Saturday, May 10, 2008

On GI Bill, McCain really is ‘full of it’



 
 

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via Crooks and Liars by Steve Benen on 5/10/08

A couple of weeks ago, John McCain talked about the importance of increasing the size of the U.S. military. To entice more volunteers, he said, the government should focus on incentives: "[O]ne of the things we ought to do is provide [the troops with] significant educational benefits in return for serving."

A few days later, McCain announced that he opposes a bipartisan measure to renew and expand the GI Bill for a new generation of veterans. Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), the leading proponent of the modernized GI Bill, called McCain out.

McCain's argument is that if the government makes college more affordable for the troops, they might be inclined to leave the military, rather than re-enlist. Webb, who said McCain is "full of it," has argued that a) the troops deserve better educational benefits; and b) it might help with military recruiting if people knew they could go to college after their service.

Who's right? Faiz at TP reports on the latest Congressional Budget Office analysis, which sets the record straight.

While the report explains that troop retention will decline because some troops will take advantage of their new education benefits, the loss in retention will be entirely made up for by increased military recruits:

"Literature on the effects of educational benefits on retention suggest that every $10,000 increase in educational benefits yields a reduction in retention of slightly more than 1 percentage point. CBO estimates that S. 22 (as modified) would more than double the present value of educational benefits for servicemembers at the first reenlistment point — from about $40,000 to over $90,000 — implying a 16 percent decline in the reenlistment rate, from about 42 percent to about 36 percent. […]

"Educational benefits have been shown to raise the number of military recruits. Based on an analysis of the existing literature, CBO estimates that a 10 percent increase in educational benefits would result in an increase of about 1 percent in high-quality recruits. On that basis, CBO calculates that raising the educational benefits as proposed in S. 22 would result in a 16 percent increase in recruits."

Yep, McCain really is full of it.


 
 

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Friday, May 09, 2008

Big old cuddly Big Oil



 
 

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via Brilliant at Breakfast by Jill on 5/9/08

Yes, my friends (/McCain), despite the huge profits made by oil companies in the first quarter, the fact that you're paying almost four bucks a gallon for gasoline isn't at all they're fault. No sirree, they are victims just as much as you are:

The American Petroleum Institute, the industry's main lobby, has embarked on a multiyear, multimedia, multimillion-dollar campaign, which includes advertising in the nation's largest newspapers, news conferences in many state capitals and trips for bloggers out to drilling platforms at sea.

The intended audience is elected officials and the public, with an emphasis on the latter. The industry is trying to convince voters -- who, in turn, will make the case to their members of Congress -- that rising energy prices are not the producers' fault and that government efforts to punish the industry, especially with higher taxes, would only make pricing problems worse.

"We decided that if we didn't do something to help people understand the basics of our industry, we'd be on the losing end as far as the eye could see," said Red Cavaney, the institute's president.

Despite the efforts, Democratic congressional leaders this week again proposed an energy plan that would strip oil companies of billions of dollars of tax breaks and impose a tax on windfall profits. Also, the Democratic presidential candidates routinely pronounce "big oil" as if it were a one-word epithet, said former Oklahoma senator Don Nickles, an energy lobbyist.

Still, the oil lobby thinks it has made significant progress with consumers and will make even more as it continues to spend heavily on public relations. Allied industry groups such as coal and natural gas are also increasing their efforts to curry favor with the public, hoping to improve citizens' sometimes poor opinion of them.



Oil company profits have soared lately, bolstered by record crude oil prices. This month, Exxon Mobil reported a first-quarter profit of $10.89 billion, up 17 percent from a year ago, which provoked new congressional complaints. Shell and BP also posted sharp quarterly profit increases. Gasoline prices, meanwhile, have risen to a national record of nearly $3.65 a gallon, and crude oil has hit a new peak of nearly $124 a barrel.

Cavaney will not disclose how much his institute is spending on its campaign, except to say that it is less than $100 million a year, which was roughly the size of the "Got Milk?" ad blitz that featured famous people with milk mustaches.

The price tag for issue-oriented campaigns that lobbies routinely sponsor is huge, said Bill Replogle, an advertising executive at Qorvis Communications.

"A typical issues ad-spend in D.C. might be $2 million to $3 million for a significant campaign," he said. "This dwarfs that, and many national ad buys."

The oil and gas industry has long been considered a powerhouse in Washington, thanks to its big spending inside the Beltway and quietly extensive ties to influential lawmakers from the oil patch. The industry is the third-largest campaign contributor among major industry groups and the fourth-largest buyer of lobbying services, according to the nonpartisan CQ MoneyLine.



If in fact the oil lobby has made "significant progress" with consumers, then Americans really are idiots, and it's no wonder we're in this mess. Note that the article doesn't say that oil company REVENUES have soared, it's PROFITS. But no, they are hapless victims of forces beyond their control.

If we're going to do anything about the energy crisis (and despite the fact that we aren't waiting in line for gasoline, we ARE in a crisis) during the very small window that remains, we're going to have to realize that NO ONE is a hapless victim here. Petroleum companies and the speculators who drive up the price even more quickly than supplies would indicate are obvious villains, but everyone who has spent the last ten years driving a gas-guzzler, every developer who built sprawling developments of air-conditioned houses in blisteringly hot sections of the country, a government that has stripped away most incentives for alternative energy (starting with Ronald Reagan), the United States Supreme Court for naming an oil man to the White House instead of the global warming-aware actual winner of the 2000 election -- are all to blame.

And if we as a country are going to fall for the claims the oil companies are making in their advertising, then we deserve the bleak world we're facing when the taps dry up.

 
 

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And yes, we're going to blog every single sleazy deal McCain has made



 
 

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via Brilliant at Breakfast by Jill on 5/9/08

Hillary Clinton and the press may be determined to give John McCain a free ride to the White House, but we aren't.

Sen. John McCain championed legislation that will let an Arizona rancher trade remote grassland and ponderosa pine forest here for acres of valuable federally owned property that is ready for development, a land swap that now stands to directly benefit one of his top presidential campaign fundraisers.

Initially reluctant to support the swap, the Arizona Republican became a key figure in pushing the deal through Congress after the rancher and his partners hired lobbyists that included McCain's 1992 Senate campaign manager, two of his former Senate staff members (one of whom has returned as his chief of staff), and an Arizona insider who was a major McCain donor and is now bundling campaign checks.

When McCain's legislation passed in November 2005, the ranch owner gave the job of building as many as 12,000 homes to SunCor Development, a firm in Tempe, Ariz., run by Steven A. Betts, a longtime McCain supporter who has raised more than $100,000 for the presumptive Republican nominee. Betts said he and McCain never discussed the deal.

The Audubon Society described the exchange as the largest in Arizona history. The swap involved more than 55,000 acres of land in all, including rare expanses of desert woodland and pronghorn antelope habitat. The deal had support from many local officials and the Arizona Republic newspaper for its expansion of the Prescott National Forest. But it brought an outcry from some Arizona environmentalists when it was proposed in 2002, partly because it went through Congress rather than a process that allowed more citizen input.

Although the bill called for the two parcels to be of equal value, a federal forestry official told a congressional committee that he was concerned that "the public would not receive fair value" for its land. A formal appraisal has not yet begun. A town official opposed to the swap said other Yavapai Ranch land sold nine years ago for about $2,000 per acre, while some of the prime commercial land near a parcel that the developers will get has brought as much as $120,000 per acre.

In an interview, Betts said there is "absolutely no" connection between his contributions to McCain's presidential bids and the deal involving rancher Fred Ruskin and the Yavapai Ranch Limited Partnership.


And if my grandmother had had testicles, she'd have been my grandfather. But Senator Straight Talk's entire career has been all about of Show Me The Money. His little adventure with Charles Keating is just the most well-publicized example, but from the day his dollar-dar picked up on his $100 million now-wife, he's had an unfailing noise to who can benefit him and his career financially. He gained the reputation as a straight talker because on occasion -- very rarely -- he has bucked the Republican line on a few pieces of legislation. But he is a rotten piece of a rotten system, and any American who thinks that the government ought not to be for sale to business has no business voting for this guy.

 
 

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Thursday, May 08, 2008

Latest KBR scandal: contractors accused of sexual harrassment at British Emb...



 
 

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via Think Progress by Ali on 5/8/08

The latest in a long, long line of scandals plaguing Iraq contracting company KBR, today the Times of London reports that British employees of KBR working in the British Embassy in Iraq have been accused of sexual harassment. One Iraqi woman, a cleaner at the embassy, says that the KBR employee offered to double her pay if she slept with him; when she refused, she was fired:

The Iraqis accuse the embassy of leaving the abuse unchallenged and failing adequately to respond to complaints against several British managers for KBR. The company was allowed to conduct its own inquiry, an arrangement criticised as a very serious conflict of interest.

The complainants — the cleaner and two male cooks who worked in the embassy canteen — say that some KBR managers groped Iraqi staff regularly, paid or otherwise rewarded them for sex and dismissed those who refused or spoke out.

All three Iraqis lost their jobs in the Green Zone. Two KRB employees who worked in the embassy spoke out in support of the women; a few days later, KBR sent them home on paid leave and later fired them. The women also say KBR never interviewed them when conducting their internal review.


 
 

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LeBron James Has Obviously Never Been A Waiter [King James]



 
 

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via Deadspin by DAULERIO on 5/8/08

lebronjamesnails.jpgAnbody who's ever been a waiter in their life realizes that it can be a dreadfully demeaning job. Regardless of how much tip money you collect for five hours of work (most of which usually go back into the restaurant during the post-shift decompression time at the bar) there's always a moment when you say to yourself, "This is why I should've never been an English major."

The poor server who had the unfortunate experience of waiting on LeBron at Cleveland's XO Prime Steaks during a recent late night pop-in probably had this thought. According to the Cleveland Scene, this is how it all went down:

LeBron pulls up in his Mercedes outside XO. People stop and try not to stare, but c'mon, it's LeBron James. He enters the restaurant with a group of friends. On this special occasion, the King decides to dine late. He keeps his group there until around 3:45 a.m. During this time the waiter obsequiously pours drinks and fetches anything else His Greatness needs.

The final bill comes to $800. By the feudal laws of decorum, which stipulate that the affluent should administer a 20 percent gratuity, staffers figured they'd be pocketing an extra $160. But when they fetched the autographed bill after His Heinousness bolted back to Akron, their expectation turned to disbelief, then anger.

LeBron stiffed them with a meager $10 tip. This is what French nobles like to call your requisite Bourgeois Bitch-Slap. The waiter wouldn't even take it, tired of being shat on by guys like LeBron.

It'd probably be in James' best interest to now hire an official food taster if he plans on dining at anymore Cleveland restaurants in the near future.

When it comes to tipping, LeBron goes Scrooge McDuck [Cleveland Scene]



 
 

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Jon Stewart Puts McCain on the Hot Seat



 
 

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via Crooks and Liars by SilentPatriot on 5/8/08

Jon Stewart proved again last night that he is one of the best, if not the best, interviewer on television. Although the first part of the interview (not included here) was very cordial and weak, the second part heated up quickly. Stewart quizzed McCain on the Hagee endorsement, his seemingly detrimental connection to George Bush, his campaign's disgusting implication that Hamas endorses Obama, and a few other things.

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Stewart: "Will you take the opportunity to repudiate and denounce President Bush?"

The media double-standard when it comes to McCain is sickening. Barack Obama had to jump through hoops in order to distance himself from Rev. Wright. Yet John McCain is allowed to stutter and stammer through his excuses for holding onto the endorsement. I'm sure this is just a taste of things to come.


 
 

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We’ll ‘never’ see the McCains’ tax returns?



 
 

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via Crooks and Liars by Steve Benen on 5/8/08

The Obamas released tax returns for both Barack and Michelle. The Clintons released returns for both Bill and Hillary. But when John McCain released his tax returns a few weeks ago, Cindy McCain's tax documents will remain private.

It's not too hard to understand why. The McCains are extraordinarily wealthy — one might even be tempted to call them "elites" — and Cindy McCain's assets are estimated to be about $100 million, including a private jet, which her husband has been borrowing at a reduced rate.

Given the other candidates' disclosures, and McCain's own alleged commitment to transparency, will we ever see Cindy McCain's returns? She was asked on the "Today" show this morning, and said, politely, "Never."

I'll tell you a little secret: at first blush, I'm not inclined to care. The McCains have more money than some countries, they haven't been accused of any financial improprieties, and while it's interesting when a guy like McCain opposes minimum-wage increases while flying around on his wife's private jet, I'm not exactly itching to go through Cindy McCain's tax returns. In fact, I'm not surprised that someone of her wealth would want to keep her returns free of scrutiny.

But this is absolutely relevant in this presidential campaign for a few reasons.

First, John McCain, for all of his talk about the importance of transparency and disclosure, has gone out of his way to ensure that all of his assets are in his wife's name. And as Kevin recently noted, "There's only one reason for a politician to make sure that all his assets are in his wife's name: it's to make sure that no one knows anything about his assets. It's not as if McCain is the first pol to try this, after all. Is the press really going to let him get away with this?"

Which leads us to the second reason this matters: McCain has always relied on his wife's wealth, and has always "mixed business and politics." If the point of releasing tax returns is to offer voters a chance to get a better sense of the candidate, then it's incumbent on the McCains to stop acting like they have something to hide.

And third, there's just the shameless hypocrisy of it all. In 2004, the Republican National Committee spent quite a bit of time and energy demanding that the Kerry campaign release Teresa Heinz Kerry's tax returns. The candidate's wife resisted, but after pressure from the GOP and the media, she eventually gave in and made the materials publicly available.

The situation is exactly the same. John Kerry made less money than his wife, who inherited most of her fortune. McCain is practically broke, and relies on his wife's millions, which were also inherited.

In other words, if we hold the McCains to the standards set by the Republican Party, they owe the public some additional information. The press hounded the Kerrys on this; we'll see if the media chooses to give the McCains equal treatment. I'm not optimistic.


 
 

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'Starting to Look Like a Third World Country'



 
 

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via Financial Armageddon by panzner on 5/8/08

In Financial Armageddon, I noted an Infrastructure Report Card by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) that called for $1.6 trillion to be spent over a five-year period to bring the nation's infrastructure to a good condition. My point was that this was another in a long list of multi-trillion dollar obligation that were undermining the economic and financial wellbeing of the United States. A commentary in the Financial Times by John Gapper expands upon what decaying roads, rail networks, bridges, dams and the like mean for our future in "On the Pot-Holed Highway to Hell."

If anyone doubts the problems of US infrastructure, I suggest he or she take a flight to John F. Kennedy airport (braving the landing delay), ride a taxi on the pot-holed and congested Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and try to make a mobile phone call en route.

That should settle it, particularly for those who have experienced smooth flights, train rides and road travel, and speedy communications networks in, say, Beijing, Paris or Abu Dhabi recently. The gulf in public and private infrastructure is, to put it mildly, alarming for US competitiveness.

You might have expected that investing in US infrastructure would be a hot political topic this year. Well, no. Hillary Clinton spent the final week of her Indiana campaign standing on the back of a pick-up truck arguing for a temporary suspension of the "gas tax", the fuel duty that pays for highways.

You read correctly. Faced with the emptying of the Highway Trust Fund, established in 1956 as the US entered a period of growth and prosperity, Mrs Clinton suggested cutting its source of funds (which she claimed could be made up by a tax on oil companies). It was more important to give Americans a summer break from $4-per-gallon petrol.

At times I wonder whether the world's biggest economy has the will to solve its challenges or will end up wandering self-indulgently into the minor economic leagues. I expect it will get serious when the crisis is too blatant to ignore, but it has not done so yet.

Perhaps that is a bit unfair. Some leaders have recognised the problem for economic development, as well as safety. They include Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ed Rendell, governors of California and Pennsylvania, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York. The trio have allied to press for the states and Washington to act.

I think I sensed defensiveness on the part of Mr Rendell, one of Mrs Clinton's big supporters, when I talked to him on Tuesday about her gas tax proposal (which happily may have backfired on her). He insisted he would have spoken out against her plan if she had not proposed to fill the coffers from oil taxes.

Mr Rendell's main point was that the US needs all the cash it can get for its transport infrastructure, as well as water and power networks. He took a tour d'horizon of the problem: "Dams are in a horrible condition ... We have no real rail transport, unlike most nations in the world ... Summer delays make flying in America a disaster."

As it happens, I heard a similar lament from Mr Schwarzenegger at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles last week. He recalled a recent visit to France during which he travelled with Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, on the country's new high-speed train. "I could not believe we were going at 350km an hour," the erstwhile film action hero marvelled.

There are lots of ways in which infrastructure inadequacy matters to the US but I would focus on two.

First, it imposes a drag on economic growth. The private infrastructure is poor enough - broadband speeds lag behind other countries and mobile coverage is spotty. But much of the public infrastructure is unfit, a fact that was becoming clear even before Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans and a Minneapolis bridge collapsed during rush hour last year.

Second, it presents an awful image of the US to investors and other visitors. The state of transport and communications infrastructure is a symbol of a nation's economic development and the US is starting to look like a third world country. In fact, scratch that. Many developing countries look and feel better.

Of course, they are in a different phase of development. The US invested 10 per cent of its federal non-military budget in infrastructure in the 1950s and 1960s as it built the interstate highway system - at the time, the envy of the world. While US investment has fallen to less than 1 per cent of gross domestic product, China has been matching its double-digit postwar record.

The bigger problem is that, unlike European countries including the UK, the US shows little sign of finding the will or the funding mechanisms to maintain what it has or to build anew. Mr Schwarzenegger spoke enviously of public-private partnerships in both Canada and the UK that have enabled these countries to start redressing their inadequacies.

In the US, the Highway Trust Fund is likely to run out of money next year and the voters' tolerance for tax rises is strained. They have seen spending overruns and delays on projects such as Boston's $20bn "big dig" and the "bridge to nowhere" - a dubious Alaskan project to which federal funds were allocated.

Meanwhile, people are finding it hard to accept that if they do not pay for roads and rail links through taxes, they will have to stump up in other ways. Indiana's politicians ran into a backlash after Macquarie-Cintra, an Australian-Spanish consortium, took control of a state highway and raised the tolls on those using it.

But cutting taxes, balking at tolls and, in the case of California's public sector unions, opposing public-private partnerships on principle will not get the job done. The bill will have to be met, whether through increases in federal and state spending (in a more lucid moment, Mrs Clinton suggested issuing infrastructure bonds) or higher user fees and tolls.

Americans may not like the sound of that, but they cannot expect the US to maintain the economic dynamism of the late 20th century in the 21st unless they buckle down. Sooner or later, wishful thinking is going to crash into financial reality.


 
 

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Arrested, Strip-Searched, Jailed- For Making a Right Turn without Signal Lights



 
 

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via Don't Tase Me, Bro! by Phil Leggiere on 5/8/08

From the "Because we've got a badge and you don't school of justice":

Texas man with no prior record, or outstanding warrants, jailed for minor traffic infraction (and for failing to show proper deference i.e. asking questions). Police chief acknowledges he's never heard of an arrest for a turn signal infraction, but sides with arresting officer, simply saying state law gives him the power to arrest someone for many crimes, no matter how minor.

WFAA-Dallas reports:

Mark Robinson was driving through downtown Melissa last week when he was pulled over for failing the use his turn signal.

But instead of getting a ticket, the officer took the 24-year-old to jail.

He was booked, strip searched, and sat for 3 hours with criminals. "People talking about using drugs and shooting heroin. They asked me what I was in there for and I said a turn signal violation," said Robinson.

There aren't any warrants out for Robinson. In fact he says he's never been in jail. But he does admit to challenging the officer's questions during the stop.

"It's just unacceptable to me to have my son thrown in jail for such a minor offense," said Mark Robinson, the father.

His father thinks the officer assumed he had drugs because of his age, which he didn't.

"I think if they had stopped me in the same circumstances, I would have never gone to jail, or probably get a ticket," said the father.

In fact News 8 contacted various cities in Collin County, many of which have not made a single arrest this year for not using a turning signal. Even the police chief in Melissa acknowledges he's never seen this happen in his own city. "In the 6 years I've been the police chief, this is the first time," said Chief Duane Smith, Melissa PD.

But he stands behind his officer, saying state law gives him the power to arrest someone for many crimes, no matter how minor.



 
 

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Wednesday, May 07, 2008

messages sent before and after the invasion of Iraq may never be recovered

The Bush administration has not found disaster recovery files for White House e-mails from a three-month time period in 2003…raising the possibility that messages sent before and after the invasion of Iraq may never be recovered." The White House claims a court proposal to search and preserve White House e-mail records would "yield marginal benefits at best, while imposing substantial burdens and disruptions."

 A record-breaking 1.6 million voters cast ballots in Indiana's Democratic and GOP contests yesterday. This figure "smashed the 1992 primary turnout of a little more than 1 million votes." North Carolina also reported "unprecedented" turnout.

Today, the House is set to begin debating a sweeping housing rescue bill that "could see the government buy up $15 billion of abandoned homes." It would also help half a million homeowners facing foreclosure by offering "fresh spending, tax credits and a new government guarantee on many risky loans to bolster the national housing market." President Bush has threatened to veto the legislation.

Anti-war Republican Rep. Walter Jones (NC-03) "comfortably defeated" a primary challenger in his conservative congressional district yesterday by a margin of 60-40 percent after facing stiff opposition "over his outspoken stance" against the Iraq war. Camp Lejuene, one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the country, is located in Jones's district.

House Veterans Committee chairman Bob Filner (D-CA) "lashed out" at Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake yesterday during a hearing for having previously attempted to "cover up" veterans suicide data. "What we see is a pattern -- deny, deny, cover up, cover up," Filner said.

In the "most specific assertions to date," lawyers for detainees at Guantanamo Bay say they believe that government agents have "monitored their conversations." One lawyer is so concerned that she said in an affidavit that she is "no longer accepting new clients of any type because she could not assure them of confidentiality."

Yesterday, EPA Associate Deputy Administrator Jason Burnett -- dubbed "the John Yoo of the EPA" -- announced his departure from the agency. Burnett had been responsible for crafting legal arguments that promoted arsenic in drinking water, catered to industry on mercury regulations, overruled scientists on soot health standards, and defied the Supreme Court's decision on global warming.

President Bush "sent the Senate a new slate of Federal Election Commission nominees" yesterday in an apparent effort "to break a Senate confirmation deadlock." But the move was "greeted coolly" by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) because Bush retained Hans von Spakovsky and removed David Mason, who clashed recently with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

And finally: Radar writes, "Looking to steal a car? Tucker Carlson's unlocked Volvo station wagon is available and probably in the parking lot at D.C. hub The Palm right now." Carlson recently told The Hill that he never locks his car, even though a woman once stalked him. He also once found a man "asleep and wrapped in newspaper in the back seat of his Volvo station wagon. 'I beat on the windows and made him get out,' he says."

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VETERANS -- PENTAGON WARNS OF 'HARM' FROM WEBB'S EFFORT TO GIVE SOLDIERS BENEFITS AFTER SERVING 'ONLY' TWO YEARS

VETERANS -- PENTAGON WARNS OF 'HARM' FROM WEBB'S EFFORT TO GIVE SOLDIERS BENEFITS AFTER SERVING 'ONLY' TWO YEARS: Currently, there are 56 senators, including 10 Republicans, who have joined Sen. Jim Webb's (D-VA) effort to dramatically expand educational benefits for returning veterans. The 21st Century GI Bill would pay a significant portion of college costs for all servicemembers, including national guard members, who served on active duty after Sept. 11, 2001. The Pentagon and the White House oppose the bill, out of an apparent fear "that too many will use it." In a press briefing yesterday, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell explained the administration's opposition, warning of the "harm" Webb's bill would do to troop retention and objecting to the generous benefits given after "only" two years of service. Instead, the Pentagon supports giving GI benefits after a full six years, meaning that, a soldier who participated in the invasion of Baghdad in April of 2003 and had remained in service ever since would be forced to wait a whole year before becoming eligible for full benefits. The New York Times's Bob Herbert recently pointed out that more robust educational benefits will only help the military fill its enlistment quotas with qualified Americans. VoteVets chairman Jon Soltz and Gen. Wesley Clark said recently, "it is morally reprehensible to fix the system so that civilian life is unappealing to service members, in an attempt to force them to re-up." 

ETHICS -- FBI RAIDS OFFICE, HOME OF SPECIAL COUNSEL IN CORRUPTION INVESTIGATION: FBI agents raided the home and office of federal Special Counsel Scott Bloch yesterday, seizing computers and documents related to a corruption investigation. "Employees said the searches appeared focused on alleged obstruction of justice by Mr. Bloch during the course of an 2006 inquiry into his conduct in office," the Wall Street Journal reported. Bloch had been tasked with looking into whether former White House aide Karl Rove used government resources to help elect Republicans in 2006. But at the same time, Bloch has engaged in his own Rove-like behavior and has been under investigation since 2005. Steve Benen of The Carpetbagger Report describes the bizarre nature of the raid: "Only with the Bush gang is this set of circumstances even possible -- Bloch is ostensibly investigating the Justice Department for its political activities, and simultaneously the Justice Department sends the FBI to raid Bloch's office and home."

CONGRESS -- HOUSE WILL SUBPOENA ADDINGTON, KEY ARCHITECT OF BUSH'S TORTURE PROGRAM: Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee voted to subpoena David Addington, Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, to compel him to testify about the administration's interrogation programs. Addington has been a pivotal player in the torture program, personally watching and approving interrogations at Guantanamo Bay in 2002. Addington has said he will agree to testify if subpoenaed, but in yesterday's White House briefing, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino hedged, stating, "Look, the subpoena was just served. He said he would respond appropriately, and I'm sure he will." The AP also reports that former Office of Legal Counsel head John Yoo, author of several legal memos that sanctioned torture, has reversed course and agreed to testify before the committee as well, along with other architects of the administration's torture program, including former Pentagon official Douglas Feith and former attorney general John Ashcroft. Former CIA director George Tenet "is still in negotiations with the committee, according to House Judiciary Committee spokeswoman Melanie Roussell."

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DEMAGOGUING IMMIGRATION

DEMAGOGUING IMMIGRATION: A study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism found, "Thanks to energetic opposition from Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Michael Savage, immigration was the biggest topic, at 16%, on conservative talk radio in the second quarter" of last year -- when conservative radio led the effort to defeat congressional comprehensive immigration reform, largely by resorting to fear and hatred. Radio host Neal Boortz urged listeners to help defeat "this illegal alien amnesty bill" and "yank out the welcome mat." Speaking of undocumented immigrants he said, "Give 'em all a little nuclear waste and let 'em take it on down there to Mexico. Tell 'em...it'll heat tortillas." Michael Savage repeatedly exhorted listeners to "burn a Mexican flag" and to "tell them to go back to where they came from." CNN's Glenn Beck, who also has a radio show, took particular issue with Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) support for the immigration bill (though McCain has since changed positions), deriding the senator as "Juan McCain." Beck called McCain's support for the bill and the fact that his national director of Hispanic outreach was of Mexican background "an audacious slap in the face." 

A 'RACE WAR': Right-wing radio's discussion of immigration often veers away from policy to focus on race. Savage once warned his listeners, "The European-American, or the white person, is being erased from America's future...There is a racial element to the immigration invasion, at least I see it that way." Discussing a pro-immigrant parade in L.A., O'Reilly said, "So now, it's becoming a race war." O'Reilly also accused supporters of immigration -- "who hate America...because it's run primarily by white, Christian men" -- of seeking "to change the complexion...of America." These hatemongers have made clear their primary concern: maintaining a white majority. Just this year, Fox News's John Gibson gave "a big round of applause" on his radio show to the "non-Hispanic white women" who were having babies, which he said vindicated his call on "the dominant, or largest population sector, which is Caucasians," to "make more babies." "And what happens to white people?" Savage wondered. "That's the real question here. Will our brown brethren, who are so nationalistic and so anti-gringo and anti-Anglo, be as enlightened as the European-American is? I don't think so." 

 HEALTH SCARE: Right-wing radio hosts have also -- wrongly -- claimed that illegal immigrants should be kept out of the United States because they bring strange diseases in. O'Reilly agreed with a caller into his radio show who said that illegal immigration "surpasses the impact of 9/11" because "each one of these people is a biological weapon." The caller claimed that that "illegals crossing the border" are bringing "tuberculosis, syphilis, leprosy." O'Reilly agreed, and said there was "an absolutely airtight case" that more Americans "have either been killed or injured, based upon the 11 million illegals who are here," than died on 9/11. (O'Reilly later insisted he "never said anything like that.") Last summer, CNN's Lou Dobbs repeatedly claimed that there were "7,000" cases of leprosy in the U.S. in the last three years, and suggested the cases were due to illegal immigrants. When confronted with a CBS analysis that found only 7,000 cases of leprosy in the last 30 years -- and an unknown number involving illegal immigrants -- Dobbs simply replied, "If we reported it, it's a fact."

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Hate Radio's Bigotry Against Hispanics

On Monday, hate radio king Rush Limbaugh appeared on Fox News for five minutes to discuss the presidential race and managed to make an offensive comment. Limbaugh called Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D), who is Hispanic, a "shoe shine guy." Yesterday, Alex Nogales, president of the National Hispanic Media Coalition, blasted Limbaugh for uttering "the same kind of nasty, bigoted, racist type comment that has become so prevalent in today's society, as practiced by Lou Dobbs, as practiced by [Sean] Hannity, [Bill] O'Reilly, [Michael] Savage." Racial slurs, particularly fueled against Hispanics, has found a home on right-wing radio, which claims 91 percent of radio airwaves. The nation's leading Hispanic advocacy group, National Council of La Raza, launched a campaign earlier this year decrying right-wing radio for its "rhetoric that demonizes immigrants and Hispanic Americans." "Talk like Savage's, or Limbaugh's or O'Reilly's, has become routine, even systematic, and certainly a big business. According to the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, the top five radio station owners that control 45 powerful, 50,000-watt or more radio stations broadcast 310 hours of nationally syndicated right-wing talk. But they broadcast only a total of five hours of countervailing talk," Salon reported. Yet these talkers are rarely held to account: For example, neither ABC, Time, nor Politico mentioned the offensive remarks when reporting on Limbaugh's TV commentary this week. Progressive radio host Mario Solis-Marich wrote Tuesday, "As a member of the largest minority ethnic group and a member of the media, I am continually puzzled and outraged by the idea that anyone can say anything about Latinos without fearing any consequence."

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Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Try Harder



 
 

Sent to you by irie1972 via Google Reader:

 
 


wenn5039095.jpg

It's a sad day when people have to try and make money by lying to millions about doing it for a good cause.

Back in 2006, rock star musician Sting held a charity concert at Carnegie Hall in order to help save the world's rainforests.

The celebrity packed event helped to raise Millions! So you would think all went well?

Hardly!

According to charity watchdogs and a review of tax records, it was uncovered that even though millions were made in the concert, less than half of that money went to forest saving charities.

A spokesperson for Charity Navigator, said this charity event "would fall to the bottom of the bucket," as almost all charity events give about 75% or more from the money raised.

So it's no surprise that Sitng's Rainforest Foundation in New York is rated one of the worst charities.

The next of Sting's annual concerts is set to take place this Thursday, with the lineup including Billy Joel and James Taylor among others.

But why bother donating if they're keeping most of the money?

Another issue people are having problems with is the hoarding of donations by Sting's charity, which in 2006 reported $10 million in assets (keeping almost $5 million in cash). Charities rarely keep more than is need to pay a year's worth of expenses.

The director from the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance said, "What are they doing with the money? They have more than five times what they would normally spend in a year in reserves."

Sting started his charity with his wife and a Belgian photographer, Jean Pierre Dutilleux, back in 1989.

Although Sting would not return requests for a comment, as would no one from the charity's office in New York, Dutilleux did comment.

He says, "I have kept quiet for almost 20 years, hoping for improvement. But enough is enough. Everything is true or worse."

Shady!!! Wonder how it could be worse??? Speak Dutilleux, speak!

[Image via WENN.]


 
 

Things you can do from here:

 
 

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Lurn To Speek English, Morans! [Pic Of The Day]



 
 

Sent to you by irie1972 via Google Reader:

 
 

via Gawker by Ryan Tate on 5/5/08

English5This woman in Houston, Texas argues that people who can't communicate in English should be deported. That's not an awful idea, I'm starting to think, based on the typo in her sign. But where would we send her? (See also: "Get A Brain! Morans") [SF Chronicle] (Image by Houston Chronicle)



 
 

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1 Year Later: Feet Scarred From "Chemical Flip Flops," Walmart Still Not Tal...



 
 

Sent to you by irie1972 via Google Reader:

 
 

via Consumerist by Meg Marco on 5/6/08

It's been about a year since Kelly Stiles' feet were (somehow) injured by a $3 pair of Walmart flip flops. In that time, Kelly says her feet haven't fully healed and she still can't wear sandals or flip flops. She says she still has pain where she was injured.

Walmart is saying nothing at all, although Stiles says that of the 200-350 people who contacted her after she posted photos of her "burns" on the internet, a few have "settled with Walmart for undisclosed amounts." The retailer has pulled the flip flops in question from store shelves, but they do still sell shoes from "chemical flip flop" manufacturer.

Kelly told WCSC, "So far I have been contacted by no less than 200 hundred and I think no more than 350 people who have said you know I had the same thing happen."

"We're scared. We don't know what we have been exposed to."

If you're new to this story and you have a strong stomach, you can check out this gallery of Kelly's injured feet , or read about others who've shared her fate. Above is the most recent picture of Kelly's feet that she has up on her site. It was taken 2-27-08. She bought the flip flops last April. Ouch! Get better, Kelly.

LaMana Photography
Burned By Flip Flops From Walmart [WCSC](Thanks, Alex!)



 
 

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