to President George W. Bush advising him on how precisely he should carry out his brand-new "war on terrorism."
In addition to ousting Afghanistan's Taliban, the letter's mostly neoconservative signatories called for implementing regime change "by all necessary means" in Iraq, "even if evidence does not link Iraq directly to the [Sept. 11] attack." It also urged "appropriate measures of retaliation" against Iran and Syria if they refused to comply with U.S. demands to cut off support to Hezbollah, which they considered part of the terror network.
The letter called for cutting off aid to the Palestinian Authority unless it immediately halted attacks against Israel and Israeli settlements, and for a "large increase in defense spending" in order to rein in the conflict that some of its signers, notably former CIA director James Woolsey, were soon describing as "World War IV."
http://www.antiwar.com/lobe/?articleid=7343
JUDGE MARK FILIP TRYING TO KILL BUSH-CHENEY INDICTMENTS
15 comment(s).
JUDGE MARK FILIP TRYING TO KILL BUSH-CHENEY INDICTMENTS
Posted By: billym Date: Monday, 19 September 2005, 9:27 a.m.
Tom Heneghen reports that a Judge Magistrate named Mark R. Filip is trying to suppress the indictments against Bush-Cheney and other high officials by the Fitzgerald Grand Juries.
================================================== http://www.sunriseofthesolardisk.com/heneghen.html
Tom Heneghen Reports Movement Within Chicago Federal Court In Upcoming Indictments Of Bush Administration
by Scott Mowry
Last evening on the "US Intel News" show on the Turner Radio Network, Tom Heneghen gave an update on the progress of the grand juries in Chicago concerning their impending indictments of various members of the Bush administration, both past and present.
Apparently, there is brisk movement within the US Federal Court of Chicago to get these indictments out despite intense pressure from within by a Judge Magistrate named Mark R. Filip, who has thus far suppressed them from being released to the public, according to Heneghen.
"We are heading toward a real showdown in United states of America, and we are heading toward what we might be looking at is a constitutional crisis," stated Heneghen emphatically about the Chicago court situation.
http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=8361
Sen. Boxer to oppose Supreme Court nominee Roberts
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., announced Wednesday that she will oppose the nomination of John Roberts to be Supreme Court chief justice.
"I said I could only vote for a nominee who would protect the rights and the freedoms of the people that I represent ... This nominee fails that bar," Boxer said on the Senate floor.
"I don't buy into this reasoning either: Let's support this nominee because the next one might be worse," she said.
The announcement by California's junior senator, a liberal who opposes many Bush nominees, was not a surprise. Still unknown is how the state's senior senator, Dianne Feinstein, will vote when the Judiciary Committee convenes Thursday to decide on the nominee.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/12706405.htm
Obama prepares to vote on Roberts
September 21, 2005
BY DENNIS CONRAD ASSOCIATED PRESS
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WASHINGTON-- It wouldn't be a total surprise if Sen. Barack Obama, the Senate's only black member, votes to confirm federal appeals Judge John Roberts as chief justice of the Supreme Court, according to those who have followed the Democratic Party's fast-rising star from Illinois.
"Just to be in opposition for the sake of opposition, he's not that type of person," said Illinois Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, a longtime friend and supporter and the highest-ranking black leader in the state's government.
Obama was scheduled to meet Roberts in his Capitol Hill office on Wednesday, just hours before the freshman lawmaker was to appear as the keynote speaker at an event sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus, of which he is also a member.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/elect/obama21.html
