The WAWG Blog

Accused of Returning to Terrorism, Former Gitmo Detainee Turns Out to be a Respected Afghan Politician – A former Guantanamo Bay detainee who was named by the Pentagon as one of 74 former captives who returned to terrorism after being released has done no such thing. Instead, he has returned to doing what he was really doing before being picked up by US forces and shuttled off to Gitmo for six years: Working as a politician, a tribal elder representing Afghanistan’s Kunar province. Haji Sahib Rohullah Wakil, a tribal elder who regularly meets with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and other government officials on behalf of the people of Kunar province. Now, with the apparent confirmation that at least one of the people accused of terrorist recidivism is actually a respected Afghan government official, questions will likely arise about the accuracy of that Pentagon report, as well as the motivations behind its being released to the press.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Illegally Hacked into Mobile Phone – Rupert Murdoch’s News Group News papers (same parent company as Fox News) has paid out more than £1m to settle legal cases that threatened to reveal evidence of his journalists’ repeated involvement in the use of criminal methods to get stories.

The payments secured secrecy over out-of-court settlements in three cases that threatened to expose evidence of Murdoch journalists using private investigators who illegally hacked into the mobile phone messages of numerous public figures to gain unlawful access to confidential personal data, including tax records, social security files, bank statements and itemized phone bills.

Sean Hannity Caught Selectively Editing Obama Speeches, Again – Sean Hannity deceptively cropped President Obama’s answer to a question about the Cold War to suggest that Obama did not acknowledge the actions of past U.S. presidents in freeing Eastern Europe. Whenever President Barack Obama goes abroad, cameras follow him, and record the things he says to people. Just as often, it seems, Fox’s Sean Hannity takes the recordings made by those cameras and starts splicing and resplicing up a storm, in order to make it seem that Obama said a bunch of things that he didn’t say. And then, armed with his cut-up, bowdlerized junk, Hannity plays his audience for fools. Click the link for details and video.

Fox & Friends Host Does Insane, Vaguely Racial Ramblings – Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade (the Brown-Haired Guy), as his colleagues attempted to discuss a study that suggested that couples who enjoy long marriages showed a reduced tendency to develop Alzheimer’s disease, came up with these insane, vaguely racial ramblings:

BROWN HAIRED GUY: We keep marrying other species and other ethnics–

GRETCHEN CARLSON: Are you sure you are not suffering from some of the causes of dementia right now?

BROWN HAIRED GUY: The problem is the Swedes have pure genes. They marry other Swedes, that’s the rule. Finns marry other Finns; they have a pure society. In America we marry everybody. We will marry Italians and Irish.

DAVE BRIGGS: This study does not apply?

BROWN HAIRED GUY: Does not apply to us.

[pause]

DAVE BRIGGS: Huh.

New Phrase in Urban Dictionary – Pullin’ a Palin

1. Quitting when the going gets tough; abandoning the responsibility entrusted to you by your neighbors for book advances and to make money on the lecture circuit.

2. Bizarre move that will damn ambitions for higher office.

Regards,

Jim

Texas Gov. Perry May Appoint Rightwing Extremist to Head State Board of Education – The Houston Chronicle reports Gov. Rick Perry is seriously considering nominating Cynthia Dunbar to lead the State Board of Education.

According to the Houston Chronicle:

In a book published last year, Dunbar argued the country’s founding fathers created “an emphatically Christian government” and that government should be guided by a “biblical litmus test.” She endorses a belief system that requires “any person desiring to govern have a sincere knowledge and appreciation for the Word of God in order to rightly govern.”

Also in the book, she calls public education a “subtly deceptive tool of perversion.”

The establishment of public schools is unconstitutional and even “tyrannical,” she wrote, because it threatens the authority of families, granted by God through Scripture, to direct the instruction of their children.

We don’t use the phrase “rightwing nut job” lightly. Gov. Perry has gone too far.

Tell Gov. Perry: Don’t mess with public education in Texas — we won’t accept the appointment of Cynthia Dunbar to lead the State Board of Education. Click the link.

Arizona State Senator Sylvia Allen (R) Says Earth is 6, 000 Years Old – Arizona state Senator Sylvia Allen (R) voices support for opening up uranium mining in the state. Senator Allen responds to statements by environmentalists by assuring them that the “”The earth has been here for 6,000 years – long before anybody had environmental laws – and somehow it hasn’t been done away with.”

Industry-Friendly Nominee for Food Safety Working Group? – A recent issue of Agri-Pulse gave us some bad news. Obama’s considering Michael Taylor to head his new Food Safety Working Group. Mr. Taylor is a lawyer who began his revolving door adventures as counsel to FDA. He then moved to King & Spalding, a private-sector law firm representing Monsanto, a leading agricultural biotechnology company. In 1991 he returned to the FDA as Deputy Commissioner for Policy, where he was part of the team that issued the agency’s decidedly industry-friendly policy on food biotechnology and that approved the use of Monsanto’s genetically engineered growth hormone in dairy cows.

Thugs in Massey Coal Shirts Invade Keeper of the Mountains July 4th Celebration, Try to Bang Heads – Keeper of the Mountains are a West Virginia group opposed to ‘mountain top removal‘ mining. ‘MTR’ is basically wanton environmental destruction, ultra-strip mining, a just-blow-the-sh!t-up ‘energy industry’ practice. The ‘who wouldn’t want a moonscape?’ transformation of beautiful West Virginia.

At the link above is a video sure to get your blood boiling.

Young Republicans to Run Candidate Guilty of Voter Fraud – On July 11th, the Young Republicans will once again run a candidate for national Chairman with a criminal background. The candidate, Rachel Hoff, pled guilty to the misdemeanor of notarizing absentee ballot signatures without actually witnessing them during the 2004 South Dakota Senate race, when she was working for the state Republican Party. In 2007, Glen Murphy, then current Chair of the YRNF, plead guilty of Sexual Assault. He was charged for Sexual Battery doing the exact same thing in 1998.

Sarah Palin Hallucinates About White House Department of Law – In an ABC News interview released Tuesday, Sarah Palin said, ““I think on a national level your department of law there in the White House would look at this, the things we have been charged with, and automatically throw them out, not make somebody hire their own personal attorney to get out there and fight.”

ABC’s Kate Snow and Rick Klein noted, “There is no ‘department of law’ at the White House.”

Palin Speech Causes iPhone App to Explode – In what it hopes will be a blockbuster addition to its trove of popular iPhone applications, Apple announced today that it was introducing a new app that can translate the utterances of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin into English.

The application, called the iPal, is available for downloading today, the company confirmed.
According to Apple, a user of the iPal app can hold his iPhone up to a television when Ms. Palin is appearing and receive a real-time English translation in text form.

Carol Foyler, 34, an early adopter of the iPal app, said that the application is not without its glitches, however.

“I tried to use it last night during a replay of her resignation speech,” she said. “When she got to the part about being a good point guard, my phone exploded.”

Republicans Continue to Be Out-of-Touch With the Rest of America – Sarah Palin’s bombshell that she is resigning as Alaska governor actually has boosted her a bit among Republicans, a nationwide USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, though it also has dented her standing among Democrats and independents. Two-thirds of Republicans want Palin, the party’s vice presidential nominee in 2008, to be “a major national political figure” in the future. Three-fourths of Democrats hope she won’t be. Independents by 55%-34% would prefer she leave the national stage.

Bank Lobbyist’s Freudian Slip: ‘We’re Not For Any Regulation’ – Today, Scott Talbott, Senior Vice President for Government Affairs at The Financial Services Roundtable (one of the financial services industry’s main lobbying arms) appeared on C-Span to discuss the Obama administration’s proposal to create a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). The Roundtable has already made its opposition to the new agency abundantly clear, while claiming there are other ways to enhance financial regulations. However, when asked what the Roundtable would support, Talbott slipped and said “we’re not for any regulation“

Detainees, Even if Acquitted, Might Not Go Free – The Obama administration said Tuesday it could continue to imprison non-U.S. citizens indefinitely even if they have been acquitted of terrorism charges by a U.S. military commission. Jeh Johnson, the Defense Department’s chief lawyer, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that releasing a detainee who has been tried and found not guilty was a policy decision that officials would make based on their estimate of whether the prisoner posed a future threat.

Like the Bush administration, the Obama administration argues that the legal basis for indefinite detention of aliens it considers dangerous is separate from war-crimes prosecutions. Officials say that the laws of war allow indefinite detention to prevent aliens from committing warlike acts in future, while prosecution by military commission aims to punish them for war crimes committed in the past.

Regards,

Jim

Mr. Presidnet,

I am writing to you concerning indefinite detention of suspected criminals/terrorists. On July 3, you told the Associated Press that the idea of indefinite detention gave you” huge pause.” However, huge pause does not mean you oppose it or intend to stop this GWB policy. ‘Huge pause’ sounds like you are holding something back or avoiding the exposer of your actual intent.

Unless there is some basic flaw in our innocent-until-proven-guilty legal system, which has worked for so long and handled many other very evil criminals, I request that this policy be reversed or at least suspended to force a different context for evaluating it’s need.

I can understand the citizenry being intimidated under the exposer to demagoguery, but you are in position to know much more. You also have the legal background.

Remember, every promise broken only makes it easier to break the next one.

Health Care Industry Has Hired Over 350 Lobbyists (Enough to Make You Sick) – The health care industry, in its attempt to influence the debate over health care reform, has hired at least 350 former government staffers and former members of Congress to lobby on the issue. With the many connections these former government workers have, particularly former members of Congress or congressional chiefs of staff, they will have near saturation coverage of the 535 current members of Congress. They also are operating with seemingly bottomless funding. The industry is currently spending $1.4 million a week on lobbying. Perhaps, the most unparalleled lobbying campaign ever.

John Boehner Makes Up Stuff About the Stimulus – U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner told Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace that in “Ohio, the infrastructure dollars that were sent there months ago,” as part of the economic recovery package, “there hasn’t been a contract let, to my knowledge.” But, Boehner is wrong. The Ohio Department of Transportation has OK’d 52 stimulus-funded road and bridge projects at a cost of nearly $84 million. Of course, Wallace did not bother to question Boehner’s claim.

Supreme Court May Change Corporate Campaign Spending Law in Favor of Corporations – With a little-noticed order last week, we fear the Supreme Court has set the stage for dismantling the longstanding ban on corporate spending in elections for president and Congress. If those restrictions are overturned, it would be a disaster for democracy. The most troubling part of the court’s action is the brave new world of politics it could usher in. Auto companies that receive multibillion-dollar bailouts could spend vast sums to re-elect the same officials who hand them the money. If Exxon Mobil or Wal-Mart wants something from a member of Congress, it could threaten to spend as much as it takes to defeat him or her in the next election.

Another Ethics Complaint Against Sarah Palin – In the wake of Governor Palin stepping down from her job, new allegations have surfaced today in Alaska charging Palin with additional violations of the Alaska Executive Ethics Act.

Zane Henning — a conservative government watchdog from the governor’s hometown of Wasilla and an oilfield worker on Alaska’s North Slope — asserts in a letter to Alaska Attorney General Daniel S. Sullivan that Palin has “been charging and pocketing per diem to live in her home and has used the process for a personal gain since being elected.”

In February, Palin was required to pay back income taxes on thousands of dollars in expense money she received while living at her home overlooking Lake Lucille in Wasilla. Little more than two weeks ago she was forced to pay back the State of Alaska more than $8,100.00 for nine trips taken by her children that she had improperly charged as being part of official state business.

Conservative Comment Rating System

90,000 Seals To Be Clubbed To Death – Hunters are expected to club over 90,000 seals, including 85,000 pups during a seal hunt in Namibia, Africa. The hunting season started on July 1 and will run until Nov. 15. Namibia is one of only a few remaining countries with a commercial seal harvest. The government argues that the seal population needs to be controlled to protect fish stocks. However, animal rights activists say the practice is inhumane and outdated. Seals are hunted for skins, fur and meat, and seal genitals are sold as traditional medicines and aphrodisiacs in Asia.

Former Goldman Exec Stole Secret Computer Codes According to Charges – A former vice-president for equity strategy at investment bank Goldman Sachs has been arrested by the FBI on federal charges related to the theft of program-trading codes, news reports indicate. Program trading involves the buying and selling of large quantities of stocks based on automatic computer codes that determine which stocks to buy and sell, at which quantities, and at what price

Private Enterprise Fails Again – Amegy Bank took out a life insurance policy on a bank employee in 2001. After brain surgery to partially remove a tumor left him unable to fully function, a lawsuit alleges, Amegy secretly took out a $1.5 million life insurance policy on him. When his work continued to suffer, the suit alleges, the bank gave him poor performance reviews and then asked him to sign off on the policy. Then Amegy fired him. Johnson died in 2008. Now it appears that Amegy had allegedly taken out two policies on the employee. Thus, with the second, alleged $3.1 million policy, the amended suit says Amegy made $4.79 million off a dead employee. The only reason the employee’s wife found out about the policies was because the first check after his death, which was supposed to go straight to Amegy, was accidentally delivered to her home.

Vice Chair of Young Republicans Caught Laughing at Racist ‘Coon’ Joke – The Vice Chair of the Young Republicans is in political hot water after being caught laughing — and seemingly endorsing — a racist “coon” joke on her Facebook page. Audra Shay, Vice Chair of the Young Republicans, replied to a comment on her Facebook page which declared the “need to take this country back from all of these mad coons” with “You tell em Eric! lol.”

Regards,

Jim

Before deciding what freedom is worth to us in this time of financial catastrophe and preemptive war, let’s take a look at what freedom was worth to another generation of Americans.

The table below shows the U.S. tax rates and brackets for the final two years of WWII. They were only slightly less during the previous two years.

It also shows preserving freedom costs every citizen with earned income and, more importantly, the more they earned, the more they paid for preserving that freedom.

A couple of important aspects of the table above is the number of tax brackets and the maximum tax rate. There are six times as many brackets as we have today and the maximum tax rate was 2.7 times higher in 1945 than the highest rate for 2005.

Note that the above tax brackets are in 1944 dollars. To make this a little more relevant, here is the same table updated to 2005 dollars. For additional relevance, the 2005 tax brackets have been merged into the table. (The year 2005 is used to coincide with the 2005 household income information that is referenced later in this posting.)

The table below compares the 1945 and 2005 tax rates from the above table. The third column shows the reduction in the tax rate. As you can see, the reduction is not uniform and grows as income increases. These non-uniform reductions are highlighted in the last column by comparing all tax rate reductions in column three to the lowest reduction of four percent. The highest reduction is almost fourteen times greater than the lowest.

The table below groups and averages the information from the above table. There are three breakpoints based on the number of households above and below that point.

As you can see from the RICHER GAIN row, the RICHER have gotten, on average, three times greater tax breaks than the POORER, regardless of the breakpoint chosen. At the $105,000 breakpoint, 16 percent of the richest households got 361 percent bigger tax breaks than the other 84 percent of households.

A fourth breakpoint at $63K shows that 37 percent of the RICHER households got a 342 percent bigger tax break than the POORER households.

In my previous posting, I used systemic causation to show that paying taxes contributes to the success of all citizens by trying to provide a basic foundation from which we could all grow. I also stated in the article that, “Cutting taxes, especially for the rich, only increases the chances of success for the rich … while it reduces the chances of success for the rest of America’s citizenry ….”

What the tables above show is that the funds for creating our common good infrastructure have been cut drastically over the last 60 years. That means not only are our chances for success significantly reduced, but so is our ability to maintain our freedom.

Freedom from harm requires our protection. Freedom to grow and succeed requires our empowerment. Protection and empowerment require our government (Freedom cannot be subjugated to free enterprise profits.) and sufficient tax revenue.

• Disproportionate tax breaks for the rich means fewer funds for citizen protection: fewer police, fewer firemen, fewer EMTs, fewer civil service workers to keep an eye on profit-before-morals enterprises, roads and public utilities that can’t be upgraded, a public education system that only works for the rich, fewer air traffic controllers to watch the skies, less funding for scientific research that leads to new employment opportunities, a broken banking system that can’t fund new opportunities, less funding for responding to epidemics and large natural disasters, loss of civil liberties, etc.
• Disproportionate tax breaks for the rich also means fewer funds for citizen empowerment: less funding for proper and free elections, less capable public education for more and more citizens, unbuilt and unmaintained roads for mobility, failing communications and internet services needed for information, brown outs and black outs that reduce business and employment, dwindling water supplies, closed libraries, shorter hours for public services, less stable banking and securities systems, a less fair labor market, etc.

So, taxes improve the possibility of citizen success by allowing our government to protect (freedom from harm) and to empower (freedom to grow) us.

What are we willing to pay for freedom? How about our fair share of citizenship dues – taxes not unlike those of WWII? I suggest we raise the 33 percent tax rate to 35, let the 35 return to 39.6 percent, and add several more brackets for those making more than $500,000.

I made the following statements at the end of an exchange with a libertarian coworker on one of current favorite fear phrases of Conservatives without Conscience – Gangster Government.

Here is how I see our disagreement.

You believe free enterprise is rational and self correcting. I believe free enterprise is, like any other man-made enterprise – including the government, imperfect and in need of a watchdog. The citizens are the watchdog of the government and the government is the watchdog of corporations on behalf of the citizens who lack the power to take on negligent [or abusive] corporations.

You believe government is the problem. I believe that any man-made institution is as good or bad as those in control of the institution, including small businesses, religion, family, corporations, etc. Man is not perfect and therefore any of his creations are not.

GM and the ‘entire’ economy are in trouble? I think the profits of the defense or oil industries disproves that. Also, Walmart is still making a profit: . If that is not enough, take a look at the profits for the industries listed here: . Healthcare tops the list at 10.84% for the mrq.

As for Bachmann, she is just not a reliable source of impartial information.

“Conservatives Without Conscience” is the title of a book by John Dean from the Nixon administration. It goes into great detail about these politicians, their methods, how they compare to those who helped bring Hitler to power, and how they have become what is often referred to as “the base” of The Republican Party.

You have quite a few one liners – at least one is yours. However, you never validate them with any concrete information. It just looks like your copying from a Rupert Murdoch or Frank Luntz script.

You’re right about the IOUs. This nation has quite a few of them. One reason for that is that we keep cutting taxes – three times as much for the rich (>$200K) as the rest of us since the end of WWII. (I’ll be detailing this lopsided Paris Hilton Tax Break in a blog posting soon.) So, without taxes, we borrow. Without taxes to pay for the problems we create and for the preemptive wars the neocons want, we have to ask the world to pay for our mistakes. Why shouldn’t we the people pay for our mistakes and wars? Because if we had to, we would be less likely to make them in the first place.

Don’t trouble us with taxes. Let me shop. Let me go into debt to keep the money flowing to free enterprise, which will keep it, unless you own stock that pays dividends. I’ve gotten more tax rebates than refunds from shopping.

You’re concerned about to much your money going to ‘big bad government.’ I’m concerned about excessive shopping enabled by free enterprise’s credit cards and equity loans. Household debt is now equivalent to our GDP for the first time since The Great Depression.

You believe free enterprise is the answer for everything. I believe that free enterprise, like government, has its place, but when a moral issue that affects my life, liberty and pursuit of happiness is involved, that moral issue should never be subjugated to profit.

No single death of a citizen is acceptable for the sake of profit and too many citizens have been killed by free enterprise and profit above all else. Those deaths require action by our government, not just the imperfect enterprise that caused them.

Any man made institution can become a gangster without a watchdog.

Swiss Bank Helped Rich Americans Evade Taxes – Swiss bank UBS AG “systematically and deliberately” violated U.S. law by dispatching private bankers to recruit wealthy Americans interested in evading taxes, the Justice Department said in a court filing Tuesday. UBS conducted years of illegal business on U.S. soil – business that earned the bank more than $100 million in fees but cost the U.S. hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid taxes.

Michael Scheuer on Fox News: America’s only hope is for another terrorist attack – Michael Scheuer, on Glenn Beck’s show:

The only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States. Because it’s going to take a grass-roots, bottom-up pressure. Because these politicians prize their office, prize the praise of the media and the Europeans. It’s an absurd situation again. Only Osama can execute an attack which will force Americans to demand that their government protect them effectively, consistently, and with as much violence as necessary.

Nothing says “patriotic American” more than wishing for millions of Americans to die.

Oklahoma Rep’s ‘proclamation’ blames gays, porn, abortion for economic woes – Oklahoma State Representative Sally Kern, probably best known for her comparison of homosexuality to toe cancer, has ignited controversy once again with her “Oklahoma Citizen’s Proclamation for Morality,” a document that blames America’s current economic crisis on “our greater national moral crisis.” The document (PDF) blames “abortion, pornography, same sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse and many other forms of debauchery” for the country’s economic woes.

(Well, I agree that some of our economic woes are due to lack of morality; but it’s the lying, cheating stealing, dishonisty, greed variety. – JLV)

A Comparison of Two Health Care Stories

Case #1 (United States)
Woman in the U.S., age 56, going back to school and was uninsured. She came down with what she thought was a severe case of the flu, and as her condition worsened she decided not to see a doctor because of the cost. She died at home in bed, losing her life to a system that did not respect her basic human right to survive. Her death is not an isolated incident. Over 18,000 United States residents die every year because of their lack of prohibitively expensive health insurance. The United States has the distinct honor of being the “only wealthy industrialized nation that does not ensure that all citizens have coverage”.

Case #2 (Venezuela)

During my time in Venezuela, I developed a cough that went on for three weeks and progressively worsened. Finally, after I had become incredibly congested and developed a fever, I decided to attend a Barrio Adentro clinic. The closest one available was a Barrio Adentro II Centro de Diagonostico Integral (CDI) and I headed in without my medical records or calling to make an appointment. Immediately, I was ushered into a small room where Carmen, a friendly Cuban doctor, began questioning me about my symptoms. She listened to my lungs and walked me over to another examination room where, again without waiting, I had x-rays taken.

Afterwards, the technician walked me to a chair and apologized profusely that I had to wait for the x-rays to be developed, promising that it would take no more than five minutes. Sure enough, five minutes later he returned with both x-rays developed. Carmen studied the x-rays and informed me that I had pneumonia, showing me the telltale shadows. She sent me away with my x-rays, three medications to treat my pneumonia, congestion, and fever, and made me promise to come back if my conditioned failed to improve or worsened within three days.

I walked out of the clinic with a diagnosis and treatment within twenty-five minutes of entering, without paying a dime. There was no wait, no paperwork, and no questions about my ability to pay, my nationality, or whether, as a foreigner, I was entitled to free comprehensive health care. There was no monetary value connected with my physical well-being; the care I received was not contingent upon my ability to pay. I was treated with dignity, respect, and compassion, my illness was cured and I was able to continue with my journey in Venezuela.

Regards,

Jim

Private Banker Moved Funds Undetected, No Oversight, No Regulation – As Hernán E. Arbizu tended the fortunes of his gilded South American clients, he says he also illegally took millions of dollars from them for years while at both banks, without being detected. What is more, Mr. Arbizu said he regularly dipped into UBS client accounts — and even visited the Swiss giant’s offices in Manhattan to ensure that the illicit transactions went through — for at least a year after he left UBS for a new job at Chase in the fall of 2006. he also said that UBS “didn’t have proper control over its bankers” and he accused the bank of creating an atmosphere of pressure to keep clients and reel in new ones. He insisted that he had not personally profited from his actions, but rather had shifted money between accounts to make good on unrealistic investment promises he made to keep important clients.

Americans Are Dying or Wish They Were Dead Because of Our For-Profit Health Insurance System – People across the United States are sharing their personal stories with Barack Obama’s repurposed campaign arm, Organizing For America, to tell the world about the failures of the U.S. health care system. Some people say they would almost rather die than deal with it.

Joan in Washington, D.C. wrote that she fears she and her husband will be homeless if he can’t find a job, and that she is “uninsurable” because of cancer.

“Maybe I should wish for the cancer to kill me sooner — it might be a better option,” Joan wrote. “I am terrified.”

Jackie in Logan, N.D., wrote that she cried when she was hospitalized in January out of fear for the bills — even though she has health insurance.

“I told my husband that perhaps I should just go home and wait to die,” Jackie wrote, “as it would be cheaper to be cremated, than to have to exist dealing with the debt of surviving.”
Brad of Granite City, IL, wrote that “I may die any day because Health Insurance isn’t available to me.”
“For profit healthcare killed my wife,” wrote John of Nashville, Tenn.

Mountain Top Removal Mining Making West Virginia Into Hell – Nothing can prepare you for scale of complete devastation. No living thing survives Mountain Top Removal Mining. The toxic sludge produced from cracking the coal during processing has created tremendous bodies of toxic liquid waste, well over 100 billion gallons held back by nothing more substantial than walls of dirt presenting area residents with an ever-present apocalyptic threat far exceeding that of a nuclear holocaust during the cold war. The people below — including the students and teachers at Marsh Fork Elementary — have four minutes to evacuate before certain death swallows them whole, and there is no evacuation plan.

This entirely unnecessary ecological disaster is the brainchild of Massey Energy’s Don Blankenship. The Bush administration gave Blackenship and Massey Energy a green light to pursue Mountain Top Removal on a scale that knows virtually no limits. In West Virginia alone over 3.5 million pounds of explosives are used per day, 300 days a year (the 4th of July or Sundays are the only respite). Massey energy blasts the tops off mountains to expose the coal buried inside. Rocks fall like rain from the sky terrorizing residents in the valleys below and the force of the explosions literally causes homes to collapse. Massey is nothing if not generous, they purchase the one or two now worthless properties from the families closest to the MTR for pennies on the dollar. The locals further down from the sites then hold their tongues anticipating Massey will buy them out as the ruble and blasting moves ever closer to them. This never happens. Eventually, as the explosions above tear the sky and earth to pieces, walls separate, windows shatter and the structures begin to fail. The terrorized people whose ancestors settled the region long ago ultimately leave. Massey then burns their homes to the ground at no additional charge. Don Blankenship, neighbor and friend at your service. If you are very lucky, they might relocate the remains of your departed family members from the plot in your back yard. Or not.

This is the great American tragedy, and every citizen of this country should be ashamed and horrified that we are collectively allowing this to happen. If you use electricity in the US chances are good that some of it is supplied by a coal-fired electric plant burning Massey coal from what once was a mountain in West Virginia.

There are at Least 44 Dangerous Coal Ash Sites in the U.S. That Could Bury Communities – The Environmental Protection Agency released on Monday afternoon a list of 44 “high hazard potential” coal ash sites that the federal government had previously insisted be kept secret. In addition to the 44 coal sites that have been designated “high hazard,” there are hundreds more that could pose environmental and health risks. “The presence of liquid coal ash impoundments near our homes, schools and business could pose a serious risk to life and property in the event of an impoundment rupture” said EPA administrator Lisa Jackson in a statement.

Regards,

Jim

Conservative Internet Radio Host, Arrested For Inciting Violence Against Public Officials – Hal Turner, an occasional talk show host on internet radio and blogger, was arrested today by the FBI in his New Jersey home on charges he threatened to murder three federal appeals court judges in Chicago following their recent ruling upholding handgun bans. According to the U.S. attorney’s office, postings on Turner’s web site included photos of the judges and addresses for them, with statements such as: “Let me be the first to say this plainly; These judges deserve to be killed.”

A day after Turner posted the original threat, urging readers that “it appears another lesson is needed,” he posted an update with the names of the judges, along with photographs, phone numbers, and work addresses, right down to office numbers. In the update, Turner wrote: “Judges official public work addresses and a map of the area are below. Their home addresses and maps will follow soon. Behold these devils.”

Michael Savage Makes Threats, Does Cyberstalking – Michael Savage has decided to engage in a tidy bit of web-stalking of his critics at Media Matters, threatening to put up the pictures and “pertinent information” of the organization’s employees. What’s strange about this is that Media Matters has been making the case for some time now that right-wing voices have been ramping up rhetoric that specifically urges violent acts and intimidation. So now, Savage is talking about a running a web-stalking campaign against them?

Democratic Detroit Council Member Guilty in Taking Bribes – City Council member Monica Conyers, the wife of powerful Democratic congressman John Conyers, pleaded guilty Friday to accepting cash bribes in exchange for supporting a sludge contract with a Houston company. Prosecutors accused Monica Conyers of accepting two payments from a Synagro Technologies official in late 2007 in exchange for supporting a wastewater sludge contract. They said Conyers received envelopes containing cash on Nov. 20, 2007 in the parking lot of a Detroit community center and on Dec. 4 of that year in a McDonald’s parking lot. In November 2007, Conyers voted in favor of the Synagro contract.

Bachmann Compares Census To WWII Internment Camps – Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is taking her refusal to fully fill out her Census form, which is a crime punishable by a $5,000 fine, to a whole new level on Fox News: “If we look at American history, between 1942 and 1947, the data that was collected by the Census Bureau was handed over to the FBI and other organizations at the request of President Roosevelt, and that’s how the Japanese were rounded up and put into the internment camps … I’m not saying that that’s what the Administration is planning to do, but I am saying that private personal information that was given to the Census Bureau in the 1940s was used against Americans to round them up, in a violation of their constitutional rights, and put the Japanese in internment camps.”

Regards,

Jim

“Fair and Balanced” Fox News Argues in Court For Right to Lie and Deliberately Distort News Reports – The attorneys for Fox, owned by media baron Rupert Murdock, successfully argued the First Amendment gives broadcasters the right to lie or deliberately distort news reports on the public airwaves. On February 14, a Florida Appeals court ruled there is absolutely nothing illegal about lying, concealing or distorting information by a major press organization. The court reversed the $425,000 jury verdict in favor of journalist Jane Akre who charged she was pressured by Fox Television management and lawyers to air what she knew and documented to be false information. The ruling basically declares it is technically not against any law, rule, or regulation to deliberately lie or distort the news on a television broadcast. The court did not dispute the heart of Akre’s claim, that Fox pressured her to broadcast a false story to protect the broadcaster from having to defend the truth in court, as well as suffer the ire of irate advertisers.

In Review Of Impact Of Political Sex Scandals, Fox News Report Names Only Democrats – In a report on Live Desk on 6/25/09, Fox News’ James Rosen assured the hosts that despite the current notoriety of Gov. Mark Sanford (R-NC), both political parties have been involved in sex scandals. He proceeded to provide what purported to be an overview – but it just happened to include Democrats, only: Jim McGreevey, Bill Clinton and Marion Barry.

And now, to provide balance to the above…
Conservative Values, a List of Self-Unaware Hypocrites – Nearly all of the people listed below have made public pronouncements of morality, tell you how you should live, denounce gays, the poor and the sick (it’s their own fault), and called for President Clinton to resign during his affair, but somehow, they can’t manage their own lives:

S.C. Governor Mark Sanford – Disappeared for a week without telling anyone, including his wife and State Law Enforcement Division, which provides security for him. Later Sanford’s spokesman told the press that Sanford was hiking the Appalachian Trail. After returning to duty, he admitted he had actually been in Argentina with his mistress. (The real problem with Mark Sanford is outsourcing his desires to another country when so many hardworking American women of easy virtue are out of work. 😉 )

John Ensign – Admitted he had an extramarital affair with a staffer after the threat of being blackmailed.

David Vitter – A “family-values far-right conservative” Senator from Louisiana, had an affair with a prostitute in 1999 and admitted to a “serious sin” after his telephone number was disclosed by the so-called “D.C. Madam” in 2007. Lost a lawsuit for assaulting a woman at a town hall meeting. Had a pack with white supremacist David Duke to suppress the black vote.

Larry Craig – Idaho’s anti-gay Republican Senator was arrested and pled guilty to soliciting gay sex in an airport restroom in June 2007.

Glenn Murphy Jr. – Chairman of the Clark County Republican Party and president of the Young Republican National Federation accosted two men by attempting to perform oral sex on them as they slept.

Mark Foley – abruptly resigned from Congress after “sexually explicit” emails surfaced showing him flirting with a 16-year old boy.

Ted Haggard – Adviser to George W Bush on “spiritual matters” and fervent homophobe who resigned his leadership of the National Association of Evangelicals and stepped aside as pastor of his church after admitting to having a three year affair with a male prostitute and using methamphetamine.

Bob Allen, Florida Republican representing District 32 of the State House of Representatives – arrested 7/11/07 for solicitation for prostitution after he solicited an undercover male officer inside a public restroom, offering to perform oral sex for $20. Before his arrest, Representative Bob Allen sponsored a failed bill that would have tightened the state’s prohibition on public sex. He also has been a supporter of amending the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage and has opposed a bill to curb bullying of gay students. After his arrest, he blamed his actions on a fear of African-Americans!

Coy Privette, the president of the Christian Action League, a North Carolina ultraconservative Christian political organization based in Raleigh, arrested on 7/19/07 for soliciting prostitution after paying his hookers with checks and then reporting then stolen. Privette also served as a Republican in the N.C. Legislature from 1984 to 1992 and has been a member of the board of commissioners in Cabarrus County since 1998.

Philip Giordano, Republican mayor of Waterbury, Conn., was convicted of paying a crack-addicted prostitute to bring her daughter and niece to him for sexual encounters in 2000 and 2001, when they were 8 and 10. He was sentenced to 37 years in prison for sexually abusing the two girls.

Matteo Fontana – Department of Education official under George W Bush, overseer the student loan industry, was put on leave after disclosure that he owned at least $100,000 worth of stock in a student loan company.

Julie MacDonald – Appointed by George W Bush to oversee the Fish and Wildlife Service although she has no academic background in biology. She overrode recommendations of agency scientists about how to protect endangered species and improperly leaked internal information to private groups.

Philip Cooney – Former oil-industry lobbyist who became chief of staff for the White House Council on Environmental Quality under George W Bush, acknowledged to a House committee that he edited three government reports to eliminate or downplay links between greenhouse gases and global warming. He left the government in 2005 to work for Exxon.

J. Steven Griles – A former oil and gas lobbyist who became Deputy Interior Secretary under George W Bush, convicted in the Abramoff influence-peddling scandal, pleading guilty to obstructing justice by lying to a Senate committee about his relationship with Abramoff. Abramoff repeatedly sought Griles’ intervention at Interior on behalf of Indian tribal clients.

Darleen Druyun – Air Force procurement officer under George W Bush served nine months in prison in 2005 for violating conflict-of-interest rules after agreeing to lease Boeing refueling tankers for $23 billion, despite Pentagon studies showing the tankers were unnecessary. After making the deal, she quit the government to join Boeing.

David H. Safavian – White House aide for George W Bush was convicted last year of lying to government investigators about his ties to Jack Abramoff and faces an 180-month prison sentence.

Claude Allen – George W Bush’s domestic policy adviser, pleaded guilty to theft in making phony returns at discount department stores. He was to two years of supervised probation and fined $500.

“Jeff Gannon” – Pseudonym for James Guckert — who worked for fake news agency Talon News, with “daily passes” obtained from the Secret Service and FBI allowing Guckert/Gannon access to White House press briefings and to parse questions to President George W. Bush. Guckert/Gannon was later exposed as a gay prostitute.

John Doolittle, Deputy Whip for the Republican party in the House, resigned from the Committee on Appropriations in response to a raid by the FBI at his Northern Virginia home investigating his involvement with Jack Abramoff. His wife worked for Jack Abramoff and was paid via a company called Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions, based at the couple’s home and founded just after Congressman Doolittle gained a seat on the Appropriations Committee. She is the only employee.

Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA), caught by police with a prostitute in a parked car in California. Subsequently, Calvert repeatedly attempted to cover up the incident for nearly a year, publicly denying that it ever occurred.

Republican Congressman Dan Crane had sex with a female minor working as a congressional page.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist – Under investigation from the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission about his sale of stock in his family’s hospital company one month before its price fell sharply. Accepted over $23,000 from the tobacco industry, although he is a doctor. Adopted cats from animal shelters so he could kill them.

Randall Harold “Duke” Cunningham – Resigned from the House after pleading guilty to accepting at least $2.4 million in bribes and underreporting his income for 2004. Plead guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion. Sentenced to eight years and four months in prison and an order to pay $1.8 million in restitution.

Bob Dole – Cheated on his first wife with his current wife, Elizabeth Dole.

Henry Hyde – Had a seven year affair with a married woman with three kids, an affair that continued even after the woman’s husband, Fred Snodgrass, found out about it and demanded that Hyde leave his wife alone.

Newt Gingrich – Dumped his ex-wife while she was in a hospital bed suffering from cancer. Was screwing his aid while sitting in judgment of President Clinton. He resigned as speaker of the house. Also funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to his campaign donors. His district received more taxpayer’s money than all the other districts in America.

Bill Bennett – When not telling Americans how to be virtuous can be found in Las Vegas gambling the night away.

Gov. John Rowland – Had to resign after it was discloses he illegally accepted gifts from state contractors. Plead guilty federal charge of criminal conspiracy.

Rep. Bill Janklow – Convicted of manslaughter. Habitual speeder and reckless driver.

John Linder – Has a wandering eye for his female staff members.

Mike Bowers – Cheated on his wife for fifteen years.

Jack Ryan – Had to drop out of senatorial race after it was disclosed he forced his wife to perform sex acts in front of strangers.

William Cohen – Cheated on his wife then dumped her for his mistress..

Jeanine Pirro – Republican District Attorney required a grocery chain to hire Bernard B. Keriks security consulting firm in 2004 to settle charges brought by her office. In 2005, Ms. Pirro was caught on tape asking Mr. Kerik to secretly tape her husbands conversations to see if he was having an affair with another woman, prompting a federal investigation.

Bernard Kerik – Had overlapping affairs with Judith Regan, the publisher of his recent memoir, and a city correction officer. He used the same New York City apartment for liaisons with the women. Accepted unreported gifts of thousands of dollars in cash and other items from associates at a New Jersey construction company while serving as NY police commissioner. Ordered to pay a conflict-of-interest fine for using three police officers to do research about his mother for his autobiography.

Guy Millner – Has been married three times, partly because he has sex with women he isn’t married to.

Rush Limbaugh – Cheated on at least two of his four wives. Dope addict. Used his maid as a drug runner. Accepted plea agreement to avoid charges of prescription fraud. On probation with mandatory drug screening. Avoided draft during Vietnam by saying he had an anal cyst. Fired seven times.

Mitch Skandalakis – Hired hookers from his Las Vegas hotel room.

Rudolph Giuliani – Married three times. His first marriage was to his second cousin. He lived with his second wife while still married to his first wife. His second wife found out through a press conference Giuliani was leaving her for his assistant who he was having an affair with. Estranged from both his son Andrew and his daughter Caroline.

Michael Deaver – Was so drunk he doesn’t remember hiring hookers.

Richard A. Delgaudio – Nationally-known Republican party fund-raiser plead guilty to producing child pornography after paying two teenage girls to pose for sexual photos in a Baltimore hotel.

Nicholas Elizondo – Director of the “Young Republican Federation” molested his 6-year old daughter and was sentenced to six years in prison.

Earl “Butch” Kimmerling – The Republican anti-gay activist was sentenced to 40 years in prison for molesting an 8-year old girl after he attempted to stop a gay couple from adopting her.

Bill Randall – A Florida Congressional candidate and minister, he fathered an illegitimate child during his affair.

Phil Gramm – Funded porn movie. Draft dodger. Laundered illegal campaign funds. Wife Wendy corporate crook.

Rep. Bob Barr – Cheated on all three of his wives. Used pro-lifer’s money to get elected and then forced his wife to have an abortion. Also a member of the CCC, a KKK like organization.

Bill McCartney – Promise Keepers founder who didn’t keep his Promise to his wife and then lied about it for 20 years.

George Will – Divorced his first wife, leaving her with a mentally disabled child, for a younger woman.

Bob Dornan – Regularly beat his wife but he is a ‘family values’ republican.

Rep. Ken Calvert – Christian Coalition ally was caught by police in 1993 receiving oral sex from a prostitute. His ex-wife also sued him for failure to pay alimony.

Rep. Dan Burton – Had at least six adulterous affairs, and fathered an out-of-wedlock child which he ignores.

Rep. Robert Bauman – Homophobic Congressman charged with soliciting sex from a 16-year old boy he picked up at a gay bar, admitted that he had been the victim of an extortion scheme by a man who had a sexual relationship with him.

Rep. Bill Thomas – Cheated on his wife with health care lobbyist Deborah Steelman.

Sen. Strom Thurmond – Cheated on his fourth wife at age 88! Raped his underage maid and fathered a child by her.

Gilbert Davis – Paula Jones’ attorney, who allowed himself to be videotaped drunk during his adultery.

Bob Packwood – Drank huge amounts of hard liquor and then tongue-kissed his female staffers against their will.

Gov. Kirk Fordice – Got so hopped up by his mistress that he crashed his Jeep Cherokee and got himself hurt.

Beverly Russell – The Christian Coalition coordinator and Republican activist molested his stepdaughter Susan Smith, who later killed her own two children.

Gov. George Ryan – Found guilty by a federal jury of all 18 counts of federal public corruption charges against him.

Rep. Donald “Buz” Lukens – Found guilty of having sex with a minor and sent to jail.

Rep. Sue Myrick – Cheated on her husband and left him for another man.

Bob Livingston – The GOP Speaker-to-never-be, cheated on his wife Bonnie – with at least four women.

Michael Huffington – The Former GOP Congressman who cheated on his wife Arianna – with other men.

Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin – Had an adulterous affair with her Security Guard – a state trooper.

Edward Schrock – Republican Congressman resigned from Congress after he was caught searching for sex on a gay telephone service.

Rep. Helen Chenoweth – After criticizing President Clinton for the “sordid spectacle” of an extramarital affair and airing a campaign advertisement in which she says that “personal conduct and integrity does matter,” she admitted that she had engaged in a long-term affair with a married man.

Rep. John Schmitz – Extreme right-wing Republican fathered two children by a mistress, a former student named Carla Stuckle whom Schmitz taught when he was a professor at Santa Ana College. His daughter, Mary Kay LeTourneau, made national headlines when as a school teacher, she was arrested twice for having sex and producing two children with an underage student of hers (beginning when he was only 13 years old).

Rep. John Boehner – Distributed money from tobacco industry lobbyists on the House floor to members who had voted in favor of tobacco interests.

Gov. Bob Taft III – Plead no contest in Aug. 2005 to charges that he violated state ethics laws, becoming the first governor in the state’s history to be convicted of a crime.

Spokane Republican Mayor Jim West – Homophobic mayor admits meeting men online for sex – as well as offering gifts, favors and a City Hall internship to a young man for sex.

West Hartford Republican Mayor Philip Giordano is serving a 37-year sentence in federal prison for sexually abusing 8- and 10-year old girls.

Edison Misla Aldarondo – Republican legislator was sentenced to 10 years in prison for raping his daughter between the ages of 9 and 17.

Donald “Buz” Lukens – Republican Congressman was found guilty of having sex with a female minor and sentenced to one month in jail.

Neal Horsley -Republican anti-abortion activist admitted to having sex with a mule.

Matthew Glavin – President of the conservative Southeastern Legal Foundation, which sought to have President Clinton disbarred in Arkansas; resigned after being charged with public indecency for fondling himself and an undercover park ranger in May in Georgia’s Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area.

Republican pastor Mike Hintz, whom George W. Bush commended during the 2004 presidential campaign, surrendered to police after admitting to a sexual affair with a female juvenile.

Jim Bakker – Cheated on his wife. Stole millions of dollars. Eventually got locked up in chains and sent to federal prison.

Jimmy Swaggart – Who broke down crying after he got busted with an ugly hooker. Turns around and is caught doing it again.

Pat Robertson – Impregnated a girl and refused to marry her until her parents threatened to contact the media. Owns interest in gold mine in Liberia and supported the ruthless dictator Charles to protect his mine. Advocates abortion for Chinese women.

Lou Beres – Republican chairman of the Oregon Christian Coalition confessed to molesting a 13-year old girl.

Richard Nixon – Forced to resign in disgrace. Covered up Watergate. Pardoned by Gerald Ford for “for any and all crimes” that he might have committed while President.

G. Gordon Liddy – Convicted of conspiracy, burglary, and wiretapping.

H.R. Haldeman – Convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury.

John Ehrlichman – Convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury.

Attorney General John N. Mitchell – Convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury.

Spiro Agnew – Resigned office of Vice-President after pleading guilty to tax evasion.

Ronald Reagan – Dumped Jane Wyman by cheating on her with several Hollywood starlets. Secretly sold weapons to terrorists then lied about it.

Oliver North – While guest host on the Rush Limbaugh show he advocated the assassination of President Clinton. Lied to congress. Sold arms to enemies. Guilty of obstruction of justice, shredded Iran Contra documents, ordered his secretary to smuggle out incriminating evidence in her panties.

John McCain – Left his first wife after she had been severely injured in an automobile accident for a rich former rodeo beauty queen 18 years his junior. Investigated by the Senate Ethics Committee for attempting to influence federal regulators inquiring into the Lincoln Savings and Loan, owned by McCain’s friend and campaign contributor Charles Keating. Between 1984 and 1986, McCain failed to disclose over $15,000 worth of trips and gifts from junk bond king Charles Keating on his financial disclosure forms, and only reimbursed Keating after the scandal broke.

Cindy McCain – Stole drugs to feed her drug habit, including Percocet and Vicodin, from her own nonprofit medical relief organization, American Voluntary Medical Team. An AVMT employee, who had discovered her illegal drug use, tipped off the Drug Enforcement Administration and a federal investigation ensued resulting in McCain paying the costs of the government’s investigation.

George HW Bush – Linda Tripp says had he an affair with a woman named Jennifer Fitzgerald while president.

George W. Bush – Convicted of drunk driving. Lied to congress and US citizens about Iraq’s nuclear capability just to justify his pre-emptive war. Covered up Saudi aid to 9-11 hijackers. Lied on a juror form about his arrest record, a felony in Texas. Lawsuit filed by Christian book writer Margie Schoedinger claimed Bush raped and harassed her. She was found dead of a gunshot wound 9 months after filing the lawsuit.

Neil Bush – Fined for his “ethical disability” in Silverado savings and loan investigation. Cost to tax payers: 1 billion dollars (still paying interest), Cost to Bush: $0. The $50,000 fine was paid by a banking deregulation lobby. Admitted that he had sex with prostitutes while on trips to Thailand and Hong Kong.

Jeb Bush – Defaulted on a $4,56 million loan from Broward Federal Savings in Sunrise, Florida. After federal regulators closed the S&L, the office building that gave Jeb used that loan, the $4.56 million to finance was reappraised by the regulators to $.5 million, which Bush and his partners paid, thereby leaving the taxpayers with a $4 million LOSS.

Columba Bush – Smuggled $16,000 worth of clothes and jewelry into the US after a trip from France.

George P. Bush – Broke into ex-girlfriend’s house and drove circles in her front yard with his car during a fit of rage.

John “Jebby” Bush – Caught by the police with his pants down in a parking lot, having sex with a teen-age girl.

Noelle Bush – Arrested for prescription fraud. Ordered by a judge to attend a rehabilitation program. During her time at the facility, Bush was found in contempt of court twice – once after being accused of taking prescription pills from a nurse’s office and once after she was caught with cocaine.

Dick Cheney – Convicted at least twice for drunk driving. Received five draft deferments from serving in Vietnam because he “had other priorities in the sixties than military service.”

Tom DeLay – Had to resign in disgrace as House majority leader after a Texas grand jury indicted him on a conspiracy charge stemming from a long-running campaign finance investigation. Admonished by House ethics committee three times for unethical behavior.

I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby – Indicted on five charges related to the CIA leak probe: one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of perjury and two counts of making false statements. He was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in a grand jury’s investigation of the outing of CIA operative Valierie Plame. The trial also implicated Karl Rove and Dick Cheney in a campaign to discredit her husband, retired diplomat and Iraq war critic Joe Wilson.

Paul D. Wolfowitz – Served as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense for George W Bush and considered the architect of the Iraq War. Nominated by Bush for president of the World Bank, where he became involved in a relationship with World Bank Senior Communications Officer (and Acting Manager of External Affairs) for the Middle East and North Africa Regional Office Shaha Ali Riz, despite the organization’s own ethics rules precluding simultaneous employment of couples if one reports to the other even indirectly through a chain of supervision. Wolfowitz promoted her to a job at the state department under Liz Cheney, the daughter of the vice-president, resulting in a raise of over $60,000, as well as guarantees of future increases, more than double the amount allowed under employee guidelines, while keeping her on the World Bank payroll.

Regards,

Jim