UAE terminal takeover extends to 21 ports

"Obviously, my request fell on deaf ears. I am disappointed that I was neither briefed nor informed of this sale prior to its approval. Instead, I read about it in the media."--Sen. Charles Grassley
United Press International - Security & Terrorism - UAE terminal takeover extends to 21 ports: "'All a terrorist organization needs to do is find a single weak link within a 'trusted' shipper's complex supply chain, such as a poorly paid truck driver taking a container from a remote factory to a port. They can then gain access to the container in one of the half-dozen ways well known to experienced smugglers,' CFR wrote."

Media Matters - O'Reilly: U.S. should leave Iraq "as fast as humanly possible" because "there are so many nuts in the country"

Media Matters - O'Reilly: U.S. should leave Iraq "as fast as humanly possible" because "there are so many nuts in the country": Bill O'Reilly suggested that the United States "hand over everything to the Iraqis as fast as humanly possible" because "there are so many nuts in the country -- so many crazies -- that we can't control them." O'Reilly has previously called those advocating immediate withdrawal from Iraq "pinheads" and compared them to Hitler appeasers.

Port deal Opposed by Republicans

Its about time republicans start digging in their heals and opposing the bush Whitehouse.
Frist Calls for Halt to U.S. Ports Deal - Yahoo! News: "Critics have noted that some of the 9/11 hijackers used the UAE as an operational and financial base. In addition, they contend the UAE was an important transfer point for shipments of smuggled nuclear components sent to Iran, North Korea and Libya by a Pakistani scientist. "

How to shoot yourself in the foot

This story like the Energizer bunny just keeps going and going and going and going. The glaring truth of the whole episode which should have been apparent when Cheney picked himself to run as Vice President is that he has been jerking the strings of the Kukla, Fran and Ollie puppet show since day one.
MediaGuardian.co.uk Media How to shoot yourself in the foot
When Dick Cheney shot his friend it was a bizarre accident. But his handling of the event has wounded the Bush administration and infuriated the press

SEX and the Statehouse

10 ways Indiana lawmakers want to send you to hell, to jail or both. Only in the heart of red state jesusland could lawmakers be so concerned about the private lives of its citizens and about what other people do in bed.
nuvo.net / SEX and the Statehouse: "The Indianapolis Police Department has arrested more than a dozen men in recent months on public indecency charges as part of a sting operation targeting gay men at local health clubs. At the National Institute of Fitness and Sport (NIFS) downtown, an undercover officer hung out, naked, in the mens shower and struck up several friendly conversations with fellow naked guys. In at least one instance, the officer began to chat up a fellow while the two were showering and the conversation became a little flirty. No offers of money were exchanged. No touching occurred. But when the perp got aroused during the conversation with the naked, soapy, sexy undercover officer, he got busted on charges of public indecency. Now the guy with the hard-on is facing a year in jail and a $5,000 fine."

Some more bush bullshit

Never mind searching those containers for WMD's. We've got to get this Lipitor traffic stopped because millions of old folks may live a little longer from unclogged arteries and put a strain on the social security administration. And we should probably transfer some of the weed patrol on the Mexican border to nip this Canadian drug traffic in the bud. Sigh,......
More Medicines From Abroad Seized - Los Angeles Times: "The U.S. government apparently is stepping up seizures of cheap drugs ordered by Americans mainly seniors from abroad, Canadian pharmacies say."

White House Knew of Levee's Failure on Night of Storm and DID NOTHING. And we're all supposed to feel safer now.

"FYI from FEMA," said an e-mail message from the agency's public affairs staff describing the helicopter flight, sent Monday night at 9:27 to the chief of staff of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and recently unearthed by investigators. Conditions, the message said, "are far more serious than media reports are currently reflecting. Finding extensive flooding and more stranded people than they had thought — also a number of fires."
White House Knew of Levee's Failure on Night of Storm - New York Times: "But the alert did not seem to register. Even the next morning, President Bush, on vacation in Texas, was feeling relieved that New Orleans had 'dodged the bullet,' he later recalled. Mr. Chertoff, similarly confident, flew Tuesday to Atlanta for a briefing on avian flu. With power out from the high winds and movement limited, even news reporters in New Orleans remained unaware of the full extent of the levee breaches until Tuesday.
The federal government let out a sigh of relief when in fact it should have been sounding an 'all hands on deck' alarm, the investigators have found."

Bush Appointee Attempts to Control Global Warming Debate

George C. Deutsch, the young presidential appointee at NASA who told public affairs workers to limit reporters' access to a top climate scientist and told a Web designer to add the word "theory" at every mention of the Big Bang, resigned yesterday, agency officials said.
A Young Bush Appointee Resigns His Post at NASA - New York Times: "'He's only a bit player,' Dr. Hansen said of Mr. Deutsch. ' The problem is much broader and much deeper and it goes across agencies. That's what I'm really concerned about.'
'On climate, the public has been misinformed and not informed,' he said. 'The foundation of a democracy is an informed public, which obviously means an honestly informed public. That's the big issue here.'"

Polly Toynbee: Cut a deal with the mullahs

Now the mad mullahs of Iran will soon have nuclear bombs, are we all doomed? Thumbing his nose at the impotent west, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad taunts us: "Our enemies cannot do a damn thing. We do not need you at all. But you are in need of the Iranian nation." And he is absolutely right. A frisson of panic shudders around the globe: he has already threatened to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth. Do something, someone! But what and who? And if there is nothing to be done, what then?
Guardian Unlimited Columnists Polly Toynbee: Cut a deal with the mullahs: "What's more, Iran is the true winner of that war. They only had to sit tight and smile as the west delivered on a golden plate all the influence Iran had always sought in the Middle East. The US and its allies will soon be gone from Afghanistan and Iraq, leaving Iranian-backed Shias dominant in both countries, their influence well spread across Syria, a chunk of Saudi Arabia and other countries for decades to come. Historic Iranian ambitions have been fulfilled without firing a shot while the US is reduced to fist-shaking. How foolish was that?"

Can the President Order a Killing on U.S. Soil? - Newsweek Politics - MSNBC.com

Can it get any worse than this? Must we run outside every time we hear an aircraft overhead fearing that it may be a spying drone ready to blow anybody it chooses to bits? Like kill now and ask questions later? Can this nation endure three more years of this insanity?
Exclusive: Can the President Order a Killing on U.S. Soil? - Newsweek Politics - MSNBC.com:
"In the latest twist in the debate over presidential powers, a Justice Department official suggested that in certain circumstances, the president might have the power to order the killing of terrorist suspects inside the United States."

The Seattle Times: Politics: Iraq war is costing $100,000 per minute

Isn't it strange that CNN can focus on some little robot thing wandering in a park, I believe in California and already having been determined it has nothing to do with terrorism can ignore the fact the US is spending $100,000 per minute to blow shit up and kill people in Iraq and Afghanistan?
The Seattle Times: Politics: Iraq war is costing $100,000 per minute
The White House said Thursday that it plans to ask Congress for an additional $70 billion to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, driving the cost of military operations in the two countries to $120 billion this year, the highest ever.