In-depth multimedia charting the year of global upheaval following the collapse of Lehman Brothers. See how lives everywhere have changed as a divergent world embarks on a new era of historic uncertainty.
During the last two decades, mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia has destroyed or severely damaged more than a million acres of forest and buried nearly 2,000 miles of streams. Leveling Appalachia: The Legacy of Mountaintop Removal Mining, a video report produced by Yale Environment 360 in collaboration with MediaStorm, focuses on the environmental and social impacts of this practice and examines the long-term effects on the region’s forests and waterways.
At a time when the Obama administration is reviewing mining permit applications throughout West Virginia and three other states, this video offers a first-hand look at mountaintop removal and what is at stake for Appalachia’s environment and its people.
Much more at site link.
And these are but only a couple of the issues of the now growing negative legacies we're leaving to those who follow. Responsible adults exist no longer, irresponsibility and incompetence in the human species is now our norm!
Remember the meme at the beginning of the War Drum Beating and the easy certain Corporate "No Bid Contracts" in support of the Wars and Occupations: "They're the only ones in the World who can do the organizing and work needed in support of our Military and the Coalition of Willing!"
Never mind they were connected by the hips to those beating the drums, never mind they were only paper pushers tens of thousands of miles away and sub-contracting out all the work, never mind the many issues of lost billions, shoddy work, bonuses, waste and corruption that almost instantly started coming to light and even with that they were given more, not even handshakes, just here ya go Pallets with Shrink wrapped Blocks of Cash, Millions and Billions, freshly printed and minted!!
I had similar questions as this LTE writer asks, well before the report was issued the other day and this posted today, but than again many of us have had the questions of Defense Spending for years, with extremely little questioning from the greater masses. Especially us Veterans of our previous failed policies as we've watched our brothers and sisters being short changed for their service, short changed and no questions or willingness from the greater masses who don't serve!
Where are the tea parties? Where is the outrage from the purveyors of the vaunted, unregulated “free market?”
The Wartime Contracting Commission reports that tens of billions have been wasted on private sector contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan, due to “poorly defined work orders, inadequate oversight and contractor inefficiencies.”...........
The following was released a few days ago, yet I've heard very little talk from the talking heads, Especially the opinionated right wing spinmeisters, they have alot to say about everything else, in this country or so called libertarians and very little from the left, All War Drum Beating Supporters Of, remember there was some seventy five plus percent in favor of destroying an innocent country and many still in favor of occupying two countries while bombing another!
Since 2001, Congress has appropriated about $830 billion to fund U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over that period, America’s reliance on contractors has grown to unprecedented proportions to support logistics, security, and reconstruction efforts related to those operations. More than 240,000 contractor employees—about 80 percent of them foreign nationals—now work in Iraq and Afghanistan, supporting the Department of Defense. Additional contractor employees support the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Dude, Where's My Money?
Waste, Fraud, and Abuse: three words used in an official report describing what has happened to the 380 billion US dollars spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A major security contractor is running an office overseeing armed guards in Afghanistan, a situation at odds with the Pentagon's claim that military officers would be in charge of such sensitive work.
A new report on wartime spending to be made public Wednesday at a congressional hearing says the contractor, Aegis Defense Services, has operated with limited U.S. government supervision...............
The first audit released by US Congressional Commission of Wartime Contracting reveals that the military has wasted huge sums of its USD 834b budget on contractors.
The 121-page report on security, logistics and renovation contracts indicates that the US government has failed to oversee the defense expenditures it disbursed to key contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. The report refers to large-scale cases of fraud and mismanagement of contracts during the so-called 'war on terror', which have cost American taxpayers 'billions' of dollars.................
Following today’s release of the Commission on Wartime Contracting’s interim report to Congress, Senators Jim Webb (D-VA) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) asked Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to review the Commission’s findings and address a number of critical issues of “immediate concern.”..............
Again the question should be asked "No tea parties over billions lost in Iraq or Afghanistan?" which won't be answered even at further so called "teabaggin" rallies, certainly not by the speakers invited!
This goes along with another question asked years back now by a GoldStar Mom, "For What Noble Cause Mr. President?"!!
Oh, before I go, one more issue and another question, especially to the masses who never serve but cheer on:
All that Wealth in one place, at the Top, Never Trickling Down!!
“Workers Aren’t Responsible For The Failing Economy Or The Sinking Of The Flagship Of American Industry” “Bankers, Bosses And Bureaucrats Failed, Not Workers”
FORT BLISS, Texas – As soldiers stream home from Iraq and Afghanistan, the biggest charity inside the U.S. military has been stockpiling tens of millions of dollars meant to help put returning fighters back on their feet, an Associated Press investigation shows.
Between 2003 and 2007 — as many military families dealt with long war deployments and increased numbers of home foreclosures — Army Emergency Relief grew into a $345 million behemoth. During those years, the charity packed away $117 million into its own reserves while spending just $64 million on direct aid, according to an AP analysis of its tax records.
Tax-exempt and legally separate from the military, AER projects a facade of independence but really operates under close Army control. The massive nonprofit — funded predominantly by troops — allows superiors to squeeze soldiers for contributions; forces struggling soldiers to repay loans — sometimes delaying transfers and promotions; and too often violates its own rules by rewarding donors, such as giving free passes from physical training, the AP found.
Read rest at above link and the others now starting to hit the wires!
The scum of this countries greed and arrogance, while the previous administration and the goper congresses laid waste to our laws and constitution, not caring what was going on, is still rising to the surface!
What more will we find out about as we've let them slide from accountability to live their lives out with their corrupt ill gotten gains!!!
You can Bet that with this kind of hoarding, and for the time span, there's been Skimming going on!!
About 100,000 people have taken part in protests in Dublin city centre to vent their anger at the Irish government's handling of the country's recession.
Paul Nawrocki says he's beyond the point where he cares about humiliation.
Paul Nowracki, jobless since February, stands on New York corners with a sign announcing his job search.
That's why he weekly takes a 90-minute train ride to New York, where he walks the streets wearing a sandwich board that advertises his plight: The former toy-industry executive needs a job.
"Almost homeless," reads the sign. "Looking for employment. Very experienced operations and administration manager."
Wearing a suit and tie under the sign, Nawrocki -- who was in the toy industry 36 years before being laid off in February -- stands on Manhattan corners for hours, hoping to pass resumes to interested passers-by.
"When you're out of work and you face having nothing -- I mean, having no income -- pride doesn't mean anything," Nawrocki said. "You need to find work. I have to take care of my family."
People look but don't often stop. A woman in the jewelry business paused as Nawrocki stood with his sign outside Grand Central Station recently.
"I feel sorry for him. I wish I could help him," she said. "I'll pray for him. I'll give him a prayer card."
In addition to the 533,000 lost jobs, an additional 621,000 workers were pushed into part-time work and 422,000 simply dropped out of the labor force. "This is almost indescribably terrible," wrote Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics. "The pace of job losses is accelerating alarmingly." Over the past three months, 1.26 million jobs have been lost, a pace of job destruction exceeded only once since 1945. "The threat of a widespread depression is now real and present," said Peter Morici, a business professor at the University of Maryland.
And once again the devastating proof of the incompetence of those We Pay!
This week, almost three months after Hurricane Ike battered Texas, it was clear that the rebuilding and repair is happening far slower than the rest of the country imagines it to be. David Stall, the Shoreacres city manager we spoke with had a poignant observation in our Evening News piece when he mentioned that it seems like when the lights came back on in Houston, people just began to think that everything was all better. The facts are that for his community, and several others along the Texas coast, life is far from normal.
When Hurricane Ike swallowed their beachfront home and all of their belongings, Darlene and Mark Pagels tried to hold it together.
They borrowed underwear and shoes. They slept in one-hour shifts at a local hospital. They ate free meals in a tent outside their church. And they waited, through September, then October, for a mobile home from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
When a FEMA trailer finally landed on the Pagels' property last week, it came with a padlocked door – and orders that they not move in until inspectors gave them the OK.
As the Economy Tanks Rapidly, and we still have Soldiers being killed and maimed in two occupations, add to All the rest that has happened, and not happened from the countries elected leaders, what is on the mind of the one sitting in the Oval Office and on our dime, along with his most loyal supporters, same ole same ole, Nothing, except what is most important to them:
There’s an ongoing Bush legacy project that’s been meeting in the White House, really, with senior advisers, Karl Rove, Karen Hughes has been involved, current senior Bush administration advisers and they are looking at how to sort of roll out the President’s legacy.
As the minions of spin and propaganda are given their marching orders and talking points from this meeting of the goper minds, making sure it's spread far and wide and stated over and over, embeding the re-visionist history into the minds of their 'brownshirts', and hoping the historians, nixon reducs, but much bigger task!
Where bush retires to, clearing phony brush is to taxing:
Where bush, and cronies, need to live for us to deter future crimes:
Now she has the time to Grieve for her Son, Killed in Iraq only a short time ago, Her Reality!!
I was just sent the following:
Friday was an historic day. At 11am, Jocelyne Voltaire was scheduled to lose her home in Queens Village, the home she had lived in for the past 20 years, the home where she raised her four children. Unable to keep up her skyrocketing mortgage payments, Jocelyne watched in horror as her home was put on the auction block. This amazing video clip by American News Project brought Jocelyn's plight to our attention.
At 9:05 am EST, we sent out an urgent call to our CODEPINK list. Our jaws dropped when we saw the response. Donations of $5, $25, $500, even $1,000! Within an hour, we had raised over $10,000. And the money kept pouring in, along with beautiful messages of support.
Jocelyne was moved to tears. And the mortgage bankers, with our immediate promise of $15,000 at 11am, were "moved" to stop the auction.
We did it!!! While our government has taken billions of our tax dollars to bail out the wealthy, we came together to bail out a desperate mother. Thanks to you, in one day we raised over $30,000 from 650 donors and showered Jocelyne with love and compassion. We modeled exactly what we want our government to do-bail out families facing personal disaster, not financiers.
Jocelyne still faces enormous hurdles, both financial and emotional. She has to pull herself out of a deep depression from the loss of her eldest son, a Marine who had served in the Gulf. She has to recover her health so she can start working again. She has to fix up her home so she can get renters to augment her income. And she still has to renegotiate her loan and make monthly mortgage payments.
But thanks to you, Jocelyne now has another chance. We found a wonderful pro-bono lawyer to help her battle the predatory lenders and restructure her loan. And after wiring the mortgage company $15,000, we will use the funds that keep coming in to help Jocelyne make her monthly payments and get back on her feet.
As we write, Jocelyne is feeling exhausted but renewed. She is ready to unpack the boxes she has been living out of for the past year. She now feels surrounded by people who want to lift her up, not toss her out. And she wants to use her experience to help others. At the press conference we held at the courthouse steps, surrounded by dozens of cameras, Jocelyne said: "To all of you facing similar disasters, don't be silent, don't be ashamed. Step forward and call out for help. That's what I did, and a miracle happened. These angels came to help me. We all have to pull together and help each other."
You are those angels and we at CODEPINK are in awe of you-your generosity, your compassion, your willingness to stand up for Main Street Americans. Now let's pull together in the coming months, as Jocelyne asked us to do, and move our government to do the same-bail out Main Street, not Wall Street.
Thanks for making miracles happen. Here's to Jocelyne, to you and to solidarity.
Dana, Deidra, Desiree, Farida, Gael, Gayle, Jean, Jodie, Liz, Lori, Medea, Nancy, and Rae
I had just woken from a nap, and was just going to post something, after doing abit of searching, about this. But I'll use the E announcement and see what else I can find.
I had it in another post I've been trying to get up at my site, but the code change that the American News Project gives you to stop the video's from automatically starting doesn't work, so waiting to hear from them.
But I also had this in that post:
How Wall Street's Scam Artists......
The subject title is the first part of an Alternet post that finishes with Turned Home Mortgages Into Economic WMDs which is but a part of what brought about not only the collapsing economy here but in the money markets around the world, and in peoples lives.
The titans of high finance are trying desperately to shift blame for the crisis onto others, but this dead cat lies squarely on their doorstep.
And as we know more is coming out but still leaving most in a fog of what's coming, even the so called experts, most who put us here.
You can visit the McClatchy link to view a number of the Video reports.
And tonight, 10-18-08, as well as tomorrow, CNN introduces us to some of those who are playing the money game of the new capitalism that was created, top down, trickle down economy, on Wall Street.
As the market tanked, the champagne flowed. CNN takes you inside the lives of Wall Street's rich and shameless. Watch an all new CNN SIU, Sat & Sun, 8 p.m. ET.
From the few cuts I've seen on this it looks to be interesting and rage invoking, lets hope those reporting aren't also caught up in the glitter of the false reality and give the straight facts about these folks, most knowing what they were doing but not caring as long as they came out with great wealth and lifestyles, burning that wealth, which when burnt doesn't trickle down, it just disappears.
Everyone, almost, is in a complete Rage at what is happening, and has been allowed to happen by not only soft regulation but the ease on any regulation in the Banking Industry, Morgage Industry, Wall Street, and in a Rage you should be.
But want a better picture of the who got us here any why, leave your computer and go to the nearest mirror and take a Good Hard Long Look at the reflection coming back, Yep Folks, it's most of you, and the rest of the shit hasn't yet hit the fan, but it's quickly coming!
Remember the clowns you hire to represent you in Washington, and local and state, are your clowns, you pay them.
Have been wondering why this hasn't been touched on in the Financial Crisis and Greed that's bringing down the House of Cards known as Wall Street!
Are Credit Card Companies Dealing in Debt? MBNA Insiders Question Former Employers' Practices.
But they only cover one side of this coin, the side us individuals only want to see, the other side.
You hear about the mortgage meltdown all the time, but as more and more Americans become saddled with huge credit card debt they cannot pay, the next crisis point may come in plastic. Last night, we brought you exclusive interviews with former credit card company employees trained to lead customers to take on more debt -- even if they couldn't handle it. Tonight, ABC News correspondent Vicki Mabrey takes a close look at what consumers need to do to protect themselves from a credit card crisis.
You can find the same video at the 'ABC Night Line' site link above.
Colombo said employees worked 10-hour shifts, four days a week and had set goals -- sell $25,000 an hour, which translates to $250,000 a day, $1 million a week, $4 million a month.
While these snakes go about their business, admit it folks, some of you welcome these offers of jacking up your line of credit, or quick borrowing, makes you feel richer and able to pickup more crap, or do things, that you don't need or couldn't do nor thought of doing.
How many of you have the newest do-dad that just came down the pike and is agressively advertised as a must have without telling you the why you must have while charging you a monthly fee that you seem to always be going over.
While some are extremely wasteful it causes others to get into financial trouble just trying to exist:
On the other end of the phone were people like Josh and Jennifer Grant, parents of two young girls, Sierra and Sydney, who live in Waterville, Maine. Josh Grant is a self-employed trucker, Jennifer Grant works at a local hospital. They're $28,000 in debt.
Sitting at the family's kitchen table, Josh Grant pulled out his latest bill -- every few days he spends hundreds of dollars on fuel for his 22-wheel truck. He pays his bill weekly -- a total of $6,600 last month. But he spent $7,299 on fuel. That's how his bill grows -- not from spending on lavish dinners or expensive vacations, but from the high cost of diesel as he tries to make a living.
As he's showing"Nightline" the bill, we discover that he has gone $54 over his $21,000 credit limit -- and been charged a $39 over-limit fee.
"I didn't even see that, to be honest with you," he said. "When you get charged for being $50 over it's tough to swallow." They hope to pay off their debt in five to ten years. "That would be a good scenario," Jennifer Grant said.
Hitting Those Who Sacrifice for Country:
But what bothered Colombo most, she said, was being discouraged from telling military families that they were eligible -- by law -- to have their interest rates frozen at prime, currently 5 percent.
"We were told you cannot offer the Soldiers and Sailors Act rate unless they specifically ask. They must say 'Hi, I'm calling, my husband's on active duty, I'm aware of Soldiers and Sailors Act. What do I need to do?' But most Americans aren't aware of it," Colombo said.
Everyones got their stories and those are growing in numbers, rapidly, in the negative territory, and will only keep growing!
Those who fall for these economic policies, especially coming from the Right, Reagonomics, Trickle Down, Applauding the Wealthy as economic hero's as they grow even more so, are either totally ignorant of how this country and it's economy was built or understand that but think there's an easier way, with alot less physical and mental work, and we can spend spend spend without worries of bills bills bills.
Even the fools in residence, the White House and Much of Congress, thinks the World is always going to be Economically Rosy, No Problems.
Have a devestating Criminal Terrorist Attack, killing and maiming, "Hey Go Shopping Folks!".
Have Wars of Choice and Total Destruction of Others while Occupying, killing and maiming, "Hey Go Shopping Folks!".
Have everything Finally start collapsing, the house of empty air and cards falling, "Hey Go Shopping Folks!".
We once had an economy and workforce that was the envy of the world, we still live like we have that, actually we live and act like we have even more than that, but the facts prove different, but "Hey Go Shopping Folks!" .
There's two political parties that share the power, which one preaches the false economics now collapsing, and have for years and implemented as they had the power, and which one enables!!
A veterans charity run by controversial "nonprofit entrepreneur" Roger Chapin and currently under regulatory investigation has quietly filed an amended federal tax return acknowledging for the first time its own doubts that a deal comprising half its entire charitable effort ever took place.
The new filing for 2006 by the Coalition to Salute America's Heroes Foundation of Ossining, N.Y., sought to cure a number of flaws pointed out by Forbes and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) Wise Giving Alliance, a leading charity watchdog. Among other matters, the revised return for the first time listed the board membership and full compensation that year of Chapin associate Michael V. Meyer and disclosed his ownership of a consultancy that was paid to handle the now-questioned deal.
The disgusting, dishonorable rat traitor piece of shit Bush ignores the salute from soldiers at a review of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, May 22, 2008, at Fort Bragg, N.C. {AP Photo/Charles Dharapak}
While that's a tad, just a tiny tad, bit harsh for me I do have to agree with his description!
The CiC not paying attention to the troops, many having multiple tours in his Occupations of Choice, with Bragg having to redo their Base Memorial for the fallen as they had no more room to add to the names, seems to just like giving silly snickers to those snapping his photo's, or waves to no one in particular. Even the CiC Nixon showed at least a tad bit more respect for those serving under his command as wrong as he was, unless of course you were military personal and veterans totally against his war mongering policies, he used the government agencies to spy on you than.
But you see the bushy is one tough hombre, or so he would like everyone to think, the ones that don't use that gift. As to his soldiering Tough doesn't come to mind. For most of us 'Nam Vets, untill we see the purged documents of his missing service records from the Champagne Guard Unit his connections got him into, He's Still AWOL! And any wingers, don't give me the simplified "But he got an Honorable Discharge," crap, they all did, wether they attended training or not, unlike many in regular guard units!
And how are things going in his Occupation of Choice in Iraq:
I received the latest MoJo {Mother Jones} newsletter last night. Always interesting commentary can certainly be found at MoJo.
The following was their question in the newsletter:
Has anyone seen $15 billion in reconstruction funds? If so, the Pentagon's Inspector General is looking for them.
Want to see a signature worth $320 million? Click here (PDF). It belongs to Jack Gardner, an official with the now-defunct Coalition Provisional Authority, who in July 2003 authorized that amount to be transferred to the Iraqi Ministry of Finance for the payment of Iraqi salaries. There are no other records of the transfer, just Mr. Gardner's John Hancock. Now that's power.
I added the {PDF} just so's you wouldn't think that by clicking the link all you see is someones John Hancock, it's more than that.
There's abit more with some backlinks of interest.
And it closes with this:
To date, Pentagon auditors have referred 28 cases to criminal investigators.
So to change the subject, as this corrupt administration finds extremely easy to do for the short term memory of most of the populace, lets bury it and instead blame those being occupied:
"Hello" is there anyone home in that bubble we call our capital Washington? It's your Puppet Government in Iraq! We Occupy their country! We're not only Morgaging the next couple of our generations treasury, we're creating the conditions for threats on the National Security of the Country and it's Citizens, no matter where they may be! why do you think your puppet government are going along with your extreme failed policies, their going to make sure we stay for as long as possible, your corrupt buddies there are reaping wealth from your dangerous stupidity! They're going to funnel some of the monies to their supporters and militias to keep the danger level high and to hell with the innocents, their own country children, women and men, the ones who haven't already fled the carnage!
Now who might just be one who puts an end to your Debacle/Quagmire and your puppet government in Iraq:
According to an AP dispatch, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani is inclined to issue a series of fatwas declaring what amounts to a defensive jihad against the occupying US troops. The Ayatollah's spokesman Abdul Mahdi Karbala'i, recently said that Sistani was against the Maliki government offensive on the Mahdi Army in Basra and Sadr city.
Sistani, and the other religious leaders, all sects, can not only quickly enhance the carnage and battles towards the occupiers, they can also issue decree's that would greatly deminish a sect on sect civil war, that's been a fact right from the beginning, same can go towards Afganistan.
And as this is Memorial Day Weekend what are the, mostly chickenhawk, magnetic ribbon, goldstar bandaid, rush and fox news cheerleaders doin on the Homefront, well some are going out for an American Staple, McDonalds is so passe:
$175 Hamburger on Menu at Wall Street Burger Shoppe
Now one report about the above pretty much covers the state of this society we've created:
21/05/2008 By Annika Burgess, Macquarie Radio Network A hamburger with the lot and then some, on sale in New York, will cost you a whopping $180. The New York restaurant is tempting wealthy customers with a burger made of Kobe beef, topped with gold flakes, black truffles, a thick slab of seared foie gras and aged Gruyere cheese. Wall Street Burger Shoppe co-owner Kevin O’Connell told CNN, the pricey item has been a hit with customers. “What I heard honestly is a man who said he was giggling while he ate it, and this is not the type of guy who looks like he would giggle much.” Described as a ‘work of art,’ the burger flecked with gold is said to be popular with Wall Street Gordon Gekko-types.
Now I'm not a picky eater, I just like need food and have it taste good to the buds, there isn't much I find offensive to eat and I don't care how it's arranged on a plate. But I'd like you to get a picture of eating a $180 hamburger flecked with gold, and the rest from above. Now as nature would have it our food goes in one hole, the mouth, and the body uses some for living and energy, the rest comes out another bodily hole, got the picture.
Now if these greedy souls stay to form they'll crap in little porta potties, search through their waste and grab those gold flecks. Get enough, after way too many status burgers, they could melt the flecks down to form little gold coin size trinkets and get a few bucks back.
And are these souls concerned about our misadventures of death and destruction, not the least!!
Happy Thoughtful Memorial Day
And as we close in on the political party conventions, especially the Republican one, lets not forget how the 'Strong on National Defense" group, at least that's what they'd like everyone to think as they create more Hatreds and Enemies of our Country so they act strong?, "Support Our Troops", especially us 'Nam Vets:
Want to see a signature worth $320 million? Click here (PDF). It belongs to Jack Gardner, an official with the now-defunct Coalition Provisional Authority, who in July 2003 authorized that amount to be transferred to the Iraqi Ministry of Finance for the payment of Iraqi salaries. There are no other records of the transfer, just Mr. Gardner's John Hancock. Now that's power.
I added the {PDF} just so's you wouldn't think that by clicking the link all you see is someones John Hancock, it's more than that.
There's abit more with some backlinks of interest.
And it closes with this:
To date, Pentagon auditors have referred 28 cases to criminal investigators.
Something we've already known, And Done Absolutely Nothing About, only this gets abit deeper than the War Profitteers:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration repeatedly ignored corruption at the highest levels within the Iraqi government and kept secret potentially embarrassing information so as not to undermine its relationship with Baghdad, according to two former State Department employees.
Coming from two civil servants who seem to understand who they are working for, one Arthur Brennan and James Mattil.
Brennan said that a congressional staffer visiting Baghdad couldn't talk with staffers because they were too busy.
What were they busy doing in Baghdad:
the staffers were watching movies at the embassy and on their computers. The staffers' workload had been cut dramatically because of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's "evisceration" of Iraq's top anti-corruption office, he said.
And Condi is still around?
The State Department's policies "not only contradicted the anti-corruption mission but indirectly contributed to and has allowed corruption to fester at the highest levels of the Iraqi government," Brennan told the Senate Democratic Policy Committee.
Want to find out about the Office of Accountability and Transparency, there's a few sentences about this as well as Iraq's Joint Anti-Corruption Committee
"Since we have done so little (to undercut corruption), it's easy to see why the government of Iraq has not done more," said Mattil, who left the accountability office last October after having served for a year as its chief of staff. "We have demanded no better."
And how much has this cost our kids, hell the treasury was emptied way back, this comes to the tune of some 18 Billion, all on the credit card the Occupation is running on!
"One would have expected that our own government would have been doing everything it could to support" Iraq's anti-corruption efforts, said Dorgan, D-N.D. But "that was simply not the case. On the contrary, our own government contributed to the culture of corruption," he added.
Hey everyone, just go shopping with the bailout monies, for retailers and credit card companies, you think is a tax rebate, that's on your kids dime as well, and don't forget to tune into your favorite reality show, after that stick head back up a**hole, where it's been since allowing your Country to Crash!!!!!
As those who Serve are Killed and Maimed, as the country We Destroyed suffers more Destruction, Death and Maiming, In Our Names!
Veterans Affairs employees last year racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in government credit-card bills at casino and luxury hotels, movie theaters and high-end retailers such as Sharper Image and Franklin Covey — and government auditors are investigating, citing past spending abuses.
By using Their Dime to make your life more enjoyable, and Shopping to Show Support!!!
There are too many moments these days when we cannot recognize our country. Sunday was one of them, as we read the account in The Times of how men in some of the most trusted posts in the nation plotted to cover up the torture of prisoners by Central Intelligence Agency interrogators by destroying videotapes of their sickening behavior. It was impossible to see the founding principles of the greatest democracy in the contempt these men and their bosses showed for the Constitution, the rule of law and human decency.
It was not the first time in recent years we’ve felt this horror, this sorrowful sense of estrangement, not nearly. This sort of lawless behavior has become standard practice since Sept. 11, 2001.
The country and much of the world was rightly and profoundly frightened by the single-minded hatred and ingenuity displayed by this new enemy. But there is no excuse for how President Bush and his advisers panicked — how they forgot that it is their responsibility to protect American lives and American ideals, that there really is no safety for Americans or their country when those ideals are sacrificed.
Out of panic and ideology, President Bush squandered America’s position of moral and political leadership, swept aside international institutions and treaties, sullied America’s global image, and trampled on the constitutional pillars that have supported our democracy through the most terrifying and challenging times. These policies have fed the world’s anger and alienation and have not made any of us safer.
In the years since 9/11, we have seen American soldiers abuse, sexually humiliate, torment and murder prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq. A few have been punished, but their leaders have never been called to account. We have seen mercenaries gun down Iraqi civilians with no fear of prosecution. We have seen the president, sworn to defend the Constitution, turn his powers on his own citizens, authorizing the intelligence agencies to spy on Americans, wiretapping phones and intercepting international e-mail messages without a warrant.
We have read accounts of how the government’s top lawyers huddled in secret after the attacks in New York and Washington and plotted ways to circumvent the Geneva Conventions — and both American and international law — to hold anyone the president chose indefinitely without charges or judicial review.
Those same lawyers then twisted other laws beyond recognition to allow Mr. Bush to turn intelligence agents into torturers, to force doctors to abdicate their professional oaths and responsibilities to prepare prisoners for abuse, and then to monitor the torment to make sure it didn’t go just a bit too far and actually kill them.
The White House used the fear of terrorism and the sense of national unity to ram laws through Congress that gave law-enforcement agencies far more power than they truly needed to respond to the threat — and at the same time fulfilled the imperial fantasies of Vice President Dick Cheney and others determined to use the tragedy of 9/11 to arrogate as much power as they could.
Hundreds of men, swept up on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq, were thrown into a prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, so that the White House could claim they were beyond the reach of American laws. Prisoners are held there with no hope of real justice, only the chance to face a kangaroo court where evidence and the names of their accusers are kept secret, and where they are not permitted to talk about the abuse they have suffered at the hands of American jailers.
In other foreign lands, the C.I.A. set up secret jails where “high-value detainees” were subjected to ever more barbaric acts, including simulated drowning. These crimes were videotaped, so that “experts” could watch them, and then the videotapes were destroyed, after consultation with the White House, in the hope that Americans would never know.
The C.I.A. contracted out its inhumanity to nations with no respect for life or law, sending prisoners — some of them innocents kidnapped on street corners and in airports — to be tortured into making false confessions, or until it was clear they had nothing to say and so were let go without any apology or hope of redress. These are not the only shocking abuses of President Bush’s two terms in office, made in the name of fighting terrorism. There is much more — so much that the next president will have a full agenda simply discovering all the wrongs that have been done and then righting them.
We can only hope that this time, unlike 2004, American voters will have the wisdom to grant the awesome powers of the presidency to someone who has the integrity, principle and decency to use them honorably. Then when we look in the mirror as a nation, we will see, once again, the reflection of the United States of America.
Americans working in Iraq for Halliburton spin-off KBR have been outraged by the massive fraud they saw there. Dozens are suing the giant military contractor, on the taxpayers' behalf. Whose side is the Justice Department on? by David Rose November 2007
WASHINGTON - A team of specially trained investigators will hunker down in an Army office north of Detroit on Monday to begin poring over hundreds of Iraq war contracts in search for rigged awards.
For some reason I'd feel abit better about this if it wasn't the Army hitting the books, but than again, there are alot of Honest folks still serving.
But lets see where it takes them.
Based on what the team finds, the probe may expand and the number of Army military and civilian employees accused of accepting bribes and kickbacks could grow, U.S. officials told The Associated Press. Nearly two dozen have been charged so far.
Now if the Previous congress had been doing their jobs, how many more, than just Two Dozen 'War Profiteers' have been found out, and lives saved!
A small country, loaded with historic value of the origins on Man, Destroyed and in Destructive Turmoil, threatening the whole region, while we threaten others in the region ourselves!
We have awakened long surpressed hostilities, started long ago by others, who tried to control the peoples of the region, dictating to them how they should exist, forcing through destructive violence the ideologies of those others who tried to control!
And all those who were at the helm of this destruction, preaching fear and lies, can think of is Their Legacy?????
This Washington Post article tells us all most of us already know An Exit Toward Soul-Searching As Bush Staffers Leave, Questions About Legacy Abound
and need to know about this incompetent administration, filled with lyers and frankly thieves!
It starts out with this:
It had been four days since Meghan O'Sullivan left her job at the White House. Just four days since she gave up her Secret Service pass, her classified hard drive and her entree to the president. Four days since she gave up any day-to-day responsibility for Iraq.
Too soon, evidently, for the dreams to end. "In fact, I was dreaming about Iraq last night," she said. "And I woke up and thought, 'When do you think this will stop?' "
Hey Meghan, "It Should Never Have Started!"!
And than a short distance down gives us this quote by one of the most destructive, criminal, political hacks, to inhabit the Peoples House, bringing shame and the downward spiral of this countries political process and stature in the world:
Karl Rove feels guilty for leaving in a time of war, yet he wants to reinvent himself as more than simply "the Bush guy."
So that's what the karl thinks about, reinvention!
While he's not the only one who has disgraced this Nation, and it's citizens, this administration and congresses are loaded with the Guilty, the karl's legacy will have two writes, one of fact the other of propaganda and double speak, as will all the others!
We have an opposition political party, and a large section of it's base, who don't see the real damage done to this countries ideology and fragility, the experiment of this type of Democracy is wavering towards destruction, if no one is held accountable for all that has taken place!
If there ever were a Real Reason for not only a real Impeachment, not only of a President but the removal of a whole administration, a coup if you will by the citizens, than Indictments and Trials, this is the time!
Yet all many think about, and are really worried about, is that if going after the Guilty, proof is already out there on a number of charges, they will severly damage their own chances of Control in Washington, their own legacies!
We, as responsible adults, have now left, for the coming generations, not a better world, but one of further destruction and turmoil. They will be cleaning up the mess we have left for decades, that is if they recognize that which we have done, and are not doing. Or they will take the same destructive ideologies as their own leaving those that follow them into an abyss of never ending hostilities of man and destruction of this planet, not by some spiritual being but by us so called intelligent beings!
Anger over a divorce settlement may have driven a 63-year-old Baptist deacon to shoot five people in a law office, killing two, then exchange gunfire with police during a standoff, authorities said Friday.
Richard Roberts is accused of illegal involvement in a local political campaign and lavish spending at donors' expense, including numerous home remodeling projects, use of the university jet for his daughter's senior trip to the Bahamas, and a red Mercedes convertible and a Lexus SUV for his wife, Lindsay.
She is accused of dropping tens of thousands of dollars on clothes, awarding nonacademic scholarships to friends of her children and sending scores of text messages on university-issued cell phones to people described in the lawsuit as "underage males."
And 'God', unless they're going to either change the spelling or descriptive word of same is apparently talking to Roberts Jr, as 'God' did to the old man.
Oral Roberts University President Richard Roberts, says God is speaking again, telling him to deny lurid allegations
And what do some of the students feel about these developements,
Cornell Cross II, a senior from Burlington, Vt., said he is looking to transfer to another school because the scandal has "severely devalued and hurt the reputation of my degree."
"We have asked and asked and asked to see the finances of our school and what they're doing with our money, and we've been told no," said, Cross who is majoring in government. "Now we know why. As a student, I'm not going to stand for it any longer."
Look folks, I may be older and probably missed something along the way. But I do remember a three letter word that was taught to us called 'Sin', that's S**I**N, as in 'Sin'! Something one should try their best to avoid, and if finding one's committed to ask forgiveness and make amends to those 'Sinned' against.
Now all religious beliefs have their variations of this, but they all boil down to the same thing and the same actions needed.
Now would someone tell me when this was just dropped by the American Taliban Christians. And when it was finalized that if one does 'Sin', no matter how small or how large, that all one needs to do is say 'Jesus Forgive Me' and Thus one is not only forgiven but the Wealth of Heaven awaits with outstretched arms, All is forgiven {sorry folks but you don't get 10 virgins, or do we now, ummmmmmm}
I'm getting extremely tired of reading about 'God Fearing' Christians, especially as they try and force their beliefs on us all, that don't Follow What They Preach!!!!!
One of many We and other so called 1st World Countries do, Fail to follow through on our Word! Not Leading By Example, while condemning others for similar!
Failures In Reconstruction Billions in Aid Wasted American doctor Dave Warner shows Lara Logan how U.S. tax dollars are wasting away at one Afghanistan hospital.
But you see the bushy is one tough hombre, or so he would like everyone to think, the ones that don't use that gift. As to his soldiering Tough doesn't come to mind. For most of us 'Nam Vets, untill we see the purged documents of his missing service records from the Champagne Guard Unit his connections got him into, He's Still AWOL! And any wingers, don't give me the simplified "But he got an Honorable Discharge," crap, they all did, wether they attended training or not, unlike many in regular guard units!
