Bad Deeds for 2-21-07

Dick Cheney and Libby countermanded and misled colleagues as they pursued clearing Cheney’s name in connection with flawed pre-war intelligence – Hours of testimony and reams of documents in the trial of Lewis Libby has shown Vice President Dick Cheney and his former chief of staff Libby countermanding and even occasionally misleading colleagues at the highest levels of President Bush’s inner circle as the two pursued their own goal of clearing Cheney’s name in connection with flawed pre-war intelligence.

U.S. placing missiles in Poland and a radar site in the Czech Republic may start new cold war with Russia – In a statement reflecting the growing distrust between Moscow and the West, a top Russian general on Monday warned that Poland and the Czech Republic risk being targeted by Russian missiles if they agree to host U.S. missile defense bases. The stark threat, by missile forces chief Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov, was one of the most bellicose comments yet by Russian officials on the issue, which 10 days ago led President Vladimir Putin to warn of a “new Cold War” in a speech in Munich that shocked Western governments.

Justice Dept. inflated terror stats to include marriage fraud and drug cases – Federal prosecutors counted immigration violations, marriage fraud and drug trafficking among anti-terror cases in the four years after 9/11 even though no evidence linked them to terror activity, a Justice Department audit said Tuesday. Overall, nearly all of the terrorism-related statistics on investigations, referrals and cases examined by department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine were either diminished or inflated. Only two of 26 sets of department data reported between 2001 and 2005 were accurate, the audit found.

Glenn Beck Says, “I Find It Difficult To Feel Bad For New Orleans” – Glenn Beck, who called the Katrina families “scumbags“, attacks New Orleans again..

I find it very difficult in some ways to feel bad for New Orleans, because you’ve voted your government in. It’s a bad government. You didn’t know that after Katrina, as you were sitting there and the buses were underwater, but the city of New Orleans would like to let you know that crime usually decreases during Mardi Gras.

If you want to do something about Glenn Beck sign the petition

Also contact his sponsors about their support for Glenn Beck and tell them you will boycott their stores/products until they end their support for him:

• Best Buy
• Ford
• Office Depot
• Welch’s

Bush friends hold plum jobs, retain power in Washington – Six years into Mr. Bush’s presidency, the corps of loyal Texans who accompanied him to Washington from Austin remains a powerful force inside the administration, a steady source of comfort for an increasingly isolated president. No matter how grim the polls or dire the news in Iraq, they have stood by Mr. Bush — and been rewarded with plum jobs — as their lives have grown increasingly intertwined with one another’s and with his.

Church will continue to provide disgraced former pastor Ted Haggard approximate $130,000 salary – Haggard resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals in November after former male escort Mike Jones alleged Haggard paid him for sex and sometimes snorted methamphetamine. Haggard was removed as senior pastor at New Life and admitted to “sexual immorality” in a letter to the church.

FOX News Says Teachers Unions more dangerous than Al Qaeda and Democrats are to blame for Iraq – On Hannity & Colmes (2/19/07), FOX News favorite Neal Boortz announced that teachers unions are more dangerous than Al Qaeda. That was just the first of many attempts to paint Americans with whom he disagrees as equivalent to enemy combatants. The guest on that show also said, “But our efforts in Iraq have been sabotaged by Democrat hatred of George Bush.”

Bush Makes it Easier for Him to Declare Martial Law and Take Over Local Law Enforcement – A disturbing recent phenomenon in Washington is that laws that strike to the heart of American democracy have been passed in the dead of night. So it was with a provision quietly tucked into the enormous defense budget bill at the Bush administration’s behest that makes it easier for a president to override local control of law enforcement and declare martial law.

Big Brother is Watching You – Innocent Americans’ data is being swept up and stored thanks to the use of the “full pipe” data gathering technique. Second, that the government’s Total Information Awareness Program – which was “killed” but never defunded – was being used to build domestic spying facilities around the country. Whistleblowers have come forward to establish the existence of another secret spy room on AT&T’s network, built post 9-11.

Microsoft’s Bill Gates Says Reviews for Windows Vista Have Been Fantastic Despite all the Bad Reviews – Asked if there was anything that would make Microsoft cautious about the outlook for Vista, Microsoft founder Bill Gates replied: “I don’t know what you mean. Vista’s had an incredible reception. The reviews have been fantastic. This is a big, big advance in the Windows platform.”

Bill Gates seems to be in an alternate universe. Windows Vista’s “incredible” reception and “fantastic” reviews includes:

The Register: Vista first look: Bugs and confusion; “Don’t buy it” – February 14, 2007

Forbes: “Dim Vista: Windows Vista utterly unimaginative, internally discordant and woefully out of tune” – February 9, 2007

Digit: Don’t buy Vista; Microsoft may be driving millions to stick with XP or move to Apple Mac – February 05, 2007

TIME Magazine: Microsoft’s Windows Vista “an embarrassment to the good name of American innovation” – February 02, 2007

The Inquirer: Microsoft’s Windows Vista Makes Me Sad: Five years for a chrome-plated turd – January 30, 2007

Digit: “Microsoft’s Windows Vista may be the best reason yet to buy an Apple Mac” – January 29, 2007

Pioneer Press: Vista’s pretty, but it’s a shameless Mac OS X imitator – January 29, 2007

CNET Reviews Windows Vista: Is that all? Clunky and not very intuitive vs. Mac OS X; warmed-over XP – January 24, 2007

Wall Street Journal: Mossberg: Microsoft’s Windows Vista offers lesser imitations of Apple’s Mac OS X features – January 18, 2007

Technology Review: Windows Vista disappointment drives longtime “Microsoft apologist” to Apple’s Mac OS X – January 17, 2007

InformationWeek Review: Apple’s Mac OS X shines in comparison with Microsoft’s Windows Vista – January 06, 2007

NY Times’ Pogue reviews Microsoft’s Windows Vista: “Looks, Locks, Lacks” – December 14, 2006

Dave Winer: “Microsoft isn’t an innovator, and never was – they are always playing catch-up” – December 01, 2006

The Inquirer: Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard is 64-bit done right, unlike Microsoft’s Windows Vista kludge – August 14, 2006

Analyst: Apple’s new Mac OS X Leopard sets new bar, leaves Microsoft’s Vista in the dust – August 08, 2006

Microsoft second rate copy job: Windows Vista Flip3D vs. Apple Mac OS X Expose’ – June 26, 2006

Windows Vista rips-off Mac OS X at great hardware cost (and Apple gains in the end) – June 13, 2006

Computerworld: 20 Things You Won’t Like About Windows Vista – June 02, 2006

Why Vista’s DRM is Bad for you – February 14, 2007

Computerworld: Windows expert dumps Windows, switches to Apple’s Mac OS X – February 08, 2007

Windows sufferer spends six hours trying to “upgrade” to Vista, says: “I should’ve bought a Mac” – February 07, 2007

Ballmer Blames Pirates for Poor Vista Sales – February 19, 2007

Regards,

Jim