WHAT A NIGHTMARE......I CAN ONLY IMAGINE THE GULF COAST PROBLEMS

This year's rainy season and hurricane season is going to be a nightmare for many people who have damage caused last year by Wilma and Katrina. With repairs not done, many people are going to end up in shelters or homeless. And the beat goes on in Washington........



Rains bring misery to those waiting for Wilma repairs

By Ken Kaye, Bill Hirschman & Macollvie Jean-Francois
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted May 17 2006


It was the deluge that South Florida needed to refresh groundwater levels, quell wildfires and relieve drought conditions.

But for thousands of homeowners who still have blue tarps and leaky roofs, two days of stormy weather has extended Hurricane Wilma's misery.

More than 7 inches of rain fell in some areas on Monday and Tuesday, collapsing roofs and leaving families homeless. Thunderstorms also left 104,000 temporarily in the dark, flooded roads and created rush-hour chaos across the tri-county area.

Read more here

LET'S TALK ABOUT OUR BORDERS

49.9 Billion dollar Homeland Security budget and if you think our borders are secure...think again. What is Homeland Security doing with those billions??? Where's it actually going? I'd sure like to know. This immigration talk should not be focused ONLY on the Mexican border. I have news for you..... illegals regularly enter through Florida, along with drugs and whatever else they care to bring in.... and I'm sure this is the case in many other states, too. I live on the coast of Florida, and I'm here to tell you it would be WAYYYYYY to easy for anyone who wanted to enter.....enter. Why is it, when all we've heard from Republicans since 9/11 is they are the ones with the post 9/11 mentality, they have refused to secure our borders? I'll tell ya what.....we haven't been attacked by terrorists because terrorists haven't wanted to attack us. Period. Illegal immigration goes hand in hand with unprotected borders. And 6000 National Guard troops on the Mexican border are going to do nothing to help that. And I'll tell you something else.... I'm more worried about the drugs and possible terrorists and who knows what else that's coming into our country than I the Mexicans who want a job. Why aren't we talking about that?


Border Protection Stretched Thin at Key West

By Stephen Barr
Tuesday, May 16, 2006; Page D04

Yesterday was a typical day for Phil Teitsma , a Customs and Border Protection supervisor at Key West, Fla. He got a call about 7 a.m. from the Coast Guard telling him that two crew members of a speedboat had been detained after they were spotted dropping five people off on an uninhabited island near the Florida coast.

Teitsma started to arrange for CBP officers to formally arrest the two boaters, but the local Border Patrol office said it would take over and seek possible prosecution on charges of alien smuggling. Teitsma did not object.


Read on here

Then there's this and this and this

HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE

Iraqis decry U.S. atrocities
5/16/2006 1:00:00 PM GMT

Top Sunni clerics accused U.S. occupation forces of committing an “atrocity” that killed 25 civilians near Baghdad, Reuters news agency reported

The U.S. army said its forces killed 41 rebels during raids over the weekend in the rural area around Latifya and Yusifiya, south of the Iraqi capital.

A military statement said several Iraqi women and children were “inadvertently wounded by shrapnel" and treated in the site or evacuated, and didn’t mention civilian deaths.

But the Muslim Clerics Association, the main Sunni Arab religious grouping, which often attacks the U.S. occupation, said 25 Iraqi civilians were killed in the recent military operations.

"We hold the Iraqi government and the occupiers responsible for this brutal atrocity”, the association said in a statement.

There have been previous accusations by Iraqi officials that U.S. occupation forces caused numerous civilian deaths since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, especially during the deadly offensive on Fallujah in November 2004.

The recent complaint came at a critical time as Iraq’s new Prime Minister Nour Maliki is trying to form a national unity government, which can help curb sectarian violence that surged in Iraq after the Feb. 22 bombing of a major Shia shrine.

However, after hundreds of deaths and with tens of thousands of people having escaped their homes, some question whether a unity government can reverse a slide to civil war.

In other violence, more than six Iraqi civilians were killed and four wounded Tuesday in Baghdad’s Dora district during clashes between rebels and Iraqi police, officials said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. army said that three soldiers have been killed in roadside bombings over the past two days. One died Tuesday near Rasheed airfield, a former Iraqi air force installation in southern Baghdad. The two others were killed Monday when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb near Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad.

The latest deaths bring the total U.S. death toll in Iraq to at least 2,448 since the start of the invasion.

You can find this article here

U.S TO RESTORE DIPLOMATIC TIES WITH LIBYA

When I read this article, I thought about the terrorists we create. These people don't wake up one morning and decide, hey, let's be terrorists!!! Most terrorists are retaliating. And when I read this, I wondered.....how many terrorists has our military action in Iraq created? How many will our going into Iran create?

From the article:

The relationship hit its nadir following the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Libya was held responsible for the bombing, which killed 270 people, most of them American.

Libya was also implicated in the 1986 bombing of a Berlin nightclub frequented by U.S. soldiers, killing two Americans, and the bombing of a French airliner in 1989 that killed 170.

Do you know why Libya did this? They did this in retaliation for a 1986 Reagan administration aerial raid on Libya that killed President Muammar Khadaffi's stepdaughter.

There are always consequences to our military action. In the long run, what consequence will we pay for entering Iraq? Iran? Venezuela? (I think it's a given we're going into Iran, and I think Venezuela is on the books) How many terrorists have we created this time around???

The other thing is, when I heard this yesterday.....I asked myself, why now? Every move Bush makes causes me to ask.....why? What's he up to? Isn't that sad? To have a total, complete lack of trust in one's own government? To question their motives on every single thing they do? It's just wrong. So very wrong.

Read article here

LEGISLATING FOR THE RICH

If you have any thoughts that congress gives a rat's ass about you.....middle class America..... you are sadly mistaken. Another example of legislating for the rich....

Only the very wealthy would see any benefit
By MARK WEISBROT
Center for Economic and Policy Research
WASHINGTON — “Money to get power, and power to guard the money,” was the motto of the powerful Medici family in 16th-century Florence. It is getting to be a successful modern political strategy for some of America’s wealthiest families.

A new report by Public Citizen and United for a Fair Economy shows how 18 of these families, including the Walton family of Wal-Mart fame, spent millions of dollars to push for the repeal of the estate tax. The estate tax is paid by wealthy heirs when they receive inherited wealth. Using trade associations and influential lobbyists, these extremely rich families stand to gain an astounding $71 billion from the repeal.

Read the whole article here

In the next month or so, the White House and Republican leaders are hoping to eliminate the estate tax permanently.

HEADING OUT......HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO YOU MOMS!!

I'll be heading out for the open seas soon, but I wanted to wish my friends Happy Mother's Day. It's early, but I don't plan on posting anything this weekend. It's going to be a weekend of rest, relaxation, and some mind numbing drinking. Kidding, just kidding.... I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and I hope before the day is through, Karl Rove is indicted. Wouldn't that make for a nice Mother's Day gift!!!

Wanted to add this before I go. Did you know that Mother's Day is not a Hallmark holiday? The world being so full of unrest and violence..... thought it should be mentioned.

Julia Ward Howe wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation in 1870, as a call for peace and disarmament. An excerpt follows:

From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...

Read more here



Some humor......

I Owe My Mother


1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE.
"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."

2. My mother taught me RELIGION.
"You better pray that will come out of the carpet."

3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL.
"If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"

4. My mother taught me LOGIC.
" Because I said so, that's why."

5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC.
"If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."

6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
"Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."

7. My mother taught me IRONY.
"Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."

8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS.
"Shut your mouth and eat your supper."

9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM.
"Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"

10. My mother taught me about STAMINA.
"You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."

11. My mother taught me about WEATHER.
"This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."

12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.
"If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"

13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE.
"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."

14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.
"Stop acting like your father!"

15. My mother taught me about ENVY.
"There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do."

16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
"Just wait until we get home."

17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING.
"You are going to get it when you get home!"

18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.
"If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way."

19. My mother taught me ESP.
"Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"

20. My mother taught me HUMOR.
"When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."

21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT.
"If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."

22. My mother taught me GENETICS.
"You're just like your father."

23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS.
"Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?"

24. My mother taught me WISDOM.
"When you get to be my age, you'll understand."

And my favorite:

25. My mother taught me about JUSTICE.
"One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you"

Happy Mother's Day Mom.....and really, just kidding about the mind numbing drinking.....really.... kidding. Ha Ha.....Joke...won't happen.

BREAKING US

This is disgusting. Time of war, record profits for big business.....and they vote for a tax break extension. Another tax break for the rich. Thanks....I'll use that 100 bucks or so to fill up my car with gas.....and that, TOO, will end up in the hands of the wealthy. Bush said this was to "spur" the economy. HUH? What's 9.00 -100.00 for the average American gonna do to spur the economy?????

Senator Nelson, from my state of Florida, voted to pass this bill. We are fucked here in Florida. Our choices this year.....him......or Katherine Harris. All he is, is the lesser of two evils. And you know what.....I'm so tired of the lesser of two evils!!!!!


Senate OKs $70 billion tax cut extension


Vote marks rare political win for Bush

By Jill Zuckman
Chicago Tribune
Posted May 12 2006


WASHINGTON · The Senate voted Thursday to extend $70 billion in tax cuts but heatedly clashed over whether the plan would continue to boost the economy and create jobs or would penalize middle-income families in favor of the wealthy and big oil conglomerates.

The 54-44 vote, which fell largely along party lines, clears the measure for President Bush's signature.

Florida's senators, Republican Mel Martinez and Democrat Bill Nelson both voted to pass the measure, The Associated Press reported.

The measure would extend dividend and capital gains cuts for another two years to 2010, and it would protect about 15 million taxpayers from paying the onerous alternative minimum tax for one more year.

Read the rest here

AS WE WORRY ABOUT SPYING HERE, ATLEAST 12 US SOLDIERS DIE IN IRAQ THIS WEEK

4 Marines Killed in Tank Accident in Iraq

By THOMAS WAGNER
Associated Press Writer
Posted May 12 2006, 7:59 AM EDT


BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Four Marines drowned when their tank rolled off a bridge and plunged into a canal, the military said Friday, adding that while the accident occurred in a Sunni insurgent stronghold, it was not the result of an enemy action.

The deaths brought to at least 12 the number of U.S. service members who have died in Iraq this week, according to an Associated Press count.

Read the whole article here

WE DON'T CARE ABOUT NO STINKIN GENEVA CONVENTION

What's an irregular fighter? A constipated soldier????


Army Rules Put on Hold


The revised field manual seeks to permit harsher interrogations of terror suspects, which some lawmakers say violates the ban on torture.

By Julian E. Barnes
Times Staff Writer
Posted May 11 2006


WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has been forced to delay the release of its updated Army Field Manual on interrogation because of congressional opposition to several provisions, including one that would allow tougher techniques for unlawful combatants than for traditional prisoners of war.

The Defense Department's civilian leaders, who are overseeing the process of rewriting the manual, have long argued — along with the Bush administration — that the Geneva Convention does not apply to terrorists or irregular fighters. The United States needs greater flexibility when interrogating people who refuse to fight by the rules, they have said.



Torture yourself and read it all here

CAN WE JUST STORM THE WHITE HOUSE NOW????

Paper Reports NSA Collecting Phone Records

Posted May 11 2006, 9:14 AM EDT

WASHINGTON -- The government is secretly collecting records of ordinary Americans' phone calls in an effort to build a database of every call made within the country, it was reported Thursday.

AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth telephone companies began turning over records of tens of millions of their customers' phone calls to the National Security Agency program shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said USA Today, citing anonymous sources it said had direct knowledge of the arrangement.


The program does not involve listening to or taping the calls. Instead it documents who talks to whom in personal and business calls, whether local or long distance, by tracking which numbers are called, the newspaper said.

Read the whole ugly truth here

HOUSE PANEL OK'S DRILLING AS CLOSE AS 3 MILES OFF FLORIDA COAST

These assholes won't be happy until they've ruined every last bit of this country. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there is no SHORTAGE of oil. That is not the problem. I heard an Exxon executive last week talking about production and use, and according to what he said, they have had an ongoing surplus month after month. Why do you think their profits were so high??? The only reasonable explanation is that they stockpiled oil that cost them less, and gouged us at the pump when crude prices went up. That's the only way possible to explain the outrageous profits the oil companies have seen. Obviously, there is no legislation concerning gouging. It's a free for all and they can do whatever they want. Now, this isn't enough....they want to drill as close as 3 miles off the Florida coast. WTF!!!!

First, I have to give Senator Nelson, and even the twit Martinez, credit for the fight. Nelson's stand on offshore drilling:

Environment
Offshore Drilling
Senator Nelson, along with Senator Mel Martinez, has introduced legislation that will permanently protect Florida from the threat of offshore drilling. By providing a long-term guarantee to keep oil and gas rigs at least 260 miles off Tampa Bay, this bipartisan legislation safeguards Florida's unique environment, the state's tourism-dependent economy and the nation's essential military training ranges in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. This move by Senators Nelson and Martinez is receiving praise from key members of Florida's congressional delegation, as well as from consumer and environmental organizations. A staunch defender of Florida's coastline in the past, Senator Nelson has been at the forefront of previous efforts that successfully blocked attempts to open the eastern Gulf to drilling.

And this:

Drilling would harm economy, environment
Ft. Myers News Press
May 3, 2006
We can't drill our way out of this crisis. The situation today can only be solved by turning to alternative energy sources, like ethanol to fuel our cars and trucks and gas made from coal to run our power plants.

Guest Column
Sen. Bill Nelson

As a recent News-Press editorial noted, few Florida lawmakers have joined U.S. Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., in support of his proposal to allow natural-gas drilling close to Florida's shore. There's a good reason: The Florida delegation recognizes that natural gas would bring serious threats to the state's tourism-dependent economy.

And as we now must fight to keep Cuba from oil drilling just 45 miles from the Florida Keys, it is not the time to build gas or oil rigs just 20 miles off our west coast.

Natural-gas drilling -- like oil drilling -- has the potential to cause serious damage to Florida's beaches and marine life and, thus, to the state's economic lifeblood. Natural-gas rigs leak toxic liquids into the surrounding water, causing significant damage. Fires and explosions at gas sites can lead to major disasters.

In a recent editorial, your newspaper endorsed as "sensible" the proposal by the Pennsylvania congressman to allow drilling within 20 miles of Florida. The editorial quoted Rep. Peterson as saying he's "still waiting for the first person to show me a gas well that has leaked onto a shoreline."

Well, allow me to be the one.

1969 explosion

One of the country's most infamous oil spills was caused by an explosion at a natural-gas drilling site.

The January 1969 explosion at a gas well off the coast of California also caused a 200,000-gallon release of crude oil. And although the spill was relatively small, the resulting 800-square-mile slick blackened 35 miles of California beach and killed thousands of birds, dolphins, seals, fish and other wildlife.

The public outcry was so great that it caused Congress to enact a nationwide coastal drilling ban -- the very same moratorium that remains in effect today and that Mr. Peterson and others, including your newspaper, now want to repeal.

Fort Myers and the entire state of Florida have been fortunate enough to avoid such disasters caused by gas or oil drilling, thanks to those drilling bans established after the 1969 accident.

But Peterson's bill aims to eliminate all the important protections for the Gulf by gutting the current congressional and presidential moratoriums on drilling. And despite his rhetoric about the safety of natural-gas drilling, his legislation would lead to oil drilling as well. In reality, there's no way to drill exclusively for gas.

Alternative sources

Despite the public's frustration with high energy prices, rolling back oil and gas drilling bans in the Gulf is not the answer. Experts believe that most of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico contains relatively little oil and not enough natural gas to make a significant impact on energy prices or on the country's dependence on foreign energy sources.

It's time to face the facts: We can't drill our way out of this crisis, and the situation today can only be solved by turning to alternative energy sources, like ethanol to fuel our cars and trucks and gas made from coal to run our power plants.

Earlier this year, I introduced legislation with Sen. Mel Martinez to provide the state with permanent protection from drilling. An alternative to Rep. Peterson's proposal, our bill protects Florida's interests while taking into account demand for natural gas by allowing drilling in a small area of the Gulf hundreds of miles from Florida's coast. Thus, the bill acknowledges the country's needs while providing an adequate buffer for our state.

Florida will pay a much higher price if we suffer a disaster caused by either gas or oil drilling, and the damage to the state's $50-billion tourism industry will be felt across Florida's economy. In the end, no drilling 20 miles off Florida's coast is worth the risk to our economy and environment.

And here's what we get......

House panel OKs drilling near shores of Florida

By William E. Gibson
Washington Bureau Chief
Posted May 11 2006


WASHINGTON · Clearing a path for energy exploration near the shores of Florida, the House Appropriations Committee voted Wednesday to allow drilling for natural gas in the Outer Continental Shelf starting in 2012.

The committee action, on a 37-25 vote, sets up another confrontation over energy policy when the bill comes before the full House, perhaps as early as next week.

"Today's vote in Congress represents the most far-reaching and damaging attack on Florida's coastal protections against offshore drilling that we have ever seen," said Mark Ferrulo, director of Florida PIRG, an environmental advocacy group based in Tallahassee.

Drilling proponents, on the other hand, hailed the vote as a boost to domestic production of needed fuels, representing a seismic shift in the nation's long debate over energy policy.

"The burden has now shifted onto those who oppose the safe production of domestic natural gas to explain to the American people why this country should continue to lock up vast reserves of energy while home-grown industries and the American consumer class continue to pay the highest prices in the world," said Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., who sponsored the drilling provision.

The provision, which would allow drilling as close as three miles from shore, was added to a larger spending bill for Interior Department programs, which must still be approved by the Appropriations Committee before it goes to the full House.

The Senate has yet to consider this provision. Senators from oil-producing states are pushing a separate bill that would allow drilling for oil and gas up to 100 miles from the Florida coast. Florida members are proposing an alternative that would create a 150-mile buffer from drilling all around the state's shores.

Peterson's provision would allow production in Florida, California and all along the Outer Continental Shelf, but only for natural gas, not oil. He contends that drilling for natural gas is relatively clean and that a boost in domestic production would make a major difference on prices in regional markets.

The provision does not affect the current presidential ban on drilling for oil or gas in the eastern Gulf and other offshore areas, which would remain in effect until it expires in 2012.

Ferrulo and members of the Florida congressional delegation contend that drilling stirs the sea bottom, creating pollution and threatening habitat. A rig drilling for natural gas is just as likely to strike oil, risking a major spill, critics say.

"This is a dangerous game they are playing, placing gas rigs in the middle of hurricane alley," said Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fort Pierce.

"Instead of placing our state's beaches and tourism in danger, we should be tempering our dependence and finding alternative sources of fuel."

MORE ON THE HURRICANE FRONT

People are probably sick of my posts about hurricanes. I guess because I can't be down on the Gulf to help, this is my way of trying to keep the nightmare that so many people are living with on the minds of Americans. (talk about delusions of grandeur...ha!) For the most part, I believe people, probably a few weeks after Katrina hit, went about their every day lives and for the most part, don't give a thought to what people on the Gulf Coast are still going through. We're fretting about what the asshole in the White House is doing. The war in Iraq, a possible attack on Iran, illegal wiretapping, tax cuts for the wealthy, no healthcare .....all the things the asshole has given us to worry about. But what about the Gulf Coast? Brownie was fired, there was a Senate Investigation that is useless, and life goes on..... or not. Hurricane season starts in 3 weeks, and it promises to be another doozey. My thoughts and prayers will continue to be with the victims of Hurricanes Katrina. Let us not forget the needless suffering of our own citizens caused by an inept government.

TEEN PRISONERS DESCRIBE HURRICANE HORRORS

SITTING IN THE CHAIR, PUTTING MOUSSE IN MY HAIR

TO DISMANTLE, OR NOT TO DISMANTLE

LITTLE JUSTICE FOR POOR IN NEW ORLEANS

PEOPLE STILL UNDER BOIL WATER ORDER IN NEW ORLEANS

KATRINA COUGH

TROPICAL DEPRESSION

THE TIMES PICAYUNE (a great newspaper)

HALIBURTON DEAL WITH INDIA

Ok, this started out as an article I ran across about Haliburton and ONGC, but I am linking to some other interesting stuff about US/India. Proving, once again, the Pentegon is in the arms business. It's what it is...it's what it does. Fucking up the whole world.....

Halliburton in Indian output deal

More fields may be added to the agreement in future
India's state-run oil company ONGC has employed the help of US oilfield services giant Halliburton to enable it to raise output from a trio of fields.
In a statement, ONGC said oilfield services company Halliburton wanted to expand its operations in India.

ONGC, India's most valuable company and largest oil producer, said the move would boost output from Lakwa, Lakhmani and Geleki fields in Assam state.

"More fields may be added in future," it said.

Halliburton was formerly run by US Vice President Dick Cheney from 1995 to 2000, before he resigned to join President George W Bush's successful election to the White House.

The US firm has a five-year "memorandum of understanding" with ONGC, opening up additional commercial opportunities for Halliburton technologies and services in India.

More on India....

US Opens Military Barn Door in India

Tough Deal

US TO GIVE LATEST DEFENCE SYSTEMS TO PAKISTAN

MISSILE THREAT SITE

US/INDIA AGREE ON SPACE VENTURE

OVER 1000 DIE IN BAGHDAD IN APRIL

But this isn't a civil war....nope.

Iraq killings top 1,000 in April

Mr Talabani said he was shocked by the ongoing sectarian violence
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has said more than 1,000 people were killed last month in Baghdad as a result of continuing sectarian violence.
Mr Talabani cited a report from a Baghdad morgue saying 1,091 people were killed between 1 and 30 April.

Read the entire article here

GERONIMOOOOOOOOOOOO

No respect....none whatsoever. So the Bush family has been raping the American public for how long?

Geronimo's skull said to be at Yale

Students stole chief's bones, letter claims

By Stephen Singer
The Associated Press
Posted May 10 2006

HARTFORD, Conn. · A Yale University historian has uncovered a 1918 letter that seems to lend validity to the lore that Yale University's ultra-secret Skull and Bones society swiped the skull of American Indian leader Geronimo.

Read it here

3 AND A HALF YEARS AND 4900 MILES

Piece of Navy Jet Washes Up in Ireland

NORFOLK, Va., May. 10, 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(AP) A tail section from a U.S. Navy fighter jet that crashed 3 1/2 years ago off Key West, Fla., has turned up 4,900 miles away on a beach in Ireland.

A retired commercial airline captain, identified by the Irish Examiner newspaper as Charlie Coughlan, discovered the tail piece Friday. The Navy confirmed Tuesday that markings on the section, including squadron insignia and a serial number, pointed to the downed F-14 Tomcat.

Read the whole story here

HURRICANE NEWS

My friend Chicher is in New Orleans helping freinds with the cleanup and rebuilding. Yesterday he stated, "part of the lower ninth ward got the water cleared for drinking....TODAY." Our government at work folks.....we can bicker about if we should spend a billion dollars on a 9/11 memorial,(utterly ridiculous), and the people in PART of the lower ninth ward just got potable water yesterday. I foolishly asked him if people there think about the possibility that they could be hit again this year. His answer, of course they do. We think about it here in Florida, also. The first year I lived here, it scared me. The second year, I wasn't scared, and Wilma hit. This year, the thought terrifies me. I imagine the people on the Gulf coast can't go through a day without thinking of it.

ON THE KATRINA FRONT

NEW LANDFILL IN NEW ORLEANS SETS OFF BATTLE

NEW ORLEANS — Block after block, neighborhood after neighborhood, tens of thousands of hurricane-ravaged houses here rot in the sun, still waiting to be gutted or bulldozed. Now officials have decided where several million tons of their remains will be dumped: in man-made pits at the swampy eastern edge of town, out by the coffee-roasting plant and the space-shuttle factory and the big wildlife refuge.

Boys played basketball on a street less than two and a half miles west of the recently opened Chef Menteur landfill.
But more than a thousand Vietnamese-American families live less than two miles from the edge of the new landfill. And they are far from pleased at having the moldering remains of a national disaster plunked down nearby, alongside the canal that flooded their neighborhood when Hurricane Katrina surged through last year.

Read the full article here

CHARITY CLOSURE SCATTERS MEDICAL SERVICES


Patients forced to find care far out of town
Monday, May 08, 2006
By John Pope
Staff writer
For nearly 270 years, medical care for New Orleanians with no insurance could be summed up in two words: Charity Hospital.

With an abundance of doctors, nurses and other health-care professionals in its clinics, operating rooms and world-renowned emergency department, the colossus on Tulane Avenue and, for nearly 13 years, its sister institution, University Hospital, were the destinations for everything from well-baby clinics to diabetes monitoring to treatment of gunshot wounds.

Hurricane Katrina dramatically changed all that. In addition to sending tens of thousands of New Orleanians scattering across the United States, damage caused by the storm forced the state to relocate the hospitals' medical services, as well as the people who offer them, throughout the statewide Charity Hospital System.

Read article here

EXPECTATIONS TOO HIGH???
I have to question this. So, all those people sitting in the Dome and the Convention Center, all the people who drown waiting for help, all the people who died in their attics, the people who had to loot and steal to feed their children and get water....their expectations were too high??? Gee, so that was the problem, eh?

Military shores up hurricane response

By LOLITA C. BALDOR
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Ahead of the hurricane season that starts June 1, the Pentagon is buying cellular and satellite phone vans, cutting paperwork to speed delivery of aircraft, troops and supplies to stricken areas and already is sending military officers to Gulf states

Yet military officials fear falling short of the public's expectations when the next storm hits, given that the scenes of New Orleans' devastation are still vivid and frustration with the federal response still raw.

"The expectations of our citizens ... have gotten so high that regardless of the responder - local, state, National Guard and Defense Department - folks will be disappointed that they can't get everything they need right away," said Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of U.S. Northern Command. "We have to manage expectations."

Read the full article here

AND THIS FROM THE SOUTH FLORIDA FRONT....

SPECIAL REPORT
Sketches of a catastropheOne day, South Florida will be struck by a much more ferocious hurricane than those that hit last year - and experts predict potentially catasrophic results.

BY MARTIN MERZER


Seven feet of seawater swamps Key Biscayne and 45 miles of coastline from Miami Beach to Deerfield Beach. Saltwater surges through some houses in Hollywood, Coconut Grove and elsewhere. Waist-deep freshwater blankets vast regions of suburban Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

Ferocious winds crush tens of thousands of roofs and gut numerous office buildings. Residents who defy orders to evacuate skyscrapers in Miami Beach, on Hollywood's beach and along Miami's downtown corridors could be blown out of their apartments. Power outages persist for months rather than weeks.

According to simulations conducted for The Miami Herald by scientists at the National Hurricane Center and interviews with a wide range of experts, those are not merely theoretical worst-case scenarios

Read the whole story here

3 WORKERS BURIED ALIVE

On May 1st, construction all but stopped in my area. I come from Chicago. I know alot of guys who worked in the contruction field. They had good unions, made a good wage, and were extremely proud of their work, whether it be building roads, homes, or high rises. One of the things that bothers me about illegal immigration is the construction firms that hire illegals. They are unskilled and underpaid. I don't know about the rest of the nation, but there are more and more major construction accidents in this area. And I have to wonder if it's because of the unskilled labor and if the quality of work being done is bad. It's not fair to workers who used to make a decent wage working construction, nor the workers and families of the workers who die. I also question why housing costs are rising so when the labor costs have obviously gone way done. I also question the quality of roads and housing being built. I know there's building codes, but we all know how that works. Scary....

I have to add, I don't know if the men killed here were illegals. Their names were released by relatives, not by the company. It is just something I wonder about....

Here's the latest incident, killing three workers.

A related story here

NANCY PELOSI SAYS NO IMPEACHMENT

I say, WTF!!! If ever there was a President who should be impeached, it's the knucklehead in the White House now. This country is not going to recover from the damage done because Republican or Democrat, they're all about money, power and getting elected. Is there any of them who really truly care what's being done to our country? Are every last one of them self serving, narcissistic egotistical idiots? The Republicans are going to campaign on the "If Democrats take the house they will impeach" ticket. So what do the Democrats do? Cower. Oohhhhhh we aren't about impeachment. Well Nancy, you damn well should be......

Read the article here

LINKY LINKY

XOITES WRITES (Great read, excellent piece)

BIG BUSINESS IN WAR CONTRACTS

HITLER HAYDEN

INTERNET PHONE CALL WIRETAPS

DIRECT AID TO ISRAEL TOTALS

BASRA ON BRINK OF EXPLODING

IRAQIS PLEDGE SUICIDE BOMBERS TO STOP ATTACK ON IRAN

INTELLIGENCE TEST PART II

PORTOFINO FOR SALE
This yatch is docked at the marina my boat is at. They went out for a cruise last night, and it's a site to see. I love boats. :-) Check out the pics...you can see my marina....and what the inside of a super yatch looks like..... Yikes!

CHALMERS JOHNSON

My brother recommended some reads to me, and I've just started Blowback by Chalmers Johnson. I can't wait to finish it so I can read the next one, Sorrows of Empire. From what I've read so far.......great reads!! If any of my friends would like to read the books when I'm done, I'll mail them on......
Thanks Bro!!

TIME TO BRING EM HOME......

Iraqis Cheer Crash of British Helicopter

By BUSHRA JUHI
Associated Press Writer
Posted May 6 2006, 2:35 PM EDT


BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A British military helicopter crashed in Basra on Saturday, and Iraqis hurled stones at British troops and set fire to three armored vehicles that rushed to the scene. Clashes broke out between British troops and Shiite militias, police and witnesses said.

Police Capt. Mushtaq Khazim said the helicopter was apparently shot down in a residential district. He said the four-member crew was killed, but British officials would say only that there were "casualties."


British forces backed by armored vehicles rushed to the area but were met by a hail of stones from the crowd of at least 250 people, who jumped for joy and raised their fists as a plume of thick smoke rose into the air from the crash site.

Read the full article here.

PAAAAAAALEASE PUT THIS GUY IN JAIL!!

DeLay Office Knew Abramoff Arranged Trip

By JOHN SOLOMON
Associated Press Writer
Posted May 6 2006, 12:47 PM EDT


WASHINGTON -- Prosecutors have e-mails showing Rep. Tom DeLay's office knew lobbyist Jack Abramoff had arranged the financing for the GOP leader's controversial European golfing trip in 2000 and was concerned "if someone starts asking questions."

House ethics rules bar lawmakers from accepting free trips from lobbyists. DeLay, R-Texas, reported to Congress that a Republican advocacy group had paid for the spring 2000 trip that DeLay, his wife and top aides took to Scotland and England.

The e-mails obtained by The Associated Press show DeLay's staff asked Abramoff -- not the advocacy group -- to account for the costs that had to be legally disclosed on congressional travel forms. DeLay's office was worried the group being cited as paying the costs might not even know about them, the e-mails state.

Abramoff's team sought to low-ball the cost estimates and DeLay's office ultimately reported to Congress a total that was a few thousand dollars lower than the one the lobbyist provided, the documents show.

"We should give them the most minimal numbers for cost of the hotel (do not include golf), food and plays," Abramoff wrote two assistants at his Preston Gates lobbying firm in an e-mail from June 29, 2000. One of those assistants, Susan Ralston, now works for top White House adviser Karl Rove.

In a follow-up e-mail to Abramoff, Ralston reported she talked to DeLay's then-deputy chief of staff, Tony Rudy, who suggested numbers that could be used as cost figures on the congressional travel report. Rudy had gone on the trip with his boss.

"Tony said: $6,800 for flights per person. $300 per night for hotel, $120 per day per person for meals, $500 per day for transportation," Ralston wrote Abramoff. Abramoff's credit card bill shows some costs were higher.

Federal prosecutors have secured the cooperation of Abramoff and Rudy, and are investigating whether DeLay filed false public reports to disguise the source and size of political donations, travel and other gifts he received from special interests. Several witnesses have been questioned in recent months about the Scotland trip e-mails.

DeLay's lawyer said Friday he believes the congressman's office asked Abramoff, instead of the GOP group, for the trip costs because the group's top executive was on maternity leave. He noted Abramoff served as director for the group listed as paying for the trip.

"The way I read this was that staff was trying to get it right," lawyer Richard Cullen said of the e-mails. "His (DeLay's) goal and his marching orders to his staff was to do it correctly. And I think staff tried to do it correctly."

An expert on federal disclosure reports said the e-mails raise serious questions about whether DeLay's office filed a false report.

"It clearly shows some members live in a dream world of high-class living and fictional accounting. DeLay's office was part of the public deception. It makes you wonder if there are more filings as fictional as this one is turning out to be," said Kent Cooper, the former chief of public disclosure for the Federal Election Commission.

Abramoff's lawyers declined comment.

It was first disclosed more than a year ago that Abramoff arranged for two clients to pick up most of the costs for the trip and to route the money to the National Center for Public Policy Research listed in the travel reports as the sponsor.

Abramoff's credit card bills show the lobbyist initially charged tens of thousands of dollars in air fare for DeLay's trip to his American Express card. Cullen said he believes the lobbyist consulted with an ethics expert before making the payments.

The trip, which included golf at the famous St. Andrew's professional course, and others like it have become symbols of Abramoff's largesse to lawmakers and a focal point of the criminal investigation into influence peddling on Capitol Hill.

DeLay has steadfastly maintained he believed that the center paid for the trip as he reported.

The e-mails show that when DeLay's office began preparing the required disclosure reports for the free trip, his aides asked Abramoff's lobbying firm for the cost figures instead of the GOP group.

"Our financial disclosure forms from the England/Scotland trip are due tomorrow afternoon. ... I would appreciate if you would send me your information," a DeLay aide wrote Abramoff's firm.

The e-mails show Abramoff's team provided then-DeLay chief of staff Susan Hirschmann a final cost figure of $75,600 for the weeklong European trip taken by DeLay; his wife, Christine; Hirschmann; Hirschmann's husband; and Rudy.

The e-mails stated DeLay's office could attribute the figures to "the final bookkeeping efforts" by the GOP group. Despite the figure from Abramoff, DeLay's report to Congress put the cost lower, at just over $70,000.

Ralston wrote she had a follow-up conversation with DeLay's office. Hirschmann wanted "a name" of someone at the GOP group who would attest to paying for the trip and was concerned whether the center's executive director, Amy Ridenour, knew about the costs.

"She (Hirschmann) just wants to make sure that if someone starts asking questions that Amy Ridenour knows about these s," Ralston wrote.

Hirschmann did not return a call to her office Friday and an e-mail message seeking comment.

The documents show Abramoff initially put the airfare for the DeLay trip on his American Express credit card and arranged for two clients -- the Mississippi Choctaw tribe and eLottery -- to route money to Ridenour's GOP policy group to cover the cost.

DeLay's lawyer said despite the discrepancy in cost figures and the evidence Abramoff initially paid for the airfare on his credit card, DeLay has no plans to change his travel report to Congress. "I think the report was made in good faith," the lawyer said.

AND THE COUNTER KEEPS CLICKING........

10 U.S. Troops Die in Afghan Copter Crash

By JASON STRAZIUSO
Associated Press Writer
Posted May 6 2006, 7:35 AM EDT


KABUL, Afghanistan -- A U.S.-led coalition military transport helicopter crashed while conducting combat operations in the remote mountains of eastern Afghanistan, killing all 10 American soldiers on board, a U.S. military spokeswoman said Saturday.

The CH-47 Chinook crashed late Friday while on a mission in support of Operation Mountain Lion, an offensive to root out Taliban and al-Qaida militants near the border with Pakistan. The crash was not the result of hostile fire, said Lt. Tamara D. Lawrence, a coalition spokeswoman.

Read the rest here

NOW HE'S SELLING OUR NATIONAL FORESTS

WHEN WILL THIS NIGHMARE END?????

National forest lands could go up for sale


Protests greet Bush administration proposal to offset states' losses from logging revenue

By Tom Pelton
Sun reporter
Posted May 5 2006


ROANOKE, Va. -- Along a rocky path of the Appalachian Trail, Sherman Bamford pointed to a mist-shrouded mountainside in the Thomas Jefferson National Forest, where 121 acres could soon be up for public auction.

The land is on a list of about 300,000 acres of national forest the Bush administration has proposed selling to help fund the operation of rural schools and offset cuts in federal aid.

Forest Service officials said yesterday that they do not expect to sell more than about 175,000 acres in order to reach their goal of raising $800 million. But auctioning any of the land would reverse more than a century of federal policy and law barring such sales of national forests.

Bamford and other critics contend that selling the public lands would not only be a betrayal but could set a dangerous precedent of liquidating federal property to fund other struggling programs, such as Medicare, as the government wrestles with an outsized budget deficit.

Read the rest of the story here

THE KENNEDYS CAN'T COMPETE WITH THE BUSHS

Ok, Rep. Patrick Kennedy scratches his car and admits he has a problem and seeks out treatment. The Republican whack jobs are all over the blogs trying to make him the worst person in the world, not to mention nonstop blah blah blah on the MSM. Now I'm not saying it's ok that Kennedy was driving under the influence. It was wrong. But if you want bad.....I'll give you bad....... toe to toe, the Kennedys have nothing on the Bushs when it comes to addictions.....and just plain bad!!!

It's normal in a family for there to be a child or two that has a run-in with the law. For George W Bush and his brother Jeb, the rate is 100%. From sexual misconduct to prescription forgery, here's

(clicky clicky here)


Here's another good one I found today.

BROWARD EVENTS

PROTEST BUSH'S VISIT TO FT LAUDERDALE MAY 8 2006!
President George Bush will be attending a fundraiser for Republican Congressman Clay Shaw on Monday, May 8th right At the home of Monica and Mike Maroone 909 Poinciana Drive Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Let our voices be heard in response!!

We want affordable and accssible health care.
We want high paying, high quality jobs.
We want independence from foreign oil.

Meeting Place:
Las Olas Citgo Service Station
2366 E. Las Olas Boulevard
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301

Meeting Date and Time:
Monday, May 8th
4:00 - 6:00

Bring Your Own Signs!!

Please forward to your organizations, friends, allies, etc!!

When:
Monday, May 8, 2006 at 4:00 PM
Where:
Citgo
2366 E. Las Olas Boulevard
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
(954) 527-1992

Notes:

Per the National Republican Congressional Committee:
"Photograph Opportunity - $4,200 per Individual / $10,000 Per Pac. Minimum Contribution - $2,000 Contact Susan Shurden at (703) 683-5112 or susans@bellwethergroup.net "


Lets pass the hat everybody, I'd love a picture for our website.

__________________________________________________



Loose Change 9/11 Screening
The event will be at the historic Deauville Hotel , Miami Beach http://www.deauvillebeachresort.com (where The Beatles had
their second US performance). The space
seats 600 people. Admission Price is $10 at the door $5 for
students. All proceeds will go to booking the space and the
rest to Loose Change 9/11. Performing are 4 bands (Stop Motion, Before Trees, Jesse Jackson) and then the film screening.

Dylan Avery, Director of Loose Change 9/11 and Korey Rowe the Producer will be speaking before the film.
The flyer should be done by tommorrow and I will email it to you as soon as I get it.

I know that we have 4 15-20 min. speaker slots to fill in
between bands.

I just spoke to a Political Activist group with good media ties
who might be able to bring Channel 7 News and City Link
magazine. The Green Party is also getting involved.

It just goes to show what a small group of people can do to
mobilize and inform others. We will be reaching young people
because along with the speakers and the film we will have punk
and indie bands performing.

Anything I can do to spark this revolution and get people
especially young people to ask questions and challenge the
establishment I will do.

Please contact me if you or anyone you know would like to get
involved.

Yours Faithfully,

Jessica Johnson
JessicaJohnson26@aol.com
305.725.2611

When:
Friday, May 12, 2006 at 8:15 PM
Where:
Deauville Beach Resort
6701 Collins Avenue
Miami Beach, FL 33141
(305) 865-8511

Event fee:
$10.00 per person
Notes:
You can download the video at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2023320890224991194

Widipedia entry for the movie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loose_Change_(video)

Full Review on 911 Blogger http://www.911blogger.com/2005/12/loose-change-second-edition-full.html

HELLLOOOOOOOO ACLU

Principal bars Coral Springs student from singing anti-Bush song at talent show

By Jamie Malernee
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted May 5 2006


A 10-year-old Coral Springs girl won't be allowed to sing a controversial President Bush-bashing ballad at her school talent show after her principal deemed it inappropriate and too political.

The song, Dear Mr. President, performed and co-written by the singer Pink, criticizes the president for the war in Iraq and other policies, including his stance on gay rights.

Parent Nancy Shoul says her daughter Molly should be lauded for choosing lyrics that are full of substance rather than pop music fluff. She said the principal's ban sends a bad message and violates her daughter's right to free speech.
Read the whole article and listen to the song here