The Neocon's cheerleader Judy Miller out of jail and into the spotlight.

Well, it seems the Neocon's fellow traveler, one of George Bush's Iraq war enanblers and New York Times reporter Judith Miller is out of jail. This happened after she recieved a phone call from I. Scooter Libby (who works for Dick Cheney) releasing her from protecting her sources. Yeah right! More likely it was about getting their stories straight to protect both of them let alone Karl Rove and the Bush White House. To read and recap about Ms. Miller's and other neocon sins you can't do better than this piece from Justin Riamondo

Tom Delay provides the laugh of the day

"This act is the product personal revenge " -Tom(aka "The Hammer)Delay

Hearing this quote coming out of my clock radio provided a good morning chuckle. I can almost hear his defense: Hey, I'm from Texas corruption is legal there!

Another Federal failure!

"WASHINGTON -- The number of illegal immigrants is increasing despite tighter border security and now outnumber foreigners moving to the United States legally."- AP

Hello, American sucker Taxpayers! Bush's "faith based " churches and organizations will feed us, your unscrupulous businesses will hire us, your school districts will educate us and our children and you middle class taxpayers will pay the bill. Gracias suckers!

Another Bush flip-flop? Or more Texas Bushit?

President George (The Blunderer) Bush called on people to conserve gas. It would be naive to think that Bush and his crony capitalist thieves would really encourage conservation. The Bush administration was so corrupt that they had Dick Cheney create their energy policy in the back room with the likes of Enron and others back in 2001. Conservation my ass! It's more like Howdy suckers! Time to pay the Texans again.

Another Federal failure in the Gulf

Along with hundreds of thousands of U.S Taxpayers displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were thousands of illegal aliens who have broken our immigration laws. While rescuing anyone and everyone in the affected area is important. It is an insult to U.S. taxpayers that groups like Cathloic Charities and other "Faith Based organizations" continue to use U.S. Taxpayer dollars to feed and house these illegals instead of using this opportunity to allow Federal Immigration authorities to round them up and deport them.
Now comes another insult to the U.S. taxpayers. The Bush administration is suspending rules that contracters make sure that the people they hire are legal alien workers. To make matters worse these workers will be living in government subsidized housing. Hola suckers!

Bush evacuates Washington

I could not help but notice that President Bush's preception managment team managed pulled off a good one yesterday. The corporate media made it appear Bush was only leaving to see the preparations for Hurricane Rita in Texas and at the national command center in Colorado. The truth is Bush was always preparing to be out of Washington anyway. There will be a major demonstration against the war in Iraq in Washington today. Cindy Sheehan will be there and he was planning on running away anyway.

Back on land and the news is bad!

I got off the sailboat and am slowly working my way back to the wicked city of Washington even as Bush leaves. The news along the Guf coast is bad and may only get worse as Bush travels to the area this time ahead of the storm. But, he vows not to get in the way. At least he is learning.

George Bush, Katrina and other disasters.

While it was good to hear George Bush to finally own up to some mistakes in his speech last night at the scene of the crime in New Orleans. The one line from his speech that is of concern is this:

"It is now clear that a challenge on this scale requires greater federal authority and a broader role for the armed forces."

After seeing what the neocons in George Bush's administration have done with the power they already had we should not give them any more power. They have already abused our liberties enough!

I pledge allegiance ...

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
And to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

It STILL works for me and the country even without the God reference.

Britney Spears baby.

Two days ago some idiot at the CBS radio network news decided that Britney Spears baby was important news for their hourly broadcast. While anything that Ms. Spears or her fellow "entertainers" do or say mean nothing to my life or anyone else when you get right down to it. What struck me about the "news" is that CBS mentioned the "birth" of her baby. Actually Spears had a cesarian section. Her baby was not born but, was surgically removed.

SPEARS BABY UPDATE:
Yesterday CBS radio decided that the Spears and hubby naming the new baby was important news for their hourly broadcast. I'd tell you the name but, it really means nothing to me or you. I am filing that info in my who cares file and you should too.

Hardship on land and sea.

After five days of living onboard a sailboat I finally ran out of ice and decided to head back to shore for a day. Sometime in the last month the boat must have been struck by lightning as I found several systems and electronic components dead or burnt out. It does not appear to have been a direct strike but enough to distrupt plans for some extended cruising. The problems are nothing compared to the hardships and disruptions faced by the people in the Gulf coast left homeless by Hurricane Katrina. Though being a sailor makes one better prepared for such disasters. A sailor at sea can not always depend on help from governments and must prepare for things going wrong and hopefully have backups. A prudent sailor knows there is risk when one steps off the land and heads out on the water. But, what is disturbing after watching and hearing about the tales of New Orleans is that one can not depend on the Government on land too. Sail on sail on Sailor!

Out to Sea!

My posts may not be as frequent for the next two weeks as I will be spending the time in solitude onboard a sail boat anchored somewhere off the Isle of Long. I will be in a semi-blackout from the media which I think is a good thing to do once in a while.
I will keep my journeys back to land to a minimum as well and will not be near computers which is also a good thing to do from time to time. However, there may be times when I do get to blog so keep checking in.
I arrived on the boat to find some of my electronic systems not working. I found out from the guy who runs the boatyard that a few boats had been hit by lightning including one moored near me. I suspect a nearby strike knocked out some of the elctronic tools onboard. But, being a sailboat it still can sail even when the technology fails and that's exactly what I plan to do.

FEMA'S Failure: A heck of a job!

The the head of FEMA Mike Brown is being recalled back to Washington where he plans to walk the dog, hug his wife, eat some Mexican food and have some stiff Margaritas.

"Asked if he was being made a scapegoat, Brown told The Associated Press after a long pause: ``By the press, yes. By the president, no.'' "

No wonder President Bush calls him "Brownie". On September 2nd President Bush said on his first trip to the region "Brownie, you are doing a heck of a job." and with todays statement from Brown I'm sure Bush still feels the same.

Another disaster about to happen in Tall Afar. This is nuts!.

While everyone is still concentrating on the natural and man made disaster that is New Orleans. I came across an article that points to another disaster about to happen in Iraq. Unlike the New Orleans mess caused by government inaction this next disaster will be caused by U.S. Government action. I know most people won't see it and the corporate media may not cover it. But, some innocent people will be killed as the U.S. miltary is about to destroy a city to root out the insurgents and create more of them at the same time as the innocent of that city are about to lose their homes and maybe their lives. Unlike New Orleans the U.S. government will not be able to hide behind an "act of God" for this disaster because the people of this Iraq City will know exactly who to blame and the blowback from that will not make us more friends in Iraq. This is nuts!

Smells like Karl Rove

There is a stench coming from the disaster in New Orleans and the lack of Federal response but, the stench coming out of the White House public relations damage control team is especially odorus. Josh at TPM has the details and it smells like Karl Rove.

Barbara Bush wins Leona Helmsley award for elitism!

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this -- this [she chuckles slightly] is working very well for them." -Barbara Bush 9/5/05

At least she did not add that they are just the poor "little people" who pay the taxes.

No more Texas hospitality for people from New Orleans!

The Republican Governor of Texas is now planning on air lifting people who were sent to Texas from Louisiana. Texas is a big state and is right next to Louisiana. It would be easier to feed and take care of people in one location instead of scattering them around the country further and further away from their homes in New Orleans. It would be easier for the people displaced by Katrina to return back home to Louisiana once condtions improve there.
I think the real reason for Governor Perry scattering these people is that Texas and Washington Republicans are worried that this influx of people from New Orleans may become residents of Texas and upset the redistricting that Republican Congressman Tom Delay spent years setting up so that the Republicans would have a solid majority in Texas and in Congress in Washington.
It's not matter of room and supplies which can easily be handled in the state and it's top notch infrastructure. If they need more room to set up tempory communities I know of 1600 acres in Texas that are not being used at the moment here is a photo of the place. Lot's of room to set up some temporary housing.

Watch this. Especially you President Bush!

As President Bush prepares to head once again to the scene of the crime in New Orleans no doubt for another photo op. I would hope he watches the video of Jefferson Parish President Arron Broussard from Sunday's MEET THE PRESS. It shows what was at stake and the result of the failure of the Federal Government's response in New Orleans. Go to the MEET THE PRESS site and in the free video box click the right arrow until you find the video titled "She drowned Friday night. You won't forget it once you see it.

President Bush and the phoney photo op.

Whie it does not surprise me maybe other Americans will be outraged by spin tactics of the White House . While the American corporate media in the U.S. follows the Perception Mangement machine the White House like the lapdogs they have been this past few years. A German TV crew sticks around and reports what really happened after the U.S. media left Bush's photo op on Friday. It seems the whole thing was staged for the cameras. After Bush left it was packed up. Laura Rozen has the details. Oh yeah, they also grounded the rescue helicopters while he was in the area. Makes for noisy audio for the camera crews there for recording the "event".

President Bush is already talking about rebuilding

President Bush is already thinking about rebuilding, at least Republican Senator Trent Lott's House that is:

"Out of the rubble of Trent Lott's house- he has lost his entire house-there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch." George W. Bush 9/2/2005

With Bush's track record of planning and rebuilding in places like Iraq we tax payers better watch out. I wonder if Halliburton will get the contract for Lott's new house.

Why FEMA failed in New Orleans

"Brownie, you are doing a heck of a job." - President Bush Friday September 2, 2005

Amoung the butt kissers in Bush's photo op yesterday in Mississippi was Mike Brown or "Brownie" (as George Bush calls him. You can't make this stuff up!) He's the top guy at FEMA what's his experience for that position?

"Prior to joining FEMA he practiced law in Colorado and Oklahoma, where he served as a bar examiner on ethics and professional responsibility for the Oklahoma Supreme Court and as a hearing examiner for the Colorado Supreme Court. He had been appointed as a special prosecutor in police disciplinary matters. While attending law school he was appointed by the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee of the Oklahoma Legislature as the Finance Committee Staff Director, where he oversaw state fiscal issues. His background in state and local government also includes serving as an assistant city manager with emergency services "

Oh yes he was also the former FEMA Director Joe Allburgh's roomate. How's that for additional qualifications.

Thanks to Daily Ko's for bringing this info up from the muck.

New Orleans: Army Corps already covering Bush's butt.

With Bush traveling down yesterday to the Gulf Coast in the Bush bubble with the obligitory photo ops of some victums. Comes this letter posted at Andrew Sullivan's website from someone with some insight into the Army Corp of Engineers. The ACOE are the people who do the alot of the major waterway projects in our cities. Like building and maintainining the levees in New Orleans.

""I've worked closely with Corps personnel for 6 years in various scientific and regulatory capacities on wetlands issues. While the Corps is often maligned by environmentalists, I will be the first to defend the professionalism, commitment and skill of their regulatory field staff.The Corps, however, is Army - the institutional culture is one of top-down control and damn-the-torpedoes, and a deeply-ingrained instinct against criticising the chain of command. In an email yesterday that eventually ended up on Wonkette, I predicted that they would be good soldiers and insulate Bush against charges that the levees weren't finished, and indeed I woke up to Al Naomi saying just that on NPR. And General Strock from HQ had to be brought in to do the real damage control: "I don't see that the level of funding was really a contributing factor in this case," said Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, chief of engineers for the corps. "Had this project been fully complete, it is my opinion that based on the intensity of this storm that the flooding of the business district and the French Quarter would have still taken place." (from Chi Trib).
But there are really TWO questions that must be answered:1) Was the levee complete and at design spec?2) Would a design-spec levee have withstood Katrina?1) The truth is that short of a whistleblower, we may never know the condition of that levee on 8/29. My source on its inadequate condition isn't solid enough. But I know the following things:a) You don't finish levees and walk away. They need regular maintenance - even when you haven't built them on dewatered organic soils that settle every year. b) A District that had just taken a one-year budget cut of $71 million will have had to make some very hard choices about whether maintenance on this particular levee fell (in Corps parlance) "above the line - priority" or "below the line - optional". Their SOP (Standard Operating Procedures) guidance might tell us, but somebody needs to get a FOIA cookin' on this right now.c) The question of levee adequacy breaks down at least into "was it at spec height?" [yes!] and "was it structurally sound to spec?" [oops!]. Because of the nature of the levee failure (not overtopped, but burst), watch for Corp HQ to focus on the first question (which pins the deaths on nature), and ignore the second (which might pin the deaths on budget decisions).2) Over the coming days, the Corps' message will be this: "Katrina was greater than the design storm for this levee." This is at least an open question - purportedly the levees were designed to withstand a direct hit from a Category 3 hurricane. Katrina was a Category 4 at landfall, presenting her weak side to the levees at a distance of some 40-50 miles. The question appears debatable on its technical merits, and Strock's facile answer is far too politically expedient a conclusion to take at face value from Corps HQ. I have seen them fall on their sword for Presidents before, and the need has never been greater.
To sum up: Gen. Strock is asking us to accept that the Army Corps could maintain the structural integrity of every last mile of levee built on subsiding soils in a District that had taken a $71 million budget cut in one year. AND that they would admit it if they hadn't, when the reputation of the President is at stake. All my experience rejects both propositions."

Jonah Goldberg with some Neocon humor about New Orleans.

Sicko Neocons like Jonah Goldberg of the National Review find humor in the tragedy of what is going on in New Orleans. One wonders what the yuks around the water cooler at NR they are having about Iraq. Speaking of Iraq Justin Riamondo has both of these stories in his latest column.

FEMA wants us to give money to who?

On the FEMA website there is a list of organizations that people could donate to money to help the victums of Hurricane Katrina. Most of them are religious based organizations. Near the top of the list is the pro-assisination Christian Pat Robertson's organization Operation Blessing. Spoid,com picked up on it and TPM has more details here.

New Orleans: The Blowback from Iraq

It's easy to feel that some of what the U.S. is experiencing is from the bad Karma our blundering President Bush created when he and his neocon friends rushed into a war of choice when he invaded Iraq where over 100,000 people were killed. But there are also real reasons why things are not happening as fast as they should have in New Orleans. Paul Craig Roberts has a good colum on the subject.