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A PLEA FOR THE CHILDREN OF NEW ORLEANS

October 31, 2007 3:43 PM

Dr. Howard J. Osofsky is the chairman of the psychiatry department, LSU health sciences center. 

Today he testifies before a senate committee and says this is not about finger pointing -- rather it is about REAL PROBLEMS of REAL CHILDREN and adolescents in NEW ORLEANS.

In his prepared testimony he says the resources and funding provided so far DO NOT ADEQUATELY ADDRESS the mental health treatment service needs of the TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN traumatized by HURRICANE KATRINA and further traumatized by the CONTINUING STRESSES DUE TO THE SLOW RECOVERY. 

The students being referred for treatment "are having severe school difficulties -- ACADEMIC, BEHAVIORAL, EMOTIONAL and RISK-TAKING.  The scientific consensus is that WE CANNOT LEAVE THESE CRIES FOR HELP UNANSWERED." 

"Without adequate mental health services, WE CAN COUNT ON THESE CHILDREN HAVING INCREASED INCIDENCES of POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER and DEPRESSION, and DECREASED ABILITY to MEET THEIR POTENTIAL ..."

Anthony H. Speier of the Louisiana department of health and hospitals will tell Congress that "Louisiana enters into the 3rd year of post-hurricane recovery with a battered and weary population of survivors who continue to struggle with recovery issues NORMALLY RESOLVED WITHIN 90-180 DAYS AFTER A HURRICANE." 

He talks about survivors who are experiencing extreme anxiety over their own personal future and THAT OF THEIR CHILDREN, and as the recovery process continues to extend into YEARS not MONTHS, many are concerned they will never have a stable future again.  And he says some people are "so tired of getting the RUN AROUND and NO RESULTS that they have given up completely on the idea of receiving ANY TYPE OF ASSISTANCE FROM ANY GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES."

October 31, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

'I Don't Think This Place is Worth Another Soldier's Life'

October 29, 2007 8:11 AM

Joshua Partlow of the WASHINGTON POST writes that 14 months ago when the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division came to Sadiyah in southwestern Baghdad the shops were open and women and children were walking on the streets.  But according to Partlow since that time 20 Soldiers have been killed, the streets of Sadiyah have become deserted, and the Iraqi National Police have become the enemy, often joining forces with shiite militiamen to "exterminate a neighborhood of middle-class Sunni families."  Now as the soldiers who are left, are preparing to leave, the Post reporter says many of them are deeply discouraged by the sectarian violence and the Iraqi government's inability to handle it.  When asked if the sacrifice was worth it, Sgt. Victor Alarcon told Partlow no: I DON'T THINK THIS PLACE IS WORTH ANOTHER SOLDIER'S LIFE."

Partlow says over time the neighborhood became a battleground that thousands of residents fled.  "This is a dangerous place" said Capt. Lee Showman, 28, and a senior officer in the battalion.  "People are killed here EVERY DAY, and you DON'T HEAR ABOUT IT.  People are kidnapped here every day and you DON'T HEAR ABOUT IT." 

Staff sgt. Richard McClary, 27, told Partlow that the American people don't fully realize what's going on.  "They just know back there,  what the HIGHER-UPS HERE TELL THEM.  But the HIGHER-UPS DON'T GO ANYWHERE, and actually they only go to the SAFE PLACES, places with a little bit of gunfire.  THEY DON'T EVER (expletive) SEE WHAT WE SEE ON THE GROUND."

Very candid, blunt, words that provide a little bit of a contrast from all those "feel good" stories about the surge.    

October 29, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

THEY EDIT TESTIMONY and ASK THEMSELVES QUESTIONS

October 26, 2007 8:52 AM

The other day the Bush administration decided to perform severe edits on the prepared congressional testimony of CDC's director Dr. Julie Gerberding and cut several pages from it.

This morning AL KAMEN writing in the WASHINGTON POST'S "IN THE LOOP" column says on TUESDAY FEMA held a hastily called news conference on the CALIFORNIA FIRES and asking HARVEY JOHNSON, the DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR OF FEMA, the questions were NOT REPORTERS BUT FEMA EMPLOYEES ACTING AS REPORTERS.

Kamen says the real reporters got only 15 MINUTES notice of the pending newser making it nearly impossible to show up in person and the 800 CALL IN NUMBER given out to reporters was "LISTEN ONLY."

So Kamen says such tough questions as "ARE YOU HAPPY WITH FEMA's RESPONSE SO FAR?" were asked by FEMA STAFFERS from the press office, NOT REPORTERS.  Kamen says when asked about this, Mike Widomski, the deputy director of public affairs for Fema, said the "STAFF DID NOT MAKE UP THE QUESTIONS and JOHNSON DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HE WAS GOING TO BE ASKED.   "We pulled questions from those we had been getting from reporters earlier in the day."

Kamen says parts of the news conference were carried live by the cables and cleverly ends his column this way:  "HECK OF A JOB HARVEY."

UPDATE: During the Friday White House briefing, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino told reporters the FEMA incident was "a bad way to handle it" and an "error of judgment." Perino said FEMA has apologized and said the White House would not have condoned the fake news conference.

UPDATE: Below is a statement by FEMA Deputy Administrator Vice Admiral Harvey Johnson released to the media Friday afternoon about its fake news conference on Tuesday:

UPDATE: Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Laura Keehner said to reporters on a conference call:

"This is simply inexcusable and offensive to the Secretary that such a mistake could have been made. We have made it clear stunts such as this will not be tolerated or repeated."

Asked if anyone would be reprimanded Keehner said, "We are looking into that possibility right now ... we are taking it that seriously."

FEMA's goal is to get information out as soon as possible, and in trying to do so we made an error in judgment. Our intent was to provide useful information and be responsive to the many questions we have received.

We are reviewing our press procedures and will make the changes necessary to ensure that all of our communications are straight forward and transparent. At FEMA, our focus is disaster operations and, in this case, it means working closely with the State of California to support their response to the devastating fires.

We're committed to being there for the State and being good partners. In working to do so we did not put enough focus on how we communicate to the public.

The real story – how well the response and recovery elements are working in this disaster – should not be lost because of how we tried to meet the needs of the media in distributing facts. We can and must do better, and apologize for this error in judgment.

- Vice Admiral Harvey Johnson, Deputy Administrator

October 26, 2007 in Congress | Permalink | User Comments (63) | TrackBack (0)

Barbie Toys Made in Chinese Sweatshop?

October 25, 2007 11:50 AM

In 2006 U.S. consumers gobbled up over $457 BILLION worth of toys during the holidays, many of them made in China.  But 2006 was not a good year for the toy makers who work in the XIN YI factory in Shenzhen, China which produces MATTEL's BARBIE TOYS.

In testimony prepared for a senate hearing this morning, Charles Kernaghan, the director of the National labor Committee, says those workers were kept at the factory 15 HOURS A DAY, from 7:30am to 10:30pm, SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, "going for MONTHS without a SINGLE DAY OFF."   He says the workers were typically at the factory 105 HOURS a WEEK, while forced to work 50 OVERTIME HOURS A WEEK, which exceeds China's own legal limit by 530 PERCENT!"

The factory was hot, the workers sweaty, they were docked 5 hours pay if they fell behind their assigned production goals and often their legs became numb because they were "PROHIBITED FROM STANDING UP DURING WORKING HOURS."   Kernaghan says in 2006, the XIN YI factory "ILLEGALLY PAID NO OVERTIME PREMIUM AT ALL, robbing the workers of 40% of the WAGES LEGALLY DUE THEM."

And Kernaghan adds--"MATTEL'S CEO paid himself $7.3 MILLION LAST YEAR, 6,533 TIMES MORE THAN HE PAID HIS TOY WORKERS IN CHINA."

HO! HO! HO!

October 25, 2007 in Weblogs | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

WAXMAN GETS HIS RICE

October 25, 2007 8:49 AM

You expect to see the secretary of state testifying before the authorizing and money committees on Capitol Hill, but today's appearance by Condi Rice before Rep. Henry Waxman's oversight and government reform committee will be a rare one!

Waxman's staff is calling their hearing, "SECRETARY RICE, THE STATE DEPARTMENT, and THE IRAQ WAR," and among the issues that will be the focus of the hearing, allegations Rice and her department can't control their private security contractors like BLACKWATER, a company accused of atrocities by the Iraqis and under investigation in this country by the Justice Department.

On the eve of today's hearing Rice had her deputy, John Negroponte, fire the state department's security chief. Rice is also expected to be questioned about the U.S. Embassy in Iraq which is now over budget, behind schedule and has a trailer problem. 

Rep. Waxman has not been able to get all the documents he wanted from state, but he has landed number one, the secretary herself, even if for only a few hours.      

October 25, 2007 in Congress | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

25 Million Taxpayers Could Get an Increase of $2,000 or More

October 23, 2007 11:26 AM

It is a URGENT LETTER from the secretary of the treasury, HENRY PAULSON to the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, CHUCK GRASSLEY.

"To avoid confusion and delays for taxpayers, it is critical that an AMT PATCH be enacted by EARLY NOVEMBER. IF CONGRESS FAILS TO ACT, we estimate that 25 MILLION TAXPAYERS will be subject to AMT in 2007---21 MILLION MORE THAN WERE SUBJECT IN 2006. We estimate that these 25 MILLION TAXPAYERS will pay on average an ADDITIONAL $2,000 in FEDERAL INCOME TAX...a SUBSTANTIAL UNEXPECTED TAX INCREASE."

Paulson also warns that letting the fix slip to "MID-TO-LATE DECEMBER" would "DELAY ISSUANCE OF APPROXIMATELY $75 BILLION IN REFUNDS TO TAXPAYERS WHO FILE BEFORE MARCH 31 and he adds there are 12 IRS FORMS (the AMT FORM and 11 CREDIT FORMS) that will be AFFECTED if and when CONGRESS ENACTS THE AMT PATCH.

October 23, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

'My Family's Land is Poisoned'

October 23, 2007 11:23 AM

Ray Manygoats is a 53 year old Navajo Indian.  When he was a kid, a private company hired by the U.S. Government came to his reservation to mine the land rich in uranium ore so this country could make atomic bombs.  Ray's dad worked in the mill and each night he came home with his uniform covered in thick yellow dust.  By day the miners used a grill to sift the yellowcake uranium and at night they used that same grill to cook their food.

Ray and his brother would visit his dad each day at the mill and bring him lunch.  "WE WOULD PLAY IN THE YELLOWCAKE SAND AT THE MILL, JUMPING AND ROLLING AROUND IN IT.  we also found many small balls at the mill.  The balls were used to crush and process uranium.  WE PLAYED MARBLES WITH THEM..."

Ray's father eventually developed serious breathing problems, his mother died of cancer and he has had 3 surgeries to remove growths from his eyes.  The cold war is over, the mining companies left the reservations long ago but the mills, the pits and mountains of tailings are still there.  "MY FAMILY'S LAND IS POISONED.  BUT NO ONE HELPS US TO REMOVE THE POISON.  I AM HERE ON BEHALF OF MY COMMUNITY TO ASK FOR YOUR HELP."

October 23, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

'Thwarting Off An Attacker By Dressing as a Coca-Cola Machine'

October 22, 2007 8:26 AM

Martin Fackler's very interesting article on a bizarre Japanese invention appeared in Saturday's NEW YORK TIMES under the headline, "FEARING CRIME, JAPANESE WEAR THE HIDING PLACE."

It was an article mainly about Aya Tsukioka who has designed a skirt with a flap that lifts to "reveal a large sheet of cloth printed in bright red with a soft drink logo partly visible.  According to the article a woman who is afraid she might be harassed, or worse attacked, can disguise herself as a VENDING MACHINE and stand alongside a bank of real machines confusing a potential attacker.  The NEW YORK TIMES article came with a series of photos showing inventor Aya Tsukioka dressed in an outfit with a red skirt which she unwraps and pulls over her head to look like a Vending Machine.  There are a couple of versions of the outfit which Ms. Tsukioka prints and sews by hand and Fackler says she has sold 20 of them so far at a cost of $800.

Want to protect the contents of your purse?  Put them in something called a "MANHOLE BAG" which the article says is a purse that can hide valuables by unfolding to look like a SEWER COVER.  Tsukioka has also designed a BACKPACK for children that "transforms into a Japanese style FIRE HYDRANT."       

October 22, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Navajo Nation: The US Asked for Their Help and Then Abandoned Them

October 22, 2007 8:24 AM

Judy Pasternak who writes for the L.A. TIMES says 50 years ago cancer rates among the Navajo Indians were so low a medical journal published an article titled "CANCER IMMUNITY IN THE NAVAJO."  That title wouldn't work today.  Pasternak says the cancer death rate on the Navajo reservations doubled from the early 1970s to the late 1990s with BREAST, OVARIAN and RELATED CANCERS among TEENAGE GIRLS 17 TIMES the NATIONAL AVERAGE according to the tribe's health department.

What Changed?  Back in the 1940s the U.S. government mined 3.9 MILLION TONS of URANIUM ORE on Navajo lands.  The United States got what it needed to build atomic bombs and the Indians got jobs.  But they also got something else---MORE THAN 1000 ABANDONED MINES when the private companies working for the U.S. government left as the cold war began to disappear.  Along with the mines came open pits and tunnels filled with radioactive waste, dust and dirt that according to reporter Pasternak, the Indians unaware of the dangers, used to build "BREAD OVENS, CISTERNS, FOUNDATIONS, FIREPLACES, FLOORS and WALLS." 

Pasternak says in 1975 one EPA official, Joseph M. Hans Jr., a radiation expert, became so alarmed when he discovered 17 of 37 homes he tested on the Navajo reservation contained RADIOACTIVE ORE  or TAILINGS that he recommended WASHINGTON clean up the worst of the bunch and relocate the occupants.  "You've got TWO RISKS---GAMMA RADIATION and you've got RADON," he told his bosses.  WASHINGTON DID VIRTUALLY NOTHING.

200 MILES FROM THE RESERVATION IT WAS QUITE A DIFFERENT STORY .  Pasternak says the people there were represented by a congressman who happened to chair the HOUSE INTERIOR COMMITTEE.  He held a bunch of hearings and got $500 MILLION that was then used by contractors to REPLACE FOUNDATIONS, FLOORS, UPROOT TREES and CLEAN SOIL.  "as a BONUS they even UPGRADED SUBSTANDARD ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS." 

The Navajo Nation didn't get anything like that!

Tomorrow, a hearing so the Navajo Nation can tell their story, and the EPA and other government agencies can explain their past negligence and what they plan to do now.    

October 22, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

"I AM NOT A TERRORIST. I AM NOT A MEMBER OF AL-QAEDA...I AM A SYRIAN-BORN CANADIAN."

October 18, 2007 2:27 PM

Maher Arar will not be in Washington when he testifies before two congressional subcommittees this afternoon.  The U.S. government won't let him in the country.  Not that he would want to come to the United States, given what happened to him on September 26, 2002 when his flight from Zurich to Montreal made a stop in New York. 

"THAT IS WHEN MY NIGHTMARE BEGAN," he says in his written testimony.  He was detained and harshly interrogated by Immigration agents, the FBI and New York police, eventually ending up in a jail in Brooklyn.  "I HAD NEVER SEEN A PRISON BEFORE IN MY LIFE.  I WAS TERRIFIED."  U.S. officials wanted to know what he knew about certain suspected terrorists under investigation by the Canadians.  U.S. officials couldn't torture Arar in Brooklyn so they employed a practice called extraordinary rendition which Professor Cole of Georgetown law school describes this way: "WE DON'T KICK THE (EXPLETIVE) OUT OF THEM.  WE SEND THEM TO OTHER COUNTRIES SO THEY CAN KICK THE (EXPLETIVE) OUT OF THEM."

So on October 8th, 2002 Arar was driven to an airport in New Jersey and placed on a "LUXURIOUS, PRIVATE JET" with two pilots, a flight attendant and 4 escorts.  Eventually he would end up in Syria where he would be thrown in a prison basement cell that was three feet wide and seven feet high with a metal door and a small opening in the ceiling.  "THERE WERE CATS AND RATS UP THERE and FROM TIME TO TIME THE CATS URINATED THROUGH THE OPENING IN THE CELL."

For the next ten and a half months he would be beaten with a shredded electrical cable, deprived of food and sleep and told his family and friends would be hunted down and killed if he told Canadian officials who visited him in prison what was happening to him.  But when the Canadians visited him for the seventh time, he could take it no longer and when asked he told them he was being tortured. 

Maher Arar is back in Canada now with his wife and two children but he says he has nightmares, recurring flashbacks and constantly fears flying and being kidnapped.  The Canadian government investigated, wrote a report that cleared Arar and harshly criticized Canadian law enforcement.  The Canadian government also paid Arar a substantial damages award for what happened to him in the United States and Syria.

From the U.S.---ONLY SILENCE.     

For more on this story, click HERE.

October 18, 2007 in Congress | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

" THE BOGGIE MAN IS REAL, HE LIVES ON THE NET... WHILE YOU ARE SITTING HERE HE IS AT HOME WITH YOUR CHILDREN"

October 17, 2007 10:32 AM

Alicia Kozakiewicz is a 19 year old college sophomore. But today when she appears before the House Judiciary Committee she will take members of congress back to the days when she was just a shy 13 year old girl and say, "I am that 13 year old girl who was lured by an internet predator, transported across state lines to Virginia, in fact not so very far from here, and enslaved by a sadistic pedophilic monster...HE CAME FOR A 13 YEAR OLD GIRL, FOR A SEX SLAVE, HE CAME FOR ME."

Congress has held a slew of these kinds of hearings on internet predators who so easily trap and harm young children, but the problem just gets worse. Grier Weeks, the executive director of the National Association to Protect Children says in his testimony there is not enough law enforcement, especially on the federal level, and not enough money. "After years of administration neglect and mounting congressional scrutiny the Department of Justice finally doubled funding in 2007. However, funding for this BRIDGE TO SAFETY FOR CHILDREN is STILL LESS than ONE-FOURTH the FEDERAL INVESTMENT in ALASKA's infamous BRIDGE TO NOWHERE."

Alicia was not on drugs. She had loving parents. She was very shy and at times lonely and so she found a friend on the internet, "christine, a beautiful red haired 14 year old girl who just understood me all too well. We became the very best of friends...And we traded our school pictures. TOO BAD THAT HERS WERE FAKE. Yeah, Christine was really a middle-aged pervert named JOHN."

Alicia describes the kidnapping, the rape and torture she endured in a homemade dungeon while her CAPTOR TOOK PICTURES AND POSTED THEM ON THE INTERNET FOR HIS FRIENDS TO SEE. She says it was because she lived in Pittsburgh which has one of the best cyber crime task forces in the country and was enslaved in Virginia with one of the best internet crimes against children task forces that she was eventually rescued. She ends her testimony with this Chilling statement.

"the BOOGIE MAN IS REAL -- HE LIVES ON THE INTERNET...WHILE YOU ARE SITTING HERE, HE IS AT HOME WITH YOUR CHILDREN."

October 17, 2007 in Congress | Permalink | User Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

'This Family Earns $34,000 Has 1 Car and Rents'

October 17, 2007 8:27 AM

The Democrats have found a new poster child for their campaign to expand SCHIP.  She is 2 year old Bethany Wilkerson from Tampa, Florida.  She was born with a serious heart condition and depends on SCHIP for her health care.  Today the family will meet with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and then hold a brief news conference.

The last time the Democrats did this, they exposed a 12 year old Baltimore, Maryland boy, Graeme Frost and his family, to vicious bloggers who savaged them on the internet even though they had their facts all wrong.

Last evening a hill staffer said the Democrats had carefully vetted this family and added, "THIS FAMILY EARNS $34,000, HAS 1 CAR and RENTS."   

October 17, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Odell Thurman is Using the Americans With Disabilities Act to Get Back on the Field

October 11, 2007 7:54 AM

Odell Thurman is a linebacker for the Cincinnati Bengals.  But he hasn't played for his team, which could really use him now, for over a year even though he has served his full suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse program.  Originally Thurman was to miss just the first four games of last season, but while he was on suspension, Thurman was caught driving under the influence and his punishment was extended for the entire 2006 season.  The problem for Thurman now is that the NFL's new boss, Roger Goodell, doesn't think he can resume playing football and stay clean so Goodell has extended Thurman's suspension for a second year.

This morning's NEW YORK TIMES, in an article written by Judy Battista, says Thurman has filed a COMPLAINT with the EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION "asserting that the NFL declined to reinstate him BECAUSE OFFICIALS BELIEVE he is an ALCOHOLIC.  According to Battista, the Thurman complaint goes on to explain that this is a VIOLATION of the AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT which says people are disabled if they "HAVE A RECORD OF ALCOHOLISM and have RECEIVED TREATMENT."  According to Paul Secunda, a labor and employment law expert, quoted in the article "The crux of the complaint is that they have a DISABILITY and they are NOT BEING REINSTATED because of that disability."

Reporter Batista says former NBA player Roy Tarpley went the E.E.O.C. route and eventually won.  But she concludes that for Thurman waiting out this year and applying for reinstatement for next season may be his quickest way back to the football field because "the employment commission could take years to rule on his case."               

October 11, 2007 in Congress | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

15 CITIES, 39 PROFESSIONAL SPORTS STADIUMS and 348 STRUCTURALLY DEFICIENT BRIDGES

October 10, 2007 8:47 AM

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, where 13 people died when the 1-35W bridge collapsed on August 1, has three PUBLICLY FINANCED PROFESSIONAL SPORTS STADIUMS.

The County in which Minneapolis is located has 10 STRUCTURALLY DEFICIENT BRIDGES.  CHICAGO has two PUBLICLY FINANCED PROFESSIONAL SPORTS STADIUMS and the county in which the windy city is located has 82 STRUCTURALLY DEFICIENT BRIDGES. 

A group called GOOD JOBS NEW YORK says too much tax money is going to build huge stadiums for professional sports at the expense of needed repairs to decaying infrastructure like bridges.  They have compiled a list of 15 urban locations with 39 PUBLICLY FINANCED PROFESSIONAL SPORTS STADIUMS located in counties that have 348 STRUCTURALLY DEFICIENT BRIDGES.  GOOD JOBS NEW YORK  will testify today before a house subcommittee chaired by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio.

This is the second hearing Kucinich has held looking into exactly what taxpayers get for their money when professional sports team owners demand and get those expensive new or updated arenas.  At the last hearing economist Brad Humphreys testified, "I HAVE NOT FOUND ANY EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER SUGGESTING THAT PROFESSIONAL SPORTS STADIUMS CREATE JOBS, RAISE INCOME, or RAISE LOCAL TAX REVENUES."  Kucinich points out that the average public share of the cost of these stadiums is estimated to be 80%.

So the taxpayers pay a hefty price to finance these high tech, lavish sports coliseums, but to get to them to see their favorite team compete, many have to travel over structurally deficient bridges ready to collapse and kill them.

October 10, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

THE LARGEST EMBASSY IN THE WORLD LACKS FIRE PROTECTION

October 09, 2007 12:18 PM

On July 26, 2007 Rep. Henry Waxman's oversight and government reform committee held a hearing on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, the LARGEST one in the world.  At that hearing , Major General Charles Williams, the Director of the Overseas Building Operations at State said this:

"I am pleased to report, Mr. Chairman, that the PROJECT IS ON SCHEDULE and ON BUDGET...We have received numerous accolades as to the EXTREMELY HIGH QUALITY OF CONSTRUCTION.  IT IS AMONG THE BEST THAT OBO HAS MANAGED."

Over the weekend we learned that the $592 MILLION EMBASSY is actually at least $144 MILLION OVER BUDGET and is BEHIND SCHEDULE AS WELL.

Waxman  has sent a letter to Secretary of State Rice saying NEW DOCUMENTS the committee has seen show that the EMBASSY's FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEM DOESN'T WORK---NO RELIABLE AUTOMATIC FIRE SPRINKLER SYSTEM coverage in ANY building on the compound and MOST BUILDINGS have a complete lack of FIRE STOPPING IN FIRE RATED WALLS AND FLOORS ..."

Waxman will also charge that documents reveal that the Justice Department has asserted in court papers that the MANAGING PARTNER of FIRST KUWAITI, the EMBASSY'S PRIME CONTRACTOR, paid $200,000 in KICKBACKS to obtain SUBCONTRACTS "to provide logistical support for U.S. troops in Iraq."
   

October 9, 2007 in Iraq | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

IT'S HARD TO TELL THE DEMOCRATS ARE IN CONTROL!

October 09, 2007 8:32 AM

The Iraq war is still going full blast, the criticism of the surge seems to have quieted down, and the President has gotten everything he has asked for to fight the war from a house and senate controlled by Democrats who promised voters something different. 

And like the Republicans before them, the Democrats didn't come close to passing final versions of their funding bills by the October 1 deadline. Now according to the WASHINGTON POST and NEW YORK TIMES democrats are about to cave on two other issues near and dear to the hearts of many of their supporters.

NYT reporters Eric Lichtblau and Carl Hulse say, "Two months after INSISTING that they would roll back broad eavesdropping powers won by the Bush administration, DEMOCRATS in congress appear ready to make concessions that could extend some crucial powers given to the National Security Agency." 

And Lichtblau and Hulse add that the bill being drafted in the senate is even kinder to the administration than the house measure. Jeffrey Birnbaum writes in the WP that head senate democrat Harry Reid has assured the lobbyist that they can slow down and take it easy -- there will be NO TAX HIKE on the "MASSIVE EARNINGS" of private equity managers. 

Some in Congress had hoped to use those increased taxes to help pay for some relief for the 23 MILLION HOUSEHOLDS that will get hit by the ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX unless congress does something about it. 

According to Birnbaum, leader Reid's spokesman, Jim Manley, told the paper it was difficult getting things through the senate and there wasn't much time left to handle "other issues important to the American public." Well -- let's see -- The SENATE is taking this entire week off to celebrate COLUMBUS DAY and this week-long break comes after a MONTH LONG AUGUST VACATION.      

October 9, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

"CONVERT TO ISLAM, PAY $300 A MONTH FOR PROTECTION OR LEAVE THE AREA"

October 08, 2007 8:52 AM

From the President on down, many U.S. politicians like to call the United States a Christian Nation.

But IRAQ, the country on whose soil American Soldiers are spilling their blood to get freedom and democracy going, doesn't care much for Christians, in fact it is torturing them, and beheading their priests and religious leaders.

A WASHINGTON POST article Saturday by James Palmer and an editorial in late August by Nina Shea tell their story.

The Palmer article talks about Nabil Comanny and his family, Christians who learned to survive with criminal gangs roaming the streets, dead bodies left to decompose along the road in their neighborhood, utility failures and mountains of trash everywhere.

But Palmer writes it was the "HAND-SCRAWLED NOTE at their door" that was the final straw. It told the family to make a choice. CONVERT TO ISLAM, PAY A FEE OF NEARLY $300 MONTHLY FOR PROTECTION, or LEAVE THE AREA. If the family refused, they would be killed. "WE DON'T HAVE WEAPONS and the GOVERNMENT DOESN'T PROTECT US. WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO?" Comanny told the reporter.

Nina Shea recounts how sixty years ago,Iraq's JEWISH population, which made up a third of Baghdad, were bombed out of the country. She says only a handful of Jews remain today. She says UNLESS WASHINGTON ACTS Christians and other Non-Muslims will face the same fate. "They are NOT simply caught in a crossfire of a Muslim power struggle; They are being TARGETED in a RUTHLESS CLEANSING CAMPAIGN by SUNNI, SHIITE, and KURDISH MILITANTS."

From Washington -- mostly silence.

October 8, 2007 in Iraq | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

FORMALDEHYDE IN BAGHDAD TRAILERS

October 08, 2007 8:50 AM

It's not just a New Orleans problem. 252 prefabricated residential trailers that were supposed to house security guards protecting the huge U.S. Embassy in Baghdad are unlivable right now due to FORMALDEHYDE FUMES according to a WASHINGTON POST article by Glenn Kessler.

Kessler says the $592 MILLION facility, the largest of its kind in the world, will cost at least $144 MILLION MORE and open MONTHS LATE because of "poor planning, shoddy workmanship, internal disputes and last minute changes sought by the state department," and of course those fumes in the trailers.

The article says one builder, First Kuwaiti, denies that the formaldehyde levels in the trailers are dangerous, but U.S. officials who have tested the levels say they are too high and the problem must be corrected.

October 8, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

A POWER DRILL HAD BEEN USED TO DRILL HOLES IN THE BODY OF THE 80 YEAR OLD FATHER

October 04, 2007 10:28 AM

Judge Radhi Hamza al-Radhi is one brave man!

Judge Radhi Hamza al-Radhi is the Commissioner of the Commission on PUBLIC INTEGRITY, REPUBLIC of IRAQ.  He has held that position since the start of the commission in 2004.  His job is to root out corruption.  Today his job is to talk to Rep. Henry Waxman's house committee on oversight and government reform on "THE STATUS OF CORRUPTION IN IRAQ."

Judge Radhi Hamza al-Radhi says the main obstacles his commission faces each day are violence, intimidation and personal attacks.  31 of HIS EMPLOYEES have been ASSASSINATED along with at least 12 MORE FAMILY MEMBERS.  He says in many of the cases, his staff and their relatives were KIDNAPPED, DETAINED and then TORTURED before being killed.   "This includes my staff member Mohammed Abd Salif who was GUNNED DOWN with his SEVEN MONTH PREGNANT WIFE."  His security chief was threatened with death and the security chief's father was kidnapped---HIS BODY WAS FOUND HUNG FROM A MEAT HOOK.  The 80 year old father of a clerk working for the judge was kidnapped just because his son was working for the commission and when his body was found, "A POWER DRILL HAD BEEN USED TO DRILL HIS BODY WITH HOLES."

Violence is not the only problem.  The government of PRIME MINISTER NOURI al-MALIKI is another obstacle for the commission.  The Judge says the "PRIME MINISTER and his government have REFUSED to recognize the INDEPENDENCE of the COMMISSION on PUBLIC INTEGRITY" even though the IRAQI CONSTITUTION requires it to.  And he adds that IRAQI GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS have sent his commission letters forbidding them from taking action against the PRESIDENCY, COUNCIL of MINISTERS and former and current ministers. 

Despite the violence, and the intimidation of the MALIKI government, Judge Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, who has been the target of a sniper himself, has successfully investigated 3,000 CORRUPTION CASES and says the COST OF THE CORRUPTION that his commission has uncovered so far has been estimated to be AS HIGH AS $18 BILLION.

October 4, 2007 in Iraq | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

"PLEASE BRING MY DADDY HOME"

October 03, 2007 10:35 AM

Wendy Black was lucky.  Her coal miner husband Dale was not one of those trapped deep in the ground when a portion of Utah's Crandall Canyon mine violently collapsed on August 6th. "I didn't hear from him until about 10:00pm, when he arrived home," she tells the house education and labor committee.  "I was so relieved when I seen him and that he was Ok, just really tired and worried about the men and how they were going to get them out."

Dale was supposed to have a couple of days off, but instead he got up every morning at 4:15am and rode up to the mine, part of the rescue effort, coming home sometimes at 8:00pm, other evenings as late as 10:00pm.  "I WAS JUST GLAD WHEN HE WOULD FINALLY COME HOME" Wendy says in her statement.  "MY HUSBAND FELT HE HAD TO BE THERE BECAUSE THESE TRAPPED MINERS WERE HIS FRIENDS, HIS FAMILY IN A WAY...he told me about the letters and pictures that the families had put up at the mine, the one he remembered the most said PLEASE BRING MY DADDY HOME.  This gave Dale the courage and determination to go back into that hell hole."

On August 16th, Wendy Black was not so lucky.  On that morning Dale entered the mine and never came out.   

She closes her testimony with some harsh words for the Mine Safety Health Administration.  "It would have taken just ONE MSHA MAN DOING HIS JOB to have SAVED MY HUSBAND'S LIFE.  WHICH ONE OF THEM WASN'T DOING THEIR JOB?"

In addition to Wendy Black, other relatives of the presumed dead coal miners at Crandall Canyon Mine will also testify.

October 3, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

BLACKWATER'S ACTIONS COULD HURT THE U.S. "WORSE THAN ABU GHRAIB"

October 02, 2007 8:12 AM

The 15 page staff memorandum prepared for House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman is full of horrific incidents involving Blackwater contractors.  What follows comes from that memo.

It was Christmas eve, 2006 and a Blackwater contractor was attending a party, during which he consumed several alcoholic beverages and was described as drunk by witnesses.  Between 10:30 and 11:30pm the Blackwater contractor carrying a GLOCK 9 mm pistol passed through a gate near the Iraqi Prime Minister's compound and was stopped by an Iraqi guard who was on duty.  According to the account in the memo, the Blackwater contractor fired multiple shots, three of which struck the guard and then fled the scene.  The wounded Iraqi guard was taken to the 28th Combat Army Support Hospital where he was pronounced dead while the Blackwater contractor fled to a guard post operated by another contractor, Triple Canopy.  He told a story of being chased and attacked by Iraqis and said he had not been drinking.  Later Blackwater would terminate him and arrange to have him flown out of the country.

U.S. officials immediately knew they had a serious problem.  On Christmas day, 2006, the U.S. Embassy Charge d' Affaires said Blackwater should immediately write a letter of apology and pay a "SIZEABLE COMPENSATION" of $250,000.  Later that recommendation was lowered to $100,000.  But the Embassy Diplomatic Security Service called those proposals "CRAZY SUMS" and said such an action "could cause the Iraqis TO TRY AND GET KILLED SO AS TO SET UP THEIR FAMILIES FINANCIALLY.  Noting that there previously had been a payout of $5,000 for "A GUY'S CAR and a WOUND TO THE LEG," the official recommended a $15,000 to $25,000 payment."         

The memo also recounts a November 28th, 2005 incident involving a BLACKWATER MOTORCADE traveling to and from the Ministry of Oil for official meetings which COLLIDED with 18 DIFFERENT VEHICLES during the round trip---6 ON THE WAY TO THE MINISTRY and 12 VEHICLES ON THE RETURN TRIP.  Blackwater officials determined that its own employees gave "INVALID, INACCURATE, and at BEST DISHONEST REPORTING" of the incident.  Two were fired.

The Waxman briefing memo quotes a senior U.S. Military official as saying that the "The IMPACT of BLACKWATER'S actions on IRAQI ATTITUDES toward U.S. Forces is GOING TO HURT US BADLY and MAY BE WORSE THAN ABU GRAIB."

ERIK PRINCE, the owner of BLACKWATER, a company which has seen its FEDERAL CONTRACTS INCREASE from $736,906 in 2001 to $593,601,952 in 2006 to total over $1 BILLION is expected to strongly defend his company.

October 2, 2007 in Iraq | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

IT COULD CAUSE IRAQIS to "TRY AND GET KILLED"

October 01, 2007 1:32 PM

"In December of 2006 a drunken blackwater contactor killed the guard of Iraqi Vice President Adil Abd-al-Mahdi.  Within 36 hours after the shooting, the State department allowed Blackwater to transport the Blackwater contractor out of Iraq.  The State Department CHARGE D' AFFAIRES recommended that Blackwater make a SIZEABLE PAYMENT and an APOLOGY to avoid this whole thing from becoming worse.  The State Department CHARGE D' AFFAIRES suggested a $250,000 payment to the guard's family but the DEPARTMENT'S Diplomatic Security Service said this was TOO MUCH and could cause the IRAQIS TO TRY TO GET KILLED.  In the end, the STATE DEPARTMENT and BLACKWATER agreed on a $15,000 PAYMENT.  One state department official wrote: "WE WOULD LIKE TO HELP THEM RESOLVE THIS SO WE CAN CONTINUE WITH OUR PROTECTIVE MISSION."

That from a very detailed 15-page BRIEFING MEMO just put out by the staff working for Democrat Henry Waxman who will hold an oversight hearing Tuesday featuring ERIK PRINCE, the OWNER OF BLACKWATER and several state department officials including Ambassador David Satterfield, the special adviser, coordinator for Iraq.

The briefing memo includes the information that BLACKWATER FEDERAL CONTRACTS have gone from $736,906 in 2001 to $593,601,952 in 2006.

October 1, 2007 in Iraq | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

ARE CONGRESS and the FCC PAYING AS MUCH ATTENTION TO FEBRUARY 17th, 2009 AS THEY DID TO FEBRUARY 1, 2004?

October 01, 2007 8:17 AM

It was Sunday evening, February 1, 2004 and the Super bowl being carried on CBS had reached halftime in Houston.  Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake were performing, when suddenly the former 'N Syncer grabbed Jackson's costume and ripped it open to expose her right breast.  The reaction was swift and intense!  Congress started holding hearings and writing laws while the FCC levied the heftiest fines it could at that time on 20 CBS stations.

There's another February date fast approaching and the question is are CONGRESS and the FCC as concerned about what will happen on FEBRUARY 17, 2009 as they were about what happened on FEBRUARY 1, 2004?

According to a WASHINGTON POST article over the weekend, 70 MILLION television sets that use rooftop or "rabbit ears" antennas will "END UP SHOWING NOTHING BUT SNOW" on FEBRUARY 17, 2009 when broadcasters convert their analog signals to digital.  CONGRESS, the FCC and INDUSTRY are supposed to be educating the public about what they MUST do about the coming changes but the article says a recent survey by the Association of Public Television stations shows that 51% of americans have no idea what's coming.   

The Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing a couple of weeks ago focusing on the elderly, especially those who live in rural areas, who are likely to be impacted the most since they rely heavily on television for weather and emergency broadcasts.  Committee chairman Kohl has introduced a bill to get the various government agencies like the FCC to work in a coordinated effort to educate the public.  On October 17th, the Senate Commerce Committee will hold its own Digital TV hearing.

Will any of this do any good?

October 1, 2007 in Congress | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)