Thank a lot, Dick!

Russia delays Arctic gas field as mood to US chills

And From That Other Forgotten War...

My Way News - Up to 105 Die in Fierce Afghan Violence:

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - Some of the fiercest violence since the Taliban's ouster in 2001 erupted across southern Afghanistan, with militants battling U.S. and Canadian forces, detonating car bombs and attacking a small village. Up to 105 people were killed, officials said Thursday.

Much of the violence occurred in the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar, where thousands of extra NATO troops are scheduled to deploy this summer to counter an increasing number of attacks from a stubborn insurgency.

It's not over 'til it's over. And this one's not over yet, either. We didn't clean up after ourselves here before moving on to that totally unneccessary war in Vietnam Iraq, so what are the chances we won't do the same in Iraq?

Feingold, Specter Clash Over Gay Marriage

My Way News - Feingold, Specter Clash Over Gay Marriage:

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Senate committee approved a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage Thursday, after a shouting match that ended when one Democrat strode out and the Republican chairman bid him 'good riddance.'

'I don't need to be lectured by you. You are no more a protector of the Constitution than am I,' Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., shouted after Sen. Russ Feingold declared his opposition to the amendment, his affinity for the Constitution and his intention to leave the meeting.

'If you want to leave, good riddance,' Specter finished.

'I've enjoyed your lecture, too, Mr. Chairman,' replied Feingold, D-Wis., who is considering a run for president in 2008. 'See ya.'

Amid increasing partisan tension over President Bush's judicial nominees and domestic wiretapping, the panel voted along party lines to send the constitutional amendment - which would prohibit states from recognizing same-sex marriages - to the full Senate, where it stands little chance of passing.

Heh-heh! I love it when they get all apoplectic and red in the face! You go, Russ! Keep standing up to them! We love you!

Bush Disses His Own Party

My Way News - Sensenbrenner: Bush Turned Back on Bill:

Sensenbrenner did not attend a closed-door meeting between Bush political adviser Karl Rove and House Republicans, but said that some members complained to him that Rove didn't stay around for many questions or hear what lawmakers had to say.

'The overwhelming majority of those that I talked to who were at the conference believe that he dissed the House Republicans,' Sensenbrenner said.

Welcome to the party, pal! You think he really gives a rat's ass about your agenda? I've got a bridge in Brooklyn you might be interested in....

This Is A Budget?

My Way News - House Passes $2.8 Trillion Budget Plan:

Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the GOP budget blueprint 'strengthens our efforts to control spending and, coupled with a robust economy fueled by tax relief, is making real progress in driving down the deficit.'

Democrats countered that the House GOP plan calls for a $653 billion increase in the national debt to $9.6 trillion and that the deficits produced by the plan are likely to be far larger than the $1.1 trillion that Republicans assume will accumulate under the measure if its policies are followed.

That's because the measure doesn't take into account the long-term costs of the war in Iraq or of shielding middle-to-upper income taxpayers from the alternative minimum tax. And many of the long-term spending cuts assumed by the GOP plan are politically unsustainable since they come from already squeezed domestic agency budgets.

'This budget resolution is a continuation of the most reckless fiscal policies in the history of our nation, policies that have squandered a $5.6 trillion budget surplus, added more than $3 trillion to the national debt, and weakened our ability to respond to national and international crises,' House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said.

Republicans voted down a Democratic alternative that contained more funding for popular domestic programs such as education, veterans health care and health research while balancing the budget by 2012 - but only by allowing hundreds of billions of dollars in GOP-passed tax cuts to expire.

The Reps can't stomach robbing from the rich to feed the poor. That would be anti-American anti-Conservative! After all, we're at war ya' know!

This year's budget plan, developed by the House Budget Committee and House GOP leaders, reflects election-year realities and drops Bush's proposed cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, crop subsidies and other politically sensitive programs.

The plan endorses Bush's proposed 7 percent increase in the core defense budget - which doesn't include Iraq war costs - for next year.

The Republican plan also assumes just $50 billion for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, less than half of expected spending for the current year.

Oh, well, hey, we'll just have to make that up later, you know, when we're dead and buried. In the meantime, it's an election year and we have to keep those constituents happy!

While the House GOP plan drops $65 billion in benefit cuts over five years proposed by Bush's budget, it goes further than Bush in attacking appropriated spending, the approximately one-third of the budget passed by Congress each year.

It would cut federal spending on education by more than $5 billion, about 7 percent. And after allowing for an increase next year, it would cut the politically sensitive budget for veterans medical care below current levels through the rest of the decade.

Now I get it! We'll just make sure the future generations are even stupider than we are! Wow, didn't see that one coming! And that head fake on vet's medical care, with first an increase and then an even greater decrease; genius! That's almost as good as blurring the true costs of the totally unneccessary war in Iraq! Isn't neo-con wingnut politics wonderful?!

Schmucks! May your limo break down in the middle of Crack Alley on your way to your latest fund raiser!

U.S. Won't Say if It Aids Somali Warlords

My Way News - U.S. Won't Say if It Aids Somali Warlords:

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. is working with regional and international partners to keep al-Qaida from establishing itself in northeastern Africa, White House press secretary Tony Snow said Wednesday. He would not say whether that included warlords in Somalia.

Snow cited Somalia's lack of a functioning government and said Osama bin Laden's network uses such chaotic situations to establish terrorist training centers and bases. Somalia is just across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen and the Saudi Peninsula.

Two weeks ago, Somalia's transitional president said he believed the United States was bankrolling an alliance of warlords, the same people whose armed gangs are keeping Somalia ungovernable.

Ah! Just like the old days in Southeast Asia! Then it was the Communists and the domino theory. Now it's Al Qaeda and, well, the domino theory. After all, that's progress. You see, we backed the warlords in Vietnam and Laos, and those people later became, er, the Communists. So then we backed the warlords of Afghanistan against the other Communists (Russia), and now those people are Al Qaeda and, well, you can see where this is qoing, right?

"You've got instability in Somalia right now, and there is concern about the presence of foreign terrorists, particularly al-Qaida, within Somalia right now," he said.

"In an environment of instability, as we've seen in the past, al-Qaida may take root, and we want to make sure that al-Qaida does not in fact establish a beachhead in Somalia."

Because, you know, we already did that in Iraq, and it's so yesterday!

U.S. Won't Say if It Aids Somali Warlords

My Way News - U.S. Won't Say if It Aids Somali Warlords:

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. is working with regional and international partners to keep al-Qaida from establishing itself in northeastern Africa, White House press secretary Tony Snow said Wednesday. He would not say whether that included warlords in Somalia.

Snow cited Somalia's lack of a functioning government and said Osama bin Laden's network uses such chaotic situations to establish terrorist training centers and bases. Somalia is just across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen and the Saudi Peninsula.

Two weeks ago, Somalia's transitional president said he believed the United States was bankrolling an alliance of warlords, the same people whose armed gangs are keeping Somalia ungovernable.

Ah! Just like the old days in Southeast Asia! Then it was the Communists and the domino theory. Now it's Al Qaeda and, well, the domino theory. After all, that's progress. You see, we backed the warlords in Vietnam and Laos, and those people later became, er, the Communists. So then we backed the warlords of Afghanistan against the other Communists (Russia), and now those people are Al Qaeda and, well, you can see where this is qoing, right?"You've got instability in Somalia right now, and there is concern about the presence of foreign terrorists, particularly al-Qaida, within Somalia right now," he said.

"In an environment of instability, as we've seen in the past, al-Qaida may take root, and we want to make sure that al-Qaida does not in fact establish a beachhead in Somalia."Because, you know, we already did that in Iraq, and it's so yesterday!

Scary Stuff!

USNews.com: The United States and Iran are locked in a test of wills over Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Is there a way out short of war?Do you get the feeling that the Decider has already decided? And who IS the Decider, anyway?

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall:

BaltSun: 'The National Security Agency developed a pilot program in the late 1990s that would have enabled it to gather and analyze massive amounts of communications data without running afoul of privacy laws. But after the Sept. 11 attacks, it shelved the project -- not because it failed to work -- but because of bureaucratic infighting and a sudden White House expansion of the agency's surveillance powers, according to several intelligence officials.'

If this report is true, then on which side of the truthiness fence does the current set of surveillance programs fall? Take a guess!

Human Ancestors May Have Interbred With Chimpanzees

Human Ancestors May Have Interbred With Chimpanzees:

If this theory proves correct, it will mean modern people are descended from something akin to chimp-human hybrids. That is a new idea, and it challenges the prevailing view that hybrids tend to die out.

[...]

"This is contributing to the idea that species are kind of fuzzy. They become real over time, but it takes millions of years," said James Mallet, a geneticist at University College London who was not involved in the new research. "We probably had a bit of a messy origin."

Puts a whole new twist to the phrase, "monkey boy." I'd read that, genetically speaking, there is less than 2% difference between chimps and humans. Now we know why. Heck, all you have to do is look at bush to verify this particular theory.

My Way News - Judge Seals Documents in NSA Spying Suit

My Way News - Judge Seals Documents in NSA Spying Suit:

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Secret documents that allegedly detail the surveillance of AT&T Inc. (T) phone and e-mail lines under the Bush administration's domestic spying program can be used in a lawsuit against the telephone giant, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, but the records will remain sealed.

U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker rejected a bid by AT&T to return the records given to the privacy advocate Electronic Frontier Foundation by a former AT&T technician. But Walker said the records would remain under seal until it can be determined whether they reveal trade secrets.

Score one for this judge and for justice in general; something that has been given very short shrift as of late.

U.S. Will Restore Diplomatic Links With the Libyans - New York Times

U.S. Will Restore Diplomatic Links With the Libyans - New York Times:
"WASHINGTON, May 15 — The Bush administration announced Monday that it would re-establish full diplomatic ties with Libya because Libya had abandoned its nuclear and other unconventional weapons programs and helped in the campaign against terrorism."

And, of course, because they have oil.

The N.S.A.'s Math Problem - New York Times

The N.S.A.'s Math Problem - New York Times

If this commentary is true, then our Fearless Leader is either incompetent, or using the information in a different way than advertised (such as trying to find leakers by monitoring reporters' phone calls), or both. I vote for both.