ReBelle Daily Dispatch
Country Bracing For Draft
CRAWFORD — The United States has not had a military draft since 1973, but fears are growing throughout the country that there might soon be a return to the Selective Service.Students are beginning to take the looming threat seriously as they consider ways of making themselves "draft resistant" as they gear up for conscientious objector status, establishing advance proof that they will qualify.Lawmakers are scrutinizing the military commitments of the United States. If the numbers fall short, a military draft could quickly follow.
According to Sen. Joseph Biden, (D-Del.) "Our ability to have any flexibility with ground forces anywhere else is diminished. If we had to move into Iran, Syria, North Korea, or anywhere else, we’d be in real difficulty." He added, "We have absolutely spent, exhausted, and in some instances misled the National Guard and the reserves. I’ve been in Baghdad and Fallujah and I’ve spoken with them. When they enlisted in the Guard, they never anticipated being sent for two tours of duty in Iraq lasting a year or 18 months. We can’t keep asking citizen soldiers to do that."
A draft, if enacted, could be up and running quickly, thanks to former President Jimmy Carter who in 1980 put into place a program requiring young men to register with the government when they turn 18.
http://www.iconoclast-texas.com/News/08news05.htm
----You can have my son when you unwrap him from my dead shattered arms....And you can have my daughters when HELL FREEZES OVER...If you don't like it; do come try to take them...I would actually prefer to be killed by my own countrymen than die on some goddamned bloody dessert that holds nothing but death and oil....----
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American dollar in crisis as currency falls hard and fast
American dollar in crisis as currency falls hard and fastU.S. dollar falling hard and fastLondon, England, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- South Korea's decision to sell most of its U.S. government bonds triggered similar moves in East Asia and hammered the U.S. currency's value. South Korea's action was mimicked by at least Taiwan, another economy that holds a huge amount of U.S. government debt, sending the dollar to new lows, CNN reported Tuesday.In London, the euro soared against the dollar to $1.3216, up from $1.3065 late Monday, as the dollar sank against Japan's yen 103.87 from 105.57.The benchmark 10-year note lost 2/32 of a point to 97-26/32 to yield 4.27 percent, up from 4.26 late Friday.Numerous economists have been warning the U.S. balance of payments deficit and budget deficit, both at record levels, are exposing the dollar to extreme downward pressure.
http://www.theinsider.org/mailing/article.asp?id=968
---If georgie would quit STEALING TRILLIONS this country COULD pay its' bills---
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Lets Not Forget: Bush Planned Iraq 'Regime Change' Before Becoming President
By Neil Mackay
15 September 2002: A SECRET blueprint for US global domination reveals that President Bush and his cabinet were planning a premeditated attack on Iraq to secure 'regime change' even before he took power in January 2001.
The blueprint, uncovered by the Sunday Herald, for the creation of a 'global Pax Americana' was drawn up for Dick Cheney (now vice- president), Donald Rumsfeld (defence secretary), Paul Wolfowitz (Rumsfeld's deputy), George W Bush's younger brother Jeb and Lewis Libby (Cheney's chief of staff). The document, entitled Rebuilding America's Defences: Strategies, Forces And Resources For A New Century, was written in September 2000 by the neo-conservative think-tank Project for the New American Century (PNAC).
The plan shows Bush's cabinet intended to take military control of the Gulf region whether or not Saddam Hussein was in power. It says: 'The United States has for decades sought to play a more permanent role in Gulf regional security. While the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification, the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein.'
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article1221.htm
---HHHMMMM...Gee imagine that...they actually had a plan after all....-----
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Topic 1: Buyer of SAM-7 Claims He Was Paid by CIA
One of the men convicted of selling a SAM-7 surface-to-air missile inNicaragua, Jorge Ivan Pineda, said he was paid $1,000 by the CIA tobuy the weapon and that the whole thing was planned at a meeting inthe US embassy in the presence of the US ambassador Barbara Moore onDec. 23 2004. The head of the Nicaragua Army, Gen. Javier Carrion,said he believes there could be an international campaign todiscredit his institution.
http://www.nicaliving.com/node/view/800
----SOOOOO...Our EMBASSYS are now being used as a place to plan terrorists attacks..No, No REALLY I am shocked..----
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"Republic of Texas" Again Pushes for Independence
The separatist Republic of Texas group, which largely dissolved after an abortive uprising in the Davis Mountains left several of its leaders dead or in prison in 1997, has reformed, and is again pushing its message that Texas should be a free and independent nation, 1200 WOAI news reported today.
From a newly established 'capitol' in the east Texas town of Overton, Daniel Miller, President of the Republic of Texas Interim Government, says a desire to be free, combined with ballooning concerns over rising taxes and property rights, will convince more Texans to support a 'referendum' on whether Texas should become an independent nation.
"We're seeking a referendum to allow the people of Texas to vote on independence," Miller said. "We're looking forward to the benefits of Texas independence, where Texas stands as a nation among other nations."
Texas was a republic from 1836 until joining the United States in December of 1845, in a move that helped spark the Mexican War. Texas joined the Confederate States of America in 1861, and talk of independence has surfaced off and on since the end of the Civil War, although no reputable historian or political scientists expects the event will ever occur.
http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=64188ADC-5D4B-417E-A31B-9BB84D2E8B43
---Revisionist history...How convienant.....TRUTH= Texas never JOINED...They were ANNEXED BY CONGRESS....The annexation was, in itself, ILLEGAL..No.. I'm not joking go read history for God sake!---
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Protecting the Little Coward from the Mean People
This boy ain't in a bubble. He's in a friggin' mobile fallout shelter. Anyone who uses "George W. Bush" and "bravery" in the same paragraph should have their pen taken away.
THIS is the very definition of being "divorced from reality."
http://www.hoffmania.com/blog/2005/02/protecting_the_.html
---CREEPY ...Just damned CREEPY..---
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Bypass Media on Gannongate
A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTIONby Mike Dixon
If the media won't pick up the Gannon story, there's a simple way to get around this. Google terms like "defense of marriage act," "family values," Bush being chosen by God, and any right wing religious activist group you can think of. If you can find an address, mail them 3 things:
The Red State Alert on GOP Blind Eye to Male Prostitution http://www.buzzflash.com/editorial/05/02/edi05032.html
The photo of the Washington Times story on male prostitutes in the first Bush White House
The photos of Gannon selling himself on the internet
You should also add a note spelling out the obvious:
Bush has surrounded himself with a lot of guys who are oddly single, at least for people with "family values," and at least one won't answer when asked if he is gay.
The gloves should come off on this issue. If Bush was a democrat, progressive, a little old lady in a wheelchair, or a cute little puppy in the way of this political machine, he would be chased out of public life. This is the issue that can do that to him, if we have the nerve to borrow a page from Karl Rove's playbook.
A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/05/02/con05064.html
---HAHAHAHAHA Go Get Em'!!!!!----
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Hinchey sees hand of Rove'
They set up Dan Rather'
Democrat Maurice Hinchey has turned an army of right-wing bloggers into a quivering mass of indignation.Hinchey suggested that presidential political mastermind Karl Rove is behind the fake documents that brought down several top executives at CBS. The controversy led to the early retirement of longtime anchor Dan Rather, many believe. The remarks came at a session on Social Security in Ithaca on Sunday, but the comments didn't stay in Ithaca very long. An operative with the littlegreenfootballs.com Web site had recorded Hinchey's comments.
Within hours, a transcript of his comments about Rove and a copy of the audiotape were on the Web site. By yesterday afternoon, the site had more than 1,400 responses to his comments. At the speech Sunday, Hinchey said the media has been attacked and manipulated. "Probably the most flagrant example of that is the way they set up Dan Rather," he can be heard saying in the audio clip."Now, I mean, I have my own beliefs about how that happened: It originated with Karl Rove, in my belief, in the White House ... . Once they did that, then it undermined everything else about Bush's draft dodging. … That had the effect of taking the whole issue away."
http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/02/22/hinchey2.htm
---Once people look at Rove closely..Bush will go down...Rove is the one who buries the bodies..---
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Outing A White House `Reporter'
Published:
Feb 23, 2005
F or two years a man named Jeff Gannon attended White House press briefings as a reporter for a conservative online news service with ties to a Texas Republican activist.
A few weeks ago he even asked President Bush a sympathetic question at a press conference.
Shortly afterward, liberal bloggers - writers who report from their own online sites - found out that Jeff Gannon isn't really Jeff Gannon. He's Jim Guckert, a guy with little, if any, training in journalism. Moreover, he apparently has another career as a $200-an-hour escort. His photographs appear on gay Web sites. When this information was made public, he resigned his day job.
What do we make of all this? Some conservative bloggers claim the liberals wanted Gannon's scalp because his questions and writings favored the president. The liberal writers say that's not true. They decry Gannon's ``family values hypocrisy'' and shift the focus to concerns about media manipulation and the president's safety.
Gannon's presence in the White House is an issue because the administration has paid commentators like Armstrong Williams to push the president's message. By adopting such a practice, the administration has left itself open to the suggestion that it would place a plant among the press gallery.
http://www.tampatrib.com/News/MGBTXP7TI5E.html
---DUHHHH...Gannon got access BECAUSE HE WAS SOME ONES WHORE....WHO is that SOMEONE??..Hell even I am placing multiple bets...This is not only a whosdoinwhom its a real whodunit...IT?..TREASON...Are you awake now?----
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Access to Memos Is Affirmed
Classified Status Can't Be Changed
By R. Jeffrey SmithWashington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 23, 2005; Page A17
The Justice Department has backed away from a court battle over its authority to classify and restrict the discussion of information it has already released, handing a local advocacy group a victory by granting it explicit permission to publish letters written by two senators that contain the contested information.
The case was considered a potential test of limits to the government's power to restrict access to information in the public domain on national security grounds. Former attorney general John D. Ashcroft had strongly defended the practice in this case by likening it to putting "spilt milk" back in a jar instead of simply saying, "well, it's spilt."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A45322-2005Feb22?language=printer
---This is one for the good guys...Now we will se how ILLEGAL bush is willing to get to keep the terrible secrets he has been holding back. Ms. Edmonds I applaud your courage...---
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Administration Blinks; Admits Retroactively Classified Information Not Harmful to National Security
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: media@aclu.org mailto:media@aclu.org
Decision Likely to Have Significant Impact on Sibel Edmonds’ Appeal, Says ACLU
WASHINGTON - The Justice Department admitted today that information it had retroactively classified could be released to the public and did not pose a threat to national security. The American Civil Liberties Union said the revelation could aid government whistleblowers in their efforts to fight unlawful dismissals.
"The Justice Department’s long-overdue admission goes to the core of the ACLU’s allegations that the government is going all out to silence whistleblowers to protect itself from political embarrassment," said ACLU Associate Legal Director Ann Beeson, who is representing former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds in a lawsuit challenging her termination.
"This is hardly an isolated case, as numerous national security whistleblowers can attest. The government is taking extreme steps to shield itself while gambling with our safety."
http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=17527&c=206
---Bushs court system has just definately turned against him...Thats the EXACT reason Gonzalez was put into place as Attorney General... An open assault on our entire notion of justice is about to ensue... None of us will be unaffected.----
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War Crimes
Congress dozes while detainees are sent to other countries to be tortured
For three years, there have been sporadic reports in some of the media, including this column, of the CIA's sending detainees (prisoners without charges or lawyers) to countries (among them are Egypt, Syria, Pakistan, Jordan, Morocco, and Uzbekistan) where the CIA knows they will be tortured to extract information the CIA can't dig out of them.
The Washington Post has done the most revealing investigative reporting, along with furious editorials, on this brutal form of kidnapping. And in these columns, I have tried to add to the story from other sources: human rights organizations and reporters around the world. In the February 11 New York Times, Bob Herbert put these actions by our government—in flagrant violation of American and international law—plainly:
"Jettisoning the rule of law to permit such acts of evil as kidnapping and torture is not a defensible policy for a civilized nation. It's wrong. And nothing good can come from it."
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0508,hentoff,61345,6.html
---And who made these acts possible?...Alberto 'The Electrode' Gonzalez, Attorney General of the USA, at the request of GW BUSH...President of the USA....----
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Bush and Chirac reopen wounds
TWELVE hours after sharing an intimate lobster risotto and proclaiming an end to their Iraq war feud, President Bush and Jaques Chirac were yesterday at loggerheads on a range of issues.
The pair disagreed on China, Iran, Iraq and the future of Nato, marring efforts by US and European leaders to declare that transatlantic relations had entered a new era of harmony.
As Mr Bush attended consecutive summits with Nato and EU heads of government Brussels police fired water cannon to break up demonstrations against his presence.
In Moscow, President Putin took issue with Mr Bush’s criticism of his drift towards authoritarianism, saying that Russia would develop its own form of democracy without foreign interference.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1496255,00.html
---Oh georgie... try not to blow any thing the hell up...---
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Mainz residents told not to take a peek at president
By Bertrand Benoit in Berlin, George Parker in Brussels and Robert Anderson in Prague
Published: February 21 2005 22:28 Last updated: February 21 2005 22:28
For residents of Mainz, George W. Bush's seven-hour visit to Germany on Wednesday and his short meeting with Gerhard Schröder, chancellor, will mean one of two things: a headache or a holiday.
Between the US president's 9.45am landing at Frankfurt airport and his afternoon departure, the sleepy Rhineland town and birthplace of Gutenberg will turn into a steel fortress.
In a contemporary echo of the Lady Godiva legend, anyone living on the route of the presidential motorcade is being discouraged from taking a peek at the 60- to 80-strong column of vehicles conveying the US president. In police leaflets, residents have been asked to keep their windows shut and stay clear of balconies "to avoid misunderstandings".
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/ca1d3720-8457-11d9-ad81-00000e2511c8.html
----Sorry Gemany we are trying to get Texas to find the village thats missing thier idiot...---
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Media Omissions on Negroponte's Record
Media Advisory (2/22/05)
George W. Bush's February 17 nomination of John Negroponte to the newly created job of director of intelligence was the subject of a flurry of media coverage. But one part of Negroponte's resume was given little attention: his role in the brutal and illegal Contra war against the Sandinista government of Nicaragua in the mid-1980s.
From 1981 to 1985, Negroponte was the U.S. ambassador to Honduras , a country that was being used as a training and staging ground for the CIA-created and -backed Contra armies, who relied on a terrorist strategy of targeting civilians. Those years saw a massive increase in U.S. military aid to Honduras, and Negroponte was a key player in organizing training for the Contras and procuring weapons for the armies that the United States was building in order to topple the socialist Nicaraguan government (Extra!, 9-10/01).
Negroponte's ambassadorship was marked by another human rights scandal: the Honduran army's Battalion 316, which operated as a death squad that tortured, killed or disappeared "subversive" Hondurans-- and at least one U.S. citizen, Catholic priest James Carney. Despite regular reporting of such crimes in the Honduran press, the human rights reports of Negroponte's embassy consistently failed to raise these issues. Critics contend that this was no accident: If such crimes had been acknowledged, U.S. aid to the country's military would have come under scrutiny, which could have jeopardized the Contra operations.
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2452
---I REALLY REALLY REALLY am getting sick of certain parts of our leadership running free with the stink of TORTURED HUMAN FLESH on them...----
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Report: U.K. gov't feared Iraq war could be illegal
By Reuters
LONDON -
The British government's top lawyer warned less than two weeks before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that military action could be illegal, the Guardian newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Lord Goldsmith expressed his doubts to Prime Minister Tony Blair, Washington's staunchest ally in Iraq, in a document on March 7, 2003, the paper said.The newspaper said the British government was so concerned about legal challenges to war that it set up a team of lawyers to prepare for any action in an international court.The Guardian said it based its report on a book to be published this week called "Lawless World", by law professor and lawyer Philippe Sands, who shares the London offices of the prime minister's barrister wife, Cherie Booth."So concerned was the government about the possibility of such a case that it took steps to put together a legal team to prepare for possible international litigation," Sands wrote in an extract of his book published in the Guardian.Goldsmith was not immediately available for comment.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/543960.html
----Ever notice how the cake-eaters are NEVER immediately available for comment?----
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Credit Scam Victim Nails Home Depot
Home Depot ignored Alan R. Sporn for almost two years, but a $1-million court judgment got the company's attention.The Laguna Hills businessman had his Social Security number stolen, which ended up in a dozen requests for Home Depot credit.The fiasco hurt Sporn's credit rating, but the home improvement giant that prides itself in customer service brushed off his concerns — until he filed a lawsuit, won and then tried to collect the money from a company bank account.
Then, Home Depot decided to act. It appealed the case, but this week an appellate court in Santa Ana sided with Sporn.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-homedepot19feb19,1,3958975.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california&ctrack=1&cset=true
---You go DaddyO...You took on corporate America and WON....Most people just get destroyed...Congrats...---
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For Immediate Release: February 23, 2005Contact: Chas Offutt (202) 265-7337
MORE THAN A THOUSAND WHISTLEBLOWER CASES DUMPED — Special Counsel Dismisses Hundreds of Disclosures and Complaints in Past Year
Washington, DC — The U.S. Special Counsel has dismissed more than 1,000 whistleblower cases in the past year, according to a letter from the Bush-appointed Special Counsel released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The Special Counsel appears to have taken action in very few, if any, of these cases and has yet to represent a single whistleblower in an employment case.
In a letter dated February 14, 2005 and addressed to U.S. Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA), Special Counsel Scott Bloch defends his stormy 13 months in office by pointing to a sharp drop in backlogged whistleblower cases.
"Everyone agrees that backlogs and delays are bad but they are not as bad as simply dumping the cases altogether," stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, noting that this letter is the first account that Bloch has released of his tenure and that his office’s report for FY 2004, which ended in October, is overdue. "If the Office of Special Counsel under Scott Bloch is not helping whistleblowers then there is no reason for the office to continue to exist."
According to the figures released by Bloch, in the past year the Office of Special Counsel—
Dismissed or otherwise disposed of 600 whistleblower disclosures where civil servants have reported waste, fraud, threats to public safety and violations of law. Bloch has yet to announce a single case where he has ordered an investigation into the employee’s charges. Bloch says that 100 disclosures are still pending; and
Made 470 claims of retaliation disappear. In not one of these cases did Bloch’s office affirmatively represent a whistleblower to obtain relief before the civil service court system, called the Merit Systems Protection Board. Bloch says that another 30 retaliation cases remain in the backlog.
http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=483
----In case your wonering,,...THIS is how the cake- eaters are getting away with stealing our bread....No complaint..No crime...----
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Military education sought to be cut in 'stress periods'
By Pamela Hess
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has asked the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to provide options for cutting back military officer education during "stress periods" -- such as during the war in Iraq -- to allow greater numbers to be available for deployment. At the same time, the Army's 4th Infantry Division has decided to pull 29 officers out of its 10-month professional education curriculum early to send them to Iraq, said a Feb. 9 memo obtained by United Press International.
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050222-111908-6911r.htm
---Well..Who needs an education to be cannon fodder?---
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Dropping Report's Iraq Chapter Was Unusual, Economists Say
Concern About Impact on White House's Credibility Cited
By Jonathan WeismanWashington Post Staff WriterWednesday, February 23, 2005; Page A17
At the National Security Council's request, the White House excised a full chapter on Iraq's economy from last week's Economic Report of the President, reasoning in part that the "feel good" tone of the writing would ring hollow against the backdrop of continuing violence, according to White House officials.
The decision to delete an entire chapter from the Council of Economic Advisers' annual report was highly unusual. Council members -- recruited from the top ranks of economic academia -- have long prided themselves on independence and intellectual integrity, and the Economic Report of the President is the council's primary showcase.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45323-2005Feb22.html?referrer=emailarticle
---GEEE...You mean they are hiding stuff about Iraq from us?...No..No..Really..I'm shocked...---
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Article published Feb 20, 2005
Pentagon is lying its way out of an unwinnable war - again
Col. David Hackworth
As with Vietnam, the Iraqi tar pit was oh-so-easy to sink into, but appears to be just as tough to exit.This should be no big surprise! Most slugfests - from bar brawls to military misadventures like Vietnam and Iraq - take some clever moves to step away from once the swinging starts.This is why most combat vets pick their fights carefully. They look at their scars, remember the madness and are always mindful of the fallout.That’s not the case in Washington, where the White House and the Pentagon are run by civilians who have never sweated it out on a battlefield. Never before in our country’s history has an administration charged with defending our nation been so lacking in hands-on combat experience and therefore so ignorant about the art and science of war.Now the increasingly flummoxed Bush team is stealing the page on Vietnamization from Nixon’s Exit Primer, coupled with the same deceitful tactics he used to get us out of the almost decade-long Vietnam quagmire: telling lies.
http://nsnlb.us.publicus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20050220&Category=OPINION04&ArtNo=102200015&SectionCat=opinion&Template=printart
---Geee ..you mean they are lying to us?..No..No..Really..I am shocked....----
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Have you seen this man?
A wealthy Washington socialite is offering a $10,000 reward for proof that Jeff Gannon (pictured), an allegedly gay kinky-sex prostitute / escort / white house reporter / GOP operative, has had sexual relations with top-ranking government officials.
http://kellyanncollins.com/2005/02/reward-jeff-gannon-information.html
---HAHAHAHA...OK WHO is the gay whore monger in the White House?....----
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Bush Prematurely Closes News Conference
Bush had just finished a lengthy answer to a question about how he would improve trans-Atlantic relations in his second term. ``Thank you all very much,'' Bush concluded, turning as if to leave the podium.
But NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer wasn't quite ready to wrap things up - especially since the reporter had specifically directed a question to him. ``Let me ...'' he started to say.
``I'm sorry,'' Bush said - twice - then turned to humor to get himself out of the jam.
He pretended the NATO leader had flashed a universal hand motion signaling he didn't want to answer.
``You don't know what this means?'' Bush joked to reporters, giving his ear lobe a quick tug. ``That means 'end the press conference.'''
De Hoop Scheffer went along.
``I signaled to the president this was too difficult a question,'' he said.
But he took his chance to answer, nonetheless. After a several-sentence statement, de Hoope Scheffer concluded the session with the customary thank-you.
Still, Bush couldn't resist having the last word.
``Now we're finished,'' he said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4819124,00.html
----Gawd hes so stupid it is truly painful...----
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Army Awards Bonus to Halliburton for Supply Work
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army said on Thursday it had given bonuses to Texas company Halliburton for its logistical work in Kuwait and Afghanistan, but had not yet decided whether to give a performance-based bonus for disputed dining services to troops.
Army Field Support Command said in a statement it had given Halliburton unit Kellogg Brown and Root ratings from "excellent" to "very good" for more than a dozen task orders for work supporting U.S. troops in Kuwait and Afghanistan.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1896&u=/nm/20050224/us_nm/iraq_halliburton_dc&printer=1
-----@#$%^&*()$%@#$%%^&*(()^!@#$!@@#$%^*!@#$%^&*)(&^%$#!@#$%#$%^&!!!!@#$%^&#$%^&*()!@#$*&^%$#!@#$%^&$%^&*()(*%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!----
CRAWFORD — The United States has not had a military draft since 1973, but fears are growing throughout the country that there might soon be a return to the Selective Service.Students are beginning to take the looming threat seriously as they consider ways of making themselves "draft resistant" as they gear up for conscientious objector status, establishing advance proof that they will qualify.Lawmakers are scrutinizing the military commitments of the United States. If the numbers fall short, a military draft could quickly follow.
According to Sen. Joseph Biden, (D-Del.) "Our ability to have any flexibility with ground forces anywhere else is diminished. If we had to move into Iran, Syria, North Korea, or anywhere else, we’d be in real difficulty." He added, "We have absolutely spent, exhausted, and in some instances misled the National Guard and the reserves. I’ve been in Baghdad and Fallujah and I’ve spoken with them. When they enlisted in the Guard, they never anticipated being sent for two tours of duty in Iraq lasting a year or 18 months. We can’t keep asking citizen soldiers to do that."
A draft, if enacted, could be up and running quickly, thanks to former President Jimmy Carter who in 1980 put into place a program requiring young men to register with the government when they turn 18.
http://www.iconoclast-texas.com/News/08news05.htm
----You can have my son when you unwrap him from my dead shattered arms....And you can have my daughters when HELL FREEZES OVER...If you don't like it; do come try to take them...I would actually prefer to be killed by my own countrymen than die on some goddamned bloody dessert that holds nothing but death and oil....----
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American dollar in crisis as currency falls hard and fast
American dollar in crisis as currency falls hard and fastU.S. dollar falling hard and fastLondon, England, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- South Korea's decision to sell most of its U.S. government bonds triggered similar moves in East Asia and hammered the U.S. currency's value. South Korea's action was mimicked by at least Taiwan, another economy that holds a huge amount of U.S. government debt, sending the dollar to new lows, CNN reported Tuesday.In London, the euro soared against the dollar to $1.3216, up from $1.3065 late Monday, as the dollar sank against Japan's yen 103.87 from 105.57.The benchmark 10-year note lost 2/32 of a point to 97-26/32 to yield 4.27 percent, up from 4.26 late Friday.Numerous economists have been warning the U.S. balance of payments deficit and budget deficit, both at record levels, are exposing the dollar to extreme downward pressure.
http://www.theinsider.org/mailing/article.asp?id=968
---If georgie would quit STEALING TRILLIONS this country COULD pay its' bills---
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Lets Not Forget: Bush Planned Iraq 'Regime Change' Before Becoming President
By Neil Mackay
15 September 2002: A SECRET blueprint for US global domination reveals that President Bush and his cabinet were planning a premeditated attack on Iraq to secure 'regime change' even before he took power in January 2001.
The blueprint, uncovered by the Sunday Herald, for the creation of a 'global Pax Americana' was drawn up for Dick Cheney (now vice- president), Donald Rumsfeld (defence secretary), Paul Wolfowitz (Rumsfeld's deputy), George W Bush's younger brother Jeb and Lewis Libby (Cheney's chief of staff). The document, entitled Rebuilding America's Defences
The plan shows Bush's cabinet intended to take military control of the Gulf region whether or not Saddam Hussein was in power. It says: 'The United States has for decades sought to play a more permanent role in Gulf regional security. While the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification, the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein.'
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article1221.htm
---HHHMMMM...Gee imagine that...they actually had a plan after all....-----
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Topic 1: Buyer of SAM-7 Claims He Was Paid by CIA
One of the men convicted of selling a SAM-7 surface-to-air missile inNicaragua, Jorge Ivan Pineda, said he was paid $1,000 by the CIA tobuy the weapon and that the whole thing was planned at a meeting inthe US embassy in the presence of the US ambassador Barbara Moore onDec. 23 2004. The head of the Nicaragua Army, Gen. Javier Carrion,said he believes there could be an international campaign todiscredit his institution.
http://www.nicaliving.com/node/view/800
----SOOOOO...Our EMBASSYS are now being used as a place to plan terrorists attacks..No, No REALLY I am shocked..----
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"Republic of Texas" Again Pushes for Independence
The separatist Republic of Texas group, which largely dissolved after an abortive uprising in the Davis Mountains left several of its leaders dead or in prison in 1997, has reformed, and is again pushing its message that Texas should be a free and independent nation, 1200 WOAI news reported today.
From a newly established 'capitol' in the east Texas town of Overton, Daniel Miller, President of the Republic of Texas Interim Government, says a desire to be free, combined with ballooning concerns over rising taxes and property rights, will convince more Texans to support a 'referendum' on whether Texas should become an independent nation.
"We're seeking a referendum to allow the people of Texas to vote on independence," Miller said. "We're looking forward to the benefits of Texas independence, where Texas stands as a nation among other nations."
Texas was a republic from 1836 until joining the United States in December of 1845, in a move that helped spark the Mexican War. Texas joined the Confederate States of America in 1861, and talk of independence has surfaced off and on since the end of the Civil War, although no reputable historian or political scientists expects the event will ever occur.
http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=64188ADC-5D4B-417E-A31B-9BB84D2E8B43
---Revisionist history...How convienant.....TRUTH= Texas never JOINED...They were ANNEXED BY CONGRESS....The annexation was, in itself, ILLEGAL..No.. I'm not joking go read history for God sake!---
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Protecting the Little Coward from the Mean People
This boy ain't in a bubble. He's in a friggin' mobile fallout shelter. Anyone who uses "George W. Bush" and "bravery" in the same paragraph should have their pen taken away.
THIS is the very definition of being "divorced from reality."
http://www.hoffmania.com/blog/2005/02/protecting_the_.html
---CREEPY ...Just damned CREEPY..---
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Bypass Media on Gannongate
A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTIONby Mike Dixon
If the media won't pick up the Gannon story, there's a simple way to get around this. Google terms like "defense of marriage act," "family values," Bush being chosen by God, and any right wing religious activist group you can think of. If you can find an address, mail them 3 things:
The Red State Alert on GOP Blind Eye to Male Prostitution http://www.buzzflash.com/editorial/05/02/edi05032.html
The photo of the Washington Times story on male prostitutes in the first Bush White House
The photos of Gannon selling himself on the internet
You should also add a note spelling out the obvious:
Bush has surrounded himself with a lot of guys who are oddly single, at least for people with "family values," and at least one won't answer when asked if he is gay.
The gloves should come off on this issue. If Bush was a democrat, progressive, a little old lady in a wheelchair, or a cute little puppy in the way of this political machine, he would be chased out of public life. This is the issue that can do that to him, if we have the nerve to borrow a page from Karl Rove's playbook.
A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/05/02/con05064.html
---HAHAHAHAHA Go Get Em'!!!!!----
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Hinchey sees hand of Rove'
They set up Dan Rather'
Democrat Maurice Hinchey has turned an army of right-wing bloggers into a quivering mass of indignation.Hinchey suggested that presidential political mastermind Karl Rove is behind the fake documents that brought down several top executives at CBS. The controversy led to the early retirement of longtime anchor Dan Rather, many believe. The remarks came at a session on Social Security in Ithaca on Sunday, but the comments didn't stay in Ithaca very long. An operative with the littlegreenfootballs.com Web site had recorded Hinchey's comments.
Within hours, a transcript of his comments about Rove and a copy of the audiotape were on the Web site. By yesterday afternoon, the site had more than 1,400 responses to his comments. At the speech Sunday, Hinchey said the media has been attacked and manipulated. "Probably the most flagrant example of that is the way they set up Dan Rather," he can be heard saying in the audio clip."Now, I mean, I have my own beliefs about how that happened: It originated with Karl Rove, in my belief, in the White House ... . Once they did that, then it undermined everything else about Bush's draft dodging. … That had the effect of taking the whole issue away."
http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/02/22/hinchey2.htm
---Once people look at Rove closely..Bush will go down...Rove is the one who buries the bodies..---
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Outing A White House `Reporter'
Published:
Feb 23, 2005
F or two years a man named Jeff Gannon attended White House press briefings as a reporter for a conservative online news service with ties to a Texas Republican activist.
A few weeks ago he even asked President Bush a sympathetic question at a press conference.
Shortly afterward, liberal bloggers - writers who report from their own online sites - found out that Jeff Gannon isn't really Jeff Gannon. He's Jim Guckert, a guy with little, if any, training in journalism. Moreover, he apparently has another career as a $200-an-hour escort. His photographs appear on gay Web sites. When this information was made public, he resigned his day job.
What do we make of all this? Some conservative bloggers claim the liberals wanted Gannon's scalp because his questions and writings favored the president. The liberal writers say that's not true. They decry Gannon's ``family values hypocrisy'' and shift the focus to concerns about media manipulation and the president's safety.
Gannon's presence in the White House is an issue because the administration has paid commentators like Armstrong Williams to push the president's message. By adopting such a practice, the administration has left itself open to the suggestion that it would place a plant among the press gallery.
http://www.tampatrib.com/News/MGBTXP7TI5E.html
---DUHHHH...Gannon got access BECAUSE HE WAS SOME ONES WHORE....WHO is that SOMEONE??..Hell even I am placing multiple bets...This is not only a whosdoinwhom its a real whodunit...IT?..TREASON...Are you awake now?----
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Access to Memos Is Affirmed
Classified Status Can't Be Changed
By R. Jeffrey SmithWashington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 23, 2005; Page A17
The Justice Department has backed away from a court battle over its authority to classify and restrict the discussion of information it has already released, handing a local advocacy group a victory by granting it explicit permission to publish letters written by two senators that contain the contested information.
The case was considered a potential test of limits to the government's power to restrict access to information in the public domain on national security grounds. Former attorney general John D. Ashcroft had strongly defended the practice in this case by likening it to putting "spilt milk" back in a jar instead of simply saying, "well, it's spilt."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A45322-2005Feb22?language=printer
---This is one for the good guys...Now we will se how ILLEGAL bush is willing to get to keep the terrible secrets he has been holding back. Ms. Edmonds I applaud your courage...---
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Administration Blinks; Admits Retroactively Classified Information Not Harmful to National Security
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: media@aclu.org mailto:media@aclu.org
Decision Likely to Have Significant Impact on Sibel Edmonds’ Appeal, Says ACLU
WASHINGTON - The Justice Department admitted today that information it had retroactively classified could be released to the public and did not pose a threat to national security. The American Civil Liberties Union said the revelation could aid government whistleblowers in their efforts to fight unlawful dismissals.
"The Justice Department’s long-overdue admission goes to the core of the ACLU’s allegations that the government is going all out to silence whistleblowers to protect itself from political embarrassment," said ACLU Associate Legal Director Ann Beeson, who is representing former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds in a lawsuit challenging her termination.
"This is hardly an isolated case, as numerous national security whistleblowers can attest. The government is taking extreme steps to shield itself while gambling with our safety."
http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=17527&c=206
---Bushs court system has just definately turned against him...Thats the EXACT reason Gonzalez was put into place as Attorney General... An open assault on our entire notion of justice is about to ensue... None of us will be unaffected.----
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War Crimes
Congress dozes while detainees are sent to other countries to be tortured
For three years, there have been sporadic reports in some of the media, including this column, of the CIA's sending detainees (prisoners without charges or lawyers) to countries (among them are Egypt, Syria, Pakistan, Jordan, Morocco, and Uzbekistan) where the CIA knows they will be tortured to extract information the CIA can't dig out of them.
The Washington Post has done the most revealing investigative reporting, along with furious editorials, on this brutal form of kidnapping. And in these columns, I have tried to add to the story from other sources: human rights organizations and reporters around the world. In the February 11 New York Times, Bob Herbert put these actions by our government—in flagrant violation of American and international law—plainly:
"Jettisoning the rule of law to permit such acts of evil as kidnapping and torture is not a defensible policy for a civilized nation. It's wrong. And nothing good can come from it."
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0508,hentoff,61345,6.html
---And who made these acts possible?...Alberto 'The Electrode' Gonzalez, Attorney General of the USA, at the request of GW BUSH...President of the USA....----
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Bush and Chirac reopen wounds
TWELVE hours after sharing an intimate lobster risotto and proclaiming an end to their Iraq war feud, President Bush and Jaques Chirac were yesterday at loggerheads on a range of issues.
The pair disagreed on China, Iran, Iraq and the future of Nato, marring efforts by US and European leaders to declare that transatlantic relations had entered a new era of harmony.
As Mr Bush attended consecutive summits with Nato and EU heads of government Brussels police fired water cannon to break up demonstrations against his presence.
In Moscow, President Putin took issue with Mr Bush’s criticism of his drift towards authoritarianism, saying that Russia would develop its own form of democracy without foreign interference.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1496255,00.html
---Oh georgie... try not to blow any thing the hell up...---
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Mainz residents told not to take a peek at president
By Bertrand Benoit in Berlin, George Parker in Brussels and Robert Anderson in Prague
Published: February 21 2005 22:28 Last updated: February 21 2005 22:28
For residents of Mainz, George W. Bush's seven-hour visit to Germany on Wednesday and his short meeting with Gerhard Schröder, chancellor, will mean one of two things: a headache or a holiday.
Between the US president's 9.45am landing at Frankfurt airport and his afternoon departure, the sleepy Rhineland town and birthplace of Gutenberg will turn into a steel fortress.
In a contemporary echo of the Lady Godiva legend, anyone living on the route of the presidential motorcade is being discouraged from taking a peek at the 60- to 80-strong column of vehicles conveying the US president. In police leaflets, residents have been asked to keep their windows shut and stay clear of balconies "to avoid misunderstandings".
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/ca1d3720-8457-11d9-ad81-00000e2511c8.html
----Sorry Gemany we are trying to get Texas to find the village thats missing thier idiot...---
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Media Omissions on Negroponte's Record
Media Advisory (2/22/05)
George W. Bush's February 17 nomination of John Negroponte to the newly created job of director of intelligence was the subject of a flurry of media coverage. But one part of Negroponte's resume was given little attention: his role in the brutal and illegal Contra war against the Sandinista government of Nicaragua in the mid-1980s.
From 1981 to 1985, Negroponte was the U.S. ambassador to Honduras , a country that was being used as a training and staging ground for the CIA-created and -backed Contra armies, who relied on a terrorist strategy of targeting civilians. Those years saw a massive increase in U.S. military aid to Honduras, and Negroponte was a key player in organizing training for the Contras and procuring weapons for the armies that the United States was building in order to topple the socialist Nicaraguan government (Extra!, 9-10/01).
Negroponte's ambassadorship was marked by another human rights scandal: the Honduran army's Battalion 316, which operated as a death squad that tortured, killed or disappeared "subversive" Hondurans-- and at least one U.S. citizen, Catholic priest James Carney. Despite regular reporting of such crimes in the Honduran press, the human rights reports of Negroponte's embassy consistently failed to raise these issues. Critics contend that this was no accident: If such crimes had been acknowledged, U.S. aid to the country's military would have come under scrutiny, which could have jeopardized the Contra operations.
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2452
---I REALLY REALLY REALLY am getting sick of certain parts of our leadership running free with the stink of TORTURED HUMAN FLESH on them...----
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Report: U.K. gov't feared Iraq war could be illegal
By Reuters
LONDON -
The British government's top lawyer warned less than two weeks before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that military action could be illegal, the Guardian newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Lord Goldsmith expressed his doubts to Prime Minister Tony Blair, Washington's staunchest ally in Iraq, in a document on March 7, 2003, the paper said.The newspaper said the British government was so concerned about legal challenges to war that it set up a team of lawyers to prepare for any action in an international court.The Guardian said it based its report on a book to be published this week called "Lawless World", by law professor and lawyer Philippe Sands, who shares the London offices of the prime minister's barrister wife, Cherie Booth."So concerned was the government about the possibility of such a case that it took steps to put together a legal team to prepare for possible international litigation," Sands wrote in an extract of his book published in the Guardian.Goldsmith was not immediately available for comment.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/543960.html
----Ever notice how the cake-eaters are NEVER immediately available for comment?----
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Credit Scam Victim Nails Home Depot
Home Depot ignored Alan R. Sporn for almost two years, but a $1-million court judgment got the company's attention.The Laguna Hills businessman had his Social Security number stolen, which ended up in a dozen requests for Home Depot credit.The fiasco hurt Sporn's credit rating, but the home improvement giant that prides itself in customer service brushed off his concerns — until he filed a lawsuit, won and then tried to collect the money from a company bank account.
Then, Home Depot decided to act. It appealed the case, but this week an appellate court in Santa Ana sided with Sporn.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-homedepot19feb19,1,3958975.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california&ctrack=1&cset=true
---You go DaddyO...You took on corporate America and WON....Most people just get destroyed...Congrats...---
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For Immediate Release: February 23, 2005Contact: Chas Offutt (202) 265-7337
MORE THAN A THOUSAND WHISTLEBLOWER CASES DUMPED — Special Counsel Dismisses Hundreds of Disclosures and Complaints in Past Year
Washington, DC — The U.S. Special Counsel has dismissed more than 1,000 whistleblower cases in the past year, according to a letter from the Bush-appointed Special Counsel released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The Special Counsel appears to have taken action in very few, if any, of these cases and has yet to represent a single whistleblower in an employment case.
In a letter dated February 14, 2005 and addressed to U.S. Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA), Special Counsel Scott Bloch defends his stormy 13 months in office by pointing to a sharp drop in backlogged whistleblower cases.
"Everyone agrees that backlogs and delays are bad but they are not as bad as simply dumping the cases altogether," stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, noting that this letter is the first account that Bloch has released of his tenure and that his office’s report for FY 2004, which ended in October, is overdue. "If the Office of Special Counsel under Scott Bloch is not helping whistleblowers then there is no reason for the office to continue to exist."
According to the figures released by Bloch, in the past year the Office of Special Counsel—
Dismissed or otherwise disposed of 600 whistleblower disclosures where civil servants have reported waste, fraud, threats to public safety and violations of law. Bloch has yet to announce a single case where he has ordered an investigation into the employee’s charges. Bloch says that 100 disclosures are still pending; and
Made 470 claims of retaliation disappear. In not one of these cases did Bloch’s office affirmatively represent a whistleblower to obtain relief before the civil service court system, called the Merit Systems Protection Board. Bloch says that another 30 retaliation cases remain in the backlog.
http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=483
----In case your wonering,,...THIS is how the cake- eaters are getting away with stealing our bread....No complaint..No crime...----
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Military education sought to be cut in 'stress periods'
By Pamela Hess
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has asked the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to provide options for cutting back military officer education during "stress periods" -- such as during the war in Iraq -- to allow greater numbers to be available for deployment. At the same time, the Army's 4th Infantry Division has decided to pull 29 officers out of its 10-month professional education curriculum early to send them to Iraq, said a Feb. 9 memo obtained by United Press International.
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050222-111908-6911r.htm
---Well..Who needs an education to be cannon fodder?---
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Dropping Report's Iraq Chapter Was Unusual, Economists Say
Concern About Impact on White House's Credibility Cited
By Jonathan WeismanWashington Post Staff WriterWednesday, February 23, 2005; Page A17
At the National Security Council's request, the White House excised a full chapter on Iraq's economy from last week's Economic Report of the President, reasoning in part that the "feel good" tone of the writing would ring hollow against the backdrop of continuing violence, according to White House officials.
The decision to delete an entire chapter from the Council of Economic Advisers' annual report was highly unusual. Council members -- recruited from the top ranks of economic academia -- have long prided themselves on independence and intellectual integrity, and the Economic Report of the President is the council's primary showcase.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45323-2005Feb22.html?referrer=emailarticle
---GEEE...You mean they are hiding stuff about Iraq from us?...No..No..Really..I'm shocked...---
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Article published Feb 20, 2005
Pentagon is lying its way out of an unwinnable war - again
Col. David Hackworth
As with Vietnam, the Iraqi tar pit was oh-so-easy to sink into, but appears to be just as tough to exit.This should be no big surprise! Most slugfests - from bar brawls to military misadventures like Vietnam and Iraq - take some clever moves to step away from once the swinging starts.This is why most combat vets pick their fights carefully. They look at their scars, remember the madness and are always mindful of the fallout.That’s not the case in Washington, where the White House and the Pentagon are run by civilians who have never sweated it out on a battlefield. Never before in our country’s history has an administration charged with defending our nation been so lacking in hands-on combat experience and therefore so ignorant about the art and science of war.Now the increasingly flummoxed Bush team is stealing the page on Vietnamization from Nixon’s Exit Primer, coupled with the same deceitful tactics he used to get us out of the almost decade-long Vietnam quagmire: telling lies.
http://nsnlb.us.publicus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20050220&Category=OPINION04&ArtNo=102200015&SectionCat=opinion&Template=printart
---Geee ..you mean they are lying to us?..No..No..Really..I am shocked....----
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Have you seen this man?
A wealthy Washington socialite is offering a $10,000 reward for proof that Jeff Gannon (pictured), an allegedly gay kinky-sex prostitute / escort / white house reporter / GOP operative, has had sexual relations with top-ranking government officials.
http://kellyanncollins.com/2005/02/reward-jeff-gannon-information.html
---HAHAHAHA...OK WHO is the gay whore monger in the White House?....----
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Bush Prematurely Closes News Conference
Bush had just finished a lengthy answer to a question about how he would improve trans-Atlantic relations in his second term. ``Thank you all very much,'' Bush concluded, turning as if to leave the podium.
But NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer wasn't quite ready to wrap things up - especially since the reporter had specifically directed a question to him. ``Let me ...'' he started to say.
``I'm sorry,'' Bush said - twice - then turned to humor to get himself out of the jam.
He pretended the NATO leader had flashed a universal hand motion signaling he didn't want to answer.
``You don't know what this means?'' Bush joked to reporters, giving his ear lobe a quick tug. ``That means 'end the press conference.'''
De Hoop Scheffer went along.
``I signaled to the president this was too difficult a question,'' he said.
But he took his chance to answer, nonetheless. After a several-sentence statement, de Hoope Scheffer concluded the session with the customary thank-you.
Still, Bush couldn't resist having the last word.
``Now we're finished,'' he said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4819124,00.html
----Gawd hes so stupid it is truly painful...----
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Army Awards Bonus to Halliburton for Supply Work
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army said on Thursday it had given bonuses to Texas company Halliburton for its logistical work in Kuwait and Afghanistan, but had not yet decided whether to give a performance-based bonus for disputed dining services to troops.
Army Field Support Command said in a statement it had given Halliburton unit Kellogg Brown and Root ratings from "excellent" to "very good" for more than a dozen task orders for work supporting U.S. troops in Kuwait and Afghanistan.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1896&u=/nm/20050224/us_nm/iraq_halliburton_dc&printer=1
-----@#$%^&*()$%@#$%%^&*(()^!@#$!@@#$%^*!@#$%^&*)(&^%$#!@#$%#$%^&!!!!@#$%^&#$%^&*()!@#$*&^%$#!@#$%^&$%^&*()(*%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!----
posted by Christy at 4:33 PM
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