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Tuesday, February 28, 2006 |
This Just In….
FDA Reopens Probe Into Contaminated Soda
It’s been 15 years since the FDA closed their investigation into soft drinks contaminated with cancer-causing chemical benzene. But the agency has reopened the probe amid evidence that the industry has failed to take care of the problem - recent tests have revealed levels of benzene from two and a half to five times above the World Health Organization limit for drinking water.
Benzene is considered a poisonous chemical shown to increase the risk of leukaemia and other cancers. The testing results were revealed by a former chemist for Cadbury Schweppes who decided to blow the whistle on the situation.
(CEE-Food Industry.com)
Prez’s Pitch
“The Bush administration spent $1.4 billion in taxpayer dollars on 137 contracts with advertising agencies over the past two-and-a-half years, according to a Government Accountability Office report released by House Democrats Monday.”
The Department of Defense spent the most on media contracts, with pacts worth $1.1 billion, according to the study. The Department of Health and Human Services spent more than $300 million, the Department of Treasury spent $152 million, and the Department of Homeland Security spent $24 million during the period.
The six largest recipients of ad and PR dollars were Leo Burnett USA, $536 million; Campbell-Ewald, $194 million; GSD&M, $179 million; JWT, $148 million; Frankel, $133 million; and Ketchum, $78 million. The agencies received more than $1.2 billion in media contracts, according to the report.
The PR and ad contracts included providing “expert advice and support in the development of several marriage-related research initiatives,” an educational campaign regarding the “Medicare Modernization Act, and its coverage and benefits,” and a contract regarding “message development that presents the Army’s strategic perspective in the global war on terrorism,” the study said.
(BrandWeek)
[Muckraked]
10:36:33 AM 
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What’s Brownie Really Doing?.  Does former FEMA director Michael D. Brown’s consulting firm really exist?
Brown, who recently testified on Capitol Hill regarding his role in the federal government’s reaction to Hurrican Katrina, started a disaster preparedness consulting firm a few months ago. According to an AP story back in November:
“Brown said companies already have expressed interested in his consulting business, Michael D. Brown LLC” which Brown plans to run “from the Boulder [Colorado] area, where he lived before joining the Bush administration in 2001.”
But it seems that Brown hasn’t registered this business anywhere in the country - according to our research (checking a national database of incorporated businesses and phone calls to the Secretary of States in Colorado, DC, Virginia and Maryland).
So, what’s going on here? Is Brownie lying? Or is he actually working with another consultancy to win Katrina-related contracts from the government because he’s embarrassed that his reputation might damage the prospects for any company with his name in the title?
[Muckraked]
10:34:52 AM
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Katrina Contracts: Corruption?. It’s been almost six months since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The federal government has handed out billions in contracts ranging from over $500 million for the giant construction company Bechtel to provide short-term housing to people displaced by the hurricane to a $185 contract with RT’s Plumbing in New Iberia, LA to service portable toilets.
In the rush to respond to the crisis, FEMA and other federal agencies sidestepped normal protocol and gave out many no-bid contracts. Some of those deals have come under scrutiny due to the fact that insiders seemed to be profiting from the disaster - two of former FEMA director-turned-lobbyist Joseph Allbaugh’s corporate clients, Shaw Group and Halliburton, have reaped hundreds of millions in contracts. And Bechtel’s CEO, Riley P. Bechtel, was named by President Bush to his Export Council.
So, we decided to take a look at government figures involved in the Katrina recovery effort, primarily examining the political leaders in Louisiana and Mississippi and prominent members of the Louisiana Recovery Authority and the Mississippi Development Authority, to see if any of their companies or organizations have been awarded contracts related to the recovery. (*Note that these records do not take into account contracts awarded by the Department of Defense.) Here are the results:
 Joe Allbaugh (former FEMA director)
- $348 million (Shaw Group)
- $178 million (Halliburton’s Kellogg Brown & Root subsidiary)
 Rosemary Barbour (married to Mississippi governor Haley Barbour’s nephew)
- $6.7 million (Alcatec LLC - install and maintain portable showers, deliver tents)
 Jerry St. Pe (member of Governor’s Commission on Recovering, Rebuilding and Renewal in MS)
- $1.5 million (Northrop Grumman - various services)
 Dan Packer (chair of Bring New Orleans Back)
- $71,000 (Entergy - electric services to EPA and GSA)
 Anthony Topazi (leader of Mississippi Development Authority’s Momentum Mississippi board)
- $49,403 (Mississippi Power - electrical utility services)
 Jim Barksdale (head of Governor’s Commission on Recovering, Rebuilding and Renewal in MS)
- $32,121 (SRA International - hold pre-proposal conference)
Gray Swoope (deputy director and COO of the Mississippi Development Authority)
- $10,000 (Pearl River Community College - rent space in Poplarville, MS)
James Reiss (leader of Bring New Orleans Back commission)
- $2,600 (Smith & Associates Consulting - pallets in Gulfport, MS)
Joseph C. Canizaro (leader of Bring New Orleans Back)
- $0 (Galleria Operating - lease of office buildings in Metairie, LA)
[Muckraked]
10:31:47 AM
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UAE’s Reputation: Smuggling Haven?.  In the midst of bipartisan outrage over the White House’s decision to allow a United Arab Emirates-owned company to oversee operations at U.S. ports, it’s worth considering the safety record of Dupai Ports World.
Most maritime experts attest to the firm’s solid reputation and Kim Petersen, head of SeaSecure, a U.S.-based maritime security company, and executive director of the Maritime Security Council told CNN, “This whole notion that Dubai is going to control or set standards for U.S. ports is a canard … is factually false.” Dubai Ports World, like all port owners, must abide by the Maritime Transportation Security Act passed by Congress in 2002 and International Ship and Port Facility Security codes enacted in 2004, he said. Both sets of security measures are enforced in the United States by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, the chairman of DP World, often recounts the days when his grandfather was a pearl diver to illustrate his country’s history in trading. “We are merchants, and we’ve been trading since the days of our ancestors,” he recently said. Unfortunately, over the last ten years, some merchants have used the country’s ports to trade weapons and to evade trading sanctions on Iran and other countries.
Since DP World is a state-run company, it seems reasonable to examine the record of the UAE. Although they have cooperated with the U.S. in the capture and arrest of several suspected terrorists, the country has a troubling history of weapons smuggling. Last year, the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, a non-partisan research institue, compiled a chronology of smuggling and illicit transfers that have occurred in the UAE:
1994 - 1995: Bukary Syed Abu (B.S.A.) Tahir, a Sri Lankan based in Dubai, allegedly organizes the transshipment of two containers of centrifuge components from Dubai to Iran, on behalf of A.Q. Khan, for $3 million.
October 1995: Seven persons are indicted by the United States for conspiring to export, without the required license, $500,000 of sensitive U.S. electronics to Iran between 1991 and 1994. Controlled goods, including encryption devices, were allegedly shipped via Hanofeel General Trading Est. of Dubai to Iran’s Tak Neda Co. Ltd. Elham Abrishami, of Afshein, Inc. in the U.S., pleads guilty in 1997.
1996: The German government warns its exporters that Iranian companies active in procurement for weapons programs are present in Dubai. Among the entities that arrange and finance technology transfers via front companies in Dubai are Iran’s State Purchasing Organization, and Bonyad Mostazafan and Janbazan Foundation.
June 1996: Dubai’s Guide Oil Equipment Company is identified in a U.S. court as a corporation that ships impregnated alumina, which can be used in the manufacture of nerve gas, through Dubai or the United Kingdom to Iran. In 1998 Abdol Hamid Rashidian and Henry Joseph Trojack are convicted for conspiring to ship impregnated alumina to Iran.
July 1996 - March 1998: IGI, Inc. sold $400,000 of poultry vaccine from the U.S. to Iran via Dubai, violating the U.S. embargo on Iran.
1997 - 1998: Pars Company Inc. of the U.S. exports two STX gas monitors to the U.A.E. and transships them to Iran. Pars Company did not obtain the required license for the monitors, which can be used in chemical and biological weapons production, and is fined $10,000. The U.S. Department of Commerce subsequently imposes a nine year denial of export privileges in 2002. The U.S. firm Industrial Scientific Corporation is also implicated, and pays a $30,000 fine.
1998: According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Jabal Damavand General Trading Company of Dubai transfers U.S.-origin ferrography laboratory equipment to Iran without authorization. In 2002 the U.S. bans Jabal Damavand for ten years from engaging in any activity subject to the Export Administration Regulations.
March 1998: According to the U.S. government’s Iraq Survey Group (I.S.G.), the Iraqi Intelligence Service uses bribes to circumvent customs inspections in Dubai, which is a transshipment point for military equipment being sought from Romania.
May 1998: A new Sun Ultra Enterprise 1 Work Station is located in Iraq’s National Computer Center, which was involved in Iraq’s nuclear weapons program. Iraq claims to have imported workstations from the U.A.E. and Jordan.
May 1998 - June 1999: According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Dubai’s Ibn Khaldoon Drug Store Est. participates in the unauthorized export of medical equipment from the U.S. to Iran, in contravention of the U.S. embargo. Ibn Khaldoon is ordered in 2004 to pay a $40,000 fine.
May 1998 - May 2002: Biocheck Inc. of the U.S. allegedly exports medical diagnostic kits without authorization to Iran via Italy and the U.A.E. Biocheck is later fined $32,000 by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and pays the U.S. Department of Commerce $22,500.
September 1998 - February 2001: NEC Engineers of India allegedly sends 10 shipments of materials used in the manufacture of rocket propellant and missiles to Dubai and Jordan without the required export license. Indian court documents state that the consignments, shipped for $791,343, “appear to have been diverted to Iraq for assisting their weapon building programme,” violating the U.N. embargo. NEC Engineers is accused of mis-declaring goods and attempting to export consignments in the name of associated companies. The Dubai companies Target General Land Transport and Indjo Trading are reportedly involved.
November 1998 - February 2000: Mohammad Farahbakhsh, co-owner and managing director of Dubai’s Diamond Technology LLC, allegedly tries to export U.S. computer items to Iran via Diamond Technology. The alleged purchaser is Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group, which is a branch of the Iranian Ministry of Defence and subject to U.S. sanctions for its involvement in cruise and ballistic missile development.
1998 - 2000: Mazyar Gavidel and his company Homa International Trading Corp. violate the U.S. trade embargo against Iran by illegally transferring approximately $2 million of laundered money through Dubai. Gavidel and Homa International are convicted by the U.S. in August 2002.
January 1999: Abu Bakar Siddiqui, a British exporter of Pakistani origin and an alleged procurement agent for A.Q. Khan, allegedly attempts to ship special aluminum sheets to Dubai.
May 1999: British customs authorities reportedly seize up to 20 tons of components, including high-grade aluminum, believed to be ultimately destined for Pakistan. The cargo arrived from the U.S. and was allegedly about to be shipped to Dubai. The exporter is allegedly Siddiqui, who is convicted in the United Kingdom in 2001 for illegally exporting strategic materials to Pakistan, including high-strength aluminum bars.
2001: U.A.E. companies act as intermediaries in the partial delivery of fiber-optic and military communications contracts from South Korea to Iraq, according to the I.S.G.
2001: Dubai’s Ports, Customs & Free Zone Corporation is established to take over customs operations from the Dubai Ports Authority and Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority.
June 2001: Bef Corp. allegedly exports photo finishing equipment to SK of Dubai, which transships the equipment to Iran, in violation of U.S. sanctions.
September 2001: The U.A.E.’s Advance Technical Systems purchases $16,000 of military radar components from the U.S. and transships them to Pakistan after declaring that they were for the Bangladeshi Air Force. Following guilty pleas delivered in June 2003 for the illegal export of parts for howitzers, radars and armored personnel carriers, two U.S. citizens and one Pakistani are imprisoned.
October 2001: A U.A.E.-based firm acts as an intermediary to facilitate the trade in ballistic missile-related goods from China to Iraq, according to the I.S.G.
May 2002: The German government warns its exporters that since 1998 Iraq has been increasingly engaging in procurement activities through Dubai. Germany believes that North Korea has also increased its operations in Dubai.
August 2002: The U.S. firm Mercator, Inc. agrees a $30,000 settlement with the U.S. Department of Commerce, which had alleged that Mercator had exported chemicals to Dubai with the knowledge that they would be re-exported to Iran without prior authorization.
December 2002: The U.S. Navy accuses Dubai’s Naif Marine Services of smuggling to Iraq polymers that could be used to manufacture explosives.
January 2003: Spare parts for Mirage F-1 aircraft and Gazelle attack helicopters are transferred to Iraq. U.S. intelligence reportedly believes that parts were purchased from France by Dubai’s Al Tamoor Trading Co., and then smuggled to Iraq through at third country, reportedly Turkey.
May 2003 - February 2004: U.A.E.-based Diamond Technology LLC and its managing director Mohammad Farahbakhsh allegedly export a U.S. satellite communications system to Iran without the required license.
June 2003: 311 companies attend the third U.A.E. Trade Exhibition in Iran. Trade with Iran exchanged through Dubai’s ports was 12 billion dirhams in 2001, an increase from 4.3 billion in 1997.
October 2003: 66 triggered spark gaps, which can be used to detonate nuclear weapons, are shipped without the required license from the United States to Top-Cape Technology in South Africa. They are subsequently transshipped via Dubai to AJMC Lithographic Aid Society in Pakistan. In 2004 Asher Karni, an Israeli living in South Africa, pleads guilty to conspiring to export controlled commodities to Pakistan without validated export licenses. In 2005 the U.S. indicts Humayun Khan of the Pakistani company Pakland PME for violating export restrictions and being the ultimate purchaser.
October 2003: Five containers of centrifuge components, sent by B.S.A. Tahir and shipped through Dubai, are seized en route to Libya. The items are part of four shipments made by Malaysia’s Scomi Precision Engineering (SCOPE) between 2002 and 2003 to Dubai’s Aryash Trading Company. One of the four consignments lists the addressee as Gulf Technical Industries, but is diverted to Desert Electrical Equipment Factory, also based in Dubai.
October 2003: According to B.S.A. Tahir, the BBC China, the ship carrying the seized centrifuge components, was also transporting an aluminum casting and dynamo for Libya’s centrifuge workshop. The consignment was allegedly sent via Dubai by TUT Shipping on behalf of Gunas Jireh of Turkey.
October 2003: Two weeks after the seizure of the centrifuge components, B.S.A. Tahir arranges the transshipment to Libya, via Dubai, of an electrical cabinet and power supplier-voltage regulator on behalf of Selim Alguadis, an associate of A.Q. Khan.
December 2003: Hamid Fathaloloomy, principal of Dubai’s Akeed Trading Company, allegedly attempts to export U.S. pressure sensors to Iran.
April 2004: The U.A.E. freezes the accounts of SMB Computers as part of its investigation into B.S.A. Tahir, who is the Group Managing Director.
April 2004: Elmstone Service and Trading FZE is sanctioned for two years by the United States for transferring to Iran equipment and/or technology of proliferation significance since 1999.
August 2004: The U.S. indicts Khalid Mahmood, of Dubai, for breaking the U.S. embargo to Iran. Mahmood allegedly attempted to arrange the sale of forklift radiators from the U.S. to Iran, by concealing the final destination in the sale.
September 2004: The I.S.G. lists 20 U.A.E. firms that are suspected of having acted as intermediaries or front companies for Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, and says that the U.A.E. was a transit location for prohibited goods, with companies using deceptive trade practices. The I.S.G. also concludes that the U.A.E. and Iran were the most frequent destinations for Iraqi smuggled oil and owned the majority of smuggling vessels involved.
December 2004: The U.A.E. agrees to join the U.S.’ Container Security Initiative (C.S.I.), becoming the first country in the Middle East to do so. U.S. customs officials will be stationed in Dubai to help target and screen suspect cargo bound for the United States.
2005: More than 300 Iranian companies are known to have operated in Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone.
May 2005: Dubai signs a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. to join the Megaports Initiative. Dubai will be the first government in the Middle East to participate in the scheme, which is intended to detect and seize shipments of radioactive material.
[Muckraked]
10:23:39 AM
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Security at Other Ports. The true test of DP World’s security capabilities should be how well they’ve safeguarded the few dozen ports they run around the world from India and Germany to Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.
One example is their operation of Djibouti, a major port in East Africa. Long plagued by smuggling, DP World took over the port’s operation in 2000 promising better security and increased efficiency. Yet in recent years, the port’s security measures were deemed inadequate by both Ethiopia and the United States, both of which called in their own military forces to safeguard the port during major shipments (according to Stars and Stripes and Afrol News).
[Muckraked]
10:22:50 AM
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UAE’s Publicity Blitz. In addition to DP World’s invitation to the U.S. government for a new security review, the United Arab Emirates-owned company is also working the aisles to help win over members of Congress and policymakers.
 And they’ve got some powerful lobbyists on their side, including Bob Dole. The former Senator works for Alston & Bird, a law firm which helped navigate DP World’s application through the federal bureaucracy in recent months. (That firm’s other clients include Indonesia - helping burnish that country’s reputation amid accusations of human rights violations.) And Alston & Bird has benefited from the legislating-to-lobbying revolving door endemic to the Beltway: former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle and former Associate Attorney General Joe D. Whitley also work for the firm.
In addition, the United Arab Emirates has the Gabriel Company working for them to win over the hearts and minds of Congress. That firm is headed by Edward M. Gabriel, the former U.S. ambassador to Morocco and White House adviser on Mideast policy. He’s given $30,000 to the Democrats in recent years, including $2000 to Hillary Clinton and $27,000 to John Kerry.
Several years ago, Gabriel was the president of the American Task Force on Lebanon, the only Lebanese-American lobbying group that opposed the 2002 Syria Accountability Act. That draft bill, which was endorsed by the House International Relations Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, mandated economic sanctions against Syria if it did not end its sponsorship of terrorist organizations, discontinue its development of weapons of mass destruction, refrain from violating UN sanctions on Iraq and end its military occupation of Lebanon.
[Muckraked]
10:22:11 AM
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Big Oil’s Big Friends.  It’s all about priorities for some members of Congress when it comes to treating America’s “addiction to oil.”
As reported by columnist Juan Gonzalez in the New York Daily News, Congressman Joe Barton (R-Texas), the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has launched a probe into possible antitrust violations by Citgo. Could it be related to accusations of price gouging by ExxonMobil, Chevron or other oil giants?
“No, the good congressman has set his sights on the only oil company that actually dared to lower its prices last year - at least for the poorest Americans.”
“In a Feb. 15 letter to Citgo, the Houston-based company owned by the Venezuelan government, Barton demanded that company officials produce by tomorrow all records, minutes, logs, e-mails and even desk calendars related to Citgo’s novel program of supplying discounted heating oil to low-income communities in the United States.”
Why the animosity against Citgo? Because it’s promoted by Hugo Chavez, the populist president of Venezuela and outspoken critic of the Bush administration.
“The bellicose Venezuelan decided to meddle in American energy policy, and we think it might prove instructive to know how,” Larry Neal, deputy staff director for Barton’s committee, said yesterday.
[Muckraked]
10:21:30 AM
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EPA Shutting Off Access to Info. Tucked away in the Bush administration’s recent budget is a proposal that has alarmed scientists and environmentalists. Under the plan, the Environmental Protection Age ncy will shut down its network of libraries serving the public and its own staff scientists.
In addition, the agency will discontinue its electronic catalog, “which tracks tens of thousands of unique documents and research studies that are available nowhere else,” reports Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
The agency library’s $2.5 million budget will be cut by $2 million. That includes the $500,000 budget for the EPA Headquarters library and its electronic catalog which allows users to search for documents through the entire EPA library network.
In total, the proposal includes about $300 million in cuts to the agency’s budget. Some areas will see increases in research funding: nanotechnology, air pollution and drinking water system security as part of Bush’s “American Competitive Initiative.”
[Muckraked]
10:20:28 AM
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David Sirota: Still Say There's No Security Risk From the UAE Deal?.   Yesterday, I noted that the corporate punditocracy was unifying in an adamant denial that the UAE port security endangers U.S. national security. Some are even calling those who have raised security concerns "borderline racists" - a disgustingly insulting and dishonest charge, considering the UAE has very recent ties to Osama bin Laden, terrorist financing and some of the 9/11 hijackers. Raising security concerns about a country like that controlling our ports isn't "borderline racist" or extreme - it's entirely rational, as long as you are willing to put America's national security interests above Big Business's profit motive, as most Americans outside the Beltway want (but most insulated pundits do not).
But now, in a major story, we see that it's not just writers like me who have pointed out these security concerns - it's also the U.S. Coast Guard which previously told the Bush administration that it had serious national security concerns about this deal. As Republican Sen. Susan Collins (ME) said to administration officials today:
"I'm trying to reconcile your assurance today that there were no security concerns that were not addressed with the Coast Guard's report that there were many intelligence gaps that precluded an overall threat assessment."
The Bush administration tried to dodge Collins inquiry - and in the process publicly embarrassed itself. That's not surprising - it's now impossible for this supposedly "tough on terrorism" administration to hide its national security hypocrisy and negligence in pursuit of its Big Money donors' agenda.
But if you don't believe the Coast Guard, how about Joseph King, who headed the customs agency's anti-terrorism efforts under the Treasury Department and the new Department of Homeland Security? Here's what the Washington Post reported today about him:
"[King] said a company the size of Dubai Ports World would be able to get hundreds of visas to relocate managers and other employees to the United States. Using appeals to Muslim solidarity or threats of violence, al-Qaeda operatives could force low-level managers to provide some of those visas to al-Qaeda sympathizers, said King, who for years tracked similar efforts by organized crime to infiltrate ports in New York and New Jersey. Those sympathizers could obtain legitimate driver's licenses, work permits and mortgages that could then be used by terrorist operatives. Dubai Ports World could also offer a simple conduit for wire transfers to terrorist operatives in the Middle East. Large wire transfers from individuals would quickly attract federal scrutiny, but such transfers, buried in the dozens of wire transfers a day from Dubai Ports World's operations in the United States to the Middle East would go undetected, King said."
Make no mistake about it - expect no apologies or corrections from the corporate punditocracy even in light of these explosive new revelations. The pundits have built up such a track record of out-of-touch dishonest shilling for corporate interests that they will likely try to come up with an even more convulted rationale to prioritize the corporate profit motive over the need to protect America's national security.
[The Huffington Post | Full Blog Feed]
9:28:51 AM
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Cenk Uygur: We Got Him. It's over. Bush's house of cards has just come crumbling down. We suspected it might just be a matter of time, but now it's officially over!
No one recovers from a 34% approval rating. I'll tell you why -- because even the most inept politician realizes you run away from a 34, not towards it. The entire United States Congress, Democrats and Republicans, have no choice but to run from this President -- as fast as they possibly can (ironically, some of the Democrats will be the slowest to leave this sinking ship -- and Lieberman will be the very last one on board).
George Bush is the quick sand that is pulling the Republican Party underground. If they don't realize that now, they soon will when they do the next poll in their home districts. No party can survive trying to pull up a President so universally disliked (let alone a Vice President that is nearly loathed at an 18% approval rating -- I don't think Pinochet was ever that low and I know Nixon wasn't).
The question the Republicans in Congress have to deal with now is -- do they go down with the ship and risk destroying the party all together or do they finally cut Bush loose like they did with Nixon? Could the Republican Party have survived if they decided to go to the bitter end with Nixon? We never found out because no party has been that suicidal since the Federalists.
I knew they were in trouble when Fox put up the banner: "All-Out Civil War in Iraq: Could It Be a Good Thing?" That sounds so pathetically desperate that for the first time I felt sorry for Fox and the Bush administration.
There are some things that are unspinabble. A civil war is one of them.
This long slide downward started with the Terry Schiavo fiasco (politically; policy wise the slide down started when Bush ignored the "Bin Laden Determined to Strike Inside the United States" PDB and stayed on vacation). The downward spiral built up momentum with the abysmal response to Hurricane Katrina. And it culminated in the Port Debacle. The Republican congressional leaders thought this might be a safe issue to distance themselves from the administration without doing too much damage, but when they pulled their finger out of the dam, the flood rushed in and the levees were breached.
It allowed die-hard Republican voters for the first time to feel that it was okay to criticize the President. Once they opened up to that possibility, the whole edifice of party loyalty (for the sake of party loyalty) started to crumble. And then someone pulled the critical card out of the house of cards ... the Iraqi Civil War.
Ronald Reagan once said, "Facts are stubborn things." It turns out they're even more stubborn than Fox News Channel and Karl Rove. It took a long time for facts to wear down spin, but it has, at long last, happened.
Several months ago I said that Bush's poll numbers would never recover and would not go back above fifty percent. Now, I think we are beyond that. At this point, there is a chance that this administration does not make it to 2008. The card has been pulled, this house is coming down. And we might all be surprised at how quickly that comes about.
[The Huffington Post | Full Blog Feed]
9:26:09 AM
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Danielle Crittenden: The President's Secret IMs: A Prince, a Party Gurl, and a Storm in a Port. 
AIM IM with Party_gurl
12:03 p.m.
Party_gurl: daddy!
Kickass43: hey jen
Kickass43: wazzup punkin
Party_gurl: im liek soooo piss'd
Party_gurl: im liek rlly piss'd
Kickass43: ?
Party_gurl: u wdnt believe it
Kickass43: wat
Party_gurl: so OUTRAJUS
Kickass43: uh sweetiepie
Kickass43: ur dad's kinda busy
Kickass43: pls get 2 tha pt
Party_gurl: well liek SORRY
Party_gurl: but summa us have problems 2 K?
Party_gurl; liek im ur baby gurl
Party_gurl: & this is ttlly majr
Kickass43: sry 2 b impashunt
Kickass43: but ive got tha sheik of dubai IMing me
Kickass43: hes super p.o.'d
Party_gurl: not as piss'd as me!!!!!!!!!!!
Party_gurl: look at this bs!
AIM IM with SheikMo
12:08 p.m.
SheikMo: Are you still there your Excellency?
Kickass43: sry ur highness
Kickass43: sumthin droppd on my desk
Kickass43: im here
SheikMo: A thousand pardons Mr. President!
SheikMo: Everyone in the world wants your ear
SheikMo: and yet you only have two.
SheikMo: I was only just saying
SheikMo: that his Excellency your esteemed father
SheikMo: was a true friend...
Kickass43: im ur bud 2 ur highness
SheikMo: Kuwait was magnificent...
Kickass43: I jus need sum time...
SheikMo: It was our pleasure to donate $1 million
SheikMo: to the erection of his library...
SheikMo: and yet so inadequate a gesture
SheikMo: given what he did for our people.
SheikMo: But we do what we can for our friends.
Kickass43: tha family rlly aphreshiatd it
SheikMo: and his Excellency the esteemed President Clinton...
SheikMo: such a true friend also!
SheikMo: To miss an opportunity to blow up that miserable dog Bin Laden
SheikMo: so as not to risk killing any members of our royal families
SheikMo: with whom he may have been falconing at the time.
SheikMo: A true, true friend.
SheikMo: (and "entre nous"
SheikMo: how nobly he endures
SheikMo: that burden God inflicted upon him as a wife!
SheikMo: I have told him numerous times that should he choose to retire
SheikMo: at one of our many five-star world-class luxury resorts
SheikMo: "The Best Golf on the Gulf"
SheikMo: and undergo a small conversion
SheikMo: he could have as many beautiful wives as he chooses!)
SheikMo: Of course you are a great friend of ours as well--
SheikMo: which makes this nasty and unfortunate business over the Dubai Ports
SheikMo: that much more painful...
AIM IM with Party_gurl
12:21 p.m.
Party_gurl: DADDY
Party_gurl: Hel-LO
Party_gurl: liek r u evn lissenin 2 me
Kickass43: hon I don't have time 2 chk dat link
Kickass43: wat duz it say?
Party_gurl: its a SHOW
Party_gurl: bout ME
Party_gurl: "The Miss Education of Jenna Bush"
Party_gurl: "In the comedy, the President's notoriously rebellious daughter - having just awoken from a blow-out kegger - prepares for her new job teaching fourth graders on the eve of her first day at school. From underage drinking citations and (alleged) pot smoking to America's public school system - 'Miss Jenna' rewrites history with a lesson plan you'll never forget."
Kickass43: gr8 hon!
Kickass43: im proud
Kickass43: u shud b proud
Kickass43: theyr makin a bio of ur life
Kickass43: & accomplismunz
Kickass43: so soon
Party_gurl: did u even READ the f-in thing ?!
Kickass43: yes
Kickass43: let ur ma & I kno wen it airs...
Party_gurl: daddy itsa PLAY
Party_gurl: a COMEDY!!!!!!!!!
Party_gurl: xcept its NOT funny
Party_gurl: gunna play @ Aspen Comedy Festival...
Kickass43 has left this chat.
AIM IM with SheikMo
12:27 p.m.
SheikMo: I seem to have lost your attention again Mr. President...?
Kickass43: no im here
Kickass43: eatin a sandwich
Kickass43: a BIG sandwich
Kickass43: sumtimes gets in tha way of tha screen
SheikMo: Forgive me if I say that you Americans...
SheikMo: do not know how to enjoy the pleasantness...
SheikMo: of a leisurely lunch.
SheikMo: Imagine the leader of the greatest world power...
SheikMo: history has ever known...
SheikMo: eating at his desk!
SheikMo: May I also say that it is bad for the digestion...
SheikMo: to eat in this rushed fashion.
SheikMo: In any case Mr. President...
SheikMo: I was only remarking that...
SheikMo: his Excellency the esteemed President Clinton...
SheikMo: was just in Qatar again...
SheikMo: He is such a favorite of the royal family...
Kickass43: a hero
SheikMo: It is generous of you to describe him as such.
SheikMo: We of course view him the same way.
Kickass43: no
Kickass43: I'm EATIN a hero
Kickass43: dats wat we call big sandwichs
SheikMo: How amusing to use the same word for a sandwich
SheikMo: that you also use to describe the courageous troops
SheikMo: who have so selflessly shed blood and given their lives
SheikMo: for those few Arab friends and allies
SheikMo: who believe in the great western causes of freedom
SheikMo: and democracy
SheikMo: and free trade.
SheikMo: Let us not forget also how many UAE "heroes"
SheikMo: have shed blood and given their lives in this cause.
Kickass43: I shur don't 4get it sheik
Kickass43: & tha merikan ppl don't 4get it
SheikMo: You know the hearts and minds of your people so well.
SheikMo: That is why, if I may say, all this unpleasantness over the ports
SheikMo: is so surprising.
SheikMo: Such a generous people!
SheikMo: Such BIG people!
SheikMo: Such heroes!
SheikMo: And yet that unfortunate strain of bigotry...
SheikMo: that runs through your society...
SheikMo: below the surface...
SheikMo: like oil beneath the sands...
SheikMo: occasionally exploding with tragic consequences...
SheikMo: I worry greatly, your Excellency, is at work here...
SheikMo: undermining our port deal.
Kickass43: I can ashur u ur highness
Kickass43: its not "bigotry"
Kickass43: (tho sumtimes politicly useful 2 call it dat)
Kickass43: its FEAR
Kickass43: tha dems hav scared that shit outta ppl
Kickass43: man
Kickass43: you'd think al qaeda wuz gonna b inspectin tha containers
SheikMo: I was unaware this Doctor Frist was a "dem" as you put it?
SheikMo: And are not other Republicans joining in the general enragement?
Kickass43: uh yeh
Kickass43: summa them don't like it
SheikMo: Democracy is a great gift to humanity.
SheikMo: Truly, your Excellency, I believe that.
SheikMo: But in times of national crisis
SheikMo: it is helpful for the leaders of a society
SheikMo: to present a unified front to the people.
SheikMo: Certainly no one in our world
SheikMo: would dare to question the decisions of the rulers
SheikMo: especially as they know we make all our decisions
SheikMo: based on the example of the Prophet himself
SheikMo: who always did what was good and merciful for his people.
SheikMo: Can you not silence these outspoken party members?
AIM IM with Party_gurl
12:43 p.m.
Party_gurl: DADDY U HAFTA STOP THIS!!
Party_gurl: Im DYIN
Party_gurl: dya hav any idea how BAD THIS IS?
Party_gurl: SOS!!!
Kickass43: pls can we talk l8r??
Party_gurl: WEN
Kickass43: 2nite?
Kickass43: come 4 dinnr
Party_gurl: cant
Party_gurl: hav plans
Party_gurl: meetin my girls after wrk @ dragonfly
Kickass43: so come aftr
Party_gurl: cant
Party_gurl: we're all goin 2 Play
Kickass43: if its "soooo" srious
Kickass43: cant u play anudder time??
Party_gurl: ur so outta it
Party_gurl: "Play" is a CLUB
Party_gurl: ull be asleep
Party_gurl: I need u 2 fix this NOW
Kickass43: jen I don't hav time 2 talk bout this!!
Party_gurl: u can stop it!
Kickass43: HOW
Party_gurl: ur like the PRESIDENT
Party_gurl: itsa stupid low-life comdy fest
Party_gurl: pull ther grant!
Party_gurl: nuke em!!
Party_gurl: I DON'T CARE
Kickass43: pls IM ur ma
Party_gurl: I did alrdy
Party_gurl: she can't help
Party_gurl: sez she only duz book fests
Party_gurl: sed 2 ask u
Kickass43: giv me sum time
Party_gurl: how much?!
Kickass43: L8R
Kickass43 has left this chat.
AIM IM with SheikMo
12:50 p.m.
SheikMo: But I have been going on at great length.
SheikMo: I fear by your silence that I may have caused offense.
SheikMo: I know there can be no truer friend to us than your Excellency
SheikMo: The President of the mighty United States.
SheikMo: I think of America's mightiness every time
SheikMo: I have the occasion to ride upon
SheikMo: one of our national airline's American-made Boeings
SheikMo: as opposed to the Airbuses made by France.
SheikMo: Yes, we could have saved millions by purchasing them instead.
SheikMo: And the Airbus is not an inferior aircraft, as you know.
SheikMo: Although I hasten to add it is not a Boeing.
SheikMo: But the French are such unreliable friends!
SheikMo: And naturally we must preserve our greatest hospitality
SheikMo: and patronage
SheikMo: for our truest friends.
Kickass43: no offens takn ur highness
Kickass43: & I appreshiate ur pashuns
Kickass43: & patronaj
Kickass43: jus need mor time
Kickass43: a lttl more time...
Kickass43: 2 solv this "storm ina port"
Kickass43: heh heh
Kickass43: u can rly on me
Kickass43: Im tha PRESIDENT
Kickass43: aftr all...
SheikMo: We don't forget that, your Excellency.
SheikMo: And we won't forget it, your Excellency.
Sheik Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum has left this chat.
The President's Secret IMs appears every Tuesday.
[The Huffington Post | Full Blog Feed]
9:24:49 AM
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I AM A TALK SHOW HOST (THE PAT THURSTON SHOW, KSRO RADIO, SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA - MONDAY THRU FRIDAY, 1p-3p), YET I TRY TO AVOID TALK-SHOWIZATION OF MY OWN SHOW. I DON'T ALWAYS SUCCEED AND IT IS CRAMMED FULL OF OPINIONS. THAT'S FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION. FACTS ARE IMPORTANT AS THEY LEAD US TO THOSE OPINIONS. BUT OPINIONS MUST ALSO BE SHARED. SUCH IS THE NATURE OF A FREE SOCIETY.
ALL THAT SAID, I AGREE WHOLEHEARTEDLY WITH THE SENTIMENT BEHIND THIS PIECE.
Steve Young: The Talk Showization of The Mainstream Media. I recently moderated a panel of experts intent of informing their audience as to why we must withdraw from Iraq, much sooner than later. The word "immediately" found its way into most rationales.
Different than most of these anti-this-particular-war recipe for get-out was that it was made with both Democratic and Republican ingredients. Even more different than discussions that now lather the airwaves in blather, this one was fact heavy.
Facts not opinion. Reality not fabrication. Truth not lies. Dissemination of the evidence rather than the ignorance that talk radio/TV thrives on and which this administration has joyfully fused itself to. That the White House calls this truth ought to cause truth to sue the White House for irreparable damages.
Say like when a president stands up for a new port sell-out that he fully stands behind but first found out about it by reading that it had already been approved.
Or that the deal was fully vetted and there no problems, unless, of course, you consider it a problem that the U.S. Coast Guard raised concerns weeks ago that, because of U.S. intelligence gaps, it could not determine whether the UAE company, DP World, might support terrorist operations
Or when a federal study and our top general say that the military is stretched beyond their capabilities and a Secretary of Defense -- who admits he hadn't read the study -- says that's not true.
How about the dark-of-the-night at the administration's Department of Word-Mangling when WMD aren't found so the war rationale then becomes WMD-related. Or when Abramoff donations (sometimes known as bribes) are not found to be applicable to Democrats, the donations become Abramoff client-related.
The word "related" should get a kickback from this White House.
And just like that, the Mainstream Media accepts the spin as one side of the truth and has let the talk show mentality bastardize the facts in a political shakedown of obscene proportions. They've become unintended colleagues of snake oil salesman like Hannity, O'Reilly and Limbaugh who poison the debate under the guise of truth-telling; using circuitous arguments that are an insult to anyone with a single brain cell; twisted logic so tortured that the Geneva Conventions would object. That it continues 24/7 is a sin against humanity. If there be a reason to believe there is no God, look at right wing talk radio.
Yet the Right has been able to place the fear of God so much into the fourth estate that the Mainstream Media has made a clear decision to make its way into the dark side allowing political balance to mean that lies must get equal space with the truth.
Under fear of being called biased by the biased Right, the LA Times gives the vicious David Horowitz space on the front page of their Sunday oped page. Right wing apologists like Max Boot and Jonah Goldberg spread propaganda on the Times daily opinion pages while condescending blowhards like Dennis Prager and David Gelernter got to spit out divisive rants under the pretense of speaking the word of God.
The bastion of liberal ink-think, the New York Times, releases the NSA spying story after a year of collusion with the White House, ONLY because one of the own writers would have exposed it in his new book which would have made them even look less credible then, say, allowing someone like Judy Miller to mask White House drive to war propaganda as news.
The Washington Post ombudsman distorts the Abramoff information while Saint Bob Woodward goes mute on the sins of the administration.
The Today Show brings on Bill O'Reilly to give us intellectual insight into the news.
CNN brings on Bob Bennett. Headline News, obviously forgetting the brilliant MSNBC Michael Savage experiment, brings on Glenn "Hate The 9-11 Families/Katrina Survivors Are Scumbags" Beck.
The supposed watchdogs for the public, the (excuse me while I wretch) liberal media, except perhaps for NBC's David Gregory and absolute goddess, Helen Thomas, have let us down. The rest of the White House press corp sits back while Scott McClellan is allowed to stonewall that "There is a serious investigation going on so we can't comment further." If that's the truth, they'll never be able to comment on anything because everything this White House does needs serious investigation.
Every Sunday morning news talk show anchor poses RNC debunked talking points as if they're legitimate questions, and they're permitted to get them get away with it by mainstream anchors.
Even supposed Democratic wunderkind, Barack Obama, fell into the right wing talking point trap on a recent Meet The Press by intimating that, re: Abramoff scandal, "The problem of money in politics is bipartisan." Senator, it only serves the devil to say the devil's in us all. We've got to stop giving this Talkization of America credibility.
Instead of letting Tim Russert or Brit Hume or George Stephanopolous or God-forbid, even a Hannity, frame some RNC talking point in the context of an acceptable question and just responding it, the answer must begin with a complete dismissal of the question.
"Tim, Brit, George, Seanie, why would you take an already confirmed misrepresentation and hold it up as a legitimate question? Surely your crack research staff could have easily checked this out and found it to be wholly untrue long before you embarrassed yourself by asking it on your show. Next question."
Another words -- Dean, Perry, Biden, Obama, Shumer, Durbin, Gore, Clinton, everyone -- instead of just reacting, wasting time trying to defend some fiction that isn't worth valuable network time, you call a spade a spade right from the gitgo. Then, you can spend that freed up time selling America on what you can do for them, instead of letting the media sell America down the river.
If not, when we do the Judgement at Nuremberg redux, they'll have to build a defendant section just for the Goering wannabes.
[The Huffington Post | Full Blog Feed]
9:17:26 AM
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John Zogby: On a New Poll Of U.S. Soldiers During Their Service in Iraq. In wars of America's century just past, we have sent our soldiers to far-off fields of battle and were left to wonder about their opinions of the life-and-death conflicts in which they were involved.
Letters home, and more recently telephone calls and emails, would give us a peek into their states of mind. Some who returned would regale friends and family with tales from the front lines.
Times have now changed. A first-ever survey of U.S. troops on the ground fighting a war overseas has revealed surprising findings, not the least of which is that an overwhelming majority of 72% of American troops in Iraq think the U.S. should exit the country within the next year.
Further, a new Le Moyne College/Zogby International survey shows that more than one in four (29%) thought the U.S. should pull its troops immediately.
The poll, conducted in conjunction with Le Moyne College's Center for Peace and Global Studies, also showed that another 22% of the respondents, serving in various branches of the armed forces, said the U.S. should leave Iraq in the next six months. One in every five troops - 21% - said troops should be out between six and 12 months. Nearly a quarter - 23% - said they should stay "as long as they are needed."
The troops have drawn different conclusions about fellow citizens back home. Asked why they think some Americans favor rapid U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq, 37% of troops serving there said those Americans are unpatriotic, while 20% believe people back home don't believe a continued occupation will work. Another 16% said they believe those favoring a quick withdrawal do so because they oppose the use of the military in a pre-emptive war, while 15% said they do not believe those Americans understand the need for the U.S. troops in Iraq.
At 55%, reservists serving in Iraq were most likely to see those back home as unpatriotic for wanting a rapid withdrawal, while 45% of Marines and 33% of members of the regular Army agreed.
The wide-ranging poll also shows that 58% of those serving in country say the U.S. mission in Iraq is clear in their minds, while 42% said it is either somewhat or very unclear to them, that they have no understanding of it at all, or are unsure. Nearly nine of every 10 - 85% - said the U.S. mission is "to retaliate for Saddam's role in the 9-11 attacks," while 77% said they believe the main or a major reason for the war was "to stop Saddam from protecting al Qaeda in Iraq."
Ninety-three percent said that removing weapons of mass destruction is not a reason for U.S. troops being there. Instead, that initial rationale went by the wayside and, in the minds of 68% of the troops, the real mission became to remove Saddam Hussein.
Just 24% said that "establishing a democracy that can be a model for the Arab World" was the main or a major reason for the war. Only small percentages see the mission there as securing oil supplies (11%) or to provide long-term bases for US troops in the region (6%).
More than 80% of the troops said they did not hold a negative view of Iraqis because of continuing insurgent attacks against them. Only about two in five see the insurgency as being comprised of discontented Sunnis with very few non-Iraqi helpers.
On this question there appears to be some confusion among the troops, but two in every three do not agree that if non-Iraqi terrorists could be prevented from crossing the border into Iraq, the insurgency would end.
To control the insurgency, a majority of respondents (53%) said the U.S. should double both the number of troops and bombing missions, an option absolutely no one back in Washington is considering.
Reservists were most enthusiastic about using bombing runs and a doubling of ground troops to counter the enemy, with 70% agreeing that would work to control the insurgency. Among regular Army respondents, 48% favored more troops and bombing, and 47% of Marines agreed. However, 36% of Marines said they were uncertain that strategy would work, compared to just 9% of regular Army, 6% of National Guard respondents, and 2% of reservists who said they were not sure.
Those in Iraq on their first tour of duty were less optimistic that more troops and bombing runs would work. While 38% of first-timers agreed, 62% of those on their second tour and 53% in Iraq at least three times favored more U.S. troops and firepower.
As new photos of prisoner abuse in Iraq surface, a majority of troops serving there said they oppose harsh interrogation methods. A majority - 55% - said it is not appropriate or standard military conduct to use harsh and threatening methods on possible insurgent prisoners to information of military value.
Among all respondents, 26% said they were on their first tour of duty in Iraq, while 45% said they were on their second tour, and 29% said they were in Iraq for a third time, or more. Three of every four were male respondents, with 63% under the age of 30.
The survey included 944 military respondents interviewed at several undisclosed locations throughout Iraq. The names of the specific locations and specific personnel who conducted the survey are being withheld for security purposes. Surveys were conducted face-to-face using random sampling techniques. The margin of error for the survey, conducted Jan. 18 through Feb. 14, 2006, is +/- 3.3 percentage points.
In other words, the poll is a sound, solid measurement of what is going through the minds of our front-line warriors. It's no letter home, but it's still good to hear from them.
[The Huffington Post | Full Blog Feed]
9:11:32 AM
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The Court's Money Moment. Today, the Supreme Court has an historic opportunity to free elections from the taint of unlimited spending—and evidence from abroad shows it's good for democracy. [TomPaine.com]
9:10:41 AM
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© Copyright 2006 Patricia Thurston.
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