Still waiting to hear the outcome of the complaints by CREW (No, not J.Crew, the Citizens for Responsiblity & Ethics in Washington) regarding Ensign.

It would seem the Ensign Affair was more extortion than love.

...Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a watchdog group (click title to entry - thank you), filed complaints Wednesday with the Senate ethics committee and the Federal Elections Commission, seeking the appropriate inquiries. Among the issues are whether the dismissals of the woman and her husband, once a top Ensign aide, were tied to the affair and, if so, could constitute sexual harassment; whether improper severance payments were paid to the woman or her husband; and what the circumstances were behind the hiring of the couple's son by the National Republican Senatorial Committee chaired by Mr. Ensign. CREW also questions Mr. Ensign's conduct if, as some media reported, he told people close to him that he was being extorted for money by the husband. Mr. Ensign never publicly said he was being blackmailed; his spokesman said the husband, through an attorney, made exorbitant demands for "cash and other financial benefits."...

Who Collected the Republican Soft Money

RNC = Republican National Committee

NRSC = National Republican Senatorial Committee

NRCC = National Republican Congressional Committee

So much for that Presidential bid. His disappearing act has got to be at the top of any moron list.

July 7, 2009 12:07 AM
S.C. Republicans Censure Sanford (click title to entry - thank you)

(AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastian)South Carolina's top Republicans voted overwhelmingly to censure Gov. Mark Sanford – who admitted to a lengthy affair with an Argentine woman – but fell well short of calling for his resignation.
The state's GOP executive committee met for about three hours Monday. Twenty-two members supported the censure. Ten voted to call for his resignation and nine others voted against any reprimand.
In a statement, Sanford says he appreciates the party's position and will continue to work to earn back its trust, the Associated Press reported.
The governor has said repeatedly that he will serve his remaining 18 months in office.
Some members of the state's Republican party reportedly do not want Sanford to resign because they wish to compete for the governor's mansion in 2011 and the state's current lieutenant governor, Andre Bauer, might have an advantage in running for reelection as the incumbent governor.


Thursday, June 25, 2009

Governor Sanford Continues the Long Hard Tradition of United States Diplomacy in South America. (click here)

When you're right, you're right. I would just like to bask in the moment.

The Cheney Observer



Two senators: CIA concealment may have broken law (click title to entry - thank you)
By PETE YOST – 26 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Six months into Barack Obama's presidency, twin investigations may be on the horizon into Bush-era policies in the war on terror....
...Regarding the 8-year-old counter-terrorism program, the Bush administration's failure to notify Congress "is a big problem, because the law is very clear," said Senate Intelligence Committee chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif....

Go figure.

Dick Cheney ordered the CIA to conceal counter-terrorism plan from Congress (click here)
...According to US intelligence officials quoted in the US media the CIA director, Leon Panetta, told congressional intelligence committees that information about the programme was withheld on Cheney's orders. Panetta told the committees that as soon as he learned of the programme's existence last month he shut it down....

The debate between Senator Leahy and Jeff Sessions is ludicrous. The video at the article below shows the very 'heavy' politiking that is going on by Republicans to salvage the Republican Party and force the JUSTICE that is guaranteed to the American people to the back of any priority. There is always this 'intricate' 'cloud of uncertainty' regarding the Bush Executive Branch and their demeanor in carrying out their power. Jeff Sessions plays it to the hilt !

Dick Cheney came to office with an agenda, within two weeks after inauguration he conducted a covert Energy Committee, followed by a downed Spy Plane over China, shortly followed by sidelining FBI and CIA intelligence regarding pending attacks by al Qaeda, to allow the attacks to happen, followed by a short war into Afghanistan while plotting an illegal war into Iraq.


The Bush/Cheney White House was among the most insidious of enemy to the USA Constitution and the Obama Justice Department needs to do what it needs to do !!!!


Leahy on Cheney: No One Is Above the Law (click here)
July 12, 2009 11:48 AM
Posted by David S Morgan
"There was no evidence that the higher-ups participated in any way," Sessions replied, adding that one Abu Ghraib defendant said "there would have been hell to pay" had they known what was happening.
"It was an unusual event and the military did the right thing in prosecuting the people who were responsible," he said....


New Evidence Cheney Swayed Reaction to Leak (click here)
Discussions of CIA Agent Listed in Filing
By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, July 3, 2009
A document filed in federal court this week by the Justice Department offers new evidence that former vice president Richard B. Cheney helped steer the Bush administration's public response to the disclosure of Valerie Plame Wilson's employment by the CIA and that he was at the center of many related administration deliberations.
The administration's discussion of Wilson's link to the CIA was meant to undermine criticism by her husband of administration allegations that Iraq attempted to acquire uranium, a matter that her husband had probed for the CIA, according to testimony presented in a 2007 trial....


How convenient. The Supreme Court turns a blind eye to the Plame appeal just in time for the truth to be known. Isn't that intersting.

Cheney, Rove, Libby Shielded From Leak Suit as Appeal Rejected (click here)
Last Updated: June 22, 2009 10:09 EDT
By Greg Stohr
...The justices, without comment, turned away an appeal by Plame, who worked at the Central Intelligence Agency’s headquarters in Virginia, and her husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson.
Plame and Wilson sued the three officials, along with former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, in 2006. The suit accused the men of leaking Plame’s identity to reporters in retaliation for a New York Times opinion piece by Wilson questioning then-President George W. Bush’s basis for invading Iraq....

Sounds like someone needs to make testimony !

Hastert son running for Congress (click here)
By DENNIS CONRAD – 2 days ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Illinois congressional seat that former House Speaker Dennis Hastert once held for 20 years may see a Hastert comeback.
Hastert's son, Ethan, is running as a Republican for the seat now held by Democratic Rep. Bill Foster, a former physicist who succeeded the elder Hastert after a special election early in 2008....
...For two years, until June 2002, Ethan Hastert worked in former Vice President Dick Cheney's office as a special assistant to Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Years later, Libby was convicted on felony charges of obstruction of justice and lying to investigators about his conversations with reporters.
"If they want to run against the former vice president, fine," Ethan Hastert said. "The fact of the matter is I am going to be on the ticket."


Judge Questions Justice Dept. Effort to Keep Cheney Remarks Secret (click here)
By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff
Writer Friday, June 19, 2009
A federal judge yesterday sharply questioned an assertion by the Obama administration that former Vice President Richard B. Cheney's statements to a special prosecutor about the Valerie Plame case must be kept secret, partly so they do not become fodder for Cheney's political enemies or late-night commentary on "The Daily Show."


Karl Rove inks $1M-plus memoir deal (click here)
The Associated Press
Updated: 07/02/2009 02:40:30 PM MDT
New York » GOP strategist Karl Rove has agreed to write about his years as an adviser to President Bush in a deal worth over $1.5 million with former colleague Mary Matalin's conservative imprint at Simon & Schuster, officials said Friday.
Rove, the architect of Bush's 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns and one of the most influential political advisers of his time, signed the deal with Threshold Editions, the imprint's publisher and executive vice president Louise Burke said.
"All of us at Threshold are thrilled to publish the book from the man who had the president's ear for two terms," Burke said....

Nigeria: NBA Seeks Urgent Action On Corruption, Halliburton (click here)
7 July 2009
President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), has urged the Federal Government to take a more critical look at the issue of corruption and specifically the Halliburton, Siemens and Wilbros scandals.
The NBA boss who led a team of the association on a visit to the Attorney General and Minister of Justice (AGF), Michael Aondoakaa, in Abuja on Monday, expressed concerns of Nigerians on the high level of corruption on the country and urged the government not to pay lip service to the menace.
Responding, the AGF commended the leadership of the NBA for the timely visit despite the tension between his office and them, a development he described as constructive and not defined by disagreements....
...Aondoakaa told the NBA team that Nigerians must be assured by the knowledge that the laws and institutions that form the basis of their legal system are there to uphold their rights and enforce responsibilities of every member of their community.
Justice, and the means to enforce it, must be available equally to every member of the community, regardless of means and without discrimination, he said....


JULY 8, 2009, 12:42 P.M. ET
Weatherford, Halliburton, Schlumberger Eye Mexico Gas Project (click here)
MEXICO CITY (Dow Jones)--Oil-services giants Weatherford International Ltd. (WFT), Halliburton Co. (HAL) and Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) have submitted proposals for a natural-gas drilling contract in Mexico's Burgos basin, said state-run Petroleos Mexicanos on Wednesday.
Two Mexican companies, Industrial Perforadoa de Campeche and CCC Fabricantes y Construcciones, also submitted proposals. Pemex, as the state-run oil company is known, is looking to boost natural-gas output at Burgos, which pumped 22% of Mexico's gas in May.
The three-year contract is scheduled to start in mid-August, according to documents on Compranet, the government procurement Web site.
Mexico is increasing oil investments this year, even though prices have fallen compared with 2008, providing opportunities to major oil-service firms at a time when most oil companies are slashing budgets to adjust to lower prices.
Mexico is spending heavily to reverse a decline in oil production and expand natural-gas output. The company expects to increase capital expenditures by about 10% this year to $20 billion.
-By Peter Millard, Dow Jones Newswires; 5255-5001-5724; peter.millard@dowjones.com

Wall Street is notorious for taking without regard to the rights of the people of the country they 'occupy.' In the case of Nigeria, the people revolted against the 'filth' of the oil barrons that took the Nigerian oil without a care about the environmental devastation they were also conducting.


The Nigerian Oil Cartel literally took the government away from the people by villanizing the people as lawless when they were only attempting to stand up for their 'unlegislated' rights to a clean environment including clean air and water.

The Nigerian people, nor their government, ever faced such horrendous pollution and danger to their tribes. The people knew they were being poisoned by the oil industry, but, were characterized by The Wall Street Gangs as savages and illiterate. The Nigerian Oil Cartel demanded the government protect them from the savages as they had 'contracted' for the oil and gas rights regardless of any 'after thought' the people may have.


We all know the conditions in Mexico. There is poverty, uneducation of many of the people, water supplies are sometimes trucked into villages, there is crime networks not yet surmounted by the Mexican authorities and there was the beginnings of H1N1. The people of Mexico have many enemies already. Do they need anymore?


I strongly suggest when Wall Street decides to 'occupy' a country they do so with benevolence at the heart of their initiative. The people of Mexico need infrastructure to fight crime and return their streets back to them, they need clean water supply and healthy air to breath and they need to move from poverty and filth to stop any escalation of potential illnesses while becoming healthier and better educated.

In other words, the profitable 'bottom line' to the oil drilling in 'occupied' Mexico just shrunk because Wall Street is going to do the 'right thing' from now on !!!!!

NM eligible for flu preparation funds (click here)
Associated Press - July 11, 2009 9:05 AM ET
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - New Mexico is eligible for more than $2.2 million in grants to help the state prepare for the fall flu season and swine flu.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the grants Friday. They're being funded by a supplemental appropriations bill signed by President Barack Obama in June.
New Mexico is eligible to receive $1.6 million in Public Health Emergency Response grants and $577,036 in Hospital Preparedness grants.
A total of $350 million in grants will be distributed nationwide.
The public health grants help states prepare for potential vaccination campaigns, implement strategies to reduce exposure and improve flu surveillance. The hospital grants help hospitals and health care systems prepare for health emergencies.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


Mexico currently as has 10,200 known cases of H1N1.

2 to plead guilty in Big Dig concrete case (click here)
By (AP)
Published: 2009-07-08 14:50:05
Location: BOSTON
Two former managers of a Big Dig contractor pleaded guilty Wednesday to being part of a conspiracy to deliver substandard concrete to the massive highway project.
Six former managers of Aggregate Industries NE Inc. were indicted in 2006 on charges they falsified records to hide the inferior quality of more than 5,000 truckloads of concrete.
They were accused of recycling concrete that was too old or already rejected by inspectors and in some cases double-billing for the loads.
Gerard McNally, a former quality control manager, and Keith Thomas, a former dispatch manager, pleaded guilty to 12 charges, including 2 conspiracy counts, five mail fraud counts and five counts of filing false reports in connection with a federal highway project....

2 plead guilty in Big Dig concrete case (click here)
By Associated Press
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Two former managers of a Big Dig contractor pleaded guilty today to being part of a conspiracy to deliver substandard concrete to the massive highway project.
Six former managers of Aggregate Industries NE Inc. were indicted in 2006 on charges they falsified records to hide the inferior quality of more than 5,000 truckloads of concrete.
They were accused of recycling concrete that was too old or already rejected by inspectors and in some cases double-billing for the loads....

Bechtel engineered and contracted The Big Dig in Boston. In Panama, who is to say what is substandard and what is not? Will the people be valued for the final product and the way production unfolds to protect the workers, the populous and the environment? In Panama?

Bechtel financially fittest in Panama bid-analysts (click here)
Tue Jul 7, 2009 6:46am EDT
* Bechtel-led group seen financially strongest
* European groups bring technical strengths
* Price looks key factor for contract
By Danilo Masoni and Sean Mattson
MILAN/PANAMA CITY, July 7 (Reuters) - A team led by U.S. group Bechtel is financially best placed to win the race for an estimated $3.3 billion contract to expand the Panama Canal, analysts said.
The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) overseeing the bidding will open price bids on Wednesday but may take several weeks before announcing a winner. This $3.3 billion contract is the largest chunk of a $5.25 billion project to expand the canal....

Facebook Racism LOL-er Audra Shay: Wins bid to Chair Young Republicans (click here)
July 12, 2009
(ChattahBox)—Audra Shay, a promoter of despicable hate and racism now serves as the national chair of the Young Republicans organization. The delegates tapped 38-year-old Shay to lead them in a vote of 470 to 415 over the weekend, effectively endorsing hate, racism and bigotry as the now and future platform of the GOP.
The election of the chair of the Young Republicans would have largely gone unnoticed, were it not for the discovery of racial slurs and hate found on Shay’s Facebook page. Certainly, a public endorsement of hate and racism should disqualify a person from becoming a leader of a major political party, but think again. This is the GOP and if anything, despite some outcries from a few fellow Young Republicans, Shay’s display of hate seemed to work to actually embolden her supporters.....

Gentilly's recovery from Hurricane Katrina is finally gaining momentum (click here)
Posted by Kate Moran, The Times-Picayune
July 12, 2009 7:49AM
Among the city's devastated neighborhoods, Gentilly was something of an orphan after the storm. The Lower 9th Ward, with its manifest hardships, proved a magnet for volunteer groups. Lakeview and Broadmoor were meanwhile buoyed by robust and highly organized neighborhood associations.
But momentum has gathered in recent months in Gentilly, a sprawling, diverse area that in many ways is a microcosm of the city itself. The post office and 3rd District police headquarters have returned, and construction is nearly complete on two major high schools. The high-profile public investments have begun to kindle the return of private business as well....

It would seem as though, Pastor Rick Warren is trying to unite the Muslim community and Christian community in 'good works.' Not a bad idea. However, the organization he is trying to unite with first has a bit of controversy laced with it because it supports Hamas.

Rick Warren envisions coalition of faith (click here)
By Julia Duin
Sunday, July 5, 2009
..."I am not interested in interfaith dialogue but interfaith projects," said the pastor of the 24,000-member Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., who is widely known for his bestseller "The Purpose-Driven Life."...

Rick Warren is Wrong (click here)
MADISON, Wisc., July 6
Christian Newswire
Steve McConkey submits the following and is available for comment:
Rick Warren spoke to 8000 Muslim listeners at the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) at the Washington Convention Center on July 4th. He said, "Muslims and Christians can work together for the common good without compromising my convictions or your convictions. I am not interested in interfaith dialogue but interfaith projects."
Earlier, a Canada Free Press article said ISNA is an organization with ties to Hamas and other terrorist groups. According to the article, the organization's website has quotations like the following, "The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. 'O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him.'"
Rick Warren is putting works first and faith second. According to the Bible in James 2:14-26, works should follow a person's faith. Warren has reversed this and has put works first and faith second.
According to the book of James, true faith is believing the exclusive claims of Christ and not putting faith behind works. Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven according to the Bible. As we share this truth with the world, we should then do good works....

Have a better day.