Supreme Court's ruling on corporate campaign spending

The Future is Here

Sci fi has reached us. The future is here.

1984....The Bush (43) years

Soylent green....Steam shovels in Haiti (unfortunately)

Fahrenheit 451....TV Walls (Published 1953)


Rollerball: Today's Supreme Court ruling on corporate campaign spending:
"In the film, the world of 2018 is a global corporate state, containing entities such as the Energy Corporation, a global energy monopoly based in Houston which deals with nominally-peer corporations controlling access to all Transport, Luxury, Housing, Communication, and Food on a global basis." From Wiki

Quotes from Rollerball:
"Jonathan E.: What do you know about the corporate wars?
Cletus: Oh, they were naaaasty... Woooh.

Bartholomew: Corporate society takes care of everything. And all it asks of anyone, all it's ever asked of anyone ever, is not to interfere with management decisions. From IMDB

"P.A. Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, will you stand please for the playing of our Corporate Hymn"

Who will be the next Jonathan E.?

Braille Note and Jaws
Part 3

Obama has fired the CEO of GM
Michael Moore comments

Friends,

Nothing like it has ever happened. The President of the United States, the elected representative of the people, has just told the head of General Motors -- a company that's spent more years at #1 on the Fortune 500 list than anyone else -- "You're fired!"

I simply can't believe it. This stunning, unprecedented action has left me speechless for the past two days. I keep saying, "Did Obama really fire the chairman of General Motors? The wealthiest and most powerful corporation of the 20th century? Can he do that? Really? Well, damn! What else can he do?!"

This bold move has sent the heads of corporate America spinning and spewing pea soup. Obama has issued this edict: The government of, by, and for the people is in charge here, not big business. John McCain got it. On the floor of the Senate he asked, "What does this signal send to other corporations and financial institutions about whether the federal government will fire them as well?" Senator Bob Corker said it "should send a chill through all Americans who believe in free enterprise." The stock market plunged as the masters of the universe asked themselves, "Am I next?" And they whispered to each other, "What are we going to do about this Obama?"

Not much, fellows. He has the massive will of the American people behind him -- and he has been granted permission by us to do what he sees fit. If you liked this week's all-net 3-pointer, stay tuned.

I write this letter to you in memory of the hundreds of thousands of workers over the past 25+ years who have been tossed into the trash heap by General Motors. Many saw their lives ruined for good. They turned to alcohol or drugs, their marriages fell apart, some took their own lives. Most moved on, moved out, moved over, moved away. They ended up working two jobs for half the pay they were getting at GM. And they cursed the CEO of GM for bringing ruin to their lives.

Not one of them ever thought that one day they would witness the CEO receive the same treatment. Of course Chairman Wagoner will not have to sign up for food stamps or be evicted from his home or tell his kids they'll be going to the community college, not the university. Instead, he will get a $23 million golden parachute. But the slip in his hands is still pink, just like the hundreds of thousands that others received -- except his was issued by us, via the Obama-man. Here's the door, buster. See ya. Don't wanna be ya.

I began my day today in Washington, D.C. I went to the U.S. Senate and got into their Finance Committee's hearing on the Wall Street bailout. The overseers wanted to know how the banks spent the money. And many of these banks won't tell them. They've taken trillions and nobody knows where the money went. It certainly didn't go to create jobs, relieve mortgage holders, or free up loans that people need. It was so shocking to listen to this, I had to leave before it was over. But it gave me an idea for the movie I was shooting.

Later, I stopped by the National Archives to stand in line to see the original copy of our Constitution. I thought about how twenty years ago this month I was just down the street finishing my first film, a personal plea to warn the nation about GM and the deadly economy it ruled. On that March day in 1989 I was broke, having collected the last of my unemployment checks, relying on help from my friends (Bob and Siri would take me out to dinner and always pick up the check, the assistant manager at the movie theater would sneak me in so I could watch an occasional movie, Laurie and Jack bought an old Steenbeck (editing) machine for me, John Richard would slip me an unused plane ticket so I could go home for Christmas, Rod would do anything for me and drive to Flint whenever I needed something for the film). My late mother (she would've turned 88 tomorrow if she were still with us) and my GM autoworker dad told me in the kitchen they wanted to help and handed me a check for an astounding thousand dollars. I didn't know they even had a thousand dollars. I refused it, they insisted I take it -- "No!" -- and then, in that parental voice, told me I was to cash it so I could finish my movie. I did. And I did.

So on that March day in 1989, as I was driving down Pennsylvania Avenue, my 9-year-old car just died. I coasted over to the curb, put my head down on the steering wheel and started to cry. I had no money to take it in to be repaired, and I certainly had nothing to pay the tow truck driver. So I got out, screwed the license plates off so I wouldn't be fined, turned my back and just left it there for good. I looked over at the building next to me. It said "National Archives." What better place to donate my dead car, I thought, as I walked the rest of the way home.

Though it wasn't easy for me, I still never had to suffer what so many of my friends and neighbors went through, thanks to General Motors and an economic system rigged against them. I wonder what they must have all thought when they woke up this Monday morning to read in the Detroit News or the Detroit Free Press the headlines that Obama had fired the CEO of GM. Oh -- wait a minute. They couldn't read that. There was no Free Press or News. Monday was the day that both papers ended home delivery. It was cancelled (as it will be for four days every week) because the daily newspapers, like General Motors, like Detroit, are broke.

I await the President's next superhero move.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com
(Go State!)

P.S. Please know that it has not been lost on any of us from the Rust Belt how our corporate bigwigs were treated (remember, the auto companies wanted a loan, not a handout) compared to how the titans of Wall Street got trillions of free cash, lunch at the White House and a photo op with the Prez. Trust me, we get it. And, if there is a God in heaven, the thieves of Wall Street will soon pay. Also... the sight of our president having to promise that he would back every GM warranty and give consumers a bonus if they trade in their old Grand Am for a hybrid, was alternately sad, hilarious, and just plain weird. This is what it's come to: the Commander in Chief of the Free World is now Mr. Goodwrench. Jeesh.

E-mail from Michael Moore, 4/1/2009

Food Recall Widget
Including peanuts

FDA Product Recall List



http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/salmonellatyph/widget.html

8 Years of BushCo in 8 Minutes
Keith Olbermann Still Speaks for Me

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

The Economic Downturn Hits the Rich Hard
Tough Times for Them

It's breaking my heart, I tell ya. The folks in both Palm Beach, FL and The Hamptons, NY are being hit hard by the financial downturn. One former Lehman Bros. VP is forced to put his second mansion in tony Bridgehampton up for sale. And it's SUCH a BAD time to do that don't ya know.

Asking price: $32.5 million.

Luxury downturn hits U.S. beaver trappers

"Nobody's buying right now," he said.

Renfro, 46, is the first cog in the many-layered, $15 billion global fur industry, one that is caught in the steel jaws of the global economic downturn.

Thirty years ago, when he started trapping, a beaver pelt would fetch $50. Last year, prices fell to about $12 a pelt."

http://www.reuters.com/article/inDepthNews/idUSTRE4BG04C20081217

*REAL people wear FAKE fur, always*

McCain and Gramm

We're whiners & the economy's sound

Robert Reich's Vetting vs Sarah Palin's

Robert Reich's Vetting vs Sarah Palin's

She wasn't vetted at all

Vetting

Having been through the process of “vetting” prospective cabinet members, I can tell you it’s time-consuming, detailed, and thorough. I’d like to think the vetting of a vice presidential nominee would be more so – especially one whose odds of becoming president, should she be elected, are somewhat higher than that of the normal vice president.

Sixteen years ago, Bill Clinton’s “vetting” team asked me and other prospective cabinet members for (1) our tax returns, going back at least five years, (2) our bank records, (3) a detailed listing of our assets, (4) the names and places of everywhere we had lived, and the names and phone numbers of neighbors whom they could call about us, (5) a description of every job we had ever had, every client we had ever served, and the names of employers and clients with whom they could check, (6) the names of our family members, their ages, their occupations (if any), (7) a description of any civil or criminal investigations or prosecutions in which we had been involved (8) and – perhaps most importantly – “anything we should ask you about, the answer to which might cause you or the administration any embarrassment.”

It didn’t stop there. Investigators checked our answers, interviewed our friends and neighbors and former employers, asked for more records if uncertain. Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation did their own background checks. Staff members of the relevant congressional committees, representing both parties, looked over the files and added questions of their own.

It didn’t even stop there. I recall two large, three-ring black binders containing passages from books and articles I had written that might prove troubling to some of the Senators. My vetting team suggested I be prepared to answer questions about them.

The process took well over a month, not including the Senate confirmation hearing. I don’t recall doing anything during that interval except responding to questions from the vetting team, the FBI, and oversight committee staffers, both Republican and Democrat.

Do you believe Sarah Palin was put through anything remotely like this before John McCain decided she would be his vice presidential candidate, and possible President of the United States?

http://robertreich.blogspot.com/

You Should Vote Republican if You Believe the Following:

By Bob Kendall
09/01/2008 06:55:52 PM EST

1. We should all be proud of going to war in Iraq on the basis of lies and distortion.

2. We should not worry a second about the skyrocketing national debt, which is greater than all the national debts combined since the U.S. was founded 232 years ago.

3. The best reason for having children in the U.S.A. now is because they can be saddled with paying off the bill (our national debt) that Republican hero George Bush has gifted us with.

4. You should demand that Bush speak at your convention so he can glibly explain how he achieved this monumental debt.
   

5. If you enjoy watching wars on TV -- pleased consider that Iran may be next on the busy Republican war agenda.

6. If you want to avoid socialism vote Republican. Bush tried valiantly to privatize Social Security to give Wall Street a break. Maybe McCain will be lucky as Wall Street investors lead the way.

7. If you would like to help China, India, the Philippines or even Bangladesh we could go right on transferring our jobs overseas. This could advance stock market revenue because labor costs are cheaper overseas, without all that environmental and safety silliness.

These are the seven lucky reasons to be a family values Republican voter this time around. We must also add that you'll get a woman vice-president thrown in, a really tough babe, a hunter who appreciates a good family moose meal, especially one she killed and cooked!

http://www.politicalcortex.com/story/2008/9/1/185552/4709

An Open Letter to God, from Michael Moore*

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

Dear God,

The other night, the Rev. James Dobson's ministry asked all believers to pray for a storm on Thursday night so that the Obama acceptance speech outdoors in Denver would have to be cancelled.

I see that You have answered Rev. Dobson's prayers -- except the storm You have sent to earth is not over Denver, but on its way to New Orleans! In fact, You have scheduled it to hit Louisiana at exactly the moment that George W. Bush is to deliver his speech at the Republican National Convention.

Now, heavenly Father, we all know You have a great sense of humor and impeccable timing. To send a hurricane on the third anniversary of the Katrina disaster AND right at the beginning of the Republican Convention was, at first blush, a stroke of divine irony. I don't blame You, I know You're angry that the Republicans tried to blame YOU for Katrina by calling it an "Act of God" -- when the truth was that the hurricane itself caused few casualties in New Orleans. Over a thousand people died because of the mistakes and neglect caused by humans, not You.

Some of us tried to help after Katrina hit, while Bush ate cake with McCain and twiddled his thumbs. I closed my office in New York and sent my entire staff down to New Orleans to help. I asked people on my website to contribute to the relief effort I organized -- and I ended up sending over two million dollars in donations, food, water, and supplies (collected from thousands of fans) to New Orleans while Bush's FEMA ice trucks were still driving around Maine three weeks later.

But this past Thursday night, the Washington Post reported that the Republicans had begun making plans to possibly postpone the convention. The AP had reported that there were no shelters set up in New Orleans for this storm, and that the levee repairs have not been adequate. In other words, as the great Ronald Reagan would say, "There you go again!"

So the last thing John McCain and the Republicans needed was to have a split-screen on TVs across America: one side with Bush and McCain partying in St. Paul, and on the other side of the screen, live footage of their Republican administration screwing up once again while New Orleans drowns.

So, yes, You have scared the Jesus, Mary and Joseph out of them, and more than a few million of your followers tip their hats to You.

But now it appears that You haven't been having just a little fun with Bush & Co. It appears that Hurricane Gustav is truly heading to New Orleans and the Gulf coast. We hear You, O Lord, loud and clear, just as we did when Rev. Falwell said You made 9/11 happen because of all those gays and abortions. We beseech You, O Merciful One, not to punish us again as Pat Robertson said You did by giving us Katrina because of America's "wholesale slaughter of unborn children." His sentiments were echoed by other Republicans in 2005.

So this is my plea to you: Don't do this to Louisiana again. The Republicans got your message. They are scrambling and doing the best they can to get planes, trains and buses to New Orleans so that everyone can get out. They haven't sent the entire Louisiana National Guard to Iraq this time -- they are already patrolling the city streets. And, in a nod to I don't know what, Bush's head of FEMA has named a man to help manage the federal government's response. His name is W. Michael Moore. I kid you not, heavenly Father. They have sent a man with both my name AND W's to help save the Gulf Coast.

So please God, let the storm die out at sea. It's done enough damage already. If you do this one favor for me, I promise not to invoke your name again. I'll leave that to the followers of Rev. Dobson and to those gathering this week in St. Paul.

Your faithful servant and former seminarian,

Michael Moore

P.S. To all of God's fellow children who are reading this, the city New Orleans has not yet recovered from Katrina. Please click here for a list of things you can do to help our brothers and sisters on the Gulf Coast. And, if you do live along the Gulf Coast, please take all necessary safety precautions immediately.

* E-mail received 8/31/08

Food safety: Priority for Next President
Seems like the least he can do for his people is keep them alive

Texas Department of State Health Services
NEWS RELEASE
July 17, 2008

Non-Outbreak Salmonella Detection Prompts Recall

A South Texas produce importer/distributor is voluntarily recalling avocados, serrano peppers and jalapeno peppers after laboratory tests by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) laboratory and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services lab found salmonella in samples of those products from the company.

But DSHS officials said the salmonella strain found in serranos and jalapenos tested by DSHS is not the strain responsible for the nationwide outbreak of salmonellosis over the past two months.

The outbreak strain is salmonella, group B, type saintpaul. The salmonella detected in the peppers DSHS tested is salmonella, group C1. The North Carolina lab found salmonella in avocados and jalapenos, but results of tests to identify the group and type are pending.

DSHS and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are overseeing the recall being done by Grande Produce, Hidalgo.

The detections were made in ongoing efforts to find the source of the salmonella causing the national outbreak. The DSHS lab has tested some 70 food products for salmonella in recent weeks. The only two found to be contaminated were the serranos and jalapenos from Grande.

DSHS and FDA are working to identify where the avocados, serranos and jalapenos from Grande were shipped and where and how the recalled produce was contaminated. The company’s clients are being notified to pull the products.

Consumers and food services personnel are reminded to wash any fresh fruits and vegetables thoroughly before eating or serving.

Officials said the findings and subsequent recall are limited to those specific products from Grande Produce. At this point, they do not apply to all avocados, serranos and jalapenos on the market, to products from any other distributor or to Texas-grown produce in general.

-30-

"McCain Proposes a $300 Million Prize for a Next-Generation Car Battery"

The stupidest idea to date!
This falls into hair brained schemes!

FRESNO, Calif. — In the 18th century the British offered a £20,000 prize to anyone who figured out how to calculate longitude. More recently, Netflix offered a million dollars for improving movie recommendations on its Web site. Now Senator John McCain is suggesting a new national prize: He said here Monday that if elected president he would offer $300 million to anyone who could build a better car battery.

The high cost of gasoline — a gallon of regular was selling for $4.65 at a gas station near California State University, Fresno, where Mr. McCain spoke — has made energy policy a big issue in this year’s presidential campaign, and barely a day has passed recently without one of the candidates weighing in with new energy policies, proposals and attacks on opponents.

Mr. McCain, of Arizona, alienated some environmentalists last week during a speech in Houston when he dropped his opposition to allowing offshore drilling for oil; this week, in a swing through California, he spoke about trying to wean the nation from its dependence on oil. He called for improving the enforcement of fuel economy standards, building more cars that could run on alternative fuels, dropping the tariff on imports of sugar-based ethanol from Brazil and offering big tax credits for nonpolluting cars.

“I further propose we inspire the ingenuity and resolve of the American people,” Mr. McCain said, “by offering a $300 million prize for the development of a battery package that has the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars.”

He said the winner should deliver power at 30 percent of current costs. “That’s one dollar, one dollar, for every man, woman and child in the U.S. — a small price to pay for helping to break the back of our oil dependency,” he said.

The Obama campaign countered by noting that Mr. McCain had voted against improving fuel efficiency standards in the Senate. Jason Furman, the Obama campaign’s economic policy director, said in a conference call that Mr. McCain had been focused on “meaningful relief for oil companies that are struggling with record profits.”

In his speech in Fresno, Mr. McCain called for automakers to act more quickly to build so-called flex-fuel vehicles than can run on alternative fuel. He approvingly cited the example of Brazil, which he said had moved to building 70 percent of all new vehicles that way in just three years, and he issued a not-so-veiled threat to automakers.

“Whether it takes a meeting with automakers during my first month in office, or my signature on an act of Congress,” he said, “we will meet the goal of a swift conversion of American vehicles away from oil.”

And Mr. McCain emphasized one of his differences with Mr. Obama, without mentioning him by name, by restating his opposition to subsidies for corn-based ethanol, which Mr. Obama supports.

“As taxpayers, we foot the bill for the enormous subsidies paid to corn producers,” he said. “And as consumers, we pay extra at the pump because of government barriers to cheaper products from abroad.”

Mr. McCain, who spoke against corn-based ethanol when he ran for president in 2000, said this time around that he became a supporter of it when oil grew too expensive, but he has said he still opposes subsidies for ethanol.

While the McCain and Obama campaigns were sparring over energy, Mr. Obama was in Albuquerque, where he focused on the economy and working women, a critical constituency. He journeyed deep into the prosaic land of gut-level economics at the Flying Star Café Commissary, where talk of globalization and vertical economies yields to “how can I afford to make it through this week and the one after that?”

Speaking to a group of women, Mr. Obama, of Illinois, was offered a glimpse into one of the realities of the American economy: that wages for the working-class have lagged far behind those of upper-income Americans. Some of the women at the commissary, like Carrie Hummel, 28, told of holding down multiple jobs and still barely being able to find the money to pay for gas, much less for her health insurance. “You know, this life is pretty hard,” she said.

Ms. Hummel was followed by a woman who asked Mr. Obama if he would consider waiving taxes on tips, and another who asked about the cost of college tuition, which has risen at a rate far outstripping inflation.

Mr. Obama offered a variety of proposals, including requiring employers t0 provide seven paid sick days for all employees (he has not specified the size of the employer) and extending the Family and Medical Leave Act to cover any company with 25 or more employees (the act now applies to those with 50 or more employees).

He also criticized Mr. McCain over his opposition to legislative action to help bring wages of women up to those of men. The McCain campaign fired back, saying the legislation to do so would have been a boon to trial lawyers, who have supported Mr. Obama’s campaign.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/us/politics/24campaign.html

Vonage Cancellation Numbers
So very hard to find!

It's unfortunate that Vonage makes it so hard and frustrating to cancel your account or port your number to another provider. This is documented throughout the internets. Just Google Vonage and customer care, etc. There are other reports that they "Can't do that".

Because a lot of folks often change carriers, Vonage has managed to delete themselves now from my ever returning to them due to the hassle. The original issue is that my ISP is not reliable. When the computer's down so is Vonage and one's left with neither computer nor "home" phone. Having a cell phone as a back up is very helpful.

Customer Care = 1- 866-243-4357 (1-VONAGE-HELP)
M - F 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. Eastern time

Cancellation Department = X - 55862 He didn't know the main number to call that goes with this extension.

Other numbers:
1 888 510-1820
Vonage UK 0808 168 1000

You talk with multiple people who keep repeating themselves. You need to have the following information available. Some of it's found in your online account

Phone number

Security number

Pin

Year service started

That you need to have changed to another provider, FIRST, which I'd already done. That stumped him.

You need to understand foreign accents.

The conversation ended with me laughing as I know what I have to do. I need to call during business hours and stop at the bank and close the account from which this is being debited.

Wallpaper
Peonies

The FISA "Compromise" Big Brother, Again
Here are the Dems who voted for this sorry thing
Read 'em and weep

Aye AL-5 Cramer, Robert [D]
Aye AL-7 Davis, Artur [D]
Aye AR-1 Berry, Robert [D]
Aye AR-2 Snyder, Victor [D]
Aye AR-4 Ross, Mike [D]
Aye AZ-5 Mitchell, Harry [D]
Aye AZ-8 Giffords, Gabrielle [D]
Aye CA-10 Tauscher, Ellen [D]
Aye CA-11 McNerney, Jerry [D]
Aye CA-18 Cardoza, Dennis [D]
Aye CA-20 Costa, Jim [D]
Aye CA-27 Sherman, Brad [D]
Aye CA-28 Berman, Howard [D]
Aye CA-29 Schiff, Adam [D]
Aye CA-36 Harman, Jane [D]
Aye CA-37 Richardson, Laura [D]
Aye CA-43 Baca, Joe [D]
Aye CA-8 Pelosi, Nancy [D]
Aye CO-2 Udall, Mark [D]
Aye CO-3 Salazar, John [D]
Aye CO-7 Perlmutter, Ed [D]
Aye FL-11 Castor, Kathy [D]
Aye FL-16 Mahoney, Tim [D]
Aye FL-2 Boyd, F. [D]
Aye FL-22 Klein, Ron [D]
Aye FL-23 Hastings, Alcee [D]
Aye FL-3 Brown, Corrine [D]
Aye GA-12 Barrow, John [D]
Aye GA-13 Scott, David [D]
Aye GA-2 Bishop, Sanford [D]
Aye GA-8 Marshall, James [D]
Aye IA-3 Boswell, Leonard [D]
Aye IL-3 Lipinski, Daniel [D]
Aye IL-4 Gutierrez, Luis [D]
Aye IL-5 Emanuel, Rahm [D]
Aye IL-8 Bean, Melissa [D]
Aye IN-2 Donnelly, Joe [D]
Aye IN-8 Ellsworth, Brad [D]
Aye KS-2 Boyda, Nancy [D]
Aye KS-3 Moore, Dennis [D]
Aye KY-3 Yarmuth, John [D]
Aye KY-6 Chandler, Ben [D]
Aye LA-3 Melancon, Charles [D]
Aye LA-6 Cazayoux, Donald [D]
Aye MD-2 Ruppersberger, C.A. [D]
Aye MD-5 Hoyer, Steny [D]
Aye MI-1 Stupak, Bart [D]
Aye MI-5 Kildee, Dale [D]
Aye MN-7 Peterson, Collin [D]
Aye MO-4 Skelton, Ike [D]
Aye MO-5 Cleaver, Emanuel [D]
Aye MS-1 Childers, Travis [D]
Aye MS-2 Thompson, Bennie [D]
Aye MS-4 Taylor, Gene [D]
Aye NC-1 Butterfield, George [D]
Aye NC-11 Shuler, Heath [D]
Aye NC-2 Etheridge, Bob [D]
Aye NC-7 McIntyre, Mike [D]
Aye ND-0 Pomeroy, Earl [D]
Aye NJ-13 Sires, Albio [D]
Aye NV-1 Berkley, Shelley [D]
Aye NY-1 Bishop, Timothy [D]
Aye NY-17 Engel, Eliot [D]
Aye NY-18 Lowey, Nita [D]
Aye NY-20 Gillibrand, Kirsten [D]
Aye NY-24 Arcuri, Michael [D]
Aye NY-27 Higgins, Brian [D]
Aye NY-4 McCarthy, Carolyn [D]
Aye NY-5 Ackerman, Gary [D]
Aye NY-6 Meeks, Gregory [D]
Aye NY-7 Crowley, Joseph [D]
Aye OH-18 Space, Zackary [D]
Aye OH-6 Wilson, Charles [D]
Aye OK-2 Boren, Dan [D]
Aye PA-10 Carney, Christopher [D]
Aye PA-11 Kanjorski, Paul [D]
Aye PA-12 Murtha, John [D]
Aye PA-17 Holden, Tim [D]
Aye PA-4 Altmire, Jason [D]
Aye PA-7 Sestak, Joe [D]
Aye PA-8 Murphy, Patrick [D]
Aye RI-2 Langevin, James [D]
Aye SC-5 Spratt, John [D]
Aye SC-6 Clyburn, James [D]
Aye SD-0 Herseth Sandlin, Stephanie [D]
Aye TN-4 Davis, Lincoln [D]
Aye TN-5 Cooper, Jim [D]
Aye TN-6 Gordon, Barton [D]
Aye TN-8 Tanner, John [D]
Aye TX-15 Hinojosa, Rubén [D]
Aye TX-16 Reyes, Silvestre [D]
Aye TX-17 Edwards, Thomas [D]
Aye TX-22 Lampson, Nicholas [D]
Aye TX-23 Rodriguez, Ciro [D]
Aye TX-27 Ortiz, Solomon [D]
Aye TX-28 Cuellar, Henry [D]
Aye TX-29 Green, Raymond [D]
Aye TX-9 Green, Al [D]
Aye UT-2 Matheson, Jim [D]
Aye VA-9 Boucher, Frederick [D]
Aye WA-3 Baird, Brian [D]
Aye WA-6 Dicks, Norman [D]
Aye WA-9 Smith, Adam [D]
Aye WI-3 Kind, Ronald [D]
Aye WV-3 Rahall, Nick [D]

Finally, the real reason for the war in Iraq

"Big Oil Firms Ready to Sign Agreements With Iraq

Two-Year, No-Bid Contracts Aimed at Boosting Production"

By Ernesto Londoño and Simone Baribeau

Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, June 20, 2008; Page A12

BAGHDAD, June 19 -- Iraq is preparing to award contracts to several Western energy companies to help develop its vast oil resources, allowing them to consolidate their positions in a country that has seemed less threatening in recent months as security has improved.

The two-year, no-bid contracts will be awarded to companies that have been advising the Iraqi Oil Ministry in recent years, said Asim Jihad, a spokesman for the ministry. He said officials expect that U.S.-based Exxon Mobil and Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, France's Total and British oil company BP will secure the biggest contracts.

"We have had discussions since last year" regarding deals that would formalize the advisory role some of them are already playing, Jihad said. "The discussions have now ended."

The contracts will be presented to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's cabinet for approval in coming days and could be announced by the end of the month, Jihad said. He added that more than 30 contracts will be signed but declined to describe their scope or provide other details.

He said the Iraqi government informed oil companies several months ago of its needs. Subsequent negotiations led to the contracts, which would allow the government to step up efforts to increase production while legislation setting guidelines for foreign investment in the oil sector remains deadlocked in parliament.

The contracts would expand relationships between the Iraqi government and the energy giants, which have eyed the country's oil fields with interest and apprehension since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Some companies have been working with the ministry under memorandums of understanding.

While the contracts would limit the companies' role to infrastructure refurbishment and technical support, the agreements would also position the firms for future deals in Iraq that could include exploration and drilling.

The impending signing of the contracts, which was reported in the New York Times on Thursday, comes as members of Iraq's parliament remain at loggerheads over legislation to regulate the country's oil reserves.

Iraq's largest oil fields are in the heavily Shiite south and predominantly Kurdish areas in the north. Parliament members and leaders have argued over whether oil revenue should be distributed evenly across the country or whether oil-rich provinces should be entitled to a larger share.

They also have squabbled over the role foreign companies should play in Iraq, particularly whether they should be given licenses to drill.

A higher-profile role for Western companies in Iraq's oil industry is likely to revive speculation that the Iraq war was motivated by a desire to tap into reserves that were controlled by foreigners until the 1960s, when the industry was nationalized. The belief is widespread in the Arab world.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday said the U.S. government played no role in securing the deals. She called the impending contracts a sign that security gains are attracting foreign investment in Iraq.

"It demonstrates that the private sector is beginning to get interested in Iraq, that it recognizes the tremendous potential for Iraq to become an even more major oil supplier," Rice told Fox News. "That's really a good sign, and it will be a good sign if Iraq can increase its oil production, because of course the supply and demand of oil is a major concern to all of us."

Iraq's oil reserves are among the largest in the world, but years of economic sanctions, war and political turmoil have taken a toll on the industry. During the first few months of this year, output reached 2 million barrels a day. Hussein al-Shahristani, Iraq's oil minister, told parliament this year that output could more than double within five years.

Officials at some of the oil companies that are expected to sign contracts issued muted statements.

A spokeswoman for Exxon Mobil, regarded as one of the most risk-adverse players in the industry, said the company would be interested in working in Iraq.

Toby Odone, a BP spokesman, said the company has been providing technical assistance to Iraq for years and is formalizing its role in the country.

Shell spokesman Adam Newton said that the company is negotiating "service agreements" with the Iraqi Oil Ministry but that the details are confidential.

Total spokesman Kevin Church confirmed that the company is discussing its future role in West Qurna, one of Iraq's largest oil fields in the south.

Large energy companies have in recent years lost ground in oil-rich countries such as Russia and Venezuela, as governments have tightened their control over the industry.

Manouchehr Takin, a senior analyst at the London-based Center for Global Energy Studies, said the names of the companies negotiating contracts is not surprising.

"They're the big international companies," he said. "They're qualified and experienced."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/19/AR2008061903232.html

It wasn't Sadam nor democracy nor WMD's. It was oil all along. Reminds me of the film, "Mad Max".

There was a long time early on in this administration when we neither saw nor heard from Cheney. I suspected then that he was carefully mapping out Iraq for oil and cutting the slices just a little thicker for his buddies.

The Underlying Cause of the Gas Chaos
Keith Olbermann Speaks to It

It has to do with the ENRON Loophole and, of course, THIS administration, and the Farm Bill to rescind it. And then there's this: Deregulation of the futures market & mergers of refineries allowed by antitrust types.

KO did a Special comment about this tonight.

"McCain, gas prices & the Enron loophole"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/

We don't need to drill for oil. Congress needs to rescind this unregulated futures market on oil and the price will quickly drop as the futures floor won't be able to keep bidding the price sky high. I suspect that if this doesn't happen, there'll be a big oil balloon bust.

Obama’s New Web Site Strikes Back at ‘Dishonest Smears’

Hooray!

Fight the Smears
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/fightthesmearshome/

Kucinich's 35 articles of impeachment
Bush should be impeached

"Resolved, that President George W. Bush be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:

Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against President George W. Bush for high crimes and misdemeanors.

In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has committed the following abuses of power.

Article I
Creating a Secret Propaganda Campaign to Manufacture a False Case for War Against Iraq

Article II
Falsely, Systematically, and with Criminal Intent Conflating the Attacks of September 11, 2001, With Misrepresentation of Iraq as a Security Threat as Part of Fraudulent Justification for a War of Aggression

Article III
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, to Manufacture a False Case for War

Article IV
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Posed an Imminent Threat to the United States

Article V
Illegally Misspending Funds to Secretly Begin a War of Aggression

Article VI
Invading Iraq in Violation of the Requirements of HJRes114

Article VII
Invading Iraq Absent a Declaration of War.

Article VIII
Invading Iraq, A Sovereign Nation, in Violation of the UN Charter

Article IX
Failing to Provide Troops With Body Armor and Vehicle Armor

Article X
Falsifying Accounts of US Troop Deaths and Injuries for Political Purposes

Article XI
Establishment of Permanent U.S. Military Bases in Iraq

Article XII
Initiating a War Against Iraq for Control of That Nation's Natural Resources

Article XIIII
Creating a Secret Task Force to Develop Energy and Military Policies With Respect to Iraq and Other Countries

Article XIV
Misprision of a Felony, Misuse and Exposure of Classified Information And Obstruction of Justice in the Matter of Valerie Plame Wilson, Clandestine Agent of the Central Intelligence Agency

Article XV
Providing Immunity from Prosecution for Criminal Contractors in Iraq

Article XVI
Reckless Misspending and Waste of U.S. Tax Dollars in Connection With Iraq and US Contractors

Article XVII
Illegal Detention: Detaining Indefinitely And Without Charge Persons Both U.S. Citizens and Foreign Captives

Article XVIII
Torture: Secretly Authorizing, and Encouraging the Use of Torture Against Captives in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Other Places, as a Matter of Official Policy

Article XIX
Rendition: Kidnapping People and Taking Them Against Their Will to "Black Sites" Located in Other Nations, Including Nations Known to Practice Torture

Article XX
Imprisoning Children

Article XXI
Misleading Congress and the American People About Threats from Iran, and Supporting Terrorist Organizations Within Iran, With the Goal of Overthrowing the Iranian Government

Article XXII
Creating Secret Laws

Article XXIII
Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act

Article XXIV
Spying on American Citizens, Without a Court-Ordered Warrant, in Violation of the Law and the Fourth Amendment

Article XXV
Directing Telecommunications Companies to Create an Illegal and Unconstitutional Database of the Private Telephone Numbers and Emails of American Citizens

Article XXVI
Announcing the Intent to Violate Laws with Signing Statements

Article XXVII
Failing to Comply with Congressional Subpoenas and Instructing Former Employees Not to Comply

Article XXVIII
Tampering with Free and Fair Elections, Corruption of the Administration of Justice

Article XXIX
Conspiracy to Violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Article XXX
Misleading Congress and the American People in an Attempt to Destroy Medicare

Article XXXI
Katrina: Failure to Plan for the Predicted Disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Failure to Respond to a Civil Emergency

Article XXXII
Misleading Congress and the American People, Systematically Undermining Efforts to Address Global Climate Change

Article XXXIII
Repeatedly Ignored and Failed to Respond to High Level Intelligence Warnings of Planned Terrorist Attacks in the US, Prior to 911.

Article XXXIV
Obstruction of the Investigation into the Attacks of September 11, 2001

Article XXXV
Endangering the Health of 911 First Responders"

http://chun.afterdowningstreet.org/amomentoftruth.pdf

Olbermann: McCain should know better

Context and decency elude the GOP presidential nominee

"You have attested to: a fairly easy success; an overwhelming victory in a very short period of time; in which we would be welcomed as liberators; which you assured us would not require our troops stay for decades but merely for years; from which we could bring them all home, since you noted many Iraqis resent American military presence; in which all those troops coming home will also stay there, not being injured, for a hundred years; but most will be back by 2013; and the timing of their return, is not that important.

That, Sen. McCain, is context.

And that, Sen. McCain, is madness.



To die, for your misdirection, for Mr. Bush’s lies, for whoever makes the money off building 58 permanent American bases and all the weapons and all the bullets and all the wiring so costly and so slip-shod that it electrocutes our comrades as they step, not to fight freedom’s enemies, but into the shower at the base.

That, Senator, that is context.

It is an easy thing to dismiss Sen. McCain as a sad and befuddled figure, already challenging for some kind of campaign record for malaprops.



"I don’t know if I would want him (Cheney) as Vice President. He and I have the same strengths. But to serve in other capacities? Hell, yeah."



The context of the kaleidoscope of confused rhetoric, and endless non sequitur, and mutually exclusive conclusions—and what they add up to: a veritable tragedy, a microcosm of the American tragedy that is Iraq, a tragedy of a man who himself will never understand… "the context."'

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25126582/



These particular comments are spot on. McBush, besides being too old for the job, has presented a bumbling and befuddling list of "endless non sequiturs".

KO continues to speak for me!