All it took a was a little Hurricane, but White House support is starting to unravel in Congress, as senators in control of the purse strings realize that Bush’s goals and their state’s post-Katrina needs are not compatible.

Comments directed at the White House from the Senate suggest that two of George Bush’s staunches supporters are less than happy with White House interference with Hurricane Relief efforts and are ready to play some serious political hard ball.

Concerned over White House efforsts to block a bi-partisan bill to provide Medicaid to adult survivors of the hurricane, Senate Finance Committe Chairman Charles Grassly (R, Iowa) had these challanging words for the President:

I would suggest that people at the White House need to know that the chances of our getting a reconciliation bill moving out of my committee are very difficult if we don’t get this behind us

Grassley’s comments brought audible gasps in the hearing room. Faced with an October 19th deadline, Grassley had previously pressed his committee to move the spending bill through his committee. If Grassley chooses not to let his portion of the spending bill out of committee, the entire budget effort is likely to collapse, Senate aides said.

Adding his comments to those of Grassley, was Trent Lott, (R-MS)

We can work with everybody, including the administration, OR we can work against them, but I’m prepared to go either way…. I’m going to look after our people first

Damn. I haven’t heard the word “mandate” from the White House in a while.

Permalink | Comments

Maybe… for the Iraqi puppet regime

The number of Iraqi army battalions that can fight insurgents without U.S. and coalition help has dropped from three to one, top U.S. generals told Congress yesterday, adding that the security situation in Iraq is too uncertain to predict large-scale American troop withdrawals anytime soon.

Gen. George W. Casey Jr., who oversees U.S. forces in Iraq, said there are fewer Iraqi battalions at “Level 1″ readiness than there were a few months ago. Although Casey said the number of troops and overall readiness of Iraqi security forces have steadily increased in recent months, and that there has not been a “step backwards,” both Republican and Democratic senators expressed deep concern that the United States is not making enough progress against a resilient insurgency.

Just so you know, a battalion in the US Army consists of 300-1000 soldiers. Even assuming the Iraqis double that, what we are being told is that after more than 2 years in the country, we have been able to get a grand total of 2000 combat-ready native troops. Max. And dropping.

This is the part where the freepers jump up and yell “Inconceivable!”

You keep using that word. I do no think it think what you think it mean.

Permalink | Comments

So I’m not going to waste time on her, writing about her hypocrisy, grandstanding, entitlement mentality, lying, corruption, or her partial responsibility for the deaths of thousands. I’ll let Arianna do the heavy lifting instead.

It’s time for Judy Miller and Arthur Sulzberger to change their talking points.

The claim that Miller “has finally received a direct and uncoerced waiver” is laughable - and, indeed, has already been laughed at by 1) my increasingly frustrated sources within the Times 2) a chorus of voices in the blogosphere (see here, here, and here) and 3) (and much more significantly) Joseph Tate, Scooter Libby’s lawyer, who told the Washington Post yesterday that he informed Miller’s attorney, Floyd Abrams, a year ago that Libby’s waiver “was voluntary and that Miller was free to testify”.

So it defies credulity for Miller, Sulzberger, and Bill Keller to keep insisting that Libby’s earlier waiver was coerced when Libby says that it wasn’t. I don’t have much good to say about the vice president’s chief of staff, but I don’t doubt that he knows the difference between being coerced and acting on his own free will. How deep is the Times’ contempt for its readers that they really think they’ll buy the “Oh, Judy finally has the right waiver” line?

My word for Judy rhymes with “punt.” Judy, Judy, Judy… I hope they throw the book at you. Literally.

Permalink | Comments

Go fuck yourself, gropenfuhrer

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in a widely expected move vetoed a bill on Thursday that would have allowed gay couples to marry

Permalink | Comments

and it wasn’t even close. FU, Leahy.

The Dem leadership is holding to this “the next one is the important one” line. Don’t believe it. They rolled over like cheese-eating surrender monkeys. FU, Dems. What a bunch a’ pansies.

I, for one, am not looking forward to the next 30 years of this GOP bagman as Chief Justice.

Permalink | 1 Comment

Great news for everyone, everywhere that could be helped by technology.

Nicholas Negroponte, chairman and founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Labs, has been outlining designs for a sub-$100 PC.

The laptop will be tough and foldable in different ways, with a hand crank for when there is no power supply.
…
The laptops will be encased in rubber to make them more durable, and their AC adaptors will also act as carrying straps.

The Linux-based machines are expected to have a 500MHz processor, with flash memory instead of a hard drive which has more delicate moving parts.

The laptop will be more rugged and flexible than ordinary ones
They will have four USB ports, and will be able to connect to the net through wi-fi - wireless net technology - and will be able to share data easily.

It will also have a dual-mode display so that it can still be used in varying light conditions outside. It will be a colour display, but users will be able to switch easily to monochrome mode so that it can be viewed in bright sunlight, at four times normal resolution.

Sounds like a great piece of hardware to me, and only achievable thanks to the worldwide contributions of the GNU/Linux community.

Permalink | 1 Comment

A GOP state senator from Shelby County, Alabama, claims Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment on part of America known for its “gambling, sin and wickedness.”State Senator Hank Erwin of Montevallo, Alabama, a conservative talk-radio host and media consultant, wrote the column after he toured hurricane-damaged Gulfport and Biloxi, Mississippi, and the fishing/shrimping port of Bayou La Batre on the Alabama coast.

Televangelist Pat Robertson said Katrina is likely linked to God’s judgment concerning legalized abortion, and some rabbis suggested Katrina was a retribution for supporting the Israeli pullout from Gaza.

Their mirror image, Al Qaeda, hailed the hurricane deaths in America as the “wrath of God,” and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan said that the devastation caused by Katrina was divine punishment for the violence America had inflicted on Iraq.

This has got me to thinking, and I’ve come to the realization that the Fundamentalist God is a Terrorist. God in the past has claimed responsibility for raining fire and brimstone on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because he disagreed with the sexual choices of some of their citizens. Earlier records indicate that he destroyed almost the entire human, animal, and flora populations of the earth because he thought most humans were evil. We have the senior leadership and many prominent members of God’s worldwide organization giving him credit for the destruction of public and private property, and causing the death and suffering of thousands upon thousands of U.S. citizen.

It is time that the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Justice Department takes action against the cells of this worldwide terrorist organization that are claiming responsibility for these destructive terrorists acts. This can be accomplished through the material support statute which has also been effectively used against Al Qaeda.

The U.S. government should take immediate steps to seize the financial and property assets of Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcast Network, Erwin’s Shades Mountain Independent Church, Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam and other cells of God’s international terrorist organization that have claimed responsibility for the Gulf Coast’s devastation in God’s name. Freedom of Religion is not an issue where terror is concerned. The U.S. government has previously seized the assets of Muslim charities like, the Holy Land Foundation and Benevolence International Fund, for allegedly aiding Al Qaeda in the United States. When John Walker Lindh attempted to argue freedom of religion and speech, the courts held that material support to terrorism did not qualify for First Amendment protection.

On a more serious note, it concerns me that the Federal Government is giving FEMA funds and promoting contributions on their web site to organizations like Pat Robertson’s. How much real help and understanding can people expect from an organization that is headed by a man who believes that their misery was visited upon them because of their political and religious views and the only way future catastrophes can be avoided is to vote GOP. Pat Robertson is the anti-Christ.

Permalink | Comments

this statement from Bill Bennett (former “drug czar,” current gambling addict) counts for a lot.

Said Bennett:

But I do know that it’s true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could — if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down.

Permalink | Comments

Want to refute any and all creationist/ID claims and how their faith should be taught coequally with what we in the real world call science? Well, here’s your index.

Permalink | Comments

I was just going about my business, minding my p’s and q’s, having a ho-hum kind of day, looking at the birds and whistlin’ dix— ohmygawdohmygawdohmygawd Tom Delay’s been indicted!!!!!!!

A Texas grand jury on Wednesday charged Rep. Tom DeLay and two political associates with conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme, an indictment that could force him to step down as House majority leader.

The hammer gets hammered! The hammer drops! Go hammer, go!

In other news: porcine forms have been found levitating, Satan’s going to REI for some arctic gear, and rhesuses are exiting via my anal orifice.

One of the most corrupt, vile, evil, and amoral politicians of recent American history. Probably the worst since Boss Tweed. That Ronnie Earle was able to indict him is nothing short of miraculous.

Come to think of it, if Ronnie Earle and Richard Clarke were the ticket, I’d be likely to vote GOP.

Permalink | Comments

Surprised? No, not really. I hate it when that sick feeling you have in your stomach turns out to be from when people prove the worst about themselves and validate your biases against them.

As fiscal hawks surrendered, would-be government contractors were meeting in the Hart Senate Office Building to figure out how to get a share of the money. A “Katrina Reconstruction Summit,” hosted by Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) and sponsored by Halliburton, among others, brought some 200 lobbyists, corporate representatives and government staffers to a room overlooking the Capitol for a five-hour conference that included time for a “networking break” and advice on “opportunities for private sector involvement.”

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) sent his budget director, Bill Hoagland, who cautioned that federal Katrina spending might not exceed $100 billion. But John Clerici, from a law firm that helped sponsor the event, told the group that spending would “probably be larger” than $200 billion. “It’s going to be spent in a fast and furious way,” Clerici said.

This is like the Afghani pipeline scene from Fahrenheit 911.

Permalink | 1 Comment

In the form of a new, unaffiliated, analogous site: Pre$$titutes. Media watchers - update your linkees.

Permalink | Comments

I can’t vouch for the authenticity of these (looks a little small for the trunk of Katrina to me (either an eddy/offshoot or non-affiliated tornado), but they are from a trusted source and they look cool, so up they go.

Here are some striking shots of an inbound Hurricane Katrina (go to the album for full-size pictures)

Permalink | Comments

It’s been a bad week for riding the bus. A bad week for those with a sense of smell, that is.

It is hard to describe the malodorous perfection of what I’ve experienced in 3 of my last 5 trips to work, but try I shall. In snapshots, if you will.

Day 1: sat next to a bull dyke who, in addition to scratching herself and splaying her legs wide… proceeded to eat a Slim Jim stick. At 7 in the morning.

Day 2: sat next to a guy with the worst breath in the world. And he was half sleeping. with his mouth open. That one was green/yellow stinky cloud bad.

Day 3: Toothless (this old crazy lady who lives a block from me) was on the bus. Knowing better than to get near her, I remained standing. I could still smell the redolent aromas of massive amounts of cat piss in her clothing. Not one, not two, but three people tried sitting next to her and then bailed at the earliest possible opportunity. I could smell the cat piss a half a bus away, it was that bad.

Day 3b: one of the Toothless escapees sat next to me (when I finally did take a seat). He smelled like old man piss, albeit not strongly. Then again, I could have just had my sense of smell burned out by Toothless and her amazing cats.

Permalink | 1 Comment

This time, it’s Mike “I AM TO COMPETENT! AM TO! AM TO! AM TOOOOO!” Brownie

Today, while testifying under oath, Mike Brown claimed that Louisiana Gov. Blanco’s August 27th request to the President for a federal emergency declaration excluded Orleans, Jefferson and Plaquerines parishes.
…
In fact, Blanco requested the President to declare a disaster in “all the southeastern parishes,” which includes Orleans, Jefferson and Plaquemines.

Surprised? Indict them. Indict them all!

Permalink | Comments