Oil Money...

"Oil money can lead a boy away from home. Oil money a million jobs in the oil trade. A million dollars to be made."- OIL MONEY by Bill Morrisey

Agents from the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service raided the Alaska home of Sen. Ted Stevens (R) yesterday as part of a broad federal investigation of political corruption in the state that has also swept up his son and one of his closest financial backers, officials said.-Washington Post

The it would be ironic to see Senator Stevens testify under oath after he allowed Oil Company executives to do so before the Senate without being under oath.
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Somebody's lying.

Questions about Gonzales's willingness to shade the truth on Bush's behalf came to prominence in the 1996 episode in which Bush was excused from Texas jury duty in a drunken-driving case. Bush was then the state's governor, and Gonzales was his general counsel. If Bush had served, he probably would have had to disclose his own drunken-driving conviction in Maine two decades earlier.

The judge, prosecutor and defense attorney involved in the case have said that Gonzales met with the judge and argued that jury service would pose a potential conflict of interest for Bush, who could be asked to pardon the defendant. Gonzales has disputed that account. He made no mention of meeting with the judge in a written statement submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee.-Washington Post

A Spector is rising on illegal immigration.

Just when I thought that the Senate might have gotten the message from the American on what to do about illegal immigration. Along comes Republican Senator Arlen Spector with "a new plan". According to The Hill Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), who accompanied President Bush (this is always a bad sign) Thursday ( on his visit to Pennsylvania, said he has spoken to Bush and the two Cabinet members who have led immigration talks about his new bill. Here are some of the money quotes:

But he would leave intact the family reunification standard that this spring’s defunct immigration bill partially replaced with a skills-based system

That's moving the country forward Senator Spector. Just what this country needs allowing more low wage uneducated workers to bring their families in to the country instead of giving priority to those with the skills needed to help America keep it's edge in the technological world.

The lone change in the status of the 12 million, Specter said, would be removing their status as fugitives from justice, an attempt to diminish their incentive to remain outside the system and in fear of deportation.

Why not just say it Senator. It's another AMNESTY!

Specter added that he already has met with “stakeholders” from outside groups involved in the complex immigration debate, and he plans to hold more sit-downs next week. Offering green cards to immigrants seeking employment in the high-tech industry is under consideration, he said.

Stakeholders Senator? How about the American people. Looks like its time to send Senator Byron Dorgon to have a little chat with Senator Spector to remind him who the real "stakeholders" are..

Here piggy piggy...

The House yesterday passed a far-reaching new farm bill that preserves the existing system of subsidies for commercial farmers and adds billions of dollars for conservation, nutrition and new agricultural sectors.-Washington Post

While it may just be coincidence that the House passed the farm bill on a summer Friday when most people are away on vacations. Friday is usually the day Washington known as take out the trash day. The day when if you are a politician you like to put out the bad news in the hopes that the public or some curious journalists may not notice. Like I said it may just be coincidence but, here is the money quote:

The bill, which has a price tag of almost $286 billion,

What is that oink, oink, oink sound I keep hearing out of Washington D.C.

The continuing education of an American taxpayer.

I recieved in the mail a brochure continuing education from the Middle Country Central School District here on Long Island. Thumbing through the selection of courses I came upon these courses. It seems if you are an illegal immigrant you can take an English as a second language course for free. But if you are a taxpayer in the district and want to learn Spanish or Italian it is going to cost you about forty three bucks. I'm still trying to figure if I should file this information in the "Hola Suckers" or "What the F?" files.

Hey Washington! It's amazing what happens when you enforce immigration laws.

Unlike our politicians in Washington the ones in Georgia know how to create and enforce illegal immigration laws and amazingly the laws work:

Speaking of the end of the road.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy threatened yesterday to request a perjury investigation of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, as Democrats said an intelligence official's statement about a classified surveillance program was at odds with Gonzales's sworn testimony.-Washington Post

Well, at least Alberto Gonzales is a useful punching bag. It distracts critics from focusing on George Bush. That may be why Gonzales has Bush's complete support.

The end of the road...

I got off the Long Island Railroad train in Ronkonkoma the other night returning from Washington D.C. and got into my 1986 subcompact car. The car has been a reliable economical workhorse for me. I had only traveled about a mile when I made a turn and the car stalled. Thinking my luck had run out and that perhaps I had finally gone too far in not putting enough gas in the tank. Well, that was not the problem. So the car was towed. It looks like the end of the line for this vehicle reliable though it was. Parts were increasingly harder to get and as Neil Young said "rust never sleeps" So I'm off to buy a new car this morning. If it is a reliable and lasts as long as the Mazada it may be the last car I buy or own. The new car will have airbags and not just seat belts a it will be safer perhaps a little more economical. Still there is a bit of sadness in letting the car that has carried me around for over twenty years go.

Eh Tu(be) Washington Post?

I watched a little of the You Tube/Anderson Cooper debates on CNN last night. Somewhat interesting but, still the mainstream media filter gets in the way and the politicians where still politicians. But, what struck me was the coverage in today's Washington Post. In a front page article by Daniel J. Balz and Anne E. Kornblut which clearly show the mainstream media bias for the "front runners" namely Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. In reading the article one finds only Clinton and Obama mentioned in the first part of the article. It is not until the twelfth paragraph that another candidate (Kucinich) is even mentioned. This this kind of bias the skews U.S. political discussion and rarely gives readers a broad picture of the candidates who participated in the debate. A perfect example of the blinders the mainstream media puts on in political reporting and ignores or minimizes other candidates besides Obama and Clinton is this paragraph:

Former senator Mike Gravel (Alaska) once again played the role of scourge, attacking Obama for the way he has raised money -- a charge Obama quickly sought to rebut -- while complaining that he was being ignored through most of the debate.

Of course this paragraph on Gravel was the last paragraph in the article.
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Thank you Democrats. May I have another...

As part of their campaign to soothe an anxious middle class, congressional Democrats are preparing legislation that would significantly expand federal aid to the most obvious victims of the global economy: workers whose jobs move offshore or are lost to foreign imports.
Under a Senate bill to be introduced today, computer programmers, call-center staffers and other service-sector workers who make up the vast majority of the nation's workforce would for the first time be eligible for a generous package of income, health and retraining benefits currently reserved for manufacturing workers who lose their jobs to international trade.-Washington Post

It seems the Democrats are offering an oxygen mask to the middle class workers who get kicked in the ass and to the side by globalization. That is until the air tank runs out. Then what? These workers will still have school taxes to pay. While the Democrats can pat themselves on the back for this limited form of life support. Meanwhile they continue to harm the middle class taxpayers by siding with George Bush and allowing rampant illegal immigration to continue in middle class communities. By not protecting our borders and enforcing current immigration laws the costs of illegal immigration will continue to be subsidized by these same middle class taxpayers that the Democrats are pretending to help. There is a train wreck coming and it looks like well intentioned though misguided Democrats are at the controls.

"What's in the Daily News? I'll tell you what's in the Daily News."

Well, actually the more like the Washington Post which had a front page article on a guy in Virgina named Greg Letiecq, and his blog Black Velvet Bruce Li. Good to see the mainstream media actually starting to notice the power of bloggers to influence the political discussion. Of course the Washington Post can not resist a little editorial bias calling Letiecq a "bigot" at the same time calling a group called Mexicans Without Borders an "immigrant rights group". But, that's why there is blogging to point out the bias in "reporting" by the mainstream media.

Bush colonoscopy and torture

CAMP DAVID, Md. -- Doctors removed five small growths from President Bush's colon Saturday after he temporarily transferred the powers of his office to Vice President Dick Cheney under the rarely invoked 25th Amendment.-Associated Press

Well, I guess the good news is that doctors found something other than his head up there. And I guess it's good Cheney resisted attacking Iran during his Presidency today.
Meanwhile in intelligence news:

President Bush set broad legal boundaries for the CIA's harsh interrogation of terrorism suspects yesterday, allowing the intelligence agency to resume a program that was suspended last year after criticism that it violated U.S. and international law- Washington Post

It seems that those currently conducting or condoning these interrogation techniques have forgotten the results of the British who used many of the same techniques on Irish Catholics in Northern Ireland in the early 1970's that we are using in detention centers on Iraqi and Afghanistan detainees. As one Irish IRA member said when the British started to use torture it helped increase the number of recruits for the IRA tremendously.

Only the little people pay taxes.

My neighbor announced several months ago that he was giving up the business he ran out of his home and went back to working as a manager of a Supermarket. He then offered all he knew is when you work for someone else you pay a hell of a lot more in taxes. I told him welcome to the club. David Ignatius in today's Washington Post has an insightful piece about how we in the middle class are getting screwed or at least paying our fair share taxes while some of the "masters of the universe" go out and get to buy another home. Here is just one of the money quotes:

The most prominent critic is mega-billionaire Warren Buffett, chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway and a director of The Washington Post Co. He famously admonished his fellow moguls a month ago that they were paying a lower tax rate than the people who cleaned their offices -- and offered them $1 million if they could prove otherwise.

Or as Leona Helmsley said:

We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes- Leona Helmsley

A question of balance.

Few consequences of global warming pose as severe a threat to human society as sea-level rise. But scientists have yet to figure out how to predict it.-Washington Post

Between the head in the sand attitude of people like George Bush and the chicken little ranting of Al Gore is where I stand on global warming. Having read a two volume history of weather in new York City recently. I know that the weather has fluctuated over the centurys let alone millenniums. Hell, the Hudson River use to end about 100 miles south of the Verrazano Bridge in a water fall before the rise is sea level all but, hide that fact under a hundred feet of seawater. That was long before carbon credits. As a sailor I have come to understand and appreciate the weather in all it's forms good and bad. I laugh with amusement at foolish wealthy coastal home owners as they try and save their precious views of the sea from nature relentless changes. While scientist try and find how sea level rises will affect human society including wealthy beachfront homeowners. I think the real question is Where's the beach?
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Michael Chertoff's gut feeling.

WASHINGTON -- National security officials worry about a possible attack against the United States in the months ahead even though the government's leading terrorism experts have not found concrete information about an imminent strike.-Washington Post

This follows the "gut feeling" by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that there could be a terrorist attack sometime this summer. Really Mr. Chertoff? What raises your concern? Could it be that you too see illegal immigrants from Mexico and other South American countries who crossed the southern borders of the U.S. and managed to travel 1500 miles into the country to stand on street corners in suburban communities like mine here on Long Island. Or maybe you think that New York City Mayor Mike Bloombergs support of dropping the requirement the New York Taxis drivers have to prove they are in this country legally before they get a license to drive one may not be such a good idea. If that the case Mr. Chertoff I know the feeling.

Another fine mess

The Washington Post has more of the mess the Bush administration has created regarding immigrants who want to get green cards legally.

"They have really messed this up," she said. "The Department of Homeland Security is not known for overarching efficiency, but this is a new low."
Businesses are also unhappy. Many depend on the highly educated foreigners. Google and Microsoft have lobbied Congress on behalf of just such skilled workers.
Elizabeth Stern is a corporate attorney with Baker & McKenzie, a firm that counts many financial service and IT companies among its clients. She said she has heard from corporate clients who are fed up with U.S. policies.
" 'This is just not worth it,' they say. 'I'll just move to England,' " Stern said.

While Homeland Security throws up roadblocks for those who want to do things legally. Hundreds of illegal immigrants stand on street corners in our communities and Homeland Security just looks the other way. -

Boeing 787 Dreamliner or nightmare?

For the second week in a row I've watched the mainstream media stoke up the hype machine for another U.S. corporation. Last week it was Apple's Iphone. I think the I stands for idiot especially those that stood on line for three days waiting to buy it. Yesterday the mainstream media hype machine was gaga over the new Boeing 787 Dream liner plane. But, like the run up to the Iraq war the mainstream media is not asking some tough questions about the new "green" airliner. From watching the reports one of the things that makes the 787 so green and efficient is that it's body is made of a light weight carbon fiber composite. This worries me. From my reading about carbon fiber for use in sailboats carbon fiber is light and strong. But, it must be protected fron UV rays from the sun. That's not a problem because the carbon fiber is usually coated with a protective plastic but this covering can also hide cracks and fractures underneath. Carbon fiber also has a nasty habit of shattering when struck by lightning. On a sailboat this would mean it's time to turn on the engine. On an airplane flying at thirty thousand feet it could be a disaster. But. It does not even have to be that high for carbon fiber to show it's dark side when it comes to failures. Remember this crash of a plane with a carbon fiber tail? Maybe the engineers at Boeing have solved some of carbon fibers problems. All I know is I won't sleep easy on a Dreamliner until has a fairly good track record.

Live Earth, Wind and Wildfires

Well the private jets have taken all the rock stars back to one of their homes after Al Gore's Live Earth concerts around the world attempted to entertain and educate a few members of the earth's population about how nature is the real decider and not George Bush after all. Of course those of us who spend time sailing and outdoors already know that. I guess ultimately it is good to get some of our youth away from their video games, Ipods and stopping them from text messaging for a little bit and remind them about the natural world we live in.
Meanwhile, on Nantucket Island a bunch of wealthy homeowners are trying to rake the ocean bottom in a vane attempt to stop the natural erosion that is occurring on the bluffs that their homes sit on. They want permission to dredge up sand to temporarily stop the shoreline erosion so they can enjoy their views for a few more years. This is the same crowd that will complain and have their political connections in Washington throw up roadblocks when companies attempt to put offshore wind farms off the coast that would provide clean wind energy and help lessen our dependence of non renewable energy resources like oil and gas. But, of course their views literally come first.
Meanwhile, nature is sending another message to those people living out west in the woods and forest in the form of wildfires burning yet again. But, it does make pretty pictures for the mainstream news media to keep showing over and over on TV. Though they could save lots over money just re airing the video of the last fires. It is a reminder from nature that these people are living under it's rules. It is also a reminder to me that there is a reason why middle class communities like mine have a volunteer fire departments

Bush: Creating immigration problems where there are none.

You don't have to look far to see how inept the Bush Administration is in running our Federal Government. The latest fiasco in the making is the abrupt withdrawing of tens of thousands of job based visas.

a terse announcement on Monday in which the State Department said it would not grant any more visas for the 2007 fiscal year to foreigners applying to become permanent residents based on their job skills. That notice reversed one the department had issued on June 13 announcing a two-month window starting July 2 for aspiring, high-skilled immigrants from around the world to present applications for visas known as green cards. - New York Times

These are visa's of people who are trying to enter the country legally. Something which should be encouraged. Instead the Bush Administration pulls the rug out from under them. How stupid can the Bush administration be? Well pretty stupid as we all know. Especially when some of their arguments for the passing the Senate Immigration Bill included the need for these workers.
Here is what those apply for the visa have would have had to do had the Bush Administration not closed the door in their face:

To apply, immigrants must undergo medical examinations and assemble documents to prove their job skills and show that a United States employer has sponsored them. Foreigners must be in the United States when they present their applications, which are processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Sounds like an great immigration plan as opposed to the Amnesty plan they proposed in the Senate Bill. But, not for the Bush Administration. Instead of enforcing our immigration laws on those who entered the United States illegally the Bush administration is making it harder for those who want to be here legally. Welcome to Bushworld!

If Al Gore is so smart....

Then why is his son so dumb?

NEW YORK -- Former Vice President Al Gore said Thursday he's glad his son is safe and getting treatment a day after the 24-year-old was arrested in California on suspicion of illegally possessing marijuana and prescription drugs- Washington Post

Independence Day.

I reflect on the foundlings of this country this July 4th and also celebrate the victory of the American people in stopping the immigration amnesty bill last week. Despite the powerful forces trying to push it through the Senate. The American people let their voices be heard and made it so loud that they could not be ignored. Even when most of the mainstream media seemed to be pushing it also. It is worth celebrating the independence of the American people from the mainstream media bias. As Mickey Kaus puts it:

Rupert Murdoch, whose Fox News Channel took a pro-comprehensive dive. It turns out conservatives don't need Big Murdoch Media to make themselves heard any more than netroots left needs the "liberal MSM." -Mickey Kaus

Yes, independence from the mainstream media on important issues affect the American people. That is worth celebrating too!
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12,800 car bombs in New York City

The next terrorist assault on the United States is likely to come through relatively unsophisticated, near-simultaneous attacks -- similar to those attempted in Britain over the weekend -- designed more to provoke widespread fear and panic than to cause major losses of life, U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism officials believe.-Washington Post

If you want to look to see who might be helping the terrorist achieve this goal you don't need to look further than New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Who last year supported dropping the requirement that those applying for a license to drive a taxis in New York City no longer have to prove they are in the United States legally.
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Libby, Bushworld and the world of Ramos & Compean

"We were all told to stay away from it," said an old Bush friend from Texas who is close to Libby and would not speak for attribution. "When we called over there, they said the president is well aware of the situation, so don't raise it. None of us lobbied him because they told us not to."-Washington Post

I get angry when I hear about the Libby defenders talk about the outrage of Scooter Libby's conviction. Only in Bushworld would a lying creep like Scooter Libby get his sentence commuted by President Bush and never see the inside of a jail and some real hero's of this country like Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean still langush in prison cells. I guess the difference is that while Libby was lying to protect the Vice President. The only thing Ramos and Compean were doing was protecting the country's borders. Welcome to Bushworld!

The news from Kennebunkport.

Bush hoped to use the relaxed atmosphere here to reestablish a bond frayed since he first met Putin in 2001. Fresh from a speedboat outing with Bush's father, in which Putin caught the only fish, the two presidents emerged from the estate to address reporters and reaffirm their friendship. -Washington Post

As I watched Bush's father take his son President George W. Bush and Putin out on a fishing trip for Stripped Bass in Maine I am relieved to feel there is finally some adult supervision going on regarding George W.

The Questions

Like a person who begins to wonder where his life went all wrong Bush is finally asking some questions:

Over sodas and sparkling water, he asks his questions: What is the nature of good and evil in the post-Sept. 11 world? What lessons does history have for a president facing the turmoil I'm facing? How will history judge what we've done? Why does the rest of the world seem to hate America? Or is it just me they hate?-Washington Post

I'd say it's a little too late to be asking these questions Mr.Bush.

The Americans are coming!

The Washington Post has an interesting article that starts like this:

Fred Wood, a Marietta, Ohio, retiree, voted for George W. Bush in 2000 and John F. Kerry in 2004. In last year's midterm elections, he voted Republican for Senate and Democratic for governor. Is he on the fence for 2008? "You bet I am!" he said.

Independent voters who vote the candidate not the party are rising and I include myself as one of them. Though a lifelong registered Democrat and liberal on many issues I won't pull a lever for someone just because they are affiliated with one party or another. Corporations and lobbyists may have money to influence but, they don't have what people like me have and that is the right to vote. Both parties should remember this when there candidates run for office. Many of us participate in our democracy and we are watching very carefully. Yes, the Americans are coming. To the polls!