Collective Sigh

The first flight test in nearly two years of a planned U.S. missile-defense shield has been scrapped two days in a row this week because of bad weather, the Pentagon said on Friday.

Strong rain squalls over the Kwajalein atoll launch site in the central Pacific caused the latest postponement, Richard Lehner, a spokesman for the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency, said shortly after the decision to scrap the test. A new attempt might be made later in the day, he said.

The Pentagon had not previously publicized the test.

I just got yours and mom's messages. To answer your questions. They don't want to spend the money to up armor our vehicles so they are flying my small group up to baghdad. The rest of our guys are spread out and believe they are uparmoring and shipping some of them because uparmoring costs lots of money.

PENN WESTERN BENEFIT$

One book in the “Choosing the Best” series presents a story about a knight who saves a princess from a dragon. The next time the dragon arrives, the princess advises the knight to kill the dragon with a noose, and the following time with poison, both of which work but leave the knight feeling “ashamed.” The knight
eventually decides to marry a village maiden, but did so “only after making sure she knew nothing about nooses or poison.” The curriculum concludes: Moral of the story: Occasional suggestions and assistance may be alright, but too much of it will lessen a man’s confidence or even turn him away from his princess.

(link)

The election is over, the results are now known.
The will of the people has clearly been shown.
We should show by our thoughts, our words and our deeds
That unity is just what our country needs.
Let's all get together. Let bitterness pass.
I'll hug your elephant.
You kiss my ass.

in order for LePore to reach a full 30 years of service with the state government, and get full retirement benefits, she would go to work at the Palm Beach County State Attorney's office for six months as an election-fraud investigator.
(Orlando Sentinel,, registration required)

Oy-vey Mur-ee-uh
Graaaa-see-uh plin-uh
(etc., etc., etc.)
Oy-vey, oy-vey Duh-mi-nooze
Duh-mi-nooze tay-ee-come.

“The elections should not be postponed,” he said. “It’s time for the Iraqi citizens to go to the polls and that’s why we are very firm on the Jan. 30 date.”

"There does not appear to be a clear process in place to suspend or reschedule voting during an election if there is a major terrorist attack," DeForest B. Soaries, chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, wrote in a letter to Republican and Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives and Senate."

Officials discuss how to delay Election Day
U.S. officials have discussed the idea of postponing Election Day in the event of a terrorist attack on or about that day, a Homeland Security Department spokesman said Sunday.

Shares in Wal-Mart fell more than three per cent in New York on Monday, after the giant discount retailer cut its forecast for November sales growth to just 0.7 per cent, citing poor performance over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

The world's largest retailer had estimated November growth of 2 to 4 per cent just 10 days ago. But Wal-Mart revised its estimates down on Saturday evening after disappointing sales on “Black Friday”, the day after Thanksgiving - so called because it is traditionally the time retailers move into profit for the year. It is an indicator of spending for the holiday season, when a quarter of annual retail sales are rung up.

When I first heard about the bedsheet cutbacks a couple of months ago, I thought it was some weird practical joke: To save money, a local Navy base planned to end a longstanding practice where staff housekeepers washed and replaced the sheets and pillowcases in the Bachelor Officers Quarters. Henceforth, a bunch of single ensigns and lieutenants were being banished to the local laundromat.

Now I know better. This was no joke – instead, it was a precursor of the oncoming train wreck.

The defense train wreck.

Ukrainian police have sided in droves with opposition protests against the conduct of last weekend's presidential election and a feared crackdown on the demonstrators has not been carried out.

The two-star Army general who ran the U.S. military prison for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and later took over the U.S. military prison system in Iraq has been reassigned to a senior staff job in the Pentagon.

Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller will be the Army's assistant chief of staff for installation management, with responsibility for housing, environmental and other support operations at Army bases. Miller ran the prison at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay from the fall of 2002 to last spring.

In August 2003, Miller was sent to Iraq to advise on the screening of detainees, their interrogations and the collection of intelligence. Among his recommendations was that military police be actively involved in "setting the conditions" for successful interrogations.

The inmate abuse at Abu Ghraib prison took place mainly in October and November 2003, shortly after Miller's visit. He has not been blamed for the abuse. In March, he was sent back to Iraq as a deputy commander in charge of prison operations.

Replacing Miller in Iraq will be Maj. Gen. William H. Brandenburg.

"I listen to feminists and all these radical gals ... These women just need a man in the house. That's all they need. Most of the feminists need a man to tell them what time of day it is and to lead them home. And they blew it, and they're mad at all men. Feminists hate men. They're sexist. They hate men; that's their problem."

The federal government will be able to require millions of college students to shoulder more of the cost of their education under the new spending bill approved yesterday by the House and Senate.

The government moved to change its formula for college aid last year, but was blocked by Congress. Now, however, no such language appears in the appropriations bill lawmakers are considering, clearing the way for the government to scale back college grants for hundreds of thousands of low-income students.

Nearly 100,000 more students may lose their federal grants entirely, as Congress considers legislation that could place more of the financial burden for college on students and their families.

Senior U.S. military commanders in Iraq say it is increasingly likely they will need a further increase in combat forces to put down remaining areas of resistance in the country.

(...)

The officers said the exact number of extra troops needed is still being reviewed but estimated it at the equivalent of several battalions, or about 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers. The number of U.S. troops in Iraq fell to nearly 100,000 last spring before rising to 138,000, where it has stayed since the summer.

To boost the current level, military commanders have considered extending the stay of more troops due to rotate out shortly, or accelerating the deployment of the 3rd Infantry Division, which is scheduled to start in January. But a third option -- drawing all or part of a brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division on emergency standby in the United States -- has emerged as increasingly likely.

Soaring Interest Compounds Credit Card Pain for Millions

The practice, called universal default, started after a rash of bankruptcy filings in the mid-to-late 1990's and has increasingly become standard in the industry. While MBNA declined to comment on any specific customer's account, its general counsel, Louis J. Freeh, the former F.B.I. director, said in a statement that it was being prudent by raising rates when it had reason to think the risk of not being repaid had increased.

Consumer complaints prompted the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which oversees the nationally chartered banks that constitute most of the major card issuers, to warn banks about giving fair notice of term changes and about sending out tempting offers to people who are unlikely to qualify for them.

Julie Williams, the acting comptroller, said in an interview that as long as the lenders were not intentionally deceiving their customers, they were free to set whatever rates and fees their home states allow. If customers do not want to pay a particular rate, "they have choice," she said. "They can find another card."

(...)

Ms. Williams described her agency as a "tough regulator," but critics contend that the comptroller's office has taken strong action against only one major issuer of credit cards in the last five years.

The comptroller's office has since angered state attorneys general by trying to limit their ability to regulate how national banks behave in their states.

Eliot Spitzer, the attorney general of New York, said his office gets "thousands of complaints every year about credit card issues relating to the major banks, the major card issuers." But more often, he said, the banks' response has been that " 'we don't need to deal with you because the O.C.C. has told us - indeed, directed us - not to deal with state enforcement entities.' "

Elizabeth Warren, a professor at Harvard Law School who has been a vocal critic of consumer lenders, said the comptroller's office should do more than express discomfort with the practices of credit card companies, as it did in September.

The regulators did not say that "those are unfair practices, they are unsafe and unsound and don't do them," Ms. Warren said. "Instead, they said it's a problem. Look, if they think it's a problem, then tell the credit card companies to stop doing it."

Republicans whisked a $388 billion spending bill through the House on Saturday, a mammoth measure that underscores the dominance of deficit politics by curbing dollars for everything from education to environmental cleanups.

(...)

A potential boon for Bush himself, $2 million for the government to try buying back the presidential yacht Sequoia. The boat was sold three decades ago, though its current owners say the yacht is not for sale.

(link)

"I'm very proud of the fact that we held the line and made Congress make choices and set priorities, because it follows our philosophy," Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said in House debate.

Note: The Republicans could do it too, creating health care organizations that work the way they think health care should work. Then people could comparison shop the ideas in practice!

America's "face to the world"



Dubya has nominated Condi to be our "face to the world", something certain to scare away anyone wishing to do business here or cooperate with us in any way.

Are there more scary faces coming?

According to the LA Times -

Another sign of Bush's views is expected to come soon when he chooses a replacement for Burns as head of the State Department's Bureau of Near East Affairs.

One possible replacement is Danielle Pletka, vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington public policy center. She has been an outspoken advocate of the Iraq war and Israel's interests.

Helena Cobban gives us some instructive low-down on this scary character and what kind of havoc she could wreak in the Middle East -

Pletka is an unbelievable, Ann Coulter-like ideologue of a figure. Or, as the LAT folks put it, more diplomaticlly: "She has been an outspoken advocate of the Iraq war and Israel's interests."

She used to be Jesse Helms's chief foreign-policy aide. At a time in his career, of course, when he was virulently pro-Likud, as opposed to the earlier ophase when he was virulently anti-Semitic.

Here in the Middle East, jaws have dropped on hearing of the possibility of her appointment. In Lebanon she's known as "Mrs. Legs", because of her habit of wearing extremely short mini-skirts to official meetings.

Not at all an appropriate thing to do in Arab or Muslim countries.

Lebanon is one thing. But one person here recalled seeing her wear similarly revealing clothing while walking around Gaza, a place marked by much more social conservatism in matters of dress. Then, when some Gaza men started staring at her, apparently unable to believe their eyes, she harangued them loudly.

This is not trivial, but it's just one sign of the determinedly "in yer face" attitude she takes to Muslims and Arabs on the whole range of issues. Especially, of course, Israeli-Palestinian issues and questions about war and peace in Iraq. Let's hope someone comes up with a better alternative for this job than Pletka.

I can think of about a thousand people without trying hard.

What it all boils down to is that the Bush administration already has shown their face to the world. Dubya needs to look no further than his own household.

Jim Vance interceded. "Get outen the way, old woman," he ordered.

"I'm a-going to Cap," she said through tight lips. "He has killed my girl." Sally's ashen face wore a look of determination that few had ever seen in the gentle old woman who had always been against fighting.

Jim Vance was in no mood to be fooled with. He did not intend to argue or to be balked by a woman. Swinging his gun barrel, he crashed it down on her hip, and she fell to the ground, breaking her arm.

From her position on the ground, Sally McCoy looked up into the face of her attacker and between moans asked, "What in this world have I ever done to cause ye to treat me this a-way?...In times past, you have stayed all night at my house...and I have cooked your meals. Is this the way ye pay me?"

But this was no time to be reminded of past favors. Seeing the fallen woman so enraged Vance that he cursed roundly and raised blow after blow upon her defenseless body. Then, with a final blow, he crashed her skull with the barrel of his rifle."

"I decided to swim ... but I changed my mind after seeing U.S. helicopters firing on and killing people who tried to cross the river."

He watched horrified as a family of five was shot dead as they tried to cross. Then, he "helped bury a man by the river bank, with my own hands."

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has submitted his resignation to President Bush, the White House said today. In addition to Powell, sources said the White House today also will announce the resignations of Education Secretary Rod Paige, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman.