In the Spirit of Gandhi and MLK...

Cameron Louisiana is gone.

Rita has destroyed all of it.

Stephanie,

Remember that we are all there with you. On the jet home last night many of us recounted our experiences. It was a unique experience being with strangers-in Washington and especially on the jet home-whom I knew I would never see again. We had all empowered ourselves just by being Americans protesting against our President and his policies, and we felt a common bond.

We are the majority now, and acts of civil disobedience by the
majority can only be viewed with respect and admiration-not as criminal behavior. Your willingness to confront authority is testimony to your convictions and strength. I am proud that I know you.

A friend from Buffalo to you Stephanie.

I am proud you are from our area, and I am proud you went from just trying a place to stay to joining in the civil disobedience. My heart and soul are there with you. The pics and feedback all weekend have been enough to bring tears to my eyes.... I thank you and all your fellow protesters for bringing us more hope.

I'll be watching for your updates, stay safe, stay sane and I'll buy you a drink if we ever meet up when you get back.

Peace Soon.

Stephanie -

Sorry I missed meeting you (and almost everyone else here:( ) on Saturday, although my experience was powerful as well. I hope we meet in the future!

You are a brave woman - thanks for representing us there! Be careful, be strong and peace be with you (and all of us)!!

Documents: Frist knew contents of blind trust

Monday, September 26, 2005; Posted: 10:36 a.m. EDT (14:36 GMT)

Frist, R-Tennessee, received regular updates of transfers of assets to his blind trusts and sales of assets. He also was able to initiate a stock sale of a hospital chain founded by his family with perfect timing. Shortly after the sale this summer, the stock price dived.

A possible presidential contender in 2008, Frist now faces dual investigations by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and the Securities and Exchange Commission into his stock sales.

Sheldon Cohen, who was the trustee for Democrat Walter Mondale's blind trust when he was vice president, and drafted Democrat Lyndon Johnson's blind trust for Johnson's presidency, said that in the executive branch,"You don't tell them how it's composed." He said Frist, like any federal official, "absolves himself of conflict by not knowing what he owns."

Cohen said that when Mondale left office, he told Cohen to sell his assets. "He had no idea what I was holding," the Washington attorney and former Internal Revenue Service commissioner said.

Frist spokesman Bob Stevenson said the senator received approval from the Senate Ethics Committee before he initiated the stock sale. All the information Frist received complied with federal law and Senate ethics rules, Stevenson added.

The stock was in HCA Inc., a chain of hospitals founded in the late 1960s by Frist's father and brother. At the time of the sale, insiders also were selling. Shortly after that sale, the stock price dipped because of a warning that earnings would not meet Wall Street expectations.

"If, in fact, Frist was actively involved in this decision, he certainly has to supply an explanation of how that's consistent with a blind trust," said Bob Bauer, a Washington attorney who has set up blind trusts for Democratic members of Congress.

Bauer said he has no knowledge of Frist's dealings with the trustees of his investments.

Whether Frist knew too much about his investments, or took advantage of insider trading, is not known. But the potential political damage increased in recent days.

Article CON-tinues VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/26/frist.blindtrust.ap/index.html

Posted by: FricO at September 26, 2005 11:19 AM

Welcome to the blog, FricO!!!

Voice of the People from the Chicago Tribune on September 24, 2005. We all know all of this, but it's still refreshing to see it in print from other voices.

Unqualified Bush

Chicago -- A message to all conservative Republicans who keep attacking liberals who criticize President Bush.

Contrary to your accusations, most of us liberals do not hate the president.

He would be harmless enough if he weren't the most powerful man in the world.

Our concern is that he is the poster child for the Peter Principle, which postulates that people will advance to a level in their organization where they are incompetent.

Since Bush is the most powerful man in the world, that's very scary. The strength of our feelings about the president would be mitigated if we felt he had done even one thing correctly since he was first elected, but he has failed in every arena:

- He created No Child Left Behind and then failed to support it.

- He has trashed laws protecting the environment, jeopardizing our and our children's health.

- His prescription drug program for the elderly will not help them much but will enrich drug companies.

- He gives campaign contributors plum jobs they are unqualified for.

- He continues to reward rich people at poor people's expense via his tax cuts.

- In cutting taxes, he has eviscerated key governmental programs.

- He has pushed our idebtedness to all-time highs.

- He declared war on a country that constituted no threat to us for completely bogus reasons.

- He continues to act as if global warming isn't a reality in the face of overwhelming evidence.

- He restricted our freedoms to improve our national security but has not accomplished this.

- He continues to undermine the traditional separation of church and state.

As far as Katrina is concerned, it goes without saying that we don't hold Bush responsible for the hurricane itself. To suggest otherwise is disingenuous. We merely point out that, if Bush had approved sufficient funding so the levees could be reconstructed instead of granting tax cuts to the wealthy; if he had hired competent people to oversee the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and if he hadn't sent so many national guardsman overseas, the catastrophe would not have been nearly as bad as it was.

While we recognize that the mayor of New Orleans and the governor of Louisiana share responsibility for what happened, neither the city nor the state has the resources to do what the federal government can do.

The truth is, our emperor-president isn't wearing any clothing and increasingly people are starting to recognize this. Unfortunately there are none so blind as the conservative Republicans who will not see.

Copyright (c) 2005, Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0509240242sep24,1,2489039.story

OK, I heard something this weekend that
1) really made me very P.O.'d (I know, not a difficult thing to do or in the spirit of Ghandi...)
2) needs investigation
3) if true, needs to be made very public, IMHO

FEMA is buying back the things that people donated to the hurricane victims. They are using OUR tax dollars to buy back things that WE purchased and donated to various charities...

Anyone got any ideas on who to contact about this to verify it???

Hey Stephanie - we're with you all the way.

And here's some good news about the St. Patrick's Four...

Verdict: Not Guilty of Conspiracy

Federal prosecutor unable to convince jury of conspiracy charges. This is a significant victory for the future of non-violent protest.

News is just coming in. This notice will be updated as information becomes available. What we know at this point: The defendants are not in custody; sentencing will be in January; penalties for the contempt of court charges are undetermined.

Main Charge

Count 1, Conspiracy to impede a federal officer of the USA: NOT GUILTY

Lesser Charges
Count 2, Injured and damaged government property: GUILTY
Count 3, Entered military station for unlawful purpose: GUILTY
Count 4, Entered military station after removal: DROPPED
http://stpatricksfour.com/

Hi -

Posted this last week, but in the middle of the fray, so here it is again, for folks who didn't see/hear it:

NPR has received copies of the conference calls between Louisanna's various emergency response teams/govt./and FEMA leading up to Katrina, from one of those on the calls. To read the story/hear parts of the tapes, go here:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4859329

Apparently when 2.5 million folks evacuate a city our conservative newspaper will then print even nonBush loving letters to the editor. So next time your city has a massive evacuation and no one is left in town flood them with letters.

This letter was a riot that I just I had to share:

Titled Rita, Katrina, and Houston:

"Me? I'm staying. I live in West University Place,(says the writer), a wealthy Republican neighborhood with lots of donors to the Republican Party. I figure that I don't need to leave to avoid the hurricane because I figure that President Bush will personally knock on my door and save me."

In the spirit of Ghandi... here is some more wisdom from the East that seem relevant for Stephanie and everyone else who's participating in civil disobedience...

"Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn't have it in the beginning."

"To lose patience is to lose the battle."

"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall -- think it it, ALWAYS."

-- Mahatma Gandhi

"If we do not change our daily lives, we cannot change the world." -- Thich Nhat Hanh

"It is better to live one day ethically and reflectively than to live one hundred years immoral and unrestrained." -- Buddha

"It is the enemy who can truly teach us to practice the virtues of compassion and tolerance." -- Dalai Lama

BREAKING NEWS FROM MSNBC

Cindy Sheehan has been arrested during pro-peace protest in front of the White House!

More news when I hear it...

Just came back from the Lobby Day activities, where I met with my Senators' representatives. (I am from CA, so it's Boxer and Feinstein.)

Near Feinstein's Senate office, I spotted Cindy Sheehan making a drop-in visit at Richard Lugar (Indiana)'s office!

The California delegation made the following points to Boxer and Feinstein.

- Support Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA)'s HR 551, which amends No Child Left Behind to make students opt-in, instead of opt-out as is currently the case, into the military recruiters' databases.
- A Latino man who lost his son in Iraq asked for benefits for veterans' parents.
- No more budget appropriations for Iraq combat operations.
- Support Senator Feingold (D-WI)'s resolution to set a timetable for withdrawal. In fact, Boxer turns out to be the co-sponsor.
- Direct money toward re-building of Iraq, but not through the likes of Halliburton. Let international organizations (UN, etc) take charge.
- Better healthcare for veterans. Support the troops, remember!
- An Army commander was quoted as saying "Geneva convention doesn't matter in Iraq." Make sure that internal Army rules at least apply to our soldiers in Iraq.

Boxer's office was super-receptive. Feinstein had a canned position which basically deferred determination of Iraq's readiness for self-rule to the W regime.

At Boxer's office, I spoke with legislative assistant Ann Norris, regarding how South Korea is being used by the neocons as a case where US military intervention worked out well. My point was that (1) South Korea was attacked by North Korea, whereas Iraq did not attack the US or any ally; (2) The US forces went to Korea with full support of the international community; (3) The US forces stayed in Korea not to further democracy, but to hamper it by supporting right-wing military dictatorships. Ms. Norris was very receptive, saying that she knew where I was coming from; she had visited Seoul and DMZ last year on the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs-sponsored trip.

All in all, a very productive day. Now I need to take a break.

Stephanie,

It was a pleasure meeting you yesterday, and good luck with today's brave stand. We at DCP (and I, certainly) are all behind you!

Tax breaks compound hurricane recovery woes
Fiscal watchdog urges Congress to scrutinize special tax preferences

By Tom Curry
National affairs writer
MSNBC
Sept. 26, 2005

WASHINGTON - Finding the money in the federal budget to pay for the recovery from hurricanes Katrina and Rita is now the fixation of members of Congress and of critics of fiscal laxness in Washington.

There’s an easy target for the critics: “pork barrel” spending projects such as $223 million to build the now-infamous bridge in Alaska to connect Ketchikan to Gravina Island, with a population of only 50 people. Congress OK’d the bridge as part of a $253 billion highway construction bill in July.

But Comptroller General David Walker, who heads the federal government’s fiscal watchdog agency, the General Accountability Office (GAO), is telling Congress and the American people there’s much bigger money going unavailable for critical spending needs.

Tax breaks cause nearly $730 billion in revenue losses every year, the GAO said in a report released Friday.

To put that number in perspective, $730 billion is just slightly less than what the federal government spent in 2004 on all military outlays and on the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly combined.

Tax breaks add up
Looked at another way, $730 billion is about equal to the total amount of Social Security and Medicare taxes paid by workers and employers in 2004.

In Washington lingo, these tax breaks are called “tax expenditures.” They “grant special tax relief for certain kinds of behavior by taxpayers or for taxpayers in special circumstances,” according to the new GAO report released Friday.

The 146 tax breaks now enshrined in federal law include everything from the deductibility of home mortgage interest ($76 billion in foregone revenue this year) to the tax-free status of reimbursed employee parking expenses ($2.7 billion in foregone revenue).

When you get one of these tax breaks, your effective tax rate — the ratio of the taxes you pay to your total income — is cut. You save money, but that means there's less revenue flowing into the Treasury to pay for aircraft carriers, meat inspection, Amtrak subsidies, or hurricane recovery.

Consider this as a thought experiment: if hurricane recovery ends up costing the Treasury $235 billion, all of it could be paid for by Americans giving up just for one year three tax breaks: the tax-free status of employers’ contributions for their workers’ medical insurance premiums, the deductibility of home mortgage interest, and the $1,000-per-child tax credit for each child under age 17.

more... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9466231/

Sheehan Arrested During Anti-War Protest By JENNIFER C. KERR, Associated Press Writer
10 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Cindy Sheehan, the California woman who has used her son's death in Iraq to spur the anti-war movement, was arrested Monday while protesting outside the White House.

Sheehan and several dozen other protesters sat down on the sidewalk after marching along the pedestrian walkway on Pennsylvania Avenue. Police warned them three times that they were breaking the law by failing to move along, then began making arrests.

Sheehan, 48, was the first taken into custody. She stood up and was led to a police vehicle while protesters chanted, "The whole world is watching."

Sheehan's 24-year-old son, Casey, was killed in an ambush in Sadr City, Iraq, last year. She attracted worldwide attention last month with her 26-day vigil outside President Bush's Texas ranch.

Sheehan was among several hundred demonstrators who marched around the White House on Monday and then stopped in front and began singing and chanting "Stop the war now!"

The demonstration is part of a broader anti-war effort on Capitol Hill organized by United for Peace and Justice, an umbrella group. Representatives from anti-war groups were meeting Monday with members of Congress to urge them to work to end the war and bring home the troops.

The protest following a massive demonstration Saturday on the National Mall that drew a crowd of 100,000 or more, the largest such gathering in the capital since the war began in March 2003.

On Sunday, a rally supporting the war drew roughly 500 participants. Speakers included veterans of World War II and the war in Iraq, as well as family members of soldiers killed in Iraq.

"I would like to say to Cindy Sheehan and her supporters don't be a group of unthinking lemmings. It's not pretty," said Mitzy Kenny of Ridgeley, W.Va., whose husband died in Iraq last year. The anti-war demonstrations "can affect the war in a really negative way. It gives the enemy hope."

"I would like to say to Cindy Sheehan and her supporters don't be a group of unthinking lemmings. It's not pretty," said Mitzy Kenny of Ridgeley, W.Va., whose husband died in Iraq last year. The anti-war demonstrations "can affect the war in a really negative way. It gives the enemy hope."

Posted by: Fe at September 26, 2005 02:18 PM

Well, if THAT isn't the pot calling the kettle black, I don't know what is.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, gives terrorists more hope for their cause then the mindset of GWB and his minions.

Do as you're told, don't question authority. The truth is what we tell you it is.

Lemming Moron Pie

Lemming Moron Pie

Posted by: monkey at September 26, 2005 02:31 PM

Maybe they have a herring problem...

Go Fish!

Ally -

Thanks for the update - sounds like it went well! Sorry we missed meeting - another time, perhaps!

Good work, chicklet!

OK, I heard something this weekend that
1) really made me very P.O.'d (I know, not a difficult thing to do or in the spirit of Ghandi...)
2) needs investigation
3) if true, needs to be made very public, IMHO

FEMA is buying back the things that people donated to the hurricane victims. They are using OUR tax dollars to buy back things that WE purchased and donated to various charities...

Anyone got any ideas on who to contact about this to verify it???

Posted by: madame defarge at September 26, 2005 01:13 PM

md I can check this out but I'm not quite sure what you're talking about, do you mean that the charities are selling items to FEMA that they don't need in order to get cash for what they do need? where does the cash go, to the charities? If the charities are getting the cash for what they are selling to FEMA then I don't see it as all that bad of a situation but I can still try and look into it. I'm kind of confused as to what the situation is and where you heard it though...pls clarify

Dick just called and said Stephanie was arrested as well as Cindy--more news coming soon.

Chicken Little Speaks

Bush: Sheehan strategy would weaken U.S.
Activist ‘doesn’t represent the view of a lot of families,’ he says

Updated: 8:27 p.m. ET Aug. 23, 2005
DONNELLY, Idaho - President Bush charged Tuesday that anti-war protesters like Cindy Sheehan who want troops brought home immediately do not represent the views of most U.S. military families and are “advocating a policy that would weaken the United States.”

In remarks outside the resort where he is vacationing, Bush gave no indication that he would change his mind and meet with Sheehan after he returns to his Texas ranch Wednesday evening. Sheehan lost a son in Iraq and has emerged as a harsh critic of the war.

Sheehan began a vigil outside Bush’s ranch, a demonstration that has been joined by more and more other anti-war protesters.

------------------------------snip----------------
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9051990/

The Battle to Rebuild
In a fierce cultural storm, the future of the Lower Ninth is buffeted by race and politics.

By Evan Thomas and Arian Campo-Flores
Newsweek
Oct. 3, 2005 issue - The Lower Ninth was going under, again. Floodwaters from Hurricane Rita had breached the levee along the Industrial Canal, inundating the poor New Orleans neighborhood that is, or was, home to 40,000 African-Americans. The levee had been patched after it failed in Hurricane Katrina, but not well enough. Cedric Richmond, the president of the Black Caucus in the Louisiana State Legislature, suggested that more than bad luck was at work. "For whatever reason," he told NEWSWEEK, "they didn't put the same effort into fixing the Industrial Canal as they did into the 17th Street Canal." The 17th Street Canal borders a largely white, middle-class area.

Richmond did not spell out what he meant by "for whatever reason," but the implication was clear enough. It is simply assumed by many residents of the Lower Ninth that the powers that be of the city of New Orleans would just as soon never rebuild the ward, and that the reasons have as much to do with race and class as they do with geography. The Lower Ninth is mostly below sea level; it is also 98 percent black, very poor and crime-ridden.

Conspiracy theories abound in the Lower Ninth. It is taken as a given that, during Hurricane Betsy in 1965, the city blew up a levee and intentionally flooded the ward in order to save the mostly white and tourist-friendly French Quarter. This is an urban legend, but it indicates the depth of resentment felt by people who historically have been left behind. They have some reason to be suspicious. Finis Shelnutt, who owns a number of businesses near the French Quarter (including a bar named after his wife, former Bill Clinton paramour Gennifer Flowers), does not hide his feelings about the Lower Ninth. Sitting on his bicycle, draped with Mardi Gras beads, he told NEWSWEEK that he is already talking to Florida investors about building high-rises in the French Quarter that can withstand Category 5 hurricanes. And what about the Lower Ninth? "Give it to us, and we'll turn it into golf courses. I heard that in Gaelic, 'Katrina' means 'to purify'," said Shelnutt.

Article Continues...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9469300/site/newsweek/

Stay safe Stephanie.... thoughts are so with you at this time.

Though you are in excellent company for such a thing.

A report from Riverrat:

At a highly choreographed event, Cindy Sheehan became the first of dozens of people arrested today in front of the White House. Marching through downtown, two columns met at the head of Lafayette Park and marched across and settled up against the maion fence around the White House.

Behind the fence, heavily armed security personnel stood menacingly holding thick four-foot long batons. Several police dogs strained at their handlers' leashes. A squad of a dozen or so mounted policemen stood in the wings.

As planned, Sheehan and a small group presented themselves at one of the guard houses and asked for a meeting with President Bush. Their request was turned down.

Sheehand and her group then returned to the main body of protesters. The horseback police then moved slowly through the crowd and cleared a path for police vehicles to pull up directly in front of the seated demonstrators. The surrounding crowd of supporters echoed with chants against the war, including one directed at the media "DO YOUR JOB, DO YOUR JOB."

There was no shortage of tv and still cameras, in fact, there were so many that they blocked the view of what was going on between the police and the demonstrators.

When the police finally issued their last warning to clear the area or face arrest, the protesters arranged for Cindy Sheehan to be the first to be arrested. For a brief moment, Sheehan, who is well over six feet tall, could be seen over the media horde, smiling broadly as the police escorted her in a waiting vehicle.

Stephanie is with her and we will hear more soon.

(Throughout the event, groups of extremely confused tourists, following their umbrella waving guides, weaved their way through the crowds. Some were disappointed to find the protesters occupying the primo photo spot in front of the White House. But as they say, this IS what democracy looks like.)

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/092605Y.shtml

Cindy Sheehan, along with several well-known figures, has been arrested at the front gates of the White House in Washington DC. Sheehan had attempted once again to gain an audience with George W. Bush; again she was refused. Sheehan and her supporters then proceeded to sit down and pray at a restricted point in front of the White House. She and many others have been arrested.

Those who have been arrested with her include Cindy's sister Dee Dee, former state department official Ann Wright, Michael Berg, the father of slain US contractor Nick Berg, Media Benjamin of Code Pink and many veterans and their family members.

U.S. Army soldier Lynndie England is convicted of six counts in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse case, The Associated Press reports.

Bush prepared to tap oil reserve
President may also appoint a 'reconstruction czar'

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush said Monday that the government is prepared to again tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to alleviate any new pain at the pump caused by Hurricane Rita's assault on the center of the nation's energy industry.

He also implied he will likely name a federal czar-like official to oversee the reconstruction of the Gulf Coast from the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. But he said that local officials must first produce a vision for how they want their rebuilt communities to look.

"I'm considering how best to balance the need for local vision and federal involvement," he said. "The vision and the element of reconstruction is just beginning and there may be a need for an interface with a particular person to help to make sure that the vision becomes reality."

more... http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/26/bush.ap/index.html

After facing a barrage of criticism for his uncaring attitude towards the victims of Hurricane Katrina, Bush pulled out all the stops this week to at least make it look like he was doing something.

First Bush dropped by Texas to "get a firsthand look at the preparations that are under way for Hurricane Rita and to show our support for the first responders as they get ready for the response to Hurricane Rita," according to Scott McClellan, and then he flew to Colorado so he could "ride out the storm" at Northern Command headquarters in Colorado Springs.

How... bold. Leave it to David Gregory to ask the question that was on everybody's lips: "Might you get in the way, Mr. President?"

Enjoy the look on Bush's face.

http://www.canofun.com/blog/videos/bushovercompensationsep2305.wmv

Dick just called and said Stephanie was arrested as well as Cindy--more news coming soon.
Posted by: karen at September 26, 2005 02:41 PM

Karen, I'm back in NJ now, please let me know if we need to take up a bail collection to get Stephanie out.
Thanks, Dave

Posted by: monkey at September 26, 2005 03:46 PM

My brother has been in Baton Rouge since the day AFTER Katrina pumping out the Strategic Oil Reserves...

When did they supposedly stop?

The Rich White Palm gets the Oil Money.

Thanks Hawkeye - loved that! And you go, David Gregory! He, apparently, has had enough, too!

Ahhh...Promises, Promises...

Govt's Katrina spending may be only $100 bln-aide
Mon Sep 26, 2005 3:37 PM ET

By Susan Cornwell
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. government spending to repair Hurricane Katrina damage may turn out to be just half of early estimates, or about $100 billion, the Senate Majority Leader's chief budget aide said on Monday.

Bill Hoagland, who works for Tennessee Republican Sen. Bill Frist, also said congressional leaders would shortly ask lawmakers to find additional spending cuts to help pay for hurricane disaster aid, but added: "It's going to be tough."

At a conference on Katrina reconstruction, Hoagland said an estimate frequently cited on Capitol Hill that federal recovery costs would hit $200 billion "has no basis in analysis."

He warned that Congress, which in six days this month approved $62.3 billion in emergency aid to Gulf Coast states, should be more careful before rushing through another disaster assistance package that the White House is expected to request in October.

"The number could at the end of the day be closer to $100 billion as opposed to $200 billion," Hoagland told the conference organized by Equity International, a business development firm, and held in a Senate office building.

The rate of government spending so far was slower than anticipated, Hoagland said. So far, just $16 billion of the emergency government aid actually had been allocated, he said.

"The rate of expenditure today is not what was reported early on -- $2 billion a day -- but something like $700 million a day. So I'm not sure how fast this will go, but it does suggest that there are some restrictions on the way the money is flowing out to those who are in need," he said.

Hoagland said estimates for what would probably be the biggest chunk of federal spending -- repairs to public infrastructure -- were not in yet, partly because some areas hit by Hurricane Katrina in late August had been hit again during the weekend by Hurricane Rita.

Congressional leaders would step up efforts to find ways to pay for hurricane aid, he said. Before Hurricane Katrina, congressional leaders were hoping to make $35 billion in spending cuts over five years.

Now they intended "to move further than that $35 billion, go back to those same committees and see if they can find additional savings," Hoagland said.

But he threw cold water on some spending cut proposals that a group of House Republicans made last week.

Article Continues vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-09-26T193614Z_01_WRI668316_RTRUKOC_0_US-KATRINA-SPENDING.xml

Via Bradblog

DIEB-THROAT Story Picked Up by Cleveland Plain Dealer

Business Section Confirms our 'Inside Source' at Diebold Compares Troubled Company Again to Enron...

In a story about Diebold, Inc. continuing trouble the Cleveland Plain Dealer's business section reports that the Ohio-based company "lost almost a fifth of its share value last week." (Trading of DBD continues flat again today with shares off some .50% on the day.)

read more:

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001871.htm

Last Weekend Karl Rove Said I Was a Clown
by Cindy Sheehan

Last weekend, Karl Rove said that I was a clown and the antiwar movement was "non-existent." I wonder if the hundreds of thousands of people who showed up today to protest this war and George's failed policies know that they don't exist. It is also so incredible to me that Karl thinks that he can wish us away by saying we aren't real. Well, Karl and Co., we are real, we do exist and we are not going away until this illegal and immoral occupation of Iraq is over and you are sent back to the depths of whatever slimy,dark, and loathsome place you came from. I may be a clown Karl, but you are about to be indicted. You also preside over one of the biggest three ring, malevolent circuses of all time: the Bush administration.

The rally today was overwhelming and powerful. The reports that I was arrested today were obviously false. The peace rally was mostly very peaceful. Washington, DC was filled with energetic and proud Americans who came from all over to raise their voices in unison against the criminals who run our government and their disastrous policies that are making our nation more vulnerable to all kinds of attacks (natural and "Bush" made disasters).

I led the march for peace alongside such venerable activists as the Reverends Al Sharpton, Bob Edgars, and Jesse Jackson, Jr., and Julian Bond. Two of our Congresswomen with cojones from California: Barbara Lee and Lynn Woolsey also led the march.

Many people told me thank you for coming. I want to tell America "thank you!!" At the Camp Casey reunion this evening, I was so overcome with emotion and gratitude that I wanted to hug every citizen of this country. We in the Camp Casey movement are so proud and thrilled that America showed up in such great numbers.

So much happened today! I am exhausted but very content. I am again filled with a renewed sense of hope that we will get our country back and get our troops home. I was also thrilled at the number of young people who came out today. That is another great sign that the side of good is winning.

With the Reverends, we stopped in front of the White House and said a prayer. After the prayer, I said that we are light and they are darkness. Darkness can NEVER overcome the light, ever. As long as there is one spark, the darkness has lost. We will prevail, we will be victorious. The darkness has lost because our beacons of peace and truth are shining for the entire world to see. And it is a very pretty sight. Take that Karl.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cindy-sheehan/last-weekend-karl-rove-sa_b_7856.html

Nice article on Christine Cegelis, challenger for Henry Hyde's seat, in the Chicago Sun Time

read more...

http://www.suntimes.com/output/elect/cst-nws-cegelis26.htmls

Listening to Writer's Almanac on NPR on my way home from the gym, I heard Garrison read this poem. It made my heart stop, it's so close to what I've been feeling lately....

Poem: "This Shining Moment in the Now" by David Budbill, from While We've Still Got Feet © Copper Canyon Press. Reprinted with permission.

This Shining Moment in the Now

When I work outdoors all day, every day, as I do now, in the fall,
getting ready for winter, tearing up the garden, digging potatoes,
gathering the squash, cutting firewood, making kindling, repairing
bridges over the brook, clearing trails in the woods, doing the last of
the fall mowing, pruning apple trees, taking down the screens,
putting up the storm windows, banking the house—all these things,
as preparation for the coming cold...

when I am every day all day all body and no mind, when I am
physically, wholly and completely, in this world with the birds,
the deer, the sky, the wind, the trees...

when day after day I think of nothing but what the next chore is,
when I go from clearing woods roads, to sharpening a chain saw,
to changing the oil in a mower, to stacking wood, when I am
all body and no mind...

when I am only here and now and nowhere else—then, and only
then, do I see the crippling power of mind, the curse of thought,
and I pause and wonder why I so seldom find
this shining moment in the now.

My brother has been in Baton Rouge since the day AFTER Katrina pumping out the Strategic Oil Reserves...

When did they supposedly stop?

Posted by: Indy at September 26, 2005 03:59 PM

See, it's like a keg, see? Once you tap it, it just flows until you are stumbling over your words, blinking a lot, reacting slowly to disasters manmade and otherwise, and showering profits upon the upwardly Mobil.

Strategery.

Strategery.

Posted by: monkey at September 26, 2005 04:22 PM

Drunken Thievery you say???

Now watch W kiss a Saudi King on the mouth!

No W!!!

Not that end...

Oh well...W always wanted to be a Brownie.

Now he is as happy as a little girl!!!

Wondering why you spend so much time in the blogosphere and what good it does? Here's a nice comment on what the left wing blogosphere really does contribute to the process...
http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/05/09/con05357.html

Posted by: Indy at September 26, 2005 04:33 PM

Oh, he's tapping that well too? Does he know that to make ethenol, you don't have to drill for corn?

Doin' a heck of a job there, Brownie.

LA Times has a very nice article on the Army lieutenant who has come forward about the detainee and prisoner abuse in the last couple weeks...

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-abuse25sep25,0,7402409.story?coll=la-home-headlines

How Utterly Benevolant and Compassionate the Catholic Church is...NOT!!!

Archdiocese of New Orleans plans to layoff workers

08:58 AM CDT on Monday, September 26, 2005

WWLTV.com

Citing personal and financial challenges, the Archdiocese of New Orleans announced its plans to layoff many workers in the coming weeks, according to a release from the archdiocese.

The archdiocese said it was a victim of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and must decide how best to utilize its diminished resources.

According to Father William Maestri, all employees must report their location and availability to report to work to their supervisor on or before Monday, October 3. Workers that cannot get in touch with the supervisors directly are asked to call 1-888-366-5024.

If jobs are available, those employees will be notified when and where to report to work, Maestri said. If jobs are unavailable, those employees will be let go and given two weeks severance pay, as well as the opportunity to apply for other jobs outside the archdiocese.

The archdiocese said if a job is available, but the employee cannot or chooses not to report to work, the employee will be laid off and given two weeks of severance pay. If an employee does not make contact by October 3, then the employee will be laid off with no severance pay.

Maestri said he did not now how many of the archdiocese's 9,000 workers would be laid off, adding that the archdiocese will make efforts to help former employees get jobs elsewhere.

washingtonpost.com

New Analyses Bolster Central Tenets of Evolution Theory
Pa. Trial Will Ask Whether 'Alternatives' Can Pass as Science

By Rick Weiss and David Brown
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, September 26, 2005; A08

When scientists announced last month they had determined the exact order of all 3 billion bits of genetic code that go into making a chimpanzee, it was no surprise that the sequence was more than 96 percent identical to the human genome. Charles Darwin had deduced more than a century ago that chimps were among humans' closest cousins.

But decoding chimpanzees' DNA allowed scientists to do more than just refine their estimates of how similar humans and chimps are. It let them put the very theory of evolution to some tough new tests.

If Darwin was right, for example, then scientists should be able to perform a neat trick. Using a mathematical formula that emerges from evolutionary theory, they should be able to predict the number of harmful mutations in chimpanzee DNA by knowing the number of mutations in a different species' DNA and the two animals' population sizes.

"That's a very specific prediction," said Eric Lander, a geneticist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, Mass., and a leader in the chimp project.

Sure enough, when Lander and his colleagues tallied the harmful mutations in the chimp genome, the number fit perfectly into the range that evolutionary theory had predicted.

Their analysis was just the latest of many in such disparate fields as genetics, biochemistry, geology and paleontology that in recent years have added new credence to the central tenet of evolutionary theory: That a smidgeon of cells 3.5 billion years ago could -- through mechanisms no more extraordinary than random mutation and natural selection -- give rise to the astonishing tapestry of biological diversity that today thrives on Earth.

Evolution's repeated power to predict the unexpected goes a long way toward explaining why so many scientists and others are practically apoplectic over the recent decision by a Pennsylvania school board to treat evolution as an unproven hypothesis, on par with "alternative" explanations such as Intelligent Design (ID), the proposition that life as we know it could not have arisen without the helping hand of some mysterious intelligent force.

more...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/25/AR2005092501177_pf.html

this in my email today:

Donald Rumsfeld is giving George W. Bush his daily briefing and tells him that three Brazilian soldiers have been killed in Iraq. George says "that's absolutely terrible," is lost for words, and holds his head in his hands for several minutes. His staff are amazed at the response, and the whole room stays silent. Finally George lifts his head from the table and says, "Exactly how many is a brazillion?"

Posted by: monkey at September 26, 2005 04:52 PM

How very evolved of you to post that Monkey.

Thanks, Karen and everyone for keeping us informed on today's situation, and Stephanie is particular. Please let us know if we can assist.

~Peace

This also in my email today - I might just go!

Senator & Mrs. Edward M. Kennedy

Invite you and your family to join them

Saturday, October 1st

12:00 - 2:30 PM

for a clam bake benefiting

Kennedy for Senate 2006

at the Kennedy Compound

Hyannis, MA

$150 per person

$400 per family of four

This event will benefit Kennedy for Senate 2006

---
You'd think I was somebody!

Carol,

As you are likely aware...

Mrs. Kennedy is a Louisiana Native.

How very evolved of you to post that Monkey.

Posted by: Indy at September 26, 2005 04:55 PM

Don't go dissin' my cuzzins bible thumpers, n'specially when we got proof, not "POOF!"

We're family oriented here on the kinship lollipop.

We're family oriented here on the kinship lollipop.

Posted by: monkey at September 26, 2005 05:19 PM

Incest works best!

Relatively speaking.

You mean "incent" works best, right?

"If you want to grow something, you shouldn't tax it. If you want to encourage small business growth, we ought to incent it to grow in that part of the world. Somebody said the other day, well, that's a tax break. That region is going to have zero income anyway." - GWBush, Washington, D.C., Sep. 21, 2005

-- So which is it? Is "that part of the world" going to have business growth, or zero income? Also, nice use of "incent", although it seems to be basically restating "encourage" from the clause before it.

http://www.dubyaspeak.com/freshdubya.phtml

Any updates on Clamp Casey detainees?

Just talked to Karen. They're waiting to hear from Miso about what is up with Stephanie. Have not heard anything yet.

You don't wait...you go down and bail them out!

GEEZE!

Bring Cash.

Posted by: Veritas at September 26, 2005 02:41 PM

Veritas -- I'm kinda confused over it too... Just talked to the person who told me about it to try to get more specific information. She was talking to someone who works for a major drug company's Community Grants/Donations department and is responsible for corporate donations. Regarding FEMA, the woman in Grants claims "it's a mess -- a nightmare." Apparently, she claims that FEMA is stopping donation trucks AND/OR purchasing the goods from the donation trucks. It's unclear which donation trucks she is talking about -- whether they are from charities or from people who loaded up trucks with donations and drove them down there.

The other comment was that FEMA is insisting on controlling distribution of goods rather than letting the NGOs handle it.

I have asked my friend to talk to this person again to clarify. As soon as I know something more, I'll let you know...

Your point about the charities getting cash for goods: yes, we all want charities to do well so that they can help as many people as possible. But I suspect that when we all made our donations to these charities with goods, we didn't expect that they would be "purchased" nor did the charities say that they would "sell" our goods. It seems like a waste of government money (i.e. our tax dollars) to purchase things that we all donated in good faith. Something doesn't sit right with this...

One last thing...

for now.

48 hours is not an evacuation plan when more people die in the evacuation than in the natural disaster.

Think about it.

When my grandpa fought in Korea..he learned to despise the Red Cross..till the day he died he hated them

My grandfather was the driver of the first amphibious assault vehicle to hit the beach at Guada Canal. During the...slaughter.. that ensued, the Red Cross would come around and sell them ciggarrettes for TWO DOLLARS a pack.

Except... my grandfather was well aware the people at home were DONATING those ciggarrettes for the soldiers.

When my grandpa died, there was a short period right before where he was dillusional, caught in a never ending flashback. He was STILL very upset about those smokes even almost 50 years later. He said the most terrible things about the Red Cross.

Oh and his marine buddies that stole the monkey he had adopted and ate it.

John Nichols at The Nation on Cindy Sheehan's arrest...

"Well-Intentioned"--And Arrested

Amid chants of "Arrest Bush," hundreds of antiwar activists participated in a peaceful but boisterous sit-in outside the White House Monday, as part of a day of protests that saw Cindy Sheehan and others taken into custody.

--snip--
Though Bush did not meet with Sheehan on Monday, his spokesman Scott McClellan was forced to acknowledge that the President is "very much aware of the people here who have come to Washington."

--snip--
McClellan did allow as how the antiwar activists were "well-intentioned." But he added, "The President strongly believes that withdrawing [US troops from Iraq] would make us less safe and make the world more dangerous."

Sheehan took a different view, suggesting that the real danger comes from those in Congress who gave the Bush Administration permission to launch its war, and who have failed to demand an end to the misguided mission.

--snip--
The White House may not be taking Sheehan or the broader antiwar movement seriously, but some members of the House of Representative seem to be getting the message. Woolsey, who has sponsored a resolution calling for an exit strategy, told Saturday's rally of antiwar activists: "You are far ahead of the Congress and the policy-makers on this war."
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=24558

Oh and his marine buddies that stole the monkey he had adopted and ate it.

Posted by: Christy at September 26, 2005 06:06 PM

WHAT!!?!?!?!?!?!

An excellent commentary from Norman Soloman at Common Dreams...

The News Media and the Antiwar Movement

It's reasonable to estimate that more than a quarter of a million people demonstrated against the Iraq war on Saturday in Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other U.S. cities. The next day, the Washington Post front-paged a decent story that described "the largest show of antiwar sentiment in the nation's capital since the conflict in Iraq began." But more perfunctory back-page articles were typical in daily papers across the country. And over the weekend, many TV news watchers saw little or nothing about the protests.

Hurricane Rita was clearly a factor. But even without dramatic natural disasters, the news media are ready, willing and able to downplay news about war -- and the antiwar movement -- for any number of reasons. Conventional wisdom on Capitol Hill or in newsrooms can tamp down media coverage of a surging movement. What's crucial is that the movement not allow its momentum to be interrupted by media treatment.

If "journalism is the first draft of history," the journalism of corporate media is usually the quickie top-down view of history that's told from vantage points far removed from progressive movements. Media technologies and styles aside, what we're experiencing now from major U.S. news outlets is not very different from the coverage of the Vietnam War.

A persistent myth is that mainstream American news outlets were tough on the war in Vietnam while boosting the antiwar movement. And these days -- after a summer of plunging poll numbers for President Bush along with the profoundly important media presence of Cindy Sheehan -- many people seem to think that the news media have turned against the war makers in Washington. But overall the media realities are something else. Actual history should make us wary of any assumption that the press is apt to be a counterweight to militarism.

Vietnam "was the first war in which reporters were routinely accredited to accompany military forces yet not subject to censorship," media scholar Daniel Hallin wrote in his excellent book "The 'Uncensored War': The Media and Vietnam." The authorities in Washington figured they could expect correspondents not to wander too far in terms of content; "the integration of the media into the political establishment was assumed to be secure enough that the last major vestige of direct government control -- military censorship in wartime -- could be lifted."

--snip--
Interviewed in early November 2003, with the Iraq occupation in the midst of turning into a large-scale war against a growing insurgency, Hallin compared media treatment of the two wars and saw similar patterns. "As you begin to get a breakdown of consensus, especially among political elites in Washington, then the media begin asking more questions," he said. In the case of the Iraq occupation, "the Democrats were mostly silent for a long time on this war, and when things began to bog down, they started asking questions. There were divisions within the Bush administration, and then the media starts playing a more independent role."

--snip--
So, with the autumn of 2005 underway, what are the elites debating in Washington? With rare exceptions, they're debating how to continue the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

High-profile Democrats and even some Republicans like to bemoan "mistakes" and bad planning and the absence of an "exit strategy." The prevailing version of Washington's debate over Iraq still amounts to disputes over how to proceed with the U.S. war effort in Iraq. Top officials and politicians in Washington won't change that. The journalists echoing them won't change that. The antiwar movement must.
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0926-22.htm

**** UPDATE ****

Miso just got back--

Stephanie was arrested, along with roughly 499 others.

A lot of Code Pink women in hats; dressed to the nines.

One kid jumped the fence--he was dragged away.

A group of Vietnam veterans were also arrested and put on buses--older guys--Miso said this was heartbreaking to him.

Miso got it all on video.

Miso heard that the people who were arrested at the Pentagon this morning were released quickly--some of them came over to the White House afterwards!

He doesn't know how long they will be out soon. We don't know yet what Stephanie will do.

Most will post $50.00 for abeyance and that is like a guilty plea. The other option is to ask for a hearing, but that still might wind up quickly.

Stephanie was on one of the earlier buses, so she may get out soon--if so, we will let you all know as soon as possible. She does not, at this time, need any money--she planned to get arrested and she plans to have her say, if possible. Thank you for all the offers; we will take the lead from her wishes.

More to come...

Monkey...

It was described to me as a smallish spider monkey type of primate, indigenous to Korea..

During and after the battle the supply lines were slow at best and most of our soldiers on Guada Canal were actually horribly malnurished.

They were starving.

My grandpa rescued this monkey from a tree that was on fire from shelling. I suppose it gave him some ..comfort, to not kill simply everything.

One night while he was asleep the other marines stole his monkey. When he woke up it was already roasting on a spit.

50 years later my grandpa was still very highly pissed off that they ate his monkey.

Stephanie just arrived!!!

YAY!!

Pic soon...

Stephanie speaks:

I was in the second van, I think. I had been sitting on the curb, so I was one of the first people put into a van. The van was divided into four cages; four women were in each cage. It was REALLY hot.

It wasn't too long a drive; maybe a half hour. We backed up into the police station; they opened the door, but we couldn't get out.

Another half hour. Then we were put into a room for processing. One older woman fell--we had plastic handcuffs behind our back--and she could not get up easily. Another woman asked one of the guards to help her. He had a couple file folders in one hand, a windbreaker in the other, he shrugged and said. "My hands are full."

45 minutes later, they move us to holding cells--a cement room with a stainless steel sink, toilet, and a bench, in which we were in for another hour and a half. They took us in and out to do paperwork, photos, fingerprints--and they weighed us too!

It was INCREDIBLE. I would definitely do it again--I was a little intimidated on the bus because I was not with my affinity group and I felt a little nauseous, but once we were off, and able to move around a little, I felt better. I met a mother and daughter who were both arrested.

As I was coming out, there were hundreds on the buses still--they cheered; I gave the peace sign--it was such great energy!

My court date is November 16. I plan to speak there. I could pay the $75 fine, but I think I will come back and have my day in court.

There was a part that was scary today, but it was totally worth it--it was truly a wonderful experience!

Hey Stephanie,

All of us are so proud of your courage and convicetions.

You almost make me wish I had been as courageous as you!

Glad you're back safe and sound. Let everyone there "mother" you--and don't show the video to your own mom and dad--unless you want to see them turn an unusual shade of white.

Stephanie,

YAY! You go girl!!!

Wish I didn't have to drive back home Sunday night and could have been down there with you today.

You made us all proud!
Dave

CBS News says Michael Brown rehired as FEMA consultant
RAW STORY

CBS News' Bob Schieffer just announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has rehired ex-FEMA chief Michael Brown-- as a consultant to evaluate the agency's response to the disaster!

Posted by: Christy at September 26, 2005 07:28 PM

Christy:

Out bleeping rageous!!

This does one worse to the old "Fox Guarding the Henhouse" adage.

If nothing else tells you that the Administration is attempting to hide wrongdoing, this is a big BIG clue.

Get this out to the blogosphere and crucify this guy!

Wow, I guess W was right, Brownie really WAS doing a heck of job to not be voted off the island.

Ironic that he would be the Survivor among so many who had no say in the matter.

What has Brown done for you lately?

FROM TALKING POINTS MEMO:

"CBS says FEMA has rehired Brownie as a consultant "to evaluate it's response following Hurricane Katrina." The Times-Picayune says merely that he "is continuing to work at the Federal Emergency Management Agency at full pay, with his Sept. 12 resignation not taking effect for two more weeks."

While there, says, DHS spokesman Russ Knocke, said Brownie will advise the department "some of his views on his experience with Katrina."

Long goodbye or not, aren't pearls of wisdom such as Brown appears to have on offer usually extracted not with paychecks but with subpoenas?

-- Josh Marshall

Sounds like Brown and Bush are playing a little "truth or dare!"

Cindy Sheehan on being arrested...

The rumors are true this time. I was arrested in front of the White House today. It was my first time ever being arrested.

-snip--

Karl Rove (besides just being a very creepy man) outed a CIA agent and was responsible for endangering many of our covert agents worldwide. Dick Cheney's old company is reaping profits beyond anyone's wildest imaginations in their no-bid contracts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and New Orleans. John Negroponte's activities in South America are very shady and murderous. Rumsfeld and Gonzales are responsible for illegal and immoral authorization, encouragement and approval of torture. Not to mention, violating Geneva Conventions, torture endangers the lives of our service men and women in Iraq. Along with the above mentioned traitors, Condi lied through her teeth in the insane run-up to the invasion. The list of crimes this administration has commited is extensive, abhorrent, and unbelievable. What is so unbelievable is that WE were arrested for exercising our first amendment rights and these people are running free to enjoy their lives of crime and to wreak havoc on the world.

The fine for "demonstrating without a permit" is $75.00. I am certain that I won't pay it. My court date is November 16th. Any lawyers out there want to help me challenge an unconstitutional law??
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cindy-sheehan/my-first-time_b_7923.html

Katrina relief contracts come under investigation

Jamie Wilson in Washington
Tuesday September 27, 2005
The Guardian

Billions of dollars of reconstruction contracts awarded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina are being investigated amid concerns of cronyism and abuse.
More than 80% of the $1.5bn (£850m) in contracts signed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) were awarded without bidding or with only limited competition, including enormous deals with Kellogg Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton - the former employer of vice-president Dick Cheney - and the Shaw Group. The lobbyist Joe Allbaugh, George Bush's former campaign manager and a former head of FEMA, has represented both companies.

more...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/hurricanes2005/story/0,16546,1579175,00.html?gusrc=rss

SEC chairman withdraws from Frist investigation

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Christopher Cox, said Monday that to avoid a potential conflict he will not participate in the agency's investigation of the sale of HCA Inc. stock by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.

Cox, who was in Congress for 16 years as a California Republican and left the House to assume the SEC job last month, had been a member of the GOP leadership in Congress for the past 10 years. He was chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee at the time he left.

"Because of my service in the congressional leadership for the last 10 years, I have recused myself in this matter," Cox said in a statement. "The purpose of the recusal is to avoid any appearance of impropriety in the (SEC's) consideration of this case."

Cox's congressional campaign fund donated $1,000 to Frist in 2000, according to Federal Election Commission records. That donation was not mentioned in the statement issued by Cox and was not given as a reason for his recusal from the SEC's investigation.

Cox's statement was the first public acknowledgment by the SEC that it is investigating Frist's sale of stock in HCA, the big hospital operating company founded by his family.

more...
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/26/frist.stock.ap/index.html

Bush plea for cash to rebuild Iraq raises $600

An extraordinary appeal to Americans from the Bush administration for money to help pay for the reconstruction of Iraq has raised only $600 (£337), The Observer has learnt. Yet since the appeal was launched earlier this month, donations to rebuild New Orleans have attracted hundreds of millions of dollars.
The public's reluctance to contribute much more than the cost of two iPods to the administration's attempt to offer citizens 'a further stake in building a free and prosperous Iraq' has been seized on by critics as evidence of growing ambivalence over that country.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1577750,00.html

Well, I'm so proud of DCP for covering the peace movement. So many of the supposedly liberal blogs are oblivious to what is really happening on the streets. Seriously, besides truthout and Huff Po, what major blog site has given this issue its due?

stephanie---your courage gives voice to the outrage felt by all of us, from louisiana to iraq, and from puerto rico (where the fbi just assassinated a lifelong independence activist) to palestine. standing up for your convictions---it IS a life-changing experience, becoming a leader, a spokesperson. you've joined a great tradition, the future welcomes you!! (and wow are we proud you're a buffalo woman!) wanna start organizing a strike in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of rosa parks' arrest on december 1st?

First Neocon rule when caught red-handed:

Admit you were wrong.

Second Neocon rule when caught red-handed:

Blame the people who pointed out your incompetence as being the real problem.

Brown Says He Should've Sought Aid Sooner
BY LARA JAKES JORDAN
Sep 26, 10:53 PM EDT
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former FEMA director Michael Brown said Monday he should have sought help faster from the Pentagon after Hurricane Katrina hit, and accused state and local officials of constant infighting during the crisis, according to congressional aides.

Brown is continuing to work at the Federal Emergency Management Agency at full pay, with his Sept. 12 resignation not taking effect for two more weeks, said Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke.

Brown spoke to congressional aides from both parties a day before he is scheduled to testify in front of a special House committee investigating the government's response to the Aug. 29 disaster. He did not respond to several calls for response Monday.

But Brown "acknowledged that he made mistakes," said one Republican staff member who attended Monday's 90-minute briefing.

Brown came to symbolize the halting federal efforts to rescue victims of the storm and flooding that followed in which more than 1,000 people died in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. He was highly criticized for being a Bush administration political appointee without deep emergency management experience, and left amid accusations that he padded his resume - which he vehemently denied.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff removed Brown from his on-site role overseeing the disaster response on Sept. 9. He announced his resignation from FEMA three days later.

A memo from a second Republican staffer who attended the briefing said Brown expressed regrets "that he did not start screaming for DoD (Department of Defense) involvement" sooner. The first substantial numbers of active-duty troops responding to the Gulf Coast were sent on Saturday, Sept. 3 - five days after the storm hit.

According to the memo, obtained by The Associated Press, Brown took several shots at Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. He said the two officials "sparred during the crisis and could not work together cooperatively."

He also described Blanco as "indecisive" and refusing to cede control of the Louisiana National Guard to federal authorities because "it would have undercut her image politically," the document said.

Spokespeople for Blanco and Nagin could not be immediately reached Monday night.

The memo also criticized Brown's leadership in conference calls with state and federal authorities that he ran during the crisis, saying that no official notes were taken.

Brown "just assumed that agencies would follow up on taskings resulting from the calls," the memo said.

Brown defended himself against charges that he learned from television that thousands of refugees gathered at the New Orleans convention center, where adequate food, water and other supplies were lacking and there was rampant violence.

He said that because the convention center was not a planned evacuation site, "there is no reason FEMA would have known about it beforehand," according to the memo.

Brown also admitted he did not ensure that Nagin had a secure communications system during the crisis. And he cautioned staffers against a federal takeover of emergency management responsibilities that he said would become a "crutch" for local and state governments and could lead to future lapses in preparedness.

Knocke, the Homeland Security spokesman, said Brown agreed to stay at FEMA up four weeks after he resigned to advise the department on "some of his views on his experience with Katrina." He said Brown, who is in a "transition" period, is does not have any decision-making or management responsibilities.

"There is an important public benefit to ensuring that any pending projects, initiatives, commitments or records be properly passed off to staff," Knocke said.

Brown ran FEMA for more than two years.

As Congress launches its investigation into government missteps in responding to Katrina, Brown's appearance in front of the House panel Tuesday looms as the highest profile yet, potentially offering the most drama.

The inquiry, chaired by Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., is composed mostly of Republicans. Most Democrats have boycotted the investigation, which they say should be done by an independent commission.

However, at least two Democrats whose home states were crushed by Katrina - Reps. Gene Taylor of Mississippi and Charlie Melancon of Louisiana - planned to attend Tuesday's hearing.

Faith-Based Payoffs : MUST READ
I posted the whole thing because stories like these tend to disappear.

FEMA plans to reimburse faith groups for aid
Civil libertarians object; religious groups ponder what to do

By Alan Cooperman and Elizabeth Williamson

Updated: 12:04 a.m. ET Sept. 27, 2005
After weeks of prodding by Republican lawmakers and the American Red Cross, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said yesterday that it will use taxpayer money to reimburse churches and other religious organizations that have opened their doors to provide shelter, food and supplies to survivors of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

FEMA officials said it would mark the first time that the government has made large-scale payments to religious groups for helping to cope with a domestic natural disaster.

Civil liberties groups called the decision a violation of the traditional boundary between church and state, accusing FEMA of trying to restore its battered reputation by playing to religious conservatives.

"What really frosts me about all this is, here is an administration that didn't do its job and now is trying to dig itself out by making right-wing groups happy," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

For churches, synagogues and mosques that have taken in hurricane survivors, FEMA's decision presents a quandary. Some said they were eager to get the money and had begun tallying their costs, from electric bills to worn carpets. Other said they probably would not apply for the funds, fearing donations will dry up if the public comes to believe they were receiving government handouts.

‘Volunteer labor is just that’

"Volunteer labor is just that: volunteer," said the Rev. Robert E. Reccord, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board. "We would never ask the government to pay for it."

When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, religious charities rushed in to provide emergency services, often acting more quickly and efficiently than the government. Relief workers in the stricken states estimate that 500,000 people have taken refuge in facilities run by religious groups.

In the days after the disaster, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) and other Republicans complained that FEMA seemed reluctant to pay church groups. "There are tons of questions about what is reimbursable, what is not reimbursable," DeLay said Sept. 13, noting that Houston alone had "500 or 600 churches that took in evacuees, and they would get no reimbursement."

Joe Becker, senior vice president for preparedness and response with the Red Cross, said he and his staff also urged FEMA to allow reimbursement of religious groups. Ordinarily, Becker said, churches provide shelter for the first days after a disaster, then the Red Cross takes over. But in a storm season that has stretched every Red Cross shelter to the breaking point, church buildings must for the first time house evacuees indefinitely.

‘Strange definition’

"I believe it's appropriate for the federal government to assist the faith community because of the scale and scope of the effort and how long it's lasting," he said.

Lynn disagreed. "The good news is that this work is being done now, but I don't think a lot of people realize that a lot of these organizations are actively working to obtain federal funds. That's a strange definition of charity," he said.

Lynn added that he accepts the need for the government to coordinate with religious groups in a major disaster, but not to "pay for their good works."

"We've never complained about using a religious organization as a distribution point for food or clothing or anything else," Lynn said. But "direct cash reimbursements would be unprecedented."

FEMA officials said religious organizations would be eligible for payments only if they operated emergency shelters, food distribution centers or medical facilities at the request of state or local governments in the three states that have declared emergencies -- Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. In those cases, "a wide range of costs would be available for reimbursement, including labor costs incurred in excess of normal operations, rent for the facility and delivery of essential needs like food and water," FEMA spokesman Eugene Kinerney said in an e-mail.

FEMA outlined the policy in a Sept. 9 internal memorandum on "Eligible Costs for Emergency Sheltering Declarations." Religious groups, like secular nonprofit groups, will have to document their costs and file for reimbursement from state and local emergency management agencies, which in turn will seek funds from FEMA.

David Fukitomi, infrastructure coordinator for FEMA in Louisiana, said that the organization has begun briefings for potential applicants in the disaster area but that it is too early to know how many will take advantage of the program.

"The need was so overwhelming that the faith-based groups stepped up, and we're trying to find a way to help them shoulder some of the burden for doing the right thing," he said, adding that "the churches are interested" but that "part of our effort is getting the local governments to be interested in being their sponsor."

Salvation Army in talks
A spokeswoman for the Salvation Army said it has been in talks with state and federal officials about reimbursement for the 76,000 nights of shelter it has provided to Katrina survivors so far. But it is still unclear whether the Salvation Army will qualify, she said.

The Rev. Flip Benham, director of Operation Save America, an antiabortion group formerly known as Operation Rescue, said, "Separation of church and state means nothing in a time of disaster; you see immediately what a farce it is."

Benham said that his group has been dispensing food and clothing and that "Bibles and tracts go out with everything we put out." In Mendenhall, La., he said, he preached to evacuees while the mayor directed traffic and the sheriff put inmates from the county jail to work handing out supplies.

Yet Benham said he would never accept a dime from the federal government. "The people have been so generous to give that for us to ask for reimbursement would be like gouging for gas," he said. "That would be a crime against heaven."

‘No income coming in’
For some individual churches, however, reimbursement is very appealing. At Christus Victor Lutheran Church in Ocean Springs, Miss., as many as 200 evacuees and volunteer workers have been sleeping each night in the sanctuary and Sunday school classrooms. The church's entrance hall is a Red Cross reception area and medical clinic. As many as 400 people a day are eating in the fellowship hall.

Suzie Harvey, the parish administrator, said the church was asked by the Red Cross and local officials to serve as a shelter. The church's leadership agreed immediately, without anticipating that nearly a quarter of its 650 members would be rendered homeless and in no position to contribute funds. "This was just something we had to do," she said. "Later we realized we have no income coming in."

Harvey said the electric bill has skyrocketed, water is being used around the clock and there's been "20 years of wear on the carpet in one month." If FEMA makes money available, she said, the church definitely will apply.

© 2005 The Washington Post Company

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9495550/

September 27, 2005
Demotion of a Prosecutor Is Investigated
By PHILIP SHENON
WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 - The Justice Department's inspector general and the F.B.I. are looking into the demotion of a veteran federal prosecutor whose reassignment nearly three years ago shut down a criminal investigation of the Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, current and former department officials report.

They said investigators had questioned whether the demotion of the prosecutor, Frederick A. Black, in November 2002 was related to his alert to Justice Department officials days earlier that he was investigating Mr. Abramoff. The lobbyist is a major Republican Party fund-raiser and a close friend of several Congressional leaders.

Colleagues said the demotion of Mr. Black, the acting United States attorney in Guam, and a subsequent order barring him from pursuing public corruption cases brought an end to his inquiry into Mr. Abramoff's lobbying work for some Guam judges.

Colleagues of Mr. Black, who had run the federal prosecutor's office in Guam for 12 years, spoke on condition of anonymity because of Justice Department rules that bar employees from talking to reporters. They said F.B.I. agents questioned several people in Guam and Washington this summer about whether Mr. Abramoff or his friends in the Bush administration had pushed for Mr. Black's removal. Mr. Abramoff's internal e-mail messages show that he boasted to clients about what he described as his close ties to John Ashcroft, then the attorney general, and others at the department.

Mr. Black's colleagues said that similar questions had been raised by investigators for the Justice Department's inspector general's office, which serves as the department's internal watchdog.

Spokesmen for the department in Washington have said there was nothing unusual about the timing of Mr. Black's reassignment in 2002. They said it was appropriate for the Bush administration to want to replace him with a permanent, Senate-confirmed United States attorney.

Mr. Abramoff, once one of the capital's best-paid lobbyists, is now the subject of a broad corruption investigation by federal prosecutors in Washington focusing on accusations that he defrauded Indian tribes and their gambling operations out of millions of dollars in lobbying fees.

A spokesman for Mr. Abramoff said he had "no recollection of being investigated in Guam in 2002" but would have cooperated if he had been aware of any inquiry at the time. Mr. Abramoff had a lucrative lobbying practice on Guam and the neighboring Northern Mariana Islands, another American territory; his lobbying clients paid for luxurious trips to the islands for several members of Congress.

Justice Department officials said they knew of no evidence to suggest that Mr. Ashcroft was involved in the decision to reassign Mr. Black. A spokesman for Mr. Ashcroft said the former attorney general and his aides at the Justice Department had done nothing to assist Mr. Abramoff and his clients and had had no significant contact with him.

Reached in Guam, Mr. Black, who continues to work as an assistant United States attorney, declined to answer questions about his 2002 reassignment.

The Los Angeles Times and news organizations in Guam have reported on questions about the circumstances of Mr. Black's demotion. The recent inquiries by the F.B.I. and by the Justice Department's inspector general had not been previously reported; nor had Mr. Black's contacts in November 2002 with the department's public integrity section about his investigation of Mr. Abramoff.

In a statement on Monday, the department said it was natural for the Bush administration to replace Mr. Black, whose assignment to run the United States attorney's office was never meant to be permanent, with a White House selection.

The department said the vetting process for Mr. Black's replacement, Leonardo Rapadas, the current United States attorney, was "well under way in November 2002," when the nomination was announced.

Colleagues said they recalled that Mr. Black was distressed when he was notified by the department in November 2002 that he was being replaced.

The announcement came only days after Mr. Black had notified the department's public integrity division in Washington, by telephone and e-mail communication, that he had opened a criminal investigation into Mr. Abramoff's lobbying activities for the Guam judges, the colleague said. The judges had sought Mr. Abramoff's help in blocking a bill in Congress to restructure the island's courts.

The colleagues said that Mr. Black was also surprised when his newly arrived bosses in Guam blocked him from involvement in public corruption cases in 2003. Justice Department officials said Mr. Black was asked instead to focus on terrorism investigations, which had taken on new emphasis after the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Whatever the motivation in replacing Fred, his demotion meant that the investigation of Abramoff died," said a former colleague in Guam.

The Justice Department's public integrity section is responsible for cases involving government corruption. It is now overseeing the larger investigation of Mr. Abramoff in Washington.

Representative George Miller, a California Democrat who has long focused on issues involving American territories in the Pacific, said the disclosures about Mr. Black's demotion raised questions about a possible conflict of interest at the Justice Department in its investigation of Mr. Abramoff.

"What this starts to suggest is that Abramoff's ability to corrupt the system was far more pervasive, certainly than we knew at the time," Mr. Miller said.

Cyrano,

DB just read that article out loud and here it is!

THIS could be very big....

There was good coverage of the DC and other rallies here but my friend from Florida said that his tv gave equal time to prowar rallies

Here flags only appear on public buildings that are associated with affairs of government

There are no bumper stickers

There are red terror alerts and have been since days of Algerian war but no panic as people know no party or government official can keep them completely safe

I saw soldiers in Gare St Lazare station and armed then on tv were reports of captured terrorists but I saw no evidence of panic

I walked but not alone in Muslim and African neighborhoods where there is alot of poverty and not real assimilation

So there is danger but only the most extreme would exploit fear for political means, such as a minority fascist leaning party, and they do

Most people would not fall for it

I have not sense antiAmericanism but the Bush government is widely despised all over

There is alot of talk here about creationism trial; CIA smuggling suspects into countries where they can be tortured; Lyndie England trial but also alot of focus on other things

I can see CNN International; SKY; BBC; several French news channels but also Al Jazeera and even their channel for kids; then eastern European and middle eastern channels not just for news but cartoons

and the Fashion channel!

I see evidence that France had people who mixed church and state and the results were tragic so they learned

A powerful wonderful country but a fallen empire as is Britain and if US heads in same direction it will be better for the general populace

The boulevards were widened here so authorities could put down revolutions and qwell demonstrations

Now the State actually provides services but there is no need to pry into private matters like sex