Thursday, April 20, 2006

al-Jaafari Allows Switch

Iraqi Premier Gives Up Bid to Keep His Post - New York Times

Supposedly, he was going to ask the U.S. to leave as soon as he was confirmed, and that's why Condi, et al, were so persistent and insistent(unlike, say, getting help to the Gulf Coast during and after Katrina). Think they (the Shiites) will find a Shiite who won't ask the U.S. to leave?

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Here It Comes

My Way Finance:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Clothing and shelter costs in March spurred the biggest rise in core U.S. inflation in a year, the government said on Wednesday in a report that cast doubt on a quick end to Federal Reserve interest-rate rises.

The Labor Department said energy prices helped push the overall consumer price index up a steep 0.4 percent, matching Wall Street projections. Excluding food and energy prices, the index advanced 0.3 percent, a bit more than forecast.
That's right, the dreaded "I" word. No amount of cheap, illegal labor or corporate downsizing is going to keep it in check for long. And the deficit just keeps on growing.

BTW: 50% of the deficit is from tax cuts, 30% from defense spending (including Iraq war), 14% from discretionary spending, and only 6% is from entitlement programs like social security; but we know which of these culprits the Bushies will blame and try to "fix" now, don't we? Then there's the trade deficit. Guess what accounts for the biggest part of that? C'mon, guess!

Democrats & Liberals:: Fool Me Once

Democrats & Liberals:: Fool Me Once

Score One For Sanity

My Way News - Supreme Court Won't Hear Falwell's Appeal: "WASHINGTON (AP) - Evangelist Jerry Falwell on Monday lost a Supreme Court appeal of a case that sought to shut down a Web site with a similar name but opposite views on gays.

Falwell claims that a gay New York City man improperly draws people to a site by using a common misspelling of the reverend's name as the site's domain name.

A federal judge sided with Falwell, who runs a Virginia-based ministries, on grounds that Christopher Lamparello's domain name was nearly identical to the trademark bearing Falwell's name and could confuse Web surfers.

But last year, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed and said that Lamparello was free to operate his 'gripe site' about Falwell's views on gays at . Lamparello 'clearly created his Web site intending only to provide a forum to criticize ideas, not to steal customers,' the court said.http://www.fallwell.com

The Jerry Falwell Ministries site is: .http://www.falwell.com

Falwell's Web site is more high-tech, with pictures of the minister, and sales material for books and videos.

Lamparello's Web site is mainly in black and white, with no photographs or items for sale. He says that Falwell is wrong in preaching that gay people are sinners who can change. At the top of the site a disclaimer reads: 'This Web site is NOT affiliated with Rev. Dr. Jerry Falwell or his ministry.'"

Funny, I Don't Remember This

BBC NEWS | Programmes | Newsnight | New Florida vote scandal feared:
A secret document obtained from inside Bush campaign headquarters in Florida suggests a plan - possibly in violation of US law - to disrupt voting in the state's African-American voting districts, a BBC Newsnight investigation reveals.

Two e-mails, prepared for the executive director of the Bush campaign in Florida and the campaign's national research director in Washington DC, contain a 15-page so-called "caging list".

It lists 1,886 names and addresses of voters in predominantly black and traditionally Democrat areas of Jacksonville, Florida.
Note the date this was printed, October of 2004, before the last presidential election. Hmmmmmmm.

Apartheid Ballot Counting in America - Greg Palast on Democracy Now!

Apartheid Ballot Counting in America - Greg Palast on Democracy Now!:
"Maybe you can explain this to me. See, I got the CNN exit polls, and it said that in Ohio, Kerry defeated Bush among women 53 to 47%, and among men, Kerry defeated Bush by 51 to 49%. So, who?s the third sex that put our president over the top? I thought I?d investigate, which is unusual. See, I?m a reporter. My reports appear on BBC Television. I?m a mainstream guy, as they say. And for the big newspaper of Britain, the Guardian/Observer. "

Must have been the Republicans. They don't have sex.

Iraq PM: Quitting 'Out of the Question'

My Way News - Iraq PM: Quitting 'Out of the Question':
Efforts to form a national unity government in Iraq have been stalled for months. Sunnis and Kurds oppose al-Jaafari, blaming him for the rise in sectarian tensions across Iraq and for a high-handed leadership style since he assumed office last year.

But al-Jaafari repeatedly has said he was nominated democratically and it's up to parliament to decide whether to approve him. He insisted Wednesday that he still enjoys the support of the Shiite alliance, the dominant bloc in parliament, despite a few public calls from within for him to step aside.
Darn that democracy thing! The majority of the Iraqis (who happen to be Shi'a) want this guy as their Prime Minister. The rest, uh, don't. Gee, I wonder what BushCo would do? I bet next time they make them vote on electronic voting machines so this won't happen again. Or, they could send Katherine Harris over there to help these poor people in the Iraqi minority get what they want justice, the way she did in Florida. It would be a real lesson in civics for the Iraqis, one I'm surprised they didn't learn under Saddam or the Shah.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

"Only" 2 Million Children Left Behind

'No Child' Loophole Leaves 2M Ignored - CBS News:
States are helping public schools escape potential penalties by skirting the No Child Left Behind law's requirement that students of all races must show annual academic progress.

With the federal government's permission, schools aren't counting the test scores of nearly 2 million students when they report progress by racial groups, an Associated Press computer analysis found.
And that's of the ones in school that we know of.

Wouldn't Want To Visit Or Live There

My Way News - Signs of Panic in Mixed Iraq Neighborhood:
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The man strapping the air conditioner to the top of a taxi paused to explain: His family was packing up and fleeing their Baghdad neighborhood because of threats against Shiites. 'We are leaving because we are scared,' he said, too afraid to give his name. 'This is a dangerous area.'"

"But It's Not About Oil"

My Way News:
"RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it had arrested five militants linked to a failed al Qaeda attack on a major oil facility in February, and seized 1.5 tonnes of explosives."

Why Iran Matters (to BushCo)

My Way News: LONDON (Reuters) - Oil hit a record $72.64 a barrel Tuesday as Iran defied world pressure to halt its nuclear program, raising new fears of a cut in supplies from the world's fourth biggest crude exporter.

U.S. crude oil climbed to $71.60, smashing through its previous record of $70.85.

'This is a bull market and we have not found a top yet,' said Tom Bentz, a senior analyst at BNP Paribas Commodity Futures in New York."

So Much For "Wild Speculation"

My Way News: "TEHRAN (Reuters) - President Bush refused on Tuesday to rule out nuclear strikes against Iran if diplomacy fails to curb the Islamic Republic's atomic ambitions."

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