CMA for 12-4-2007

[sjdnb]

This blog covers some of the less 'hyped' stories that CMA (Caught My Attention)

Dems cut 2008 Congressional work schedule ... still working more than during GOP rule ... but, don't expect to read that in the 'liberal media'!
"Still, the schedule, while lighter than this year’s, is more rigorous than ones in Republican years. Republicans typically held a three-day week, from Tuesday night to Thursday afternoon, allowing lawmakers Mondays and Fridays in their districts. . . . In the proposed 2008 schedule, the House will meet 248 days in the 110th Congress, compared with 211 days in the last Republican-led Congress, according to figures maintained by the majority leader’s office."
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1207/7162.html

Fool me once, shame on you ....
"Voters in the suburbs and exurbs, swayed less by political dogma and ideology than by competence and good government, seemed repelled by the performance of the Bush administration and the GOP-led Congress, as well as the rising clout of conservatives in Republican circles in Washington. . . . (MN ex-GOP supporter) “Republicans have had their chance, and they deserved to lose,” he said."
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1207/7157.html

In Bushland, Crime (or aiding and abetting crime) DOES pay ....
" U.S. government officials who have overseen the controversial Blackwater security firm's activities in Iraq are slated to receive thousands of dollars in performance bonuses, despite controversy surrounding the company. . . . A State Department document obtained by ABC News shows Diplomatic Security officials Kevin Barry and Justine Sincavage will receive between $10,000 and $15,000 for their "outstanding performance." Barry and Sincavage, who managed Blackwater's contract for the department, recently received promotions as well, ABC News reported in October."
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/12/blackwater-over.html

Canada deems US "unsafe place" for refugees ....
"Because of the U.S. government's policies on torture and refugees, Canada can no longer turn away refugees coming from the United States, a Canadian judge has ruled. . . . The judge said the United States does not protect refugees fleeing political persecution and torture, which international conventions require. Instead, it adheres to rigid policies which may result in mistreatment, including forcing victims of abuse to return to the countries in which they were mistreated, he said. As a result, the United States can no longer be considered a safe place for refugees, Phelan ruled."
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/12/canadian-judge.html

HEADLINE: READ ALL ABOUT IT ... ROMNEY CAUGHT EMPLOYING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS!!!!!!
aka Huffington Post follows Drudge's lead - Sure, hypocrisy=bad .... but, is GOP hypocrisy really surprising enough to require a screaming headline? Probably not. Just evokes all those anti-immigrant sentiments. Good going, Arianna.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/12/04/romney-employing-illegal-_n_75344.html
Update: Way to go Arianna, now their unemployed, illegal, immigrants!!!
"Today, I fired a landscaping company that I learned was employing people who are not permitted to work here in the United States," Romney said.
http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/

Suicide=Not Guilty? "Life Was Lost in Maelstrom of Suspicion"
It is only 'suspicion' because the dude (who, in all likelihood, worked the system (aka took advantage to profit during wartime)) killed himself before he could be held to account. BTW US troop deaths 3883, wounded 28582, civilian deaths 77,000-600,000, wounded not counted, 1.8 million or more refugees.
"In the wake of his death, the Air Force has begun an aggressive campaign to clear his reputation and its own. . . . Privately, however, officials acknowledged that the inquiries surrounding Mr. Riechers had uncovered questionable practices in a proliferating and poorly regulated side of Pentagon procurement that involves contracting for temporary consultants. . . . “Here we had some Air Force official telling a contractor (Commonwealth Research) to pay somebody $13,400 a month for work not being performed for that company,” Senator Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan, said in an Oct. 4 hearing by the Armed Services Committee. . . . But even senior Air Force officials acknowledged that it was unusual to use a service contract for someone awaiting final clearance for a senior civilian government position, as was the case with Mr. Riechers." And, not surprisingly, Boeing, a client of the company (Commonwealth Research) paying Riechers received a $1.1b dollar contract.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/us/04contractor.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5087&em&en=192fd1c1183f4b43&ex=1196917200

On that Iran thing ... Bush admits he's incompetent. There can be no other explanation. What competent leader, while harping on how 'dangerous' Iran was, would be told there was new information (in August) about said 'dangerous country' and NOT find out what it was (until December) ASAP?
"At a press briefing this morning, President Bush said he was told by his Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell 'in August' that 'we have some new information' regarding Iran’s nuclear program . . . "But Bush asserted 'he didn’t tell me what the information was'"
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2007/12/for-years-ive-b.html
And, guess what? Israel is mocking us!!! Why? Because for once, we might not leap into a war for them.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=931052&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/930826.html

Just in time for xMas ... Pastel Tasers!!!
"On the front door of Taser International's website, there's a series of rotating ads, each more creepy than the next. "What does Santa bring you when YOU have been GOOD but the WORLD is getting BAD?" one asks. Another shows mock snapshots of a kid with his parents, and the words "There when I cant be." (As if a stun gun was somehow a substitute for motherhood.)"
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2007/07/taser-goes-pink.html
http://blog.wired.com/defense/cash_rules_everything_around_me/index.html

Thanks to the No Child Left Behind Act, all those awesome Charter schools taking tax dollars away from the public education system, AND the revolving 'new math' initiatives being tested on US students in an effort to 'pass tests' and not lose what funding they have .... YIPPEEEE! "U.S. Teens Trail Peers Around World on Math-Science Test" ... oh, maybe that's not so good?
"In math, only four countries had average scores lower than the United States. Students in 23 countries had a higher average score, and those in two countries did about the same as the Americans. . . . On the science portion, U.S. students, most of them 10th-graders, received an average score of 489 on a 1,000-point scale, 11 points below the average of the 30 countries."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/04/AR2007120400730.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR

[Demeter]

1. Glad to See That I Could Flee To Canada!

In the event I tripped some Bush snare....

Thanks for the compendium!